Update Process

When FPGA Updater is launched, it first loads the configuration and creates a log file, then starts the update process. In order to check for new updates, FPGA Updater first downloads the newest manifest file.

Checking for Updates

If there are no updates, FPGA Updater displays the message “There is no new version available”.

If there is a new version, FPGA Updater displays information from the manifest file in the first page of FPGA Updater wizard:

Click the checkbox “Do not notify me about this update” to prevent FPGA Updater from notifying you about this update the next time it runs automatically.

When you check the “Do not notify me about this update” checkbox, the “Next” button is hidden and a “Finish” button is displayed. If you click “Finish” PADS I/O Designer saves the information that you do not want to be notified about that particular update. If you press the “Cancel” button, FPGA Updater closes with no changes.

PADS I/O Designer is always notified when new updates are available. FPGA Library updates are delivered in sequence, and therefore earlier updates must be installed when a new update is installed. If you check the “Do not notify me about this update” checkbox again for the new update then neither update will trigger update notifications in PADS I/O Designer.

Critical Release Update

If new a FPGA update is available that requires an update to PADS I/O Designer before it can function, FPGA Updater displays a message directing you to download and install the software release from SupportNet before attempting to install the FPGA update:

Downloading Updates

To download updates, FPGA Updater uses the first server from the list of servers in the configuration. If there are problems with downloading the manifest file from the first server, FPGA Updater switches to the next server in the list.

After downloading all necessary manifest files FPGA Updater starts downloading the updates files.

If several updates are available, they are downloaded starting with the oldest version. FPGA Updater will continue to download all necessary updates. For example: the newest version is 092_010_000_001. For user1, who has version 092_010_000_000 installed, only one update is downloaded. But for user2 who has 092_009_000_000 installed, two updates are downloaded.

FPGA Updater downloads all files to the updates directory defined in configuration.

You can use the Pause button to pause and resume downloading.

If “After downloading automatically install updates” is checked, FPGA Updater automatically starts the installation process after the update download completes. If this check box is not checked, you must click the “Next” button after downloading to install the updates.

You can check the “Skip backup” checkbox to skip the backup process. This checkbox is unchecked by default, and FPGA Updater performs a backup after downloading updates and before installation. The recommended method is to leave the option unchecked so that backups are always performed, and PADS I/O Designer can always recover your FPGA library.

When downloading updates from the SupportNet server you are prompted for your username and password. You can save login and password information in the configuration through the Setup > Settings + FPGA Library Updates page.

Backup of Current FPGA Library

Before installation process begins, FPGA Updater backs up the current FPGA library to <BackupDir>/iod_updater_bak_<backup timestamp>. For example:

c:\iod_updater_bak\iod_updater_bak_2010-11-19-10-45-54\

You can set the location of the backup directory <backupDir> in the Setup > Settings dialog.

If you press Cancel, the update process stops and the backup is deleted. The backup process can take several minutes, depending on your system.

Installation

Before installation, FPGA Updater checks to see if PADS I/O Designer is running, and if so, displays a message asking you to close it.

FPGA Updater starts the installation with the oldest update. All files are unzipped to the destination folder defined in update.xml, which is the default folder of the FPGA Library pointed to by the $IOD_LIBRARY_PATH variable.

Before unzipping the files, FPGA Updater checks to see if the checksum of the update file matches the checksum in the manifest file. If the checksum is incorrect, FPGA Updater displays an error message and closes.

If during installation any error appears, the rollback Page opens and the backup is copied back into the library directory. If there is no backup, the library may be corrupted.

Summary Page

After a successful installation, the Summary page is displayed:

Run PADS I/O Designer checkbox is checked by default. If you do not want to run PADS I/O Designer, clear the checkbox before clicking Finish.