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BigSid's avatar
BigSid
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
1 year ago

Converting .sof to .flash in Nios II Command Shell

I've got an Arria 10 GX FPGA Development Board (DK-DEV-10AX115S-A) and am trying to convert a .sof file to a .flash file for use with the board. I'm using Quartus Prime Standard 23.1.

I'm referring to these instructions to attempt to do that:

Step 2 instructs to navigate to the .sof file while in the Nios II Command Shell. How is this done?

Without navigating, I've entered the Step 2 text but received this message when completed:

No .flash file appears to have been created.

How can I create a .flash file?

Any help would be appreciated - thanks.

Board Debug

17 Replies

    • BigSid's avatar
      BigSid
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      1 year ago

      Hi Aik Eu,

      Thanks for the document. I 've read it but still don't understand the problem.

      Would it be easier to generate the .flash file using the Nios II Flash Programmer GUI? I've tried to start the GUI from the Nios II Command Shell by following the instructions shown on page 9 of your document but get this:

      Any guidance would be appreciated - thanks.

  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    You will need to source the Nios2_coomand_shell in your terminal then only can run the sof2flash cmd.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


    • aikeu's avatar
      aikeu
      Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
      1 year ago

      Run the nios2_command_shell in the correct directory path in your terminal.

      Then only run the sof2flash in your nios2_command_shell terminal in the correct directory path where your sof file allocated.

  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    Do let me know if you have further question.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


  • BigSid's avatar
    BigSid
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi Aik Eu,

    I've opened the Nios II Command Shell from its installed folder. Do I also need to copy and paste my design's .sof file into that same folder to create a .flash file using the command shell? Please list the needed steps.

    Thanks.

  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    You do not need to copy and paste the .sof file into the same folder.

    As long as Nios II command shell is enabled in your terminal, you will just required to go to the directory path with your project .sof file and execute sof2flash.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


    • BigSid's avatar
      BigSid
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      1 year ago

      Hi Aik Eu,

      Sorry, but I don't understand. The Nios II command shell is opened and I've entered the command to create a .flash file:

      The error "sof2flash: command not found" is given.

      How do I go to the directory path with my project .sof file and execute sof2flash? I don't know what that means. Do I do that in the command shell? If so, how? How do I execute sof2flash?

      I appreciate your patience here but I just got the development kit and have never needed to create a .flash file before.

      Thanks.

    • BigSid's avatar
      BigSid
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      1 year ago

      Hi Aik Eu,

      I've added the .exe extension and now get this:

      I'm listing a valid .sof file for this design. Does it need to be in a certain folder/location for this sof2flash.exe command to work? If so, where?

      Thanks.

      • sstrell's avatar
        sstrell
        Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
        1 year ago

        Are you in the directory where the .sof file is located? If not, you have to include the path to it in --input= or cd to where it is located before issuing the command.

  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    Ya same according to SStrell comment, you will need to be in the directory of where your .sof file has been generated then only run the sof2flash command.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    I will closing the thread if no further question.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    As we do not receive any response from you on the previous question/reply/answer that we have provided. Please login to ‘https://supporttickets.intel.com’, view details of the desire request, and post a feed/response within the next 15 days to allow me to continue to support you. After 15 days, this thread will be transitioned to community support. The community users will be able to help you on your follow-up questions.


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu


    • BigSid's avatar
      BigSid
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      1 year ago

      Hi Aik Eu,

      I've put the .sof file into the same folder as the Nios II Command Shell.bat file.

      Now I attempt to run the sof2flash.exe command and get this:

      Any idea what's happening now and how to proceed?

      Thanks.

  • aikeu's avatar
    aikeu
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi BigSid,


    You dont need to copy your file to the same directory with the Nios ii command shell executable.

    You just need to be in the directory to run the sof2flash cmd Nios ii command shell has been enabled.

    I suspect how you run the command and input parameters wrongly. I think the way the run the command example is something like the below example:


    Converts standard.sof to an S-record file named standard_cfi.flash intended for a

    CFI flash memory. The S-record offset begins at 0x0.

    sof2flash --offset=0x0 --input=standard.sof \ --output=standard_cfi.flash



    You can refer further details the cmd is run in the document Nios ii programmer guide:

    https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/666773/ug_nios2_flash_programmer-683118-666773.pdf


    Thanks.

    Regards,

    Aik Eu