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Hello, I have a PLD that has a program loaded onto it, and the code has been lost.
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How complicated is the code? Do you have a specification for what the code is supposed to do? Is it worth reproducing it?
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Is it possible to use Max+Plus to load the vhdl code from the chip so that the code can be used to program other PLD's?
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If the code is for a device where the image is stored off-chip in a configuration memory, eg., an EPC2, then I believe it would be possible to read the image back (not the VHDL, just the bits in the device), since that is what the verify operation does. I suspect the same thing is possible with the MAX PLDs as well. However, I don't think it is directly supported in any of the tools ... I don't recall seeing a 'copy image to file' option in any of the programmer tools, however, you might be able to use the Jam STAPL player to implement image readback.
But you need to decide whether the effort to implement image readback is greater than re-implementing the design that you've lost the source code for. I would recommend gathering the requirements for the design, then writing the code again, and then check the code into a code repository! :)
Cheers,
Dave
Honored Contributor
