Jump to content

NixOS on RISCV/VisionFive 2: Difference between revisions

NixOS on RISCV/VisionFive 2 (view source)

Revision as of 14:26, 8 June 2024

5,270 bytes added ,  8 June
m
Update to 24.05
VisualWikitext
imported>Onny
(Add guide on how to flash image)
m (Update to 24.05)
 
(18 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{ARM/breadcrumb}}
{{RISC-V/breadcrumb}}
<div class="infobox">
<div class="infobox">
{|class="table"
{|class="table"
Line 30: Line 30:
The [https://github.com/starfive-tech/VisionFive2 VisionFive 2] is a single board computer (SBC) that uses a RISC-V processor with an integrated GPU. It supports Linux operating system and various multimedia features, such as 4K video decoding and OpenGL ES 3.212.
The [https://github.com/starfive-tech/VisionFive2 VisionFive 2] is a single board computer (SBC) that uses a RISC-V processor with an integrated GPU. It supports Linux operating system and various multimedia features, such as 4K video decoding and OpenGL ES 3.212.


= Building a SD-card image =
== Status ==
See  https://rvspace.org/en/project/JH7110_Upstream_Plan for an overview of which features are already supported by the latest mainline kernel used by NixOS.


Please note that HDMI display patches haven't been merged yet.
There's also a port of the UEFI reference implementation EDK2 available at https://github.com/starfive-tech/edk2 to support a future generic RISCV Linux image that can be booted from any RISCV device.
= Setup =
Precompiled SD-card images can be found [https://hydra.nichi.co/job/nixos/riscv/visionfive2 on the Hydra instance] my NickCao. Before flashing the image, use <code>unzstd</code> to unpack the downloaded archive.
=== Manually build a SD-card image ===
This example assumes you have the latest revision of the board (v1.3) with 8GB memory. For other configurations please consult the [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/blob/master/starfive/visionfive/v2/README.md nixos-hardware documentation on this board]. First create this [[Flake]] file
This example assumes you have the latest revision of the board (v1.3) with 8GB memory. For other configurations please consult the [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/blob/master/starfive/visionfive/v2/README.md nixos-hardware documentation on this board]. First create this [[Flake]] file


{{file|flake.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{{file|flake.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
{
   inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-23.11";
   inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-24.05";
   inputs.nixos-hardware.url = "github:nixos/nixos-hardware";
   inputs.nixos-hardware.url = "github:nixos/nixos-hardware";


Line 78: Line 87:
               };
               };


               system.stateVersion = "23.11";
               system.stateVersion = "24.05";
             };
             };
           inherit system;
           inherit system;
Line 92: Line 101:
</syntaxhighlight>
</syntaxhighlight>


After successfull build, flash the resulting file in the directory <code>results/sd-image</code> to the target device, in this example the SD-card <code>/dev/mmcbl</code>. Note that everything on the target device gets erased.
=== Flashing the SD-card image ===
After successfull build or unpack, flash the resulting file (build file is in the directory <code>results/sd-image</code>) to the target device, in this example the SD-card (<code>/dev/mmcblk*</code>). Note that everything on the target device gets erased.


<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
dd if=result/sd-image/nixos-sd-image-23.11pre-git-riscv64-linux-starfive-visionfive2.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 status=progress
dd if=result/sd-image/nixos-sd-image-23.11pre-git-riscv64-linux-starfive-visionfive2.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 status=progress
</syntaxhighlight>
</syntaxhighlight>
= Usage =
The board has "boot mode pins", from which we can control what device should be booted from.
See official documentation https://doc-en.rvspace.org/VisionFive2/Quick_Start_Guide/VisionFive2_SDK_QSG/boot_mode_settings.html .
First enable booting from SD-card by setting jumper 1 and 2 to "FLASH/QSPI mode" (both QSPI and SDIO mode support booting from an SD card):
[[File:Visionfive_2_jumper_config_sdcard_boot.jpg|border|frameless|803x803px]]
For UART access, wire GND (black), RX (blue) and TX (purple) to your adapter
[[File:Visionfive2 uart wiring.jpg|none|thumb|802x802px]]Update board firmware<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
sudo visionfive2-firmware-update-flash
</syntaxhighlight>Bootstrap NixOS system configuration at <code>/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</code><syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
nixos-generate-config
</syntaxhighlight>
== Tips and tricks ==
=== Using the Visionfive 2 as a remote builder to build native RISCV packages for e.g. the Visionfive 2 ===
Building an NixOS system image that can be flashed to an SD card or NVMe SSD requires to '''build RISCV binaries''', more specifically for the <code>"riscv64-linux"</code>platform. From a typical Intel/AMD computer we can either
* '''emulated native compile using QEMU''' virtualization by enabling the binfmt kernel feature on NixOS configuration setting <code>boot.binfmt.emulatedSystems = [ "riscv64-linux" ];</code>). This can be fast if everything is downloaded pre-compiled from the cache.nixos.org cache (not supported yet though) and only few packages really need local compilation. In reality it can be extremely slow, e.g. compiling a Linux kernel alone can take days.
* '''cross-compile''' to RISCV from another (e.g. "x86_64-linux) machine using the setup in the example above. However very few packages will be cached from cache.nixos.org as cross-compiled packages are less likely to be pre-build than native compiled. So the compile itself is fast but there will be a lot more to compile locally. In practice this can be quite fragile, because you may encounter packages that don't really support cross-compilation get stuck.
* '''native compile on an remote builder''' like the Visionfive 2 itself running its custom Debian Linux at the beginning or later NixOS. This is quite simple to setup and reasonably fast as most packages can be pre-build and cached on cache.nixos.org, and building a remaining Linux kernel only takes 3h on the Visionfive 2.
'''Setting up the Visionfive 2 as a remote native builder''' can be done following the steps at [[Distributed build|https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Distributed_build]]. The rough steps are as follows:
# '''Install the Nix package manager''' on Visionfive 2 Debian OS the normal, multi-user way with <code>sh <(curl -L <nowiki>https://nixos.org/nix/install</nowiki>) --daemon</code>. If you already have NixOS running on the Visionfive 2, then you can skip this step.
# '''Setup a <code>ssh</code> connection''' from your local machine to the Visionfive 2, especially adding <code>SetEnv PATH=/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin</code> to the Pi's <code>/etc/ssh/sshd_config</code> file. If you already have NixOS running on the Visionfive 2, then you can skip this step.
# '''Make the remote Visionfive 2 known to you local computer''' by adding it as a <code>nix.buildMachines</code> entry to your  <code>/etc/nix/configuration.nix</code> file and use connection protocol <code>ssh-ng</code>(!).
# You can then '''build, e.g. an NixOS sd card image''' with a call similar to  <code>nix build .\#nixosConfigurations.visionfive2.config.system.build.sdImage</code>
# '''flash that resulting image onto an SD card''' or NVMe SSD using a call similar to <code>zstdcat result/sd-image/nixos-sd-image-23.11.20230703.ea4c80b-riscv64-linux.img.zst | sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=100M status=progress</code> and place that card into the Visionfive 2.
=== Deploy and Update the Visionfive 2 NixOS system once it's running NixOS ===
Once the Pi 5 is running NixOS, you can update it with newer NixOS system configurations using e.g. the usual  <code>nix-rebuild</code>
tool with a call similar to
<code>nixos-rebuild --flake .#visionfive2 --build-host piuser@visionfive2 --target-host piuser@visionfive2 --use-remote-sudo switch</code>
that uses the SSH connection from the remote builder section.
See [https://nixcademy.com/2023/08/10/nixos-rebuild-remote-deployment/ this guide] for a good explanation of this terminal call.
Malteneuss
48

edits

Retrieved from "https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/11081...13098"