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Andrew099's avatar
Andrew099
Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
2 years ago
Solved

BSP fails to build for FreeRTOS on a Nios V with UART

I have a Nios V on a Max 10 with a UART (RS-232 Serial Port) Intel FPGA IP (and also JTAG UART). When I opened up the BSP editor, I selected FreeRTOS and went with all the defaults and made a BSP. However, when I try building a bare bones hello world C program, the BSP fails to build. It says that the BSP source file altera_avalon_uart_init.c has OS_FLAG_SET as undeclared, and similarly, it says the BSP file altera_avalon_uart_read.c has OS_FLAG_WAIT_SET_ANY undeclared. Also, altera_avalon_uart_write.c has OS_FLAG_CONSUME undeclared. How do I get the BSP to build?

I can use UART with HAL rather than FreeRTOS, and it works fine for the Nios V.

(I am using Quartus 23.1 STD.)

Nios Cpu
  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    2 years ago

    In the "freertos/drivers/src/":


    • intel_lw_uart_init.c
      • line 228~:

    if (sp->tx_start == ((sp->tx_end + 1) & ALT_AVALON_UART_BUF_MSK))

    {

    ALT_FLAG_POST (sp->events,

    ALT_UART_WRITE_RDY,

    ALT_FLAG_SET);

    }


    • intel_lw_uart_read.c
      • line 205~:

    ALT_FLAG_PEND (sp->events,

    ALT_UART_READ_RDY,

    ALT_FLAG_WAIT_SET_ANY_WITH_CONSUME,

    ALT_FLAG_WAIT_MAX_TIMEOUT);


    • intel_lw_uart_write.c
      • line 192~:

    ALT_FLAG_PEND (sp->events,

    ALT_UART_WRITE_RDY,

    ALT_FLAG_WAIT_SET_ANY_WITH_CONSUME,

    ALT_FLAG_WAIT_MAX_TIMEOUT);



22 Replies

  • Andrew099's avatar
    Andrew099
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    2 years ago

    Sure, I attached a Quartus archive of an example where the BSP won't build.

    The C file doesn't have to have any substance to it. The following is fine:

    // main.c
int main() {
   return 0;
}
    1. Open the Quartus project using Quartus 23.1 STD, and compile it.
    2. Create a BSP:
      • enter a niosv shell and open the BSP editor
      • select the sopcinfo file
      • select FreeRTOS
      • go with all other defaults
      • generate
    3. Use the niosv-app to create a cmake file.
    4. Run cmake and then make. (I'm using Linux.)
  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    2 years ago

    Hi,


    Thanks a lot for the info provided, let me test this on our side.


    Also, could you provide the Quartus build version? You can find this in the "Help" tab in Quartus.


    • andy25's avatar
      andy25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      2 years ago

      mailbox_simple doesnt compile either:

      /projects/c5_nios/software/freertos_bsp/drivers/src/altera_avalon_mailbox_simple.c:36:10: fatal error: nios2.h: No such file or directory
   36 | #include "nios2.h"
      |          ^~~~~~~~~

      This is FreeRTOS for NiosV Quartus Prime Lite 23.1 Build 991.

  • Andrew099's avatar
    Andrew099
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    2 years ago

    Thanks. I'm using Quartus Pime Version 23.1std.0 Build 991 11/28/2023 SC Standard Edition

  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    2 years ago

    Hi,


    I am a bit caught up on my side, I will try to get the test in the next few days.


    Thank you for your patience, I shall get back to you soon.


    • andy25's avatar
      andy25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      2 years ago

      "On-Chip Flash Intel FPGA IP" doesnt compile either:

      In file included from freertos_bsp/drivers/src/altera_onchip_flash.c:32:
freertos_bsp/drivers/src/altera_onchip_flash.c: In function 'alt_onchip_flash_erase_block':
freertos_bsp/HAL/inc/io.h:126:34: error: expected expression before 'do'
  126 | #define SWIO(BASE, OFFSET, DATA) do {                   \
      |                                  ^~
      • Broddo's avatar
        Broddo
        Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
        2 years ago

        I've experienced this one as well. The reason is that the do {} while(0) is surrounded by a brace due to the macro expansion in altera_onchip_flash_regs.h

        You can fix it by modifying each of the macros altera_onchip_flash_regs.h and removing the outermost brackets like so:

        Old:

        #define ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_ENABLE_WRITE_AND_ERASE_OPERATION(base)              \
    (                                                                           \
        IOWR_ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL((base),                                \
            (IORD_ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL((base))                           \
            &                                                                   \
                ~(                                                              \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_ALLSECTOR_WRITE_PROTECT_MSK |   \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_PAGE_ERASE_MSK |                \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_SECTOR_ERASE_MSK                \
                )                                                               \
            )                                                                   \
            |                                                                   \
                (                                                               \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_ALLSECTOR_WRITE_ENABLE |        \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_PAGE_ERASE_NOT_SET |            \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_SECTOR_ERASE_NOT_SET            \
                )                                                               \
        )                                                                       \
    )

        Modified:

        #define ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_ENABLE_WRITE_AND_ERASE_OPERATION(base)              \
        IOWR_ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL((base),                                \
            (IORD_ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL((base))                           \
            &                                                                   \
                ~(                                                              \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_ALLSECTOR_WRITE_PROTECT_MSK |   \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_PAGE_ERASE_MSK |                \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_SECTOR_ERASE_MSK                \
                )                                                               \
            )                                                                   \
            |                                                                   \
                (                                                               \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_ALLSECTOR_WRITE_ENABLE |        \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_PAGE_ERASE_NOT_SET |            \
                    ALTERA_ONCHIP_FLASH_CONTROL_SECTOR_ERASE_NOT_SET            \
                )                                                               \
        )                                                                       \

        @EBERLAZARE_I_Intel Can you flag this to be patched as well? And any news on when the UART fix will be submitted? This is affecting me also.

  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    2 years ago

    Hi,


    Thanks for the feedback, I was able to replicate the issue, I will channel this to our internal team.


    I will update to you once we have any new info on this.


    Thank you for your patience.


    • andy25's avatar
      andy25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      2 years ago

      The lightweight uart has the same problem.

    • Andrew099's avatar
      Andrew099
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      2 years ago

      Okay, thank you for looking into it, and yes, please do let me know when you have more info on it.

  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    2 years ago

    Hi,


    We are still working on a patch fix for 23.1 std, I will check again if that will include for 23.1 std lite.


  • EBERLAZARE_I_Intel's avatar
    EBERLAZARE_I_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    2 years ago

    Hi,


    The changes for this error is to change the driver's code "\software\freertos_bsp\drivers\src"and modify the LW_UART HAL API as such (a KDB for this will be published):

    • intel_lw_uart_init.c


    • intel_lw_uart_read.c

    • intel_lw_uart_write.c

    However, for MAX 10, making this changes will increase the size of the .elf, and it would not fit the maximum size for MAX 10's OCRAM due to its size. Thus we regret to inform you, that MAX 10 cannot support FreeRTOS due to its memory limitation. You may continue with the Altera HAL or in the future consider a bigger FPGA.


    • Andrew099's avatar
      Andrew099
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      2 years ago

      I also can't click your images/links.

    • Broddo's avatar
      Broddo
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      2 years ago

      The reason for the large execution size is due to the sneaky call to printf() in the provided vApplicationStackOverflowHook in FreeRTOS:

      void vApplicationStackOverflowHook( TaskHandle_t xTask, char *pcTaskName )
{
    /*  To suspress unused argument warning. */
	( void ) xTask;

    printf("Stack overflow task is %s \r\n",pcTaskName);
    taskDISABLE_INTERRUPTS();
    __asm volatile( "ebreak" );
    for( ;; );
}

      This pulls in large chunks of the standard library and completely bloats the code. Simply disabling the stack overflow check in the BSP is enough to shrink the code size enough to fit in the OCRAM on a MAX10 no problem. I'd suggest removing this and using one of the ALT_LOG functions going forward.