starfive

Starfive

The configuration package starfive/common contains common configurations for the Starfive series of RISC-V boards.

Reference:

• https://github.com/buildroot/buildroot/tree/master/board/beaglev
• https://github.com/starfive-tech

Getting Started

Set the comma-separated SKIFF_CONFIG variable:

$ export SKIFF_CONFIG=starfive/visionfive,skiff/core
$ make configure                   # configure the system
$ make compile                     # build the system

Once the build is complete, we will flash to a MicroSD card to boot. You will need to sudo bash for this on most systems.

$ sudo bash             # switch to root
$ export STARFIVE_SD=/dev/sdz # make sure this is right! (usually sdb)
$ make cmd/starfive/common/format  # tell skiff to format the device
$ make cmd/starfive/common/install # tell skiff to install the os

You only need to run the format step once. It will create the partition table. The install step will overwrite the current Skiff installation on the card, taking care to not touch any persistent data (from the persist partition**. It's safe to upgrade Skiff independently from your persistent data.

Flashing the Bootloader

StarFive 1 / BeagleV

The VisionFive u-boot must be flashed to setup the board.

Instructions:

1. Connect a TTL UART cable to pin 8 (TX), 10 (RX) and 14 (GND).
2. Access the uart with minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 115200.
3. Press ctrl + a, then "O" to enter minicom Xmodem settings.
4. Configure minicom to send fw_payload.bin.out.
5. Exit the minicom settings.
6. Insert your SD card.
7. Power-up the board.
8. On the UART terminal, interrupt boot by pressing any key.
9. Press 0 to update uboot, then enter.
10. You will see a series of "C" characters.
11. Press Ctrl + A, then Z, then press "S" to send the file w/ Xmodem.
12. Wait until the transfer is completed.
13. Power off & restart the board w/ SD card connected.

If all went successfully, the system will boot into U-boot, then SkiffOS!

StarFive 2

You may need to flash uboot and opensbi according to the instructions on the starfive2 site.

Board Compatibility

There are specific packages tuned to each model. The boards are all actively tested by the developers unless otherwise noted.

Board	Config Package	Notes
visionfive	starfive/visionfive	SiFive U74 RV64GC
beaglev	starfive/visionfive	Compatible w/ BeagleV
[visionfive2] 1.3b	starfive/visionfive2	⚠ Experimental
[visionfive2_12] 1.2a	starfive/visionfive2_12	⚠ Experimental

Known issues

StarFive2

• The persist partition is not resized properly:
  • #273
  • Use the format and install scripts which size the partition correctly.
  • OR, resize the partition on another machine after formatting w/ an image.
• Please use the version appropriate for your board!

SD Card Compatibility

The current SD cards used / tested by developers are:

• SanDisk Ultra MicroSDXC (Any)

The current cards that are known to NOT work are:

• Intenso MicroSDXC Card, UHS-I, 64 GB

Some SD cards may not work as well with the Starfive hardware.

Kernel

BeagleV / VisionFive 1

The kernel used is the StarFive VisionFive kernel.

Mirrored here.

VisionFive 2

The mainline kernel is used.

See the upstream defconfig for useful config options.

Flashing low-level bootloaders

The boards come factory-flashed with compatible low-level bootloaders "secondboot" and "ddrinit." While not strictly necessary, you can override them with the ones compiled by Buildroot:

1. Follow the Flashing the bootloader steps through step 8.
2. Enter "root@s5t" instead of "0"
3. Press 0 and send the bootloader-JH7100-buildroot.bin.out file.
4. Press 1 and send the ddrinit-2133-buildroot.bin.out

Note: if this process fails, you will need to use a recovery process with a separate UART to fix it, so be careful.

The process is documented on seeedstudio wiki in the section "Recover the bootloader." The instructions make use of a jh7100-recover tool, compiled as part of this config as a host tool: at host/bin/jh7100-recover.

Acknowledgments

The StarFive 1 / BeagleV configuration is based on the "beaglev" defconfig in Buildroot mainline.