EPCS64 boot configuration

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, I working into the DE2-115 board. I want to save the Nios II program into the EPCS64 memory. (Save SOF content and ELF content into EPCS). I tried a lot of configuration that I have read in forums, etc. I am using Quartus II 64 bits web edition. The design is made in Qysys.  

 I have:  cpu with reset vector to EPCS controller (offset 0, then reset vector = base address of epcs controller=0x00021000). cpu vector exception to onchip memory. I have the jtag debug module properly connected (reset and data bus) Nios CPU has a 50 Mhz ****, and the epcs controller has a clock of 20 Mhz (through altpll).   When I follow these steps:  https://www.altera.com/support/support-resources/knowledge-base/solutions/rd11192013_118.html  but I got an error when I tried to communicate with the EPCS device. (nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --base=0x00021000 hw.flash --debug)  I get this error:  Using cable "USB-Blaster [USB-0]", device 1, instance 0x00 Resetting and pausing target processor: OK Processor data bus width is 32 bits Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021000 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 6123D6C4 00000006 00000000 00000000  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021100 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 6123D6C4 00000006 00000000 00000000  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021200 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 6123D6C4 00000006 00000000 00000000  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021300 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 6123D6C4 00000006 00000000 00000000  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021400 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 6123D6C4 00000006 00000000 00000000  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero No EPCS registers found: tried looking at addresses  0x00021000, 0x00021100, 0x00021200, 0x00021300 and 0x00021400 Leaving target processor paused   What it can be wrong? I cant figure out.  Thank!

[Altera_Forum]

Hi frank2215, 

 Is your Nios processor using an MMU? If so, you will need to add the --mmu switch to your nios2-flash-programmer command line: nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --mmu --base=0x000021000 hw.flash --debug  If that doesn't work then are you sure that the Nios processor is even seeing the flash? Have you confirmed your base address is correct?  Just my two cents.  - Brad

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Hi frank2215,  Is your Nios processor using an MMU? If so, you will need to add the --mmu switch to your nios2-flash-programmer command line: nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --mmu --base=0x000021000 hw.flash --debug  If that doesn't work then are you sure that the Nios processor is even seeing the flash? Have you confirmed your base address is correct?  Just my two cents.  - Brad  --- Quote End ---    Brad,   No, I am not using MMU, just a C application. I tested the EPCS64 downloading in other project a POF configuration and all works fine. I did nit try to write/read operatios. But I guess that the EPCS transactions are made by the FPGA, not the NIOS running any program. The base address is set right (0x00021000). Inmediately I download the SOF file, the leds power on in random fashion. It seems like the configuration is not working, these happens when the reset vector is set to EPCS controller base address.

[Altera_Forum]

Any reason you sent a different clock rate to the epcs controller in qsys? Try using the 50MHz for both NIOS and EPCS controller.

[Altera_Forum]

Is your FPGA configured? Check the LED. If the FPGA isn't configured, use the programmer to load the sof file before using the nios2-flash-programmer command. Also, use the --mmu option if the nios processor you've chosen has an mmu in it regardless of if you are using the mmu or not.

[Altera_Forum]

I testet the epcs controller with 50 Mhz, (the same cpu freq) and does not work. Also tested with 20 mhz (altpll) and does not work as well.  

 I tested exporting the epcs pins to the verilog top level, and I assigned to the pyshical epcs pins. Now I have something new. The FPGA is configured when I download the sof file, if I run the jtag command, I get:  $ jtagconfig -n 1) USB-Blaster [USB-0]  020F70DD EP3C120/EP4CE115  Node 19104600 Nios II# 0  Node 0C006E00 JTAG UART# 0  Design hash 6122D8B3ADF70138D8B4  The processor is running, but if I try to ask for the EPCS I have the following:   nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --base=0x00021000 --debug Using cable "USB-Blaster [USB-0]", device 1, instance 0x00 Resetting and pausing target processor: OK Processor data bus width is 32 bits Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021000 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 0001703A 04C00074 9801483A 9CFFF804 983FFD1E 0000203A  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021100 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 93000237 6300080C 603FFD26 90000335 A8000C26 03010004  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021200 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 02C02004 002EE03A 00000F06 90000335 4000683A 0017883A  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021300 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 003FD006 5280040C 501496FA 701CD07A 729CB03A 843FFFC4  Not here: reserved fields are non-zero Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021400 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 00000260 00000000 00000000 00000001  Valid registers found EPCS signature is 0xFF EPCS device doesn't support RDID command EPCS identifier and signature are all ones - please check for data stuck high No EPCS layout data - looking for section [EPCS-FF] Unable to use EPCS device Leaving target processor paused  I am not using MMU, actually I use the NIOS economyc version which do not have the MMU / MPU support.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi frank2215, 

 The fact that the nios2-flash-programmer found some valid registers @0x00021400 is a good sign.  It appears that that the programmer can't read the ID of the flash IC being used in order to know it's geometry. When I ran into this problem with a 8 MB serial flash IC, the programmer told me I needed to create section [EPCS-010216].  I ended up creating an override file ("nios2-flash-override.txt") and stored it on my system @ c:\altera\14.1\nioseds\bin.   This override file contained the following:   [EPCS-010216]  sector_size - 65536  sector_count = 128  Once I did that, the nios2-flash-programmer recognized my device at the address for the valid registers (which was 0x400 in my case) and I was able to program it.  It sounds like you device ID isn't recognized so you might have to create a section in the override file called [EPCS-FF] with he proper sector size and sector count values for your device. You should be able to find these values from the datasheet for your flash.  Let us know if that helps or if you continue to run into other problems.  - Brad

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, I added the next lines to the nios2-flash-override.txt file: 

 [EPCS-FF]# EPCS64N(lead-free) sector_size = 65536 sector_count = 128  Now I tried to erase all the EPCS memory, using the respective command, but took almost an hour for an EPCS64 memory:  Now I am trying to program it with first the sof file converted to .flash: This is the output:  $ nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --base=0x21400 hw.flash --debug Reading override file "C:/altera/14.0/nios2eds/bin/nios2-flash-override.txt" Using cable "USB-Blaster [USB-0]", device 1, instance 0x00 Resetting and pausing target processor: OK Processor data bus width is 32 bits Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021400 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 00000260 00000000 00000000 00000001  Valid registers found EPCS signature is 0xFF EPCS device doesn't support RDID command Using EPCS size information from section [EPCS-FF] Device size is 8MByte (64Mbit) Erase regions are:  offset 0: 128 x 64K EPCS status is 0xFF  : Checksumming existing contents 00000000 : Verifying existing contents 00000000 : Needs erase then program 00010000 : Verifying existing contents 00010000 : Needs erase then program 00020000 : Verifying existing contents 00020000 : Needs erase then program 00030000 : Verifying existing contents 00030000 : Needs erase then program 00040000 : Verifying existing contents 00040000 : Needs erase then program 00050000 : Verifying existing contents 00050000 : Needs erase then program 00060000 : Verifying existing contents 00060000 : Needs erase then program 00070000 : Verifying existing contents 00070000 : Needs erase then program 00080000 : Verifying existing contents 00080000 : Needs erase then program 00090000 : Verifying existing contents 00090000 : Needs erase then program 000A0000 : Verifying existing contents 000A0000 : Needs erase then program 000B0000 : Verifying existing contents 000B0000 : Needs erase then program 000C0000 : Verifying existing contents 000C0000 : Needs erase then program 000D0000 : Verifying existing contents 000D0000 : Needs erase then program 000E0000 : Verifying existing contents 000E0000 : Needs erase then program 000F0000 : Verifying existing contents 000F0000 : Needs erase then program 00100000 : Verifying existing contents 00100000 : Needs erase then program 00000000 : Reading existing contents 00010000 : Reading existing contents 00020000 : Reading existing contents 00030000 : Reading existing contents 00040000 : Reading existing contents 00050000 : Reading existing contents 00060000 : Reading existing contents 00070000 : Reading existing contents 00080000 : Reading existing contents 00090000 : Reading existing contents 000A0000 : Reading existing contents 000B0000 : Reading existing contents 000C0000 : Reading existing contents 000D0000 : Reading existing contents 000E0000 : Reading existing contents 000F0000 : Reading existing contents 00100000 : Reading existing contents Checksummed/read 15kB in 510.3s 00000000 ( 0%): Erasing 00010000 ( 5%): Erasing 00020000 (11%): Erasing 00030000 (17%): Erasing 00040000 (23%): Erasing 00050000 (29%): Erasing 00060000 (35%): Erasing 00070000 (41%): Erasing 00080000 (47%): Erasing 00090000 (52%): Erasing 000A0000 (58%): Erasing   I guess that the 0x400 offset is due the CycloneIV bootloader, which has 1024 bytes of content. I do not know why took a lot of time to program and erase the memory. Also in one opportunity I guess that the programming was frozen because never pass the 0%.

[Altera_Forum]

Actually it is not frozen, I run the program again and it seems that is working, but it started 3 hours ago... 

 $ nios2-flash-programmer --epcs --base=0x21400 hw.flash --debug Reading override file "C:/altera/14.0/nios2eds/bin/nios2-flash-override.txt" Using cable "USB-Blaster [USB-0]", device 1, instance 0x00 Resetting and pausing target processor: OK Processor data bus width is 32 bits Looking for EPCS registers at address 0x00021400 (with 32bit alignment)  Initial values: 00000000 00000000 00000260 00000000 00000000 00000001  Valid registers found EPCS signature is 0xFF EPCS device doesn't support RDID command Using EPCS size information from section [EPCS-FF] Device size is 8MByte (64Mbit) Erase regions are:  offset 0: 128 x 64K EPCS status is 0xFF  : Checksumming existing contents 00000000 : Verifying existing contents 00000000 : Needs erase then program 00010000 : Verifying existing contents 00010000 : Needs erase then program 00020000 : Verifying existing contents 00020000 : Needs erase then program 00030000 : Verifying existing contents 00030000 : Needs erase then program 00040000 : Verifying existing contents 00040000 : Needs erase then program 00050000 : Verifying existing contents 00050000 : Needs erase then program 00060000 : Verifying existing contents 00060000 : Needs erase then program 00070000 : Verifying existing contents 00070000 : Needs erase then program 00080000 : Verifying existing contents 00080000 : Needs erase then program 00090000 : Verifying existing contents 00090000 : Needs erase then program 000A0000 : Verifying existing contents 000A0000 : Needs erase then program 000B0000 : Verifying existing contents 000B0000 : Needs erase then program 000C0000 : Verifying existing contents 000C0000 : Needs erase then program 000D0000 : Verifying existing contents 000D0000 : Needs erase then program 000E0000 : Verifying existing contents 000E0000 : Needs erase then program 000F0000 : Verifying existing contents 000F0000 : Needs erase then program 00100000 : Verifying existing contents 00100000 : Needs erase then program 00000000 : Reading existing contents 00010000 : Reading existing contents 00020000 : Reading existing contents 00030000 : Reading existing contents 00040000 : Reading existing contents 00050000 : Reading existing contents 00060000 : Reading existing contents 00070000 : Reading existing contents 00080000 : Reading existing contents 00090000 : Reading existing contents 000A0000 : Reading existing contents 000B0000 : Reading existing contents 000C0000 : Reading existing contents 000D0000 : Reading existing contents 000E0000 : Reading existing contents 000F0000 : Reading existing contents 00100000 : Reading existing contents Checksummed/read 15kB in 510.3s 00000000 ( 0%): Erasing 00010000 ( 5%): Erasing 00020000 (11%): Erasing 00030000 (17%): Erasing 00040000 (23%): Erasing 00050000 (29%): Erasing 00060000 (35%): Erasing 00070000 (41%): Erasing 00080000 (47%): Erasing 00090000 (52%): Erasing 000A0000 (58%): Erasing 000B0000 (64%): Erasing 000C0000 (70%): Erasing 000D0000 (76%): Erasing 000E0000 (82%): Erasing 000F0000 (88%): Erasing 00100000 (94%): Erasing Erased 1088kB in 850.6s (1.2kB/s) 00000000 ( 0%): Programming 00010000 ( 5%): Programming 00020000 (11%): Programming

[Altera_Forum]

Hi frank2215, 

 It looks like the programmer is performing the necessary tasks (erasing and programming). But it definitely should not take several hours to complete.  Are you sure you put the correct entries for the sector_size and sector_count variables for your flash? I'm not sure how the programmer will behave if the values don't match the geometry of the flash.  Also, according to your output log, it appears that the programmer thinks it erased 1088kB (~1.09 MB) of data instead of 8 MB. This also seems to be confirmed by the address range the programmer is accessing (0x0010,0000). The programmer should be accessing up to address 0x007F,FFFF (8 MB). You should probably take a closer look at that.  Did the programming ever complete? If so, how long did it take?  - Brad

[Altera_Forum]

Hi Brad,  

 I double checked the sector and sizes. Also I saw into the Terasic demonstrations folder, a folder called EPCS patch, which has the override file which this content:  [EPCS-010216]# EPCS64N(lead-free) sector_size = 65536 sector_count = 128  [EPCS-012018]# EPCS128N(lead-free) sector_size = 262144 sector_count = 64  I put this content, and then the option with FF signature. The kit (DE2-115) has an original EPCS memory from Altera. It is weird, took like 5 hours I guess. But the previous log is not for an "erase-all" instruction, is for a programming image. However something is not working well.