THESE INSTRUCTION ARE OLD! THE XILINX ISE IS LARGER THAN IT WAS IN 2011.
Neither the Xilinx nor the Digilent Adept software support the Mac OS, so we'll have to install Linux using either BootCamp or virtualization software (e.g. VMWare, Parallels or VirtualBox). In principle, you could use this method to install Windows, but chances are that if you have the *.iso lying around, it's already your primary OS. These instructions will focus on installing Ubuntu 11.10 under VirtualBox.
1. Download and install VirtualBox (an open source virtualizer from the folks at Oracle https://www.virtualbox.org). Note: This software is for the x86 architecture, so I think it will only run on the newer Macs with Intel chips.
2. Download the *.iso from Ubuntu (www.ubuntu.com).
3. Create a virtual machine in VirtualBox. The prompts are pretty straightforward and I would recommend a dynamically allocated virtual hard disk (the software will allocate disk space up to the limit you provide). You'll need more hard drive space here as you have to support both the OS and the software we're going to install. I'd recommend allocating at least 15GB to be safe. (The current actual disk size of my installation is 13.68GB).
4. Run the virtual machine and install Ubuntu.
From here on, the Mac and Linux instructions are the same because you'll be running Linux.
5. Download the Xilinx and Digilent Adept software:
a. On the left hand side you'll find the Firefox symbol, so open a browser window.
b. Xilinx you can get from the same link as the Windows version: http://www.xilinx.com/support/download/index.htm
c. Diglent Adept requires a bit more digging: http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,66,828&Prod=ADEPT2
You can also get there from the original link, but click on Software, then More Info next to Digilent Adept.
Download both files (Runtime and Utilities) for your architecture (32-bit or 64-bit). I doubt you need the SDK, but I don't think it would hurt to install it.
I would recommend saving the files rather than having the Archive Manager open them, that way you can find them to upack.
6. Unpack the files:
a. Open the terminal (from the left hand side click on Dash Home and search for terminal).
b. Navigate the file structure to where you downloaded the files.
A few tips:
You can use the command pwd to find where you are in the directory structure.
You can use the command ls to list the files in the current directory.
You can use the command cd pathname to navigate to a specific directory. pathname can be a single directory located in the current directory, a relative path near the current directory, or an absolute path from root.
If you had Firefox save the files, they will likely be in the Downloads folder, /home/username/Downloads, where username is the username you typed in when you set up the Ubuntu installation.
c. The Xilinx tarball isn't zipped so: tar -xvf (xilinxfilename).tar
You should be able to type X and then a tab and linux will automatically insert the correct filename. If X does not designate a unique filename, then you'll need to specify more letters until you get one that is unique.
d. The Digilent files are: tar -zxvf (digilentfile).tar
Don't forget that there are two of them (three if you're installing the SDK).
7. Install:
a. Digilent Adept: Navigate into the directories that you just unpacked and type: sudo bash install.sh
You will be asked to enter your password, as installing requires administrative permission.
The default file paths should be fine, so just hit enter when it requests.
I recall at least one of the installations requires you to make a directory, so you will have to use sudo mkdir to make it.
b. Xilinx has a GUI installer, so open the Home Folder and navigate to where you unpacked the Xilinx software.
Double click on the setup file and follow the prompts. You will need to register and generate a license, all of which is pretty straightforward.
8. Run:
a. Xilinx: To run the Xilinx software you'll have to initialize it from the command line. Go back to the terminal and navigate to where Xilinx is installed.
This should be something like /etc/opt/Xilinx/13.3/ISE_DS/
Type source settings64.sh or source settings32.sh depending on your architecture (64- or 32-bit).
To start Xilinx, type ise
b. Set up a new project in the same way as for the Windows version. Same with making the circuit, setting the pinout and generating the program file.
c. If you haven't made the digiboard usb device available to the virtual machine, you'll want to do that now. It first needs to be plugged into a usb port and powered on.
Navigate the settings menu in VirtualBox to add a USB device to the machine and add the digiboard.
d. Make sure the software can find the board: djtgcfg enum
e. Initialize the board: djtgcfg init -d (usrname)
where (usrname) is the name of the board. (We used djtgcfg enum to find out what it was).
f. Program the board: You've got to be in the directory where your *.bit program file is located, if you're not there, navigate now.
Type: djtgcfg prog -d (usrname) -i 1 -f (myprog.bit)
where (myprog.bit) is the name of your program file.
g. Flash your board and it's ready to go!
Addendum:
The above instructions program the PROM (non-volatile memory). You can also program the FPGA (volatile memory), but if you flash the board or unplug it the time will be gone.
a. You'll still need to discover the device:
djtgcfg enum
djtgcfg init -d (usrname)
b. Volatile Memory (XC3S200): djtgcfg prog -d (usrname) -i 0 -f (filename).bit
c. Non-Volatile Memory (XCF02S): djtgcfg prog -d (usrname) -i 1 -f (filename).bit