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MK_ABQ's avatar
MK_ABQ
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3 years ago
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Question on board update portal - Intel Arria 10 GX Development kit

Hi,

The Intel Arria 10 GX Development kit (DK-DEV-10AX115S-A)

comes with a board update portal. I have the following three questions about that. Can you kindly answer them?

1) I see that the board update portal project has a .qsys file. It uses NIOS core, and then uses SGDMA controller. Once we program the sof from this project, then the board is expected to get an IP address and display on the LCD screen. Where can we see the software part ( C coding) for this project?

2) Can I connect the development kit to the HOST PC directly through an Ethernet RJ45 cable, and once I program SOF, expect the IP address to display on LCD panel of the dev kit?. Is my expectation correct?.

3) Do I need any router in between Host PC and the Development kit or can I just connect the PC and the dev kit directly?

Thanks

10 Replies

  • KellyJialin_Goh's avatar
    KellyJialin_Goh
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    3 years ago

    Hi,

    Greeting and welcome to Intel's forum. I will reply to your question accordingly.


    Question 1:The source code for the Board Update Portal design resides in the <package dir>\examples\board_update_portal directory.

    Question 2: Attach the Ethernet cable from the board to your LAN. Power up the board. The board connects to the LAN’s gateway router, and obtains an IP address. The LCD on the board displays the IP address.


    Question 3: The Intel® Arria® 10 GX Transceiver Signal Integrity Development Kit includes integrated USB-Blaster circuitry for FPGA programming. However, for the host computer and board to communicate, you must install the USB-Blaster driver on the host computer.


    Installation instructions for the USB-Blaster driver for your operating system are available on the Altera website: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/programmable/support-resources/download/dri-index.html?erpm_id=12295293_ts1673493238639 . Locate the table entry for your configuration and click the link to access the instructions.


    You mat find all the relevant information about the Arria 10 GX Board Update Portal with this link here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683553/current/board-update-portal.html


    Hope this clarifies your doubts and feel free to share your findings.


    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Kelly


    • MK_ABQ's avatar
      MK_ABQ
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      3 years ago

      Hi Kelly,

      Thanks for your clear and concise response. Highly appreciate it. I have further questions regarding your response.

      Question 1

      Kelly : The source code for the Board Update Portal design resides in the <package dir>\examples\board_update_portal directory.

      MK: Yes, I noticed the source code directory. I am interested in looking into the NIOS eclipse portion of the code. Inside the source code directory I am able to see the qsys (platform designer) file, and sof (output file) and all the IP blocks. But, I am interested in seeing the software part where there would be bunch of C files (in current quartus version it's done with Eclipse). I would like to understand how the board update portal source code has handled the software. Once I open the directory, this is what I see, I am expecting a folder named "software" or some folder which contains all the software files ( C files). Where can I find it?

      Question 2:

      Kelly : Attach the Ethernet cable from the board to your LAN. Power up the board. The board connects to the LAN’s gateway router, and obtains an IP address. The LCD on the board displays the IP address.

      MK: Let's say if I connect the board to the computer's ethernet port as shown in the image below, is this good enough?. The host PC in the lab is connected to a LAN and it has an active internet connection.

      Question 3:

      Kelly: The Intel® Arria® 10 GX Transceiver Signal Integrity Development Kit includes integrated USB-Blaster circuitry for FPGA programming. However, for the host computer and board to communicate, you must install the USB-Blaster driver on the host computer.

      MK: Thanks for the explanation above. I am able to program the sof into the fpga board from my host PC. However, my question was a bit vague, so hence I would like to clarify more. Let's say once I connect the ethernet cable from the host computer to the board, and then power on the board, I am expecting an IP address to be shown in the LCD. I verified that the development board factory settings are correct. I removed the ethernet cable from host pc and board and plugged it back again just to make sure the connection is proper. But still, I am only seeing "Net initialize" in the LCD screen and not an IP address. So what am I missing ( I thought maybe if we need any router between host computer and fpga board?. Should I check something with my host computer ip config or settings? Can you help?

      Thanks

  • KellyJialin_Goh's avatar
    KellyJialin_Goh
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    3 years ago

    Hi MK,

    Thanks for your swift response. I will answer to your questions accordingly.


    Question 1: As the Board Update Portal is stored in the factory portion of the flash memory on the board, therefore it is by default ready to be used and do not have a .c file for your reference.


    Question 2: You may try it on your side to see whether it has the same IP address on both scenarios where from your LAN to hostPC by ipconfig on Command prompt, and from LAN to hostPC then to the board to verify the method mentioned is workable.


    Question 3: Might be due to a corrupting issue, so if the Board Update Portal is corrupted or deleted from the flash memory, refer to “Restoring the Flash Device to the Factory Settings” to restore the board with its original factory contents with the link here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683553/current/restoring-the-flash-device-to-the-factory.html

    You can go ahead to try out if a router can solve your issue too.


    Once again, you may refer to the user guide's link which was attached from the previous post for your references. Looking forward to your findings.

    Thank you.


    Regards,

    Kelly


  • MK_ABQ's avatar
    MK_ABQ
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    3 years ago

    Hi Kelly,

    The response for Question 1 is clear. Now, moving to questions 2 & 3 to dig deeper.

    2. "You may try it on your side to see whether it has the same IP address on both scenarios where from your LAN to hostPC by ipconfig on Command prompt, and from LAN to hostPC then to the board to verify the method mentioned is workable".

    MK: I can do an ipconfig in host pc and check the IPV4 address of the PC. What should I check once I get this IP address? and also What do you mean by "and from LAN to hostPC then to the board to verify the method mentioned is workable". I do not quite understand this. Can you brief more please?

    3. I tried factory restore. It took about 15 minutes for all sof and one pof file to be updated. But once I open the Board test system application, I got the following window. Does this mean anything?. I am not quite sure that eventhough the following warning "failed to get this device" is displayed, once I click okay and give factory restore, I saw a dialogue box which showed several sof files being uploaded. Can you give me more info on this?

    Thanks

  • KellyJialin_Goh's avatar
    KellyJialin_Goh
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    3 years ago

    Hi MK,

    Sorry I may have made some confusion in between, but let me clarify things here.


    Question 2: I'm afraid you may need a hostPC with a connection to working Ethernet port on a DHCP enabled network and a separate ethernet port connected to the same network for the board.


    You may also check here: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/programmable/support-resources/bulk-container/pdfs/literature/ug/ug-a10-si-dev-kit.pdf

    -Connecting to the Board Update Portal Web page for the steps to display the IP address.


    Question 3: With performing the steps below, the factory reset will not have issues according to the link here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683553/current/restoring-the-flash-device-to-the-factory.html


    Here is the Arria 10GX Transceiver Signal Integrity DevKit User Guide for your reference: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/programmable/support-resources/bulk-container/pdfs/literature/ug/ug-a10-si-dev-kit.pdf

    Kindly have a look at the Board Update Portal section where you might find some additional answers.


    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Kelly



    • MK_ABQ's avatar
      MK_ABQ
      Icon for Contributor rankContributor
      3 years ago

      Hello Kelly,

      Once I connected my hostPC with a connection to working Ethernet port on a DHCP enabled network and a separate ethernet port connected to the same network for the board, the issue is resolved and now I can see the board acquiring an IP and the IP address is displayed in the LCD panel.

      Now, I have two more questions.

      1) Let's say if I program a new SOF into the board, and assign a new IP address through Eclipse, will the IP be overwritten with new IP?

      2) You mentioned the following on board update portal source codes

      As the Board Update Portal is stored in the factory portion of the flash memory on the board, therefore it is by default ready to be used and do not have a .c file for your reference

      I would like to know why the C files are not provided?. Why is only the partial project source code is provided and not the software part (C files)? Please advice.

      Thanks,

      MK

  • KellyJialin_Goh's avatar
    KellyJialin_Goh
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    3 years ago

    Hi MK,

    Thank you for your swift response. I will answer your question accordingly.


    Question 1: You may try it out on your side to see whether it changes. According to the reference with the link here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/programmable/683553/current/programming-flash-memory-using-the-nios.html

    It is not recommended or mentioned to change your IP address, unless you have a significant reason of doing it.


    Question 2: The C code algorithm of the Board Update Portal is private and confidential so it is not available for release. The available source code files are already mentioned in the previous post above.


    Hope this clarifies your doubts.

    Thank you.


    Regards,

    Kelly


  • MK_ABQ's avatar
    MK_ABQ
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    3 years ago

    Hi Kelly,

    Thanks for the info and response. Since the Board update portal is now working. we can close this thread.

  • KellyJialin_Goh's avatar
    KellyJialin_Goh
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    3 years ago

    Hi,

    I’m glad that your question has been addressed, I now transition this thread to community support. If you have a new question, 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.


    p/s: If any answer from the community or Intel Support are helpful, please feel free to give best answer or rate 4/5 survey.


    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Kelly Jialin, GOH


  • MK_ABQ's avatar
    MK_ABQ
    Icon for Contributor rankContributor
    3 years ago

    Hi Kelly,

    The link provided to give feedback doesn't seem to work.