Digital Signal Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
18.7 Configuring the DE Board
Configuring the DE board to run µClinux requires two steps. The FPGA must
be configured to implement the Nios II processor system, and then the µClinux
kernel image must be downloaded into SDRAM. Both configuration steps can
be accomplished via the
Nios II 7.1 Command Shell
, which is available on the
Windows Start menu
Altera
Nios II EDS 7.1
Nios II 7.1 Command Shell
.
The Command Shell window is a Cygwin environment so it will behave
similarly to a Linux shell. Change directories to get to the folder where the
reference design for Chapter 18 resides. For example, if you copied the chap18
folder from the DVD to the C:\altera\qdesigns\ directory, then you would need
to type the following commands:
cd c:
cd altera/qdesigns/chap18/complete
Before configuring the FPGA, verify that the DE board is powered on and a
USB cable is connected between your PC and the USB Blaster port on the DE
board. Configure the FPGA with the .sof file provided with the reference design
by running the following command:
nios2-configure-sof rpds18.sof
If you have multiple JTAG cables or are programming a board with multiple
FPGAs on it, then you will need to specify some of the optional parameters for
the nios2-configure-sof command. Run
nios2-configure-sof --help
to view additional information about the command-line options for this
program.
The reference µClinux kernel provided here supports a VGA monitor, a PS/2
keyboard or mouse, USB HID devices (i.e., keyboards, mice), USB memory
sticks, Ethernet communication, and serial UART console terminal. (Not all of
these devices are available on the DE1 board.) Attach a 9-pin serial cable
between the DE board and your PC. Use HyperTerminal or another terminal
program (BPS: 115200, Data Bits: 8, Parity: None, Stop Bits: 1, Flow Control:
None) to attach to the µClinux console. The console will allow you to view the
boot-up sequence and interact with the µClinux kernel via a command prompt.
Attach a VGA monitor and PS/2 keyboard to the respective ports on the DE
board. If you are using a DE2 board, you may also attach a USB mouse and
Ethernet cable to the respective ports on the DE2 board. Because there is only
one PS/2 port, it is recommended that you attach a keyboard to the PS/2 port
and a mouse to the USB port or vice versa. A USB hub can be used to if you
need to attach multiple USB devices to the DE2 board.
Once you have connected the appropriate cables, the µClinux kernel image
must be downloaded into the SDRAM chip and processor started executing at
the proper memory address. Type the following command to do both of these
actions at once:
nios2-download -g zImage
