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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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20 years ago

nios2linux-1.4 -> kernel rebooting

Hi people.

I am currently using the Microtronix nios2linux-1.4 uClinux distribution on an Altera Stratix NIOS Development Kit.

I have compiled my kernel and file system successfully against the 'full-featured' VHDL example provided in the dev kit.

When I attempt to use nios2-terminal via the NIOS II SDK Shell I receive the following output repeatedly:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linux version 2.6.11-uc0 ............. (some more details here)

uClinux/NIOS II

Altera Nios II support © 2004 Microtronix Datacom Ltd.

Built 1 zonelists

Kernel command line: root=/dev/mtdblock0 ro

PID hash table entries: 128 (order: 7, 2048 bytes)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess this is the kernel continuously rebooting!

While reading the forums I noticed that the Exception address needs to be set to SDRAM, which I then did and re-generated the design.

As it stands the processor configuration is as follows:

Reset Address: ext_flash 0x00000000 0x00000000

Exception Address: sdram 0x00000020 0x01000020

Break Location: cup/jtab_debug_module 0x00000020 0x02120020

As I understand it, both the kernel and file system have been written into the onboard 8MB flash memory. So maybe one of these vectors is incorrect?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your time.

Cheers,

Mark

5 Replies

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

    What is the cache-line size in the full_featured project? If it is anything other than 4 bytes (I believe it may be 32 bytes), the kernel will not work. This may be your problem.

    Dennis Scott

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

    Wierd. Yesterday when we tried to open linux in sopc builder it wouldn't open so we just assumed it was disabled somehow.

    But today things work just like you describe. Maybe the machine need a re-boot.

    Thanks.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    20 years ago

    Hi Dennis,

    Thanks very much for your reply.

    The data cache line size was indeed set to 32-bytes.

    Now that is has been set to 4-bytes and the system re-generated, does the kernel and filesystem need to be recompiled against the changed processor?

    Much thanks,

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

    I set the data line size to 4-bytes, but it did not solve my kernel reset problem with the full featured design.

    I tried using the supplied microtronix kernel, but this stops booting (does not reset) after:

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Linux version 2.6.11-uc0 (user@host) (gcc version 3.4.1 (Altera <---------- stops at this point

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Both builds of the kernel and filesystem ( full featured VHDL + Microtronix ) seem to be successful though. So I am a little unsure of what action to take.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks very much.

    Cheers,

    Mark