This page is about running Linux (uClinux actually, but there is not so much difference) on a Nios II processor programmed on the FPGA4U.

Prerequisites

• Quartus/Nios II tools. In this document, it is assumed the tools are installed in /opt/altera8.0 (modify it correspondingly).
• A board with the latest firmware (see FX2). It seems you need to use a kernel >=2.6.26 to be able to use the latest firmware (I'm not sure about that), otherwise, you may want to upgrade your kernel, or use the old Keil's firmware.

Howtos

• If you just want to see Linux booting and running, follow these steps: Quick Start

• If you want to build your own system, and customize it: Start from scratch

Sample applications

To build any custom application, you have 2 alternatives:

• You can build it from outside the uClinux tree, send it by FTP or copy it to nios2-linux/uClinux-dist/bin and rebuild the system (see CompileHello on NiosWiki).
• You can also add it in the uClinux tree, following these instructions: PortingApps on NiosWiki

List of applications:

• linux-hello.tar.bz2: A little application that displays a text message on the LEDs. You may need to change the addresses in IOLED1_BASE, IOLED2_BASE, IOLED3_BASE according to your design.

TODO

• Fill gaps in these documents
• Use JFFS2 on the EPCS to have a persistent file system
• Add a proper Linux driver for the PIO (the current code writes directly to the registers (easy to do, thanks to the lack of MMU...))
• Use the MMU in the newest Nios II (the kernel code is not implemented)
• Try to increase the frequency of the CPU
• ...