Subject: Re: NetBSD on FPGA
To: Jean-Francois Boudreault <jfboudre@gel.ulaval.ca>
From: Jachym Holecek <freza@liberouter.org>
List: port-powerpc
Date: 02/03/2006 17:54:45
Hello,

> I'm trying to get NetBSD boot on a Xilinx FPGA board with PPC405 
> processor. I started my port from evbppc-port but I can't get any 
> output on serial port when booting my netbsd image on the board.

What board+chip+design are you using? I'm working with
Virtex4-FX/ML403 board/"Gigabit ethernet system reference
design". I just need to finish & tune TEMAC driver, cleanup
the code and the basic port can go public.

> - I got Montavista Linux to boot on the board, I know we need to 
> generate librairies from Xilinx EDK and use them for kernel 
> compiltation. The libairies contain the hardware configuration from 
> FPGA (like uart base address, etc.). Do I need to setup these 
> hardware addresses in NetBSD kernel and where do I put them in the 
> evbppc-port sources before compiling the kernel?

I'm currently not using EDK-generated data in kernel build process,
though it might get useful with more complex designs. Instead, I just
keep all base addresses and interrupt wiring a compile-time
option -- the kernel config file sets them to correct values for
given design.

> - The board can boot a zImage elf file from Linux kernel compilation. 
> Can I use directly netbsd kernel file or do I need to put the kernel 
> in some other format?

You can donwload (any) ELF file via JTAG from XMD commandline -- see
"dow", "start", "stop" commands. With the USB cable, the speed
finally isn't Frustrating as it was with older parallel cables. This
is probably the easiest option in early phase of development.

Other than that, proper boot procedure will depend on your exact
board+design+bootloader which you don't describe...

	-- Jachym