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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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20 years ago

flash programmer

Does the Quartus flash programmer support to program raw binary images not created within eclipse IDE?

4 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Hi klingler,

    You can use bin2flash with nios2-flash-programmer as well.

    Works great.

    Regards,

    --Scott
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Hi Scott,

    It sounds like you've got some experience with bin2flash. What are the pros & cons of using bin2flash vs. the zipfile system?

    And assuming you're using bin2flash, how does the Nios code know where to address the data? Is there some way to generate a header file with the base address, or something like that?

    thanks,

    Carol
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Hi Carol,

    > What are the pros & cons of using bin2flash vs. the zipfile system?

    bin2flash is just a utility to convert a binary file into a flash file. The flash file

    is basically an S-Record file you can use with the flash programmer. The Read-Only

    Zip Filing System on the other hand, is a file system supported by the HAL. It lets

    you access files stored in an image in flash memory.

    bin2flash and nios2-flash-programmer is handy when you're using a file system like

    cramfs or jffs2 ... or when you just want to program raw data into flash somewhere.

    > how does the Nios code know where to address the data?

    How your program knows where to find the data is up to you (or the underlying

    drivers ... like mtd in the linux kernel for example).

    > Is there some way to generate a header file with the base address, or something

    > like that?

    Sure ... you can do it however you like. Even a hardcoded base address will do.

    It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish and your run-time environment.

    WRT the zipfile stuff, I've never used it ... but for cramfs/jffs2 they're all basically

    just hardcoded addresses in the mtd mapping drivers.

    Regards,

    --Scott