OK, I think I figured it out. The operating sequence is:
1) Create your bit file from Xilinx ISE as you would normally.
2) Open a shell window to your project's directory containing the bit file.
3) Execute the following, in order:
Code:
] sudo djtgcfg enum
-- on my system, the FPGA board will have the "user name" of "Nexys2"
] sudo djtgcfg init -d Nexys2
-- on my system, the FPGA is at JTAG index 0, and the flash for it on index 1.
] sudo djtgcfg prog -d Nexys2 -i 0 -f toplevel.bit
-- If the board is set for JTAG clocking, this will program the FPGA immediately, without affecting the flash. This is a great way to try out changes to your design without overwriting a known-good flash configuration. Useful for public demos!
Well now, that was easier than I expected. Digilent could have saved me three hours of Google research if they'd just written this up in a text file somewhere.
Knowing this, I can now confirm unequivocally that the Nexys2 does in fact work quite well with Linux!