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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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15 years ago

Linux fails when running from flash during boot

Hello,

I have having trouble getting my Linux image to boot completely without a kernel panic.

I have been running my Linux image from RAM and it has been stable for a long time.

I am flashing the SOF file and my linux image using the nios2-flash-programmer-gui. The flashing of the SOF file works fine. When the board comes out of reset, it is clear that the FPGA is configured properly because my HW is functioning.

I am using the nios2-flash-programmer-gui on Windows to convert my 'linux.initramfs.gz' image.

This image works fine when run from RAM, however, I am seeing a couple different errors that result in kernel panic:

- "no cpio magic" (this image)

- "junk in compressed archive" (a couple other images)

It seems like different images fail at different points, possibly based on size. I am curious if there is a conflict in the flash space. The image I am running is 3.6MB.

If someone can help me, I would really appreciate it. Relevant logs are below.

Thanks,

Dave ...

Screen capture of the console log when running from RAM (successful):

http://davehenning.com/pages/nios_flash_caps/from_ram.jpg [part1]

http://davehenning.com/pages/nios_flash_caps/from_ram2.jpg [part2]

Screen capture of the console log when this same image fails from flash:

http://davehenning.com/pages/nios_flash_caps/from_flash.jpg

Screen capture of nios2-flash-programmer-gui setup:

http://davehenning.com/pages/nios_flash_caps/gui_setup.jpg

Screen capture of a different (slightly smaller) Linux image failing during boot from flash:

http://davehenning.com/pages/nios_flash_caps/from_flash_old.jpg

3 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    15 years ago

    Which board are you using? Kinda have to know that to know anything about flash map stuff, right? :-)

    Cheers,

    -slacker
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    15 years ago

    I am using a custom board, but it is based very closely on the Cyclone III Dev Kit (EP3c120).

    We are storing the SOF and ELF info in 64 MB CFI Flash.

    One thing I have found is that when I run the code immediately after flashing it works fine (by setting the flag in the GUI). However, when I power cycle the board it always fails part way through loading Linux.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    15 years ago

    I think I found out my problem after scouring the nios-dev list. Because I am using the MMU, I need to specify virtual addresses when I run elf2flash. Specifically, I have to OR 0xC0000000 with addresses I use for the base/end addresses. I am not able to get to my hardware just yet, but this post gives me hope as this guy has the same behavior I do (kernel panic on cold boot, okay from RAM).

    http://sopc.et.ntust.edu.tw/pipermail/nios2-dev/2010-march/003396.html

    I think the information I needed is in the "Addressing for Devices" section here:

    http://www.nioswiki.com/dasuboot

    Do others agree?

    Dave ...