This blog explains how to run PetaLinux 2022.1 on a Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit.

“The Xilinx® Kria™ KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit is comprised of a non-production version of the
K26 system-on-module (SOM), carrier card, and thermal solution.[Ref]”

KV260 board provides a two-step boot process utilising primary and secondary boot devices. This process separates the configurations required by the platform and run-time applications. As shown in Fig.2, the primary boot device is a QSPI memory on the SOM, and the secondary boot device is an SD card on the carrier board.

The primary boot device contains a BOOT.BIN file containing all the required modules, including FSBL, PMU, ATF, and U-BOOT. An upgrade process can replace the firmware with a new version.

The primary boot device provides two copies of boot firmware. These two copies provide an A/B configuration supporting a safe firmware upgrade process. If A part has a working firmware, the upgrade process modifies the B copy. On the next system boot, the B copy is used. However, if it fails, the previous known good boot image (i.e., A) will automatically be used.

The secondary boot device, i.e., SD-Card, usually has two partitions. The first partition contains the Linux image and device three files, and the second partition holds the root file systems and applications.

Getting Started with KV260

In order to boot the KV260 board with PetaLinux 2022.1, three tasks should be done: update firmware, flash sd-card and boot system.

1- Update Firmware

There are two ways to upgrade the firmware:

— Using the xmutil in a bootable system

— Using Ethernet recovery tool

Here, I explain the first approach. I have flashed the sd-card with the PetaLinux 2021.1 Kria™ KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit Image. For this purpose, just download the file and use the Balena Etcher tool to copy the image into the sd-card. This image works seamlessly with the factory firmware that exists on the KV260. After finishing this process, connect the board to your computer using the JTAG-USB connector and a micro-USB cable to monitor the boot messages in a serial terminal. Open a serial terminal on your computer and set up the following configurations:

a. Baud rate = 115200
b. Data bits = 8
c. Stop bits = 1
d. Flow control = None
e. Parity = None

Boot the system and follow these steps to update the firmware for supporting PetaLinux 2022.1.

1.1 Download the corresponding BIN file from here.

1.2 Move the BIN file into the KV260 system using the scp command.

1.3 Then on the KV260 Linux command prompt run “sudo xmutil bootfw_update -i <path to BIN file>/<BIN file name>”

1.4 Reboot the system by pressing the RESET button.

1.5- After booting the system, run “sudo xmutil bootfw_update -v” to validate the successful boot of the new firmware. If you don’t do this, the firmware will fall back to the last copy on the next restart.

2- Flash SD-Card

2.1- Download the Kria Starter Kit 2022.1 file

2.2- Use the Balena Etcher tool to copy the image into the sd-card.

2.3- Boot the system and login with the petalinux user. On the first boot, it asks you to change your password.