When do I need to generate a linker script for a Vitis Application

[Tparng]

The Vitis software platform provides a linker script generator to simplify the task of creating a linker script.  

When testing the ZedBoard_FMC_Pcam_Adapter_demo app (checked out from https://github.com/Digilent/ZedBoard-SW),  if I run the app right after check out form GitHub Repo, it runs successfully.  However, after I updated the system_wrapper[Platform] from the new Bitstream produced from the HW project, if I do Generate Linker Script before doing  Build Project on the ZedBoard_FMC_Pcam_Adapter_demo app. then the demo app will fail and exit with "terminate called without an active exception" error. 

If I do not do Generate Linker Script before doing Build Project, then the demo app can run successfully. 

Does that mean I should not do  Generate Linker Script before Build Project or I haven't used the right options/settings for Generate Linker Script command? 

In general, my question is: Under what situation I will need to generate a linker script for a Vitis Application and under what situation I don't need to ?

Thanks,

Tparng

[artvvb]

Hi @Tparng

Demo projects typically come with a predefined linker script. You can see lscript.ld here: https://github.com/Digilent/ZedBoard-SW/tree/FMC-Pcam-Adapter/master/src/FMC_Pcam_Adapter_demo/src. In general, you should not generate new linker scripts with these projects, since, in some cases, creating a new one will cause the demo to not work, as the script may have been customized - like to increase heap or stack size, for example.

As an aside, there is a bug in some versions of Vitis which cause the linker script to not be added correctly when importing projects from release ZIP archives (rather than checked out sources), which has a workaround documented here: https://digilent.com/reference/programmable-logic:guides:using-github-releases#baremetal_release_workaround_before_programming

Thanks,

Arthur

[Tparng]

@Arthur and Edenwheeler,

Thanks for your answers that clarify most of my confusion.

One more question: If I created my hardware design from scratch (using IP blocks or rtl modules), exported the hardware, created a new application system and hardware platform in Vitis,  and then created my test program starting from the "empty C application" template, do I need to generate a linker script or just use the default one given by Vitis?

Thanks,

Tparng

[artvvb]

Sorry for the delay. An empty C app comes with a linker script. You don't need to generate one. You may want to customize the default one, like to increase stack or heap size, for example.

Thanks,

Arthur