Digital Discovery - Getting Started Guide

Unboxing

Download and Install WaveForms

Digilent's WaveForms application provides a user interface to the Digital Discovery. Please download the appropriate WaveForms installer for the operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac) via the WaveForms Resource Center. Then click on the appropriate option below for OS-specific installation instructions.

If WaveForms is already installed, please make sure that it is up to date.

Installing WaveForms : Windows

Welcome

First launch the WaveForms installer, by clicking on it in the Downloads folder. Upon launching the WaveForms installer, the welcome page will be seen. Click Next.

License Agreement

Read the license agreement on this screen, then, if in agreement to it, click I Agree to continue.

Choose Components

In the “Choose Components” screen, a list is presented of each of the things that can be installed. In order to use the Digital Discovery with the WaveForms application, the Adept Runtime, WaveForms Runtime, and WaveForms Application are required.

  • The Adept Runtime allows WaveForms to communicate with the Analog Discovery 2, Analog Discovery, Analog Discovery Studio, Digital Discovery, and Electronics Explorer Board.
  • The WaveForms Runtime contains a library and device support files needed to run custom applications.
  • The WaveForms Application is the Digilent virtual instrumentation interface.
  • The Waveforms SDK is the software development kit for creating custom applications.

Note: Even with all components selected, the WaveForms install does not take much hard drive space (<200MB). Digilent recommends that all components are installed.

Shortcut Options

Click Next.

Choose Install Location

Click Install.

Installing / Installation Complete

Wait for the Installation to complete, then click Next.

Complete

Finish.

Installing WaveForms : Mac

From the downloads folder, open the downloaded .dmg file.

From the desktop, open the WaveForms drive.

Drag the WaveForms icon into the Applications folder. This will install the following components in Applications:

  • WaveForms Runtime contains a library and device support files needed to run custom applications.
  • WaveForms Application is the Digilent virtual instrumentation interface.
  • WaveForms SDK is the software development kit for creating custom applications

Install Drivers : Only for OS-X 10.13 or earlier
For OS-X 10.14 Mojave or later, if the Digilent FTDI Driver is installed, the device may not be detected.

Skip this section if the OS version is newer than OS-X 10.13.

Launch Installer

Double click DigilentFtdiDriver.pkg to open the FTDI Driver Installer.

The OS may block the launch of the driver installer. If this is the case, go into the System Preferences' Security and Privacy page and click Open Anyway.

Introduction

Click Continue.

Read Me

Click Continue.

License

Read the license, then if in agreement, click Continue, then click Agree in the popup.

Destination Select

Pick the users to install the drivers for, then click Continue.

Installation Type

Click Install.

Summary

Once the installation has completed, click Close.

The OS may block the launch of WaveForms when it is opened for the first time. If this is the case, go into the System Preferences' Security and Privacy page and click Open Anyway.

Installing WaveForms : Linux

First, download the package for the Adept Runtime. This program is required for WaveForms to connect to the Digital Discovery and must be installed prior to installing WaveForms.
For systems using .deb packages, (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc), use the built-in package manager to install the Adept Runtime and then WaveForms - typically, a package manager can be opened by double-clicking on the file in question.

Download Adept Runtime

  • Download the correct version of Adept. The link for Adept downloads is located here.
  • Make sure the version of the Adept install file is the same as WaveForms. I used the 64 bit RPM for WaveForms so I will use the 64 bit RPM for Adept.

Download Adept.

Install Files using built-in Package Manager

Open the Adept File

Open the file you downloaded for Adept in the previous step.

Open the Adept File.

Click Install

Click “Install” on the window that pops up.

Click Install.


Open the WaveForms File

Open the file you downloaded to install WaveForms.

Open the WaveForms File.

Click Install

Click Install in the window that pops up.
This will install the following components:

  • WaveForms Runtime contains a library and device support files needed to run custom applications.
  • WaveForms Application is the Digilent virtual instrumentation interface.
  • WaveForms SDK is the software development kit for creating custom applications

Click Install.

Install Files using command line
Alternatively, use the following set of commands in the terminal to install the Adept Runtime and WaveForms from the downloaded packages:
sudo dpkg -i <path to Adept Runtime .deb file>
sudo dpkg -i <path to WaveForms .deb file>
sudo apt-get install -f

For systems using .rpm packages, (Red Hat Linux, etc), use the following set of commands in the terminal to install the Adept Runtime and WaveForms from the downloaded packages: 

sudo rpm -i <path to Adept Runtime .rpm file>
sudo rpm -i <path to WaveForms .rpm file>

If WaveForms has already been installed on the system, replace the “-i” flag passed to the rpm command with “-U” to upgrade the existing installation. For technical support with installing WaveForms on various Linux distributions, please visit the Test and Measurement section of the Digilent Forum.

Take a Measurement

This section walks through using the Digital Discovery for the first time. Four digital output pins are connected to four digital input pins, and a pattern of type Binary Counter is generated and captured via this simple loopback circuit.

Take a Measurement

1. Plug in your Digital Discovery

Plug in the Digital Discovery to the computer via the USB cable.

2. Select Your Device

Select the Digital Discovery in the Device Manager. The Device Manager can be accessed anytime from the main toolbar. Open the settings menu and select Device Manager.

3. Start the Pattern Generator

  • Open the Pattern Generator by clicking Patterns.
  • Click on the green plus sign and select BUS.
  • Select DIO 28-31, and click the green plus sign.
  • Click Add.
  • In the type column, use the drop-down to select Binary Counter.
  • Click Run. Your screen should look like the image above.

4. Start the Logic Analyzer

  • Go to the main window and click Logic to open the Logic Analyzer.
  • Set the Base to 1ms/div, this will allow us a better window to see the data.
  • Click the green plus sign and select Bus.
  • In the window that appears select DIO 24-27.
  • Click Add and the window will close.
  • Click Run.

5. Take a Measurement

Connect DIO 24-27 to DIO 28-31.

32406042075_6bfbe74574_b_1_.jpg

6. View your First Measurement

Congratulations! In the logic analyzer window you should see a binary counter. The individual signals are displayed as well as the decoded decimal value.

You've now decoded your first Digital Bus. Keep playing around with the tools and visit forum.digilent.com for questions or technical issues.

Next Steps

For additional resources visit the Digital Discovery Wiki Page. There you'll find the reference manuals, tutorials, downloads, a Fritzing image and more.

For detailed steps about how to install and use WaveForms on Raspberry Pi, follow this guide: Getting Started with Raspberry Pi and a Test and Measurement Device.

For technical support, please visit the Test and Measurement section of Digilent Forum.

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