Hardware Platform does not update in Xilinx SDK after Export to SDK is selected

Been having an issue where I export to SDK but the bitstream and the hardware platform is not updating correctly. Xilinx has an AR record for this, but they don't have a solution to update the platform, they just tell you a work around, see below:

AR# 36390
12.1 EDK - Export to SDK does not update the bit file in the workspace if hardware XML is not updated


Description
When only the UCF file is modified in the EDK project, the "Export to SDK" function updates the new bit file in the "SDK\SDK_Export" directory. However, the bit file in "SDK\SDK_Workspace_35\hw_platform_0" is not updated. Since "SDK\SDK_Workspace_35\hw_platform_0" is the default directory that "Program FPGA" takes, the FPGA function did not change if you program FPGA within SDK after the export.
Solution
To work around this issue, you can perform either of these steps manually:
Point the "Program FPGA" to the bit file in the EDK project implementation directory, or the SDK\SDK_Export directory.
Copy the bit file from SDK\SDK_Export toSDK\SDK_Workspace_35.

Dane-Elec Corp. / Gigastone Customer Support

I thought I would share my experience with Dane-Elec Corp customer support.

Background:
I got a P2S-90S "Universal Mobile Charger" for Christmas this year as a gift. Unfortunately for me, the charging USB micro port on the unit snapped off and fell inside the device. Even more unlucky, I didn't have a receipt or even know where it was purchased. I initially sent out an email to service@gigastone.com since I did some research and according to the website for the product, there was a 1-year warranty (http://www.gigastone.com.tw/EN/product/c/4/n2/100). I sent them an email with pictures of the damaged unit and received no response for several days. I wasn't optimistic at that point since I figured they would be one of those companies that ignored small requests like this (thankfully I would be wrong!). Anyway 20 days later I resent the email, but without the pictures, and they must have a web filter rule for blocking emails with attachments, because this time they responded the very next day. The instructions were basically to ship it back to them and package the unit. Unfortunately, they didn't cover shipping, but hey, you can't get everything. I shipped it off to them, and about two weeks later I did get a brand new replacement unit!


Take Away:
Dane-Elec Corp / Gigastone has some pretty great customer service, and they totally do take care of smaller issues like mine. Just make sure when you contact them, don't include attachments. It is great companies like this one still care about customer support.

DIFF_TERM does not show up on .pad report

I was trying to add internal device differential termination to my design over pre-existing differential pairs.

I was following the 7 Series SelectIO Resource Guide which said:

"The DIFF_TERM attribute can be specified in the UCF constraints file or by setting the appropriate value in the generic map (VHDL) or in-line parameter (Verilog) of the instantiated IBUFDS, IBUFGDS, IBUFDS_DIFF_OUT, or IOBUFDS_DIFF_OUT primitives."

I tried adding the DIFF_TERM as an INST in the Constraints file but I didn't see anything happen in the .pad report. Turns out that this is a bug and you can actually set DIFF term in the UCF, the .pad report won't ever report it. I found:

http://forums.xilinx.com/t5/7-Series-FPGAs/How-do-I-know-if-DIFF-TERM-is-set-to-be-TRUE-correctly-in-Vivado/td-p/454472

and another link, which both suggested to check the pad's properties to see if it was checked.

I also confirmed that for the pins I did NOT add DIFF_TERM, they did not have the box checked.


Lastly, when I added the DIFF_TERM I made a new entry with INST replacing net for the same name:

http://forums.xilinx.com/t5/Timing-Analysis/NET-vs-INST/td-p/218287

Renew PTC Windchill Product License File

Quick Mental Note:

I have Windchill Quality Solutions 10.2

When you get a new license, what can happen is the License Management Representative will typically send you a license file. Depending on your email provider these are sometimes parsed out as .eml files.

Email the representative that contacted you and ask for *.txt version files

Navigate to this Directory once you have the txt files:

C:\Program Files (x86)\PTC\PTC Windchill Quality Solutions 10.2\PTC License Server Setup

After a quick UAC prompt it should look like this. Click on  PTC License Server



Click on the folder to browse and then go to the .txt file



Click install. and you should be good to go.