Example Project for Hardware Verification Uses Outdated drivers for PCI Express

[Embeddedesigner]

So I'm trying to download the design example as explained in the L-tile and H-tile Avalon® Memorymapped Intel® FPGA IP for PCI Express* User Guide, and even the MM+ variant, or even the Avalon ST design example but I am running into known issues. 

As noted in the Memorymapped Intel® FPGA IP for PCI Express* User Guide, on p. 18 it says "Operating System: CentOS 7.0, 64-bit with 3.10.514 kernel compiled for x86_64
architecture"   Please note, this CentOS was released almost 10 years ago in 2016. 

I can compile the code in Quartus in CentOS 10 (coughlin) which is the streaming version that uses a completely different kernel 6.12, so it will not work or compile with errors using the instructions on p. 23.  I also have a dual boot setup with Windows 11 being my main OS, but even then the design example relies on a Linux OS. 

I have a modern PC (Asus motherboard with AMD Ryzen 9 7950x3D) that is unable to run CentOS 7.3 (1611) with the 3.10.514 kernel, nor can I run a VM to run this.  The hardware is simply way too new for this architecture. 

Can someone please assist at a solution?  I have seen earlier FPGA boards that provides complete driver solutions and designs for the Aria based boards and supplies software and drivers for Windows users, as noted in AN708, but none of the newer FPGA, like Stratix 10 which I'm working on.  

[ventt]

Hi Embeddedesigner, 

Thanks for reaching out. 

Based on your description, it appears there are no issues when compiling the design example in Quartus. However, you are encountering driver compatibility issues when attempting to install the driver on newer Linux systems. 

Unfortunately, in the official release, we currently only provide the Linux driver for CentOS 7.0 (64-bit) with the 3.10.514 kernel. Windows drivers are not supported. Users will need to manually update the Linux driver’s kernel API to ensure compatibility with their current operating system. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Thanks. 

Best Regards, 

Ven 

[ventt]

Hi Embeddedesigner, 

Please let me know if you have any further questions on this forum. 

Thanks. 

Best Regards, 

Ven 

[Embeddedesigner]

I would like community feedback on this, so you can close this out and transition this so others may comment on this. I was unable to simply update the kernel device drivers, because the API device drivers are tied to a specific kernel build, in this instance, CentOS 7.3 is the only OS that has the 3.10.514 kernel that was used to build the example project.  

[ventt]

Hi Embeddedesigner,

Thank you for your reply. 

With that, I will transition this forum to community support. 

Thanks. 

Best Regards, 

Ven