Thanks so much for doing this video. I'm new to the Tang Nano devices. I was a reluctant to use them since I was so comfortable with SignalTap on the Cyclone IV but having seen the GAO in action I'm definitely keen to play more with the Tang Nano - and they certainly synthesise a lot faster than the Cyclone IV/V devices! I love the small size of the Tang Nano devices too.
Glad you found it helpful. I was attracted to the Tang Nano boards by their low cost. They are cheap enough to buy just to tinker with them and learn about FPGA development. I also like that they are bread board friendly. GAO is helpful, at least on Windows. The latest educational version is more stable.
@@electronics.tinker I only dug out my old Nano 1k board the other day. I bought it a few years back. I couldn't use the educational version - it no longer supported my device so I got in touch with Gowin. They replied to me very quickly and advised me to install the latest non-educational version. I had avoided the non-educational version thinking there would be an associated cost with the license but there doesn't appear to be.
I have read that the non-educational version is free, but you have to apply for a license (I think annually). I have been using the educational version just to avoid bothering with a license. Have you noticed any features missing from the educational version other than support for some devices? That would be interesting to know. Cheers.
@@electronics.tinker I haven't used it enough to notice, sorry. When you install the 'full' version, it replaces the educational one (on Windows) so I haven't been able to do a side-by-side comparison. I do switch between 3 PCs though and I've had no trouble getting licenses for all 3. They're pretty good with their support - definitely a game changer for people wanting to get into FPGA on a budget. My project got too large for the Cyclone IV - mainly because of the amount of logging I was doing with SignalTap, so that's what forced me into buying a Cyclone V - just for development. I'm sure the Tang 1k/4k/9k will suffice my needs - and to be honest, the 4K seems to be the same price as the 9k now. I think the only concern with these boards is the number of pins.. but the Tang Primer seems to have that covered. I think you can even swap out 25k chips on those Primer dev boards too which is quite exciting.
Since I made this video, Gowin released version 1.9.9.03 of the educational version of their tools. GOA is less glitchy with this version. I have found it to be useful.
Nice.. I use linux and openFPGALoader. I set up the .rao file and burn the design. But when i try to open the oscilloscope i get the error : Can not connect to jtag server... Any idea why this happens? Iuse the tang primer 20K board
I figure this out (using chat gpt) i had to rename one file (libz.so.1 to libz.so.1.bak). Now i have another problem... i have made a simple counter 25 bits. After setting the clock(clk) and triger (ther reset signal assigned to button T10 of the board), when i press the auto button and then click the reset button on the board seems like it doesnt trigger anything...The only thing i made different was to select gowin usb cable GWU2K beacause the other option (there are only 2 for tang primer 20k i gwess) gave an error. Any idea why this happen? (i have downloaded the 1.9.9.03 version ). I have tried it many times... Seems like the analizer osc. software can not communicate with the board for some reason
I never got GAO to work on Linux. I think it is somewhat tied to an older version of Ubuntu than I have. You could use "ldd command" to see what shared libraries "command" will use. There are many shared libraries packaged with the Gowin tools on Linux, but maybe Gowin would be better off offering a Linux container or something. Making a program work on all flavors of Linux can be difficult. I prefer to develop on Linux, but I find that the Gowin tools work more smoothly on Windows.
I need to get my Tangs out and play with them. I need another LA like I need another hole in my head, I bought some of the HP "Biggies" when they showed up for cheap on eBay. I'm good. :) But I am loving this series, thanks!
Cool. I was attracted to the Tang Nano 9K because it was cheap. I don't actually need an FPGA board! I just wanted to learn about FPGA programming. I think I will try to build a simple SoC on it. There is quite a bit of material out there on that topic.
Thanks so much for doing this video. I'm new to the Tang Nano devices. I was a reluctant to use them since I was so comfortable with SignalTap on the Cyclone IV but having seen the GAO in action I'm definitely keen to play more with the Tang Nano - and they certainly synthesise a lot faster than the Cyclone IV/V devices! I love the small size of the Tang Nano devices too.
Glad you found it helpful. I was attracted to the Tang Nano boards by their low cost. They are cheap enough to buy just to tinker with them and learn about FPGA development. I also like that they are bread board friendly. GAO is helpful, at least on Windows. The latest educational version is more stable.
@@electronics.tinker I only dug out my old Nano 1k board the other day. I bought it a few years back. I couldn't use the educational version - it no longer supported my device so I got in touch with Gowin. They replied to me very quickly and advised me to install the latest non-educational version. I had avoided the non-educational version thinking there would be an associated cost with the license but there doesn't appear to be.
I have read that the non-educational version is free, but you have to apply for a license (I think annually). I have been using the educational version just to avoid bothering with a license. Have you noticed any features missing from the educational version other than support for some devices? That would be interesting to know. Cheers.
@@electronics.tinker I haven't used it enough to notice, sorry. When you install the 'full' version, it replaces the educational one (on Windows) so I haven't been able to do a side-by-side comparison. I do switch between 3 PCs though and I've had no trouble getting licenses for all 3. They're pretty good with their support - definitely a game changer for people wanting to get into FPGA on a budget. My project got too large for the Cyclone IV - mainly because of the amount of logging I was doing with SignalTap, so that's what forced me into buying a Cyclone V - just for development. I'm sure the Tang 1k/4k/9k will suffice my needs - and to be honest, the 4K seems to be the same price as the 9k now. I think the only concern with these boards is the number of pins.. but the Tang Primer seems to have that covered. I think you can even swap out 25k chips on those Primer dev boards too which is quite exciting.
Thank you ... very useful information
Thanks, seems very clear to me, cant wait to try it
Since I made this video, Gowin released version 1.9.9.03 of the educational version of their tools. GOA is less glitchy with this version. I have found it to be useful.
Nice.. I use linux and openFPGALoader. I set up the .rao file and burn the design. But when i try to open the oscilloscope i get the error : Can not connect to jtag server... Any idea why this happens? Iuse the tang primer 20K board
I figure this out (using chat gpt) i had to rename one file (libz.so.1 to libz.so.1.bak). Now i have another problem... i have made a simple counter 25 bits. After setting the clock(clk) and triger (ther reset signal assigned to button T10 of the board), when i press the auto button and then click the reset button on the board seems like it doesnt trigger anything...The only thing i made different was to select gowin usb cable GWU2K beacause the other option (there are only 2 for tang primer 20k i gwess) gave an error. Any idea why this happen? (i have downloaded the 1.9.9.03 version ). I have tried it many times... Seems like the analizer osc. software can not communicate with the board for some reason
I never got GAO to work on Linux. I think it is somewhat tied to an older version of Ubuntu than I have. You could use "ldd command" to see what shared libraries "command" will use. There are many shared libraries packaged with the Gowin tools on Linux, but maybe Gowin would be better off offering a Linux container or something. Making a program work on all flavors of Linux can be difficult. I prefer to develop on Linux, but I find that the Gowin tools work more smoothly on Windows.
I need to get my Tangs out and play with them. I need another LA like I need another hole in my head, I bought some of the HP "Biggies" when they showed up for cheap on eBay. I'm good. :) But I am loving this series, thanks!
Cool. I was attracted to the Tang Nano 9K because it was cheap. I don't actually need an FPGA board! I just wanted to learn about FPGA programming. I think I will try to build a simple SoC on it. There is quite a bit of material out there on that topic.
Thanks!