Following the instructions on how to install the board I have run (after setting up the required environment variables): $ aocl install yielding: aocl install: Running install from /opt/AOCL//board/pcie385n//linux64/bin Using kernel source files from /usr/src/kernels/2.6.32-358.11.1.el6.x86_64 make: Entering directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.32-358.11.1.el6.x86_64' Building modules, stage 2. MODPOST 1 modules WARNING: modpost: missing MODULE_LICENSE() in /opt/AOCL/board/pcie385n/host/linux64/driver/aclpci_drv.o see include/linux/module.h for more information make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.32-358.11.1.el6.x86_64' Can't find the device! Make sure: 1. Altera OpenCL Accelerator board is plugged into PCIe slot. 2a. The board either has a default OpenCL image in its flash, or 2b. If it's the first time using the board after power up, load SOF using quartus_pgm and reboot the machine. See documentation for the details. Remeber that you can use 'reprogram' command to change SOFs once the board is recognized as a PCIe device and this driver is loaded. To see if the Altera Accelerator board is recognized as a PCIe device run '/sbin/lspci | grep Altera'. aocl install: failed. Thus, I'm turning to suggestion 2b. This is the first time using the board after power up (first time ever in fact). However, what .SOF should I load to the FPGA? I presume this means using the Usb Blaster cable and the JTAG adapter. What .sof should I use, and how should I call the quartus_pgm command? quartus_pgm -c USB-Blaster -m JTAG whatSOF.sof ? Thank you

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.

Setting up Nallatech pci385 d5 board | Altera Community

19 Replies

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
just reboot. Now i'm flashing again the board and i will do a full shutdown as you say. I comment you when finish.
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
not work:

aocl install -> the same output as my first post
aocl diagnostic -> the same output, also Error Window: diagnostic.exe has stopped working

I have seen that in the windows device manager after installing appears:
Accelerators: "Altera FPGA Accelerator 13.0". Should'n be "ACL Pcie385 Test System Rev. 1?
Jungo: "WinDriver"

:(
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
Is AOCL_BOARD_PACKAGE defined as a user variable or system variable? Since aocl install needs to be run with admin privaleges if you have it only declared as a user variable then the admin user will not have that variable declared. If your Windows user account is already setup to be admin then this will not matter.

I just checked on my Windows machine and the accelerator is showing up as "Altera FPGA Accelerator 13.0" so that should be the correct device description.

I don't know if this is still needed anymore but one other thing I used to do when installing the driver is go into the device manager and uninstall the Accelerator and Jungo drivers before running aocl install. This makes sure the board driver is not already loaded up when the aocl install attempts to install the new driver.
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
AOCL_BOARD_PACKAGE_ROOT was defined as user variable. Defined as system variable not works anyway... but "aocl install" get the correct path "C:\altera\13.1\hld\board\pcie385n. I think that the issue could be in the physical installation of the board, in the motherboard. The guide for the installation i not found in the Nallatech website. I have the JTAG adapter and the Usb Blaster cable connected. The board is in the pcie 16x because i have not 8x... and my RAM is just 4GB, not the 24GB minimum. What can i do?
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
Hi rotty,

If the board shows up in the Hardware Manager as "Altera FPGA Accelerator 13.0", this proves that the OpenCL driver is correctly installed on your machine and that the board is functional, e.g. no issues with only 4GB of RAM (that is to run host application, building design is a different issue - the compilation process requires a larger amount of RAM) or using a x16 slot (for maximum bandwidth make sure that 8 lanes of the 16 lanes slots are connected to the motherboard).

Assuming Windows 7 64-bit & admin rights, can you please double check your environment variables? Here is what my ** System Variables ** are set to:

** System Variables **

ALTERAOCLSDKROOT
C:\altera\13.1\hld

PATH
%ALTERAOCLSDKROOT%\windows64\bin;
%ALTERAOCLSDKROOT%\bin;
%QUARTUS_ROOTDIR%\bin;

QUARTUS_ROOT
C:\altera\13.1\quartus

AOCL_BOARD_PACKAGE (not set)

** - **

[1] - Can you now run "aoc --list-boards" OK? What is the output?

[2] - When you reprogrammed your flash, what design did you use? You should use a precompiled design from this page: http://www.altera.com/support/examples/opencl/opencl.html (I would advise the vectorAdd example but it really doesn't matter). When you build your own designs make sure you're using 13.1.

[3] - Can you still see the board listed in the Hardware Manager as "Altera FPGA Accelerator 13.0"?

[4] - If you are still having issues, can you run the "SET" command in a Windows Command Prompt and post the output here?

Thanks,
Gildas
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
Hi gigi,

I've fixed the "aocl --list-boards" issue. One user said in another thread that solved it by installing windows 7 in English because it was in Spanish (Argentina). I am Spanish (Spain) and now, when i install it in English (same environment variables), everything works, including "aoc --board pcie385n_a7 -v hello_world.cl" (if I have windows in Spanish I get the error: can't change into dir) and then i flash the card with the .aocx generated: "aocl flash hello_world.aocx". I shutdown the computer (not restart), I wake up it but "aocl diagnostic" crashes again. I think it's a bug. A question: Whenever I modify my .cl file i need compile with "aocl --board....." and then flash the board with "aoc flash xxxxx.aocx"? Compiling hello_world has taken me an hour ...
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
Hi rotty,

Did you actually use "aoc --board pcie385n_a7 -v hello_world.cl" command? The d5 board uses a different FPGA then the a7 board so I think they are most likely not compatible. Try use "aoc --board pcie385n_d5 -v hello_world.cl" instead. And yes, the .cl file have to be recompiled after change, but I think the next time you compile, it may take less time.
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
The first user of this thread has the d5 board but i really have the a7 board. The titles of my post are wrong, sorry... On the other hand, i've run the hello_world kernel on the board as the getting_started_guide says and works perfectly but some reason "aocl diagnostic" crashes.

Thanks!!!
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
--- Quote Start ---
The first user of this thread has the d5 board but i really have the a7 board. The titles of my post are wrong, sorry... On the other hand, i've run the hello_world kernel on the board as the getting_started_guide says and works perfectly but some reason "aocl diagnostic" crashes.

Thanks!!!
--- Quote End ---

Hello,

I am using pci385n_a7 too and having trouble in running hello world.aocx. There's no problem in compling the opencl and burning it into flash. But when I run ./hello_world in bin after compiling it by make -f makefiel. It crashed :
fpga is in user mode. enabling bridges
querying platform for info:
==========================
cl_platform_name = altera sdk for opencl
cl_platform_vendor = altera corporation
cl_platform_version = opencl 1.0 altera sdk for opencl, version 13.1

error: cl_device_not_found
location: ../common/src/aocl_utils.cpp:355
query for number of devices failed

At this time, I ran $aocl diagnostic and it failed also. But that one used to be successful when I there was default hardware image in flash.

aocl diagnostic: running diagnostic from /home/jisuansuogcb/altera/13.1/hld/board/pcie385n/linux64/bin
running diagnostic for : acl0
fpga is in user mode. enabling bridges
using platform: altera sdk for opencl
failed clgetdeviceids.
error code: -1
aocl diagnostic: failed.

When I ran $aocl install. It's saying,

aocl install: running install from /home/jisuansuogcb/altera/13.1/hld/board/pcie385n/linux64/bin
using kernel source files from /usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-274.el5xen-x86_64
make: entering directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-274.el5-xen-x86_64'
building modules, stage 2.
modpost
make: leaving directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-274.el5-xen-x86_64'

Based on this, there should be no problem, right?

But when I tried this one,lspci | grep altera there was no reply, meaning pcie drivers installation failure right? :(

I have been frustrated with that for two days!

What should I do next? Can you help me with that?
Thank you in advance.

$ld_library_path: /home/jisuansuogcb/altera/13.1/hld/host/linux64/lib
$alteraoclskdroot: /home/jisuansuogcb/altera/13.1/hld
$aocl_board_package_root: /home/jisuansuogcb/altera/13.1/hld/board/pcie385n

Yuxuan

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Setting up Nallatech pci385 d5 board

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