Main Page

Welcome to the main wiki page for CprE 488!

We hope that, as this wiki develops, you will find useful information as you work on the CprE 488 labs. Also, as you discover new tips and tricks, consider contributing as well. Editing is very straightforward - click the "log in" link in the upper right-hand corner and use your usual university ID and password. Please see the MediaWiki page for further details on how to edit.

ZedBoard Tricks and Tips

Auto-loading a design using the sdcard. When jumpers MIO 4 and MIO 5 on the ZedBoard are shorted to 3v3, the board looks for a BOOT.BIN file in the top-level directory of the sdcard. The BOOT.BIN needs to contain the following three files, in this order:

1. A First Stage Boot Loader (FSBL) executable that checks system configuration registers and programs the programmable logic with the appropriate bitfile.
2. A system.bit file created during the conventional XPS build process.
3. An application that will be loaded after the bitfile programming.

Xilinx provides a template for generating the FSBL project. Select "New -> Application Project" in XSDK, name the project zynq_fsbl, and choose the First Stage Bootloader as one of the project template. You should not have to change any of the files in the project, and it will automatically build.

Assuming you then have some other application you would like to load during the boot process, first select that application, then select "Xilinx Tools -> Create Boot Image". This utility should automatically find the three files needed to generate the BOOT.BIN file. Select where you'd like the output files to be generated. Once the .bin file is generated, rename it to BOOT.BIN and copy to your sdcard.

SDK Tricks and Tips

Matching a BSP to a software project. When an XPS system is exported to SDK, a Board Support Package (BSP) is created that provides drivers for the various peripherals in your design. Any new software projects will be based on this BSP, but on occasion, any existing (or newly imported) projects will still access older BSPs. This is a common cause of missing header files during compilation. To resolve this, right-click on your software project in XSDK, and select "Change Referenced BSP". Selecting the appropriate BSP will update your project to look at the right headers and libraries.

MP-0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: A:

General Software Help

Remote Linux access:

• Download and install NX Client
• Connect to one of the standard remotely accessible Linux machines: ISU Remote Access Servers