Recipe to load Ubuntu on Cora Z7-07S

[thoonky]

hi all, anybody got a recipe to share how to load ubuntu on Cora Z7-07S?  Does it work?

[zygot]

Have you used Ubuntu on a Raspberry Pi 4? That platform has more computing horsepower than a ZYNQ UltraScale+ device.

I advise building a very small custom Liinux OS that loads the OS from an SD card and runs in available RAM. Don't expect great performance. A place to start is with ug1209 to get a feel for what's involved with operating an OS on your hardware.

Look into Petalinux or Yocto tools to help. You might be better off learning the RTOS that comes with the tools.

You board sports 1 Arm core, not much RAM or PL resources. Your device is better suited to MSDOS era software development. If you really want to play with a modern Linux kernel on ZYNQ consider making a more expensive investment in your hardware platform.

Edited January 25, 2022 by zygot

[zygot]

From a resource viewpoint a curious mind wonders at what point the most basic ZYNQ architecture becomes more of a developmental obstacle than a worthy embedded platform. Are modern OS hardware features like an MMU and TrustZone actually useful enough to support for a device that is competing with old fashioned uController devices?

[thoonky]

I want to get python running on the zynq board.  and get apt-get running.

The thing about using the zynq is the use of the PL portion where one could instantiate as much as 10 i2c masters on it, for example.

[zygot]

Perhaps you want a platform supported by a pre-built PYNQ image?

You can instantiate 10 I2C masters using a uController or Raspberry Pi connected to a simple FPGA via UART or SPI interface, or even USB 2.0. I'm not trying to discourage you from you goal... just thinking that it'd just be a lot easier marrying the right HW platform and software to your project goals. It's a matter of understanding resource requirements, complexity, and effort to achieve your design goals. Something that seems easy on one platform might involve a lot more effort on another.

Supposing that you manage to get a Linux OS running on your board. And supposing that you had the resources to implement your Pl design. Do you know how to connect the PL to your PS? And do you know how to write a Linux device driver to access you hardware in your OS?

Lots of parts to connect. The image in my mind is of a large box into which has been thrown a bunch of loose resistors, capacitors, stepper motors, lego blocks, Lincoln logs ( yeah, I'm that old; I think that before these kids got a box of stones to play with ), and other stuff and decided to do a robotic project. Sure, perhaps it can be done; if you can conceptualize how to integrate the right selection of parts. It sure would be quicker to start off with a robot project kit with an assembly guide.

So, do all of the tools that you want to use fit in the tiniest ZYNQ box for your platform? If you're committed to a platform scale the project to the platform. If you're committed to a project spec. consider selecting a platform that makes development easier. Or come up with a plan that I haven't thought about. But do make a plan.

[thoonky]

Thanks for your response.  Again, the "quest" is to see if I can get python running, instead of running bash scripts allow me to type a command to run it.  This is really to know and see how I could use Zynq in such a way. Do u have something for me to try?

[zygot]

Some "quests" are more lonely than others.

If you want to do a 3 day hike in the wilderness and stick to known trails there are probably maps available to make the journey easier. If you want to just strike out in an arbitrary direction avoiding human and animal trails, and you know what you are doing you're on your own.

You know where the support resources for your board are and what's available as far as canned projects and code go. I think that I've provided some hints to get you started on alternate paths but it's likely that you will have to create your own trails.

You haven't really provided a clear picture of what you want to do with your platform or what you plan for accomplishing an end goal is; so it's hard to provide assistance.

Edited January 26, 2022 by zygot

[JPP75]

Yes, It works fine and it's easy: just fallow some of the tutorials you can find online (for example https://www.dspsandbox.org/ubuntu-on-zynq-and-zynqmp-devices/ and many others).

Basically:

• make a boot and root partitions on your SD
• install an ARM Ubuntu on the root

 

Performances are good (web server to access the PL registers in my application. Nothing more, nothing less), and you have access to most of the Ubuntu Universe (Python, GoLang, Rust, etc.).