Program Flash - 2022.2 English

Program Flash is a Vitis software platform used to program the flash memories in the design. Various types of flash are supported for programming.

• For non Zynq devices – Parallel Flash (BPI) and Serial Flash (SPI) from various makes such as Micron and Spansion.
• For Zynq devices – QSPI, NAND, and NOR. QSPI can used in different configurations such as QSPI SINGLE, QSPI DUAL PARALLEL, and QSPI DUAL STACKED.
• For Versal devices – QSPI, emmc, and OSPI. QSPI can used in different configurations such as QSPI SINGLE, QSPI DUAL PARALLEL, and QSPI DUAL STACKED.

The options available on the Program Flash Memory page are as follows:

Project

Select the system project you plan to use.

Connection

Select the connection to hardware server.

Device

Select a device. Auto Detect selects the first device on the chain, by default.

Image File

Select the file to write to the flash memory.

• Zynq devices:
  • Supported file formats for qspi flash types are BIN or MCS formats.
  • Supported file formats for nor and nand types are only BIN format.
• Non Zynq devices:
  • Supported types for flash parts in non Zynq devices are BIT, ELF, SREC, MCS, BIN.

Offset

Specify the offset relative to the Flash Base Address, where the file should be programmed.

Note: Offset is not required for MCS files.

Init File

Provide the initialization file path.

Flash Type

Select a flash type.

• Zynq devices:
  • qspi_single
  • qspi_dual_parallel
  • qspi_dual_stacked
  • nand_8
  • nand_16
  • nor
  • emmc
    Note: emmc flash type is applicable for Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC and Versal devices only.
• Non Zynq devices:
  • The flash type drop-down list is populated based on the FPGA detected in the connection. If the connection to the hardware server does not exist, an error message stating "Could not retrieve Flash Part information. Please check hardware server connection" is displayed on the page. Based on the device detected, the dialog populates all the flash parts supported for the device.

Note: Appropriate part can be selected based on design. For Xilinx boards, the part name can found from the respective boards’ user guide.

Convert ELF to Bootable SREC format and program

The ELF file provided as the image file is converted into SREC format and programmed. This is a typical use case in non zynq devices. The SREC bootloader can be built and used to read the SREC converted ELF from flash, load it into RAM and boot.

Blank check after erase

The blank check is performed to verify if the erase operation was properly done. The contents are read back and check if the region erased is blank.

Verify after Flash

The verify operation is cross check the flash programming operation. The flash contents are read back and cross checked against the programmed data.