Utilities for System Packaging

Xilinx® FPGAs and system-on-chip (SoC) devices typically have multiple hardware and software binaries used to boot them to function as designed and expected. These binaries can include FPGA bitstreams, firmware images, bootloaders, operating systems, and user-chosen applications that can be loaded in both non-secure and secure methods.

Bootgen is a Xilinx tool that lets you stitch binary files together and generate device boot images. Bootgen defines multiple properties, attributes and parameters that are input while creating boot images for use in a Xilinx device.

1. Select the application project in Explorer view.
2. Right-click the application and select Create Boot Image to open the Create Boot Image dialog box.
3. Specify the boot loader and the partitions.
   
   
4. Click Create Image to create the image and generate the BOOT.bin in the <Application_project_name>/_ide/bootimage folder.

For more information about the Bootgen utility, refer to the Bootgen User Guide (UG1283).

Program Flash is a Vitis software platform used to program the flash memories in the design. Various types of flash types are supported for programming.

• For non Zynq devices – Parallel Flash (BPI) and Serial Flash (SPI) from various makes such as Micron and Spansion.
• For Zynq devices – QSPI, NAND, and NOR. QSPI can used in different configurations such as QSPI SINGLE, QSPI DUAL PARALLEL, and QSPI DUAL STACKED.

The options available on the Program Flash Memory dialog box are as follows:

Hardware Platform

Select the hardware platform you plan to use.

Connection

Select the connection to hardware server.

Device

Select a device. Auto Detect selects the first device on the chain, by default.

Image File

Select the file to write to the flash memory.

• Zynq devices:
  • Supported file formats for qspi flash types are BIN or MCS formats.
  • Supported file formats for nor and nand types are only BIN format.
• Non Zynq devices:
  • Supported types for flash parts in non Zynq devices are BIT, ELF, SREC, MCS, BIN.

Offset

Specify the offset relative to the Flash Base Address, where the file should be programmed.

Note: Offset is not required for MCS files.

FSBL File

The FSBL .elf file is mandatory for the NOR flash types in Zynq devices.

Note: Not required for non Zynq devices.

Flash Type

Select a flash type.

• Zynq devices:
  • qspi_single
  • qspi_dual_parallel
  • qspi_dual_stacked
  • nand_8
  • nand_16
  • nor
  • emmc
    Note: emmc flash type is applicable for Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC devices only.
• Non Zynq devices:
  • The flash type drop down list is populated based on the FPGA detected in the connection. If the connection to hardware server does not exist, an error message stating "Could not retrieve Flash Part information. Please check hardware server connection" is displayed on the dialog box. Based on the device detected, the dialog populates all the flash parts supported for the device.

Note: Appropriate part can be selected based on design. For Xilinx boards, the part name can found from the respective boards’ user guide.

Convert ELF to Bootable SREC format and program

The ELF file provided as the image file is converted into SREC format and programmed. This is a typical use case in non zynq devices. The SREC bootloader can be built and used to read the SREC converted ELF from flash, load it into RAM and boot.

Blank check after erase

The blank check is performed to verify if the erase operation was properly done. The contents are read back and check if the region erased is blank.

Verify after Flash

The verify operation is cross check the flash programming operation. The flash contents are read back and cross checked against the programmed data.