hps boot from fpga

[Altera_Forum]

I read the pages mentioned that boot from sd card and qspi is relatively about the same file structure, but if boot from fgpa, it is only able to place the uboot in the fpga and the rest of the boot files still remian as in SD card??

[Altera_Forum]

er.. i think for now all example for boot from fgpa is only uboot stayed in fpga and the rest of the files still in SD card.

[Altera_Forum]

You can take a look at http://rocketboards.org/foswiki/view/documentation/bootfromfpga151

[Altera_Forum]

I think the boot from fpga is behave a such right? do we have a method to boot completely from fgpa it self without rely on the SD card?

[Altera_Forum]

how can I have a method that completely place all the boot related files in the fgpa, similar like boot from qspi method?

[Altera_Forum]

so far there is no example for such implementation for FGPA side as i know, since you wanted to be SD card physical free, just use the qspi mode, as also having the same structure like SD card.!

[Altera_Forum]

any weak point that using qspi? what is the benefit if using qspi over sd card?

[Altera_Forum]

the first benefit for using qspi is faster boot up time!

[Altera_Forum]

another good thing is reduce space as the SD card sloting area is occupied some space are.a

[Altera_Forum]

then i should try with the boot from qspi...

[Altera_Forum]

for me the boot for qspi or sd card is the more convenient configuration usage to me. as FGPa one is not keeping all resource in same location

[Altera_Forum]

Without trying to hijacking the thread, are there any examples on how to build u-boot (or any other bare metal application) and convert the binary into a mif file?

[Altera_Forum]

It is not possible to place uboot in the FPGA. It is to big. There is only 64kB available for software in the FPGA.  

It is only possible to put a preloader in the FPGA. A preloader is a tiny program that configures clocks, SDRAM, etc and the loads uboot from SD, QSPI, etc.   There are two common preloader available: SPL and MPL. SPL is part of uboot distribution, but compiles as a separate binary.  MPL is from Altera.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, 

 The non volatile memory to be used for holding the uboot has to be connected to FPGA fabric or HPS fabric ? Can anyone please specify.  Thanks & Regards, Nanjunda M

[Altera_Forum]

It's up to you. I have a EMMC connected to det HPS and a SD-card connected to SD IP in FPGA. My preloader can boot from both.

[Altera_Forum]

I want to boot from FPGA. Preloader I'll embedd in my .sof and the same I'll store in the dedicated EPCQ. 

But what about the u-boot image ? Where should I store this image ? Can it be stored in a memory that is interfaced to FPGA ? or it has to be memory device connected to the HPS only ?  Thanks, Nanjunda M

[Altera_Forum]

Sorry for my misleading answer. It does not matter if your preloader is loaded from external memory or is embedded in the FPGA, you can still load u-boot external from memory connected to HPS or FPGA. In my case, I can boot from both.  

 It's easiest to use SPL as preloader. SPL is part of u-boot. You can also use MPL from Altera. Both works fine.  Check out this page: https://rocketboards.org/foswiki/documentation/socswws1introtoalterasocdeviceslab1preloader   Good luck!

[Altera_Forum]

Can I use a parallel flash /serial flash for storing my u-boot image and interfaced to FPGA ? 

Is there any flash parts recommended for connection to FPGA fabric for using for HPS boot ?  I would prefer using SPL than MPL.  Thanks & Regards, Nanjunda M

[Altera_Forum]

You can use any flash, eeprom or other memory if you can read the data from it and write to RAM.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi  

 Is there any working solutions with Parallel flash ? Any part numbers in particular/tested?  Regards, Nanjunda

[Altera_Forum]

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