Copy a User Binary to Flash (Efinity Programmer)

To boot from a flash device, you need to copy the application binary to the flash. If you want to store the binary in the same flash device that holds the FPGA bitstream, you can simply combine the two files and download the combined file to the flash device with the Efinity Programmer.

  1. Open the Efinity Programmer.
  2. Click the Combine Multiple Image Files button.
  3. Choose Mode > Generic Image Combination.
  4. Enter a name for the combined file in Output File.
  5. Click the Add Image button. The Open Image File dialog box opens.
  6. Browse to the bitstream .hex file, select it, and click Open.
  7. Click the Add Image button a second time.
  8. Browse to the RISC-V application binary .bin file, select it, and click Open.
  9. Specify the Flash Address as follows:
    File Address
    Bitstream 0x00000000
    RISC-V application binary 0x00380000

    Figure 1. Combining a Bitstream and RISC-V Application Binary
  10. Click Apply. The software creates the combined .hex file in the specified Output Directory (the default is the project outflow directory).
  11. Program the flash with the .hex file using Programming Mode > SPI Active.
  12. Reset the FPGA or power cycle the board.
Note: You can also use two terminals to copy the application binary to flash. Refer to Appendix: Copy a User Binary to the Flash Device (2 Terminals).