Ten minute setup guide for Windows

Windows_Ten_Minute_Setup.md

Windows Ten Minute Setup for RiscV Development

You've got a badge, you want to write and run C to run on the RiscV. This is a guide for you.

Regarding Bash

The toolchain requires a bash shell - it won't work with CMD. We'll use the bash shell that comes with Git for Windows. Other options include installing Windows Subsystem for Linux or using a Mac. However, the git bash shell is straight forward and Just Works.

A. Install Git-for-Windows

1. Download git for Windows from git-scm.com. Choose the "64-bit Git for Windows Setup" option.

2. Run the installer. There are a lot of screens for options. You can accept the defaults for everything.

B. Make a directory for the Hackaday Badge

1. Run the Git bash shell. (I generally press the Win key once to bring up the menu, then type 'bash', which brings up the Git Bash option, and the press enter.)

2. You'll be at a command prompt like this:

    Yourname@SOMENAME MINGW64 ~
    $ 

3. Run:

    $ mkdir hadbadge

C. Install the RiscV toolchain.

1. Download the precompiled toolchain from xobs/ecp5-toolchain. You want the file named something like ecp5-toolchain-windows-v1.6.1.zip.

2. Unzip the toolchain to C:\Users\Yourname\hadbadge. You should now have a directory named C:\Users\Yourname\hadbadge\ecp5-toolchain-windows-v1.6.1.

D. Clone and initialise the Git repo

1. From the bash shell, cd to ~/hadbadge.

2. Clone the repo

    $ git clone https://github.com/Spritetm/hadbadge2019_fpgasoc.git

3. If you plan on writing verilog or recompiling the SoC, you must also get the submodules:

    $ cd hadbadge2019_fpgasoc
    $ git submodule --init --recursive

E. Set up environment

Make a .bashrc file that sets these environment variables and your path. If the file already exists, just add this to the end.

export APPSSDK_DIR=~/hadbadge/hadbadge2019_fpgasoc/apps-sdk
export RISCV_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=~/hadbadge/ecp5-toolchain-windows-v1.6.1/bin
export PATH=$RISCV_TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH

Now restart your Git Bash shell to pick up the changes.

F. Make a new C app

Nearly there!

1. Copy the app-helloworld to use as a template for your own code.

    $ cd ~/hadbadge
    $ cp -r hadbadge2019_fpgasoc/app-helloworld myapp

2. Edit the Makefile at ~/hadbadge/myapp/Makefile. The most important thing to change is to change APPNAME:

APPNAME = myapp

3. Edit main.c. Find the line that says:

	fprintf(f, "Hello World!"); // Print a nice greeting.

Change it to say "Hello Yourname!", or "Yourname Roolz!".

4. Run make:

    $ cd ~/hadbadge/myapp
    $ make

All going well, you'll see this output:

$ make
     CC crt0.S
     CC app_start.c
     AR libgloss.a
     CC main.c
     CC bla.c
     OBJCOPY bgnd.png
     OBJCOPY tilemap.tmx
     LD myapp.elf
     SYM myapp.elf
     STRIP myapp.elf

And you'll have myapp.elf sitting in the myapp directory, ready to move onto your badge and run.