Building ReconOS for Microblaze

[srikanth s]

Hi,

I am trying to build the ReconOS for Microblaze on a virtex 7 device. I find that the git repository: git://git.xilinx.com/xldk/microblaze_v2.0_le.git

does not exist anymore. Can you point me to where I can get the same?

Thanks and Regards,

Srikanth

[Christoph Rüthing]

Hi Srikanth,

sorry for the late reply. If i try to clone the repository, it works perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, the entire gnu-toolchain for the microblaze is rather buggy.
Compiling busybox with the recent toolchain provided by Xilinx does not work
properly and therefore we are using the really old microblaze_v2.0 compiler.

If you have any further problems feel free to ask.

Yours,
Christoph

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[srikanth s]

Hello Christoph,

Thank you for the reply. Since I have to play with the HW and SW I have access to, can you broadly tell me how to build this for a newer device like the Virtex7. What are the steps I have to follow.

Regards,

Srikanth

[Christoph Rüthing]

Hello Srikanth,

in general, ReconOS works independently from the underlying FPGA-architecture and there should be no problem to use it on a Virtex-7 device together with the Xilinx ISE toolchain. (Vivado is not supported). Since you are the first one using ReconOS on a Virtex-7 device, there exists no reference design for your board and you have to create your own one. Don't worry, this is really not so complicated. If you tell me on which hardware you are actually working, i can try to create an appropriate reference design for you.

When you have setup a suitable reference design, i would suggest to follow the step by step guide for the microblaze (docs/stepbystep/microblaze_linux.txt) to get a running installation. I also suggest to skip the compilation of the root filesystem (steps 2.1, 3.3) and use the one provided on our homepage (http://reconos.de/gettingstarted/resources/rootfs_microblaze.tar.gz). This also eliminates the need for the old compiler mentioned before.

Although the step by step guide was written for the ML605, there should be no big differences for you (of course you must use the newly created reference design). I have revised the guide again, to guarantee that it really works. You can also use the newest kernel version if you want.

After you have the first demo running, you can start to get more familiar with ReconOS and develop your own application.

Yours,
Christoph

P.S. Just for interest, what kind of application are you going to develop with ReconOS?

[Christoph Rüthing]

Hello Srikanth,

i have tried to create a reference design for you, but since i have no Virtex-7 device here i cannot test it. Do you have experience using the microblaze together with Linux and do you have a working microblaze design including the DDR3 memory i can build up on?

Yours,
Christoph

[Christoph Rüthing]

Hello Srikanth,

sorry, but i was fairly busy the last days. Attached to this mail you will find a basic EDK project for your board. Due to the lack of a Virtex 7 device i could not test it. The design includes the microblaze processor, a UART controller and the DDR3 memory (i think normal Ethernet is not present on the VC709). What might cause problems is the DDR3 controller. Unfortunately, there are no EDK reference designs provided by Xilinx for your board and i tried to do my best fiddling it together. So you might need to modify some things.

Then i would to suggest that you familiarize yourself with Linux on the microblaze and get a simple installation running. The following documents might be useful (unfortunately they are all for the ML605):
  - ReconOS StepByStep-Guide for the microblaze: https://github.com/ReconOS/reconos/blob/master/docs/stepbystep/microblaze_linux.txt
  - A Tutorial by Eli Billauer: http://billauer.co.il/blog/2011/08/linux-microblaze-howto-tutorial-primer-1/

The StepByStep-Guid should fit quite well. You might use a device tree from a ML605 reference design and adjust it to the new design. Instead of mount the root filesystem via NFS i would suggest to use an initramfs by simply specifying the path to it in the kernel configuration.

If Linux works, you can send me the EDK project again and i will commit it as a new ReconOS reference design. Then you can start working with ReconOS.

Regards,
Christoph

On 04/24/2014 11:13 AM, srikanth s wrote: