FATAL_ERROR:Portability:PortDynamicLib.c:408:1.33

Ran into a new Xilinx error today.

All my projects now fail when I try to generate netlist in the EDK or in Plan Ahead.


FATAL_ERROR:Portability:PortDynamicLib.c:408:1.33 - dll open of library
   <C:/Xilinx/14.2/ISE_DS/ISE/lib/nt64/libXst2_Interf.dll> failed due to The
   specified module could not be found.  .   Process will terminate. For
   technical support on this issue, please open a WebCase with this project
   attached at http://www.xilinx.com/support.

This error is extremely strange because I have done nothing differently in the past few days.

There are several AR records regarding this including:



http://www.xilinx.com/support/answers/36383.htm
http://www.xilinx.com/support/answers/32123.htm


After closely following all the suggestions nothing worked.

My OS is not some foreign version. ISE was working fine before.

I have tried to:

• Re-install the ISE Suite 
• Open ISE directly from the program folder instead of a short cut
• Copied the .dll in question from a co-worker

As a last resort, I did a System Restore to a few days ago. 

This time when I ran it, my anti-virus stated that it was detecting the files I needed as a virus. I guess something changed in my Avast Free-Antivirus, I must have accidentally, hit the Free try on Avast Pro or something and it was now picking it up as a virus. 

I uninstalled Avast in safe-mode using this: http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility

You can make your computer launch in safe-mode without messing with the function keys on boot up by doing:

Typing msconfig in the start menu to bring up System Configuration and then select [Boot] and click the box for safe mode. 

After restarting in normal. I just re-download Avast Free as normal. 

My ISE works again! Yay.

Here is the Virus Chest that Avast picks up for ISE:

Japanese/Chinese Characters do not appear in Media Player in Windows 7

So if you have songs or CDs that have information like song titles or artists as symbols they may appear just as boxes on your system. To get them to appear correctly you must do the following: enable hidden fonts in windows

1. Hit the Windows key and go to Control Panel 
2. Click Fonts 
3. Font settings 
4. Finally uncheck the box that says "hide fonts based on language settings" 
5. Restart your computer

Source: Link!

Convert Cue and FLAC files into MP3

The process to do this is actually Relatively simple.

First Download
1. Foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/download)
2. Lame (http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php)

Steps
1. Install and then launch Foobar and Extract the Lame ZipFile
2. File > Add Files...
3. Select the Cue and FLAC Files, It will automatically load them all into the screen and parse the songs
4. Ctrl-A or Manually Select all the songs
5. Right Click > Convert > Quick Convert > MP3
6. Select or Make a folder to store the files in
7. When it asks for Lame navigate to where you extracted
8. Happily wait for everything to complete

Cheers.

Too many bonded comps of type "IOB" found to fit this device

This error is generated during the MAP of Implementation of the design.
If you are designing a core that goes inside the design you can safely ignore this error.

What it means is the number of pins at the top level is more than the total available pins of the design, that's why it happens during the implement design phase.

Map fails because the selected FPGA doesn't have enogh resources (I/O pins). 

See this Thread:
http://www.edaboard.com/thread205544.html

Impact Crashing from PlanAhead " i_impact4.exe has stopped working"

If you get an Error Launching Impact from Planahead in your project you simply need to navigate to:

Project.data/impact/

Look for the file called " impactdefaultproj.ipf " 

Then Delete this file and impact will launch again:

Original Source: Link

[EDK 24-166] (generate_target): Failed to execute XPS Script

If you receive the following error:


[Edk 24-166] (generate_target): Failed to execute XPS script. Please check for any errors reported by the XPS application in the console: [C:/Users/User/Documents/project_folder/project_name/project_name.srcs/sources_1/edk/proc_mod/__xps/pa/_proc_mod_synth.tcl]

it means your design has an error. Open up the EDK and try to generate netlist. It should tell you where your error is.

Powerpoint Set Transparent Color

This option in powerpoint saves LIVES. I keep forgetting where it is so here is a picture!

If you cannot read that.

1. Select a Picture
2. Click on the Format Toolbar
3. Go over to "Adjust" 
4. Select Color
5. Set Transparent Color is at the bottom