I just got the GateMate-EVB. After trying the Blinky example modified for the Olimex board and getting no LED blinking, I took a step back and tried to just make the LED turn on, but I don't get any activity at all. I had to search for information as for the commands to use since the GateMate quick start is out of date and Olimex does not provide any guides for getting started, only a brief hardware manual. A comprehensive getting started guide is absolutely essential for something like this.
I use Windows 11 and the latest oss-cad-suite, from this week.
First I had to install the driver for the board to be recognized as a DirtyJtag device. I set the four configuration switches to 1100 (on on off off).
I will list the commands below after I show the Verilog of the top module and configuration file showing how the led is assigned.
top.v file:
module top(
output wire led
);
assign led = 1'b0;
endmodule
blinky.ccf
Pin_out "led" Loc = "IO_SB_B6";
After running start.bat, I ran the following commands and each finished without errors:
yosys -p "read_verilog top.v; synth_gatemate -top top -luttree -nomx8; write_json blinky.json; write_verilog blinky_netlist.v"
nextpnr-himbaechel --device=CCGM1A1 --json blinky.json -o ccf=blinky.ccf -o out=blinky.txt --router router2
gmpack blinky.txt blinky.bit
openFPGALoader --index-chain 0 -b olimex_gatemateevb blinky.bit
That should be all I need but the LED does not light despite getting the message "Done" after I think I upload. There seems to be no check.
I get absolutely nothing. However if I run the command:
openFPGALoader --index-chain 0 -b olimex_gatemateevb --detect
I do get some info about the FPGA, so there must be some life there.
I have spent two days searching out this information and trying it and have run out of time. I would appreciate it if you can see if I'm doing something wrong, if not then I have a faulty board. I also use an Alchrity FPGA board and that worked immediately.
How do I use the SPI flash memory option? Is that via USB or do I need some other cable? Thank you.
Each GateMate-EVB is tested here, one of the tests is empirical. LEDs are checked. Chances of a faulty board are close to zero. Something else is wrong.
I've now uploaded here the .bit file and top.ccf and top.v for the blinking LED so you can compare:
https://github.com/OLIMEX/GateMateA1-EVB/tree/main/SOFTWARE/blinking-led-bit-source
Important! For boards with SPI flash:
Before programming make sure that DIP switches are in ON - ON - OFF - OFF position
After programming, disconnect the USB and move DIP switches in OFF - OFF - OFF - OFF position. Then reconnect the USB and see if the LED blinks.
I will try what you state in the previous message.
Since I made the post, I can conform that the board is NOT faulty. I found the Legacy tool suit from 2025, that has the folder structure in the workspace as described in their Quick Start Guide. I followed it, changing only the CCF constraint to point to the correct pin on the FPGA, and that worked. It uploaded via Jtag and the LED was indeed flashing.
I was doing this with Jtag, I have not tried SPI yet. So, with the Legacy software it works, I have yet to get it to work with the current version from the nightly builds.
I have sent CologneChip an email describing the above to see if I am at fault or if it is something else.
Thanks for your upload, I will check it this evening.
I can confirm that the project for the blinking LED that you link to above works fine with the Legacy toolchain. The .bit files loads fine via the jtag option and also when I use
run jtag-flash. I change the board to "olimex_gatemateevb" in the run.bat file.
I also managed to use the run spi command, and confirm that the configuration is retained when I set the switch to 0000 and plug the USB back in.
However, when I try to use the current nightly build of the toolchain, running the openFPGALoad command is still not working. It appears to run but the FPGA does not to be configured.
By the way I stumbled upon this, made by another customer, might be worth checking it:
https://github.com/dpks2003/gatemate-lab
Quote from: PaulUK_DE on February 17, 2026, 12:52:09 AMHowever, when I try to use the current nightly build of the toolchain, running the openFPGALoad command is still not working. It appears to run but the FPGA does not to be configured.
That confirms my own experience as well. The openFPGALoader.exe build from the legacy cc-toolchain-win works, the new one from OSS CAD Suite doesn't.
I've filed a bug report: https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader/issues/628
Quote from: Stokpan on February 17, 2026, 10:07:53 PMThat confirms my own experience as well. The openFPGALoader.exe build from the legacy cc-toolchain-win works, the new one from OSS CAD Suite doesn't.
I've filed a bug report: https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader/issues/628 (https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader/issues/628)
@Stokpan, Thanks for doing that, I will keep an eye on the report thread, I see there have been some replies.
In the meantime, I installed the OSS-CAD on a Raspberry Pi 5, and after changing the USB permissions and setting the Path, I was able to upload the simple Blinky test that LubOlimex posted above. I'm glad that the board is working with Linux and the legacy software, but it appears there is still an issue with the current windows openFPGALoader.
I hope that the author can find what the issue is, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks to @Stokpan reporting the issue, the author of openFPGALoader did find an issue with the current Windows version and was quick to correct it. The board is now working with Windows once again. Thank you.
Thank you both for reporting this issue and helping in debugging and fixing it!