Setting up Nallatech pci385 d5 board

There should be a subdirectory with the same name as your kernel .cl file. In there you will find a file called top.sof which is what they are referring to.

That said I recommend using the 2a recommendation instead by calling "aocl flash <kernel.aocx>" The flash programming takes around 10-15 minutes but it's a one time thing. Make sure to program an image generated with the 13.0 tools, I typically use a prebuilt design like vectorAdd in the designs directory of the SDK. Once the flash programming is complete shutdown the computer then power it back up, this will ensure the board is power cycled and configured from flash upon boot.

After your reply and some work around this issue I realized I was having a two-fold problem.

The driver, if load through modprobe does not work as intended. Also, through aocl install it is also rubbish. However, it works if compiled through the make_all script and aocl diagnostic tests with success if the driver is loaded through aclpci_load. I tried this multiple times until it finally worked for some reason.

When you say you use a prebuilt image, you just need to flash the FPGA once and then you can run whatever you want through the host application? I'll explain.

I flashed my FPGA with the movingAverage.aocx, it took quite a while, I did a reboot, loaded the pci driver and now I want to run myDesign.aocx. I can just run the myDesignHostApplication which reads the myDesign.aocx, and creates and builds the program through a binary using clCreateProgramWithBinary and clBuildProgram? Is this a correct procedure? I took it from the main.cpp included in the movingAverage example.

Thank you

I think it'll be more clear if I start with how the software interacts with the hardware in the "usual" case. So assuming you power up the PC with the board already flashed programmed with an OpenCL hardware design (any valid 13.0 design will do). The PC will enumerate the card and see the hardware sitting out there with a PCIe end point present. When you run a OpenCL host application the PCIe card is temporarily taken offline, reconfigured over PCIe, then the enumeration data previously stored in the card is restored. This set of steps is what allows the FPGA to be reconfigured without the computer needing to be rebooted.

So when I suggested the flash programming the reason for that is so that any time you boot the PC you'll have a configured FPGA by the time the PCIe enumeration occurs. The steps you listed out are correct except when you say reboot it really needs to be a power cycle to guarantee that the FPGA becomes configured. Most PCs when rebooted do not power cycle the PCIe boards plugged in. The FPGA only gets configured from flash at power up so by powering down the PC and powering it back up you can ensure the FPGA gets configured from flash. The reason why it's so important to make sure the FPGA is configured from flash is because if that does not happen then you'll be forced to use the Quartus programmer and reboot after any cold boot. This is because if you use the Quartus programmer to configure a blank FPGA then the card has not been enumerated and the OS can't see it which forces you to reboot (chicken & egg kind of problem).

That was enlightening, thank you. However, I'm still missing something. Should I run aocl flash myKernel.aocx prior to running the OpenCL application? Or, if the board is flashed, should I just run my kernel by using the clCreateProgramWithBinary and pass the contents of the .aocx file to said function?

If it needs the aocl flash command, then I always need the JTAG and USB blaster cable connected at all times, right?

You only need to have a valid OpenCL kernel burned into flash once. This image can be your kernel or a pre-cooked one that is shipped with the OpenCL SDK. This is required so that the OpenCL hardware infrastructure is present in the FPGA at boot time. So once you have programmed that flash you shouldn't need to touch it unless you upgrade to later tools that requires you to do so. I'm not expecting further upgrades to require re-burning the flash but I keep my JTAG cable hooked up since I'm worried about that ribbon cable breaking if I connect and disconnect it a lot.

Once your board has been flashed then you can rely on clCreateProjectWithBinary to program any kernel you want from that point on. For that to work there has to be a valid OpenCL image in the FPGA for it to work which is why you have to burn the flash once.

I hope that makes sense. If I had to compare it to a GPU it's the same reason why a GPU must have it's flash/EEPROM programmed with firmware, without it the hardware would be dead in the water at boot time.

It is clear as water. One forgets of the aditional hardware conventional devices possess in order to be booted accordingly. Thus far, the original flash has held, even though I crashed the FPGA connection several times now with the warning

real-time signal 10

A reboot and a aclpci_drv reload solves it, not having to leave the Blaster plugged in, which is good considering there's only one for quite a number of people and FPGAs.

Thank you for your help.

Hi,

I have a problem with the Pcie-385n board. I have installed the quartus 13.1.0.162 software and Opencl SDK 13.1.0.162 on Windows 7 according the aocl_getting_started.pdf. I have also set the environment variables. When I run aocl install get the output:

C:\altera\13.1\hld\windows64\bin>aocl install

aocl install: Running install from C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n/windows64/bin

C:\altera\13.1\hld\windows64\bin>for /F %a in ('aocl board-path') do cd /d %a/windows64/driver

C:\altera\13.1\hld\windows64\bin>cd /d C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n/windows64/driver

C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver>if not 0== 0 exit /b 0

C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver>install

+------------------------------------------------------+

+ Installing kernel driver module... +

+------------------------------------------------------+

WDREG utility v10.21. Build Aug 31 2010 14:21:54

Processing HWID *WINDRVR6

Installing a signed driver package for *WINDRVR6

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackageInstallA

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackageInstallW

LOG ok: 1, Looking for Model Section [DeviceList.NTamd64]...

LOG ok: 1, Installing INF file 'C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver\windrvr6.inf' (Plug and Play).

LOG ok: 1, Looking for Model Section [DeviceList.NTamd64]...

LOG ok: 1, Installing devices with Id "*WINDRVR6" using INF "C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\windrvr6.inf_amd64_neutral_ee4fb7505a7255bd\windrvr6.inf".

LOG ok: 1, ENTER UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices...

LOG ok: 0, RETURN UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices.

LOG ok: 1, Installation was successful.

LOG ok: 0, Install completed

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackageInstallW (0x0)

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackageInstallA (0x0)

difx_install_preinstall_inf: err 0, last event 0, last

error 0. SUCCESS

install: completed successfully

+------------------------------------------------------+

+ Installing board drivers... +

+------------------------------------------------------+

WDREG utility v10.21. Build Aug 31 2010 14:21:54

Processing HWID PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_E385&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01

Installing a non-signed driver package for PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_E385&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01

Device node (hwid:PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_E385&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01): does not exist and is not configured. Pre-installing.

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackagePreinstallA

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackagePreinstallW

LOG ok: 1, Driver package is already preinstalled 'C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver\acl_boards.inf'.

LOG ok: 0, C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver\acl_boards.inf is preinstalled.

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackagePreinstallW (0xB7)

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackagePreinstallA (0xB7)

difx_install_preinstall_inf: err b7, last event 0, last

error 0. ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS

Processing HWID PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_AB00&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01

Installing a non-signed driver package for PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_AB00&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01

Device node (hwid:PCI\VEN_1172&DEV_AB00&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01): exists and is configured. Installing.

CM_Get_DevNode_Status ret value 0, status 180200a, problem 0

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackageInstallA

LOG ok: 1, ENTER: DriverPackageInstallW

LOG ok: 2, DRIVER_PACKAGE_LEGACY_MODE flag set but not supported on Plug and Play driver on VISTA. Flag will be ignored.

LOG ok: 1, Looking for Model Section [DeviceList.NTamd64]...

LOG ok: 1, Installing INF file 'C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n\windows64\driver\acl_boards.inf' (Plug and Play).

LOG ok: 1, Looking for Model Section [DeviceList.NTamd64]...

LOG ok: 1, Installing devices with Id "PCI

\VEN_1172&DEV_AB00&SUBSYS_00041172&REV_01" using INF "C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\acl_boards.inf_amd64_neutral_b81c224c0de4be6a\acl_boards.inf".

LOG ok: 1, Will force install because driver is not better and force flag is set

.

LOG ok: 1, ENTER UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices...

LOG ok: 0, RETURN UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices.

LOG ok: 1, Installation was successful.

LOG ok: 0, Install completed

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackageInstallW (0x0)

LOG ok: 1, RETURN: DriverPackageInstallA (0x0)

difx_install_preinstall_inf: err 0, last event 0, last error 0. SUCCESS

install: completed successfully

If i now run aocl diagnostic, the program crashes obtaining "diagnostic failed":

C:\altera\13.1\hld\windows64\bin>aocl diagnostic

aocl diagnostic: Running diagnostic from C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n/windo

ws64/bin

running diagnostic for : acl0

Using platform: Altera SDK for OpenCL

Using Device with name: pcie385n_a7 : PCIe-385N Altera Stratix V Computing Card

Using Device from vendor: Nallatech Inc.

clGetDeviceInfo CL_DEVICE_GLOBAL_MEM_SIZE = 4294967296

clGetDeviceInfo CL_DEVICE_MAX_MEM_ALLOC_SIZE = 4293918720

Memory consumed for internal use = 1048576

Actual maximum buffer size = 4293918720 bytes

aocl diagnostic: failed.

On the other hand, running aoc --list-board:

Board list: none found

Where could be the issue?, Should I flash the board? how?

Thanks!!

Looks like the board environment variable has not been set. You should set the environment variable "AOCL_BOARD_PACKAGE_ROOT" to point at the pcie385n directory in the installation.

To flash program the board you can use the "aocl flash <kernel.aocx>" tool. The kernel file can be any valid kernel file and if you do not already have one I recommend using one of the prebuilt kernel .aocx files that comes with a design example like hello world.

If flash programming does not work I would take a look at this thread: http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41749

AOCL_BOARD_PACKAGE was already established as:

C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n (the default installation path)

I have flashed the board with the hello_world_131_pcie385n_a7.aocx running "aocl flash hello_world_131_pcie385n_a7.aocx" and after 21 minutes has finished. Then i restart the computer, i run again "aocl install" and "aocl diagnostic" and both have the same output. I have seen the link but the files are for the 13.0 SDK version. It should not work with my version, right?