polarfire-soc-setup

name	polarfire-soc-setup
description	Set up a PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit embedded firmware project: WSL tools, Yocto SDK build, SSH access, and development workflow. Covers host/WSL packages, Yocto manifest sync, populate_sdk build, SSH client troubleshooting (Windows vs. WSL), and project structure.
metadata	{"pattern":"tool-wrapper, generator","version":1,"domain":"embedded-firmware","board":"PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit (MPFS095T)","os_target":"Linux (embedded on RISC-V)","build_host":"WSL (Ubuntu 24.04)","triggers":["setup polarfire, polarfire firmware, yocto sdk install","embedded development, discovery kit, pat system","wsl yocto, arm/risc-v cross-compile, ssh board"]}

PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit Setup

Goal: Bootstrap a plan-first embedded firmware project on PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit (MPFS095T) with WSL cross-compilation, Yocto SDK, and board access.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 with WSL2 + Ubuntu 24.04 (or similar)
• ~50 GB free disk in WSL (for Yocto build artifacts; ~20–30 GB is often enough if you only keep SDK-focused artefacts)
• Network access to GitHub (repo manifests, BSP)
• Board on same subnet as dev machine (or port-forwarded SSH)

Quick setup (5 steps)

1. Install WSL build dependencies

From WSL Ubuntu (as root or with sudo):

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
  build-essential cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
  gawk wget git diffstat unzip texinfo \
  python3 python3-pip python3-pexpect xz-utils \
  cpio socat chrpath flex bison \
  libncurses-dev libssl-dev device-tree-compiler \
  gcc-riscv64-unknown-elf binutils-riscv64-unknown-elf \
  gdb gdb-multiarch openocd clang llvm repo

Verify:

riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc --version
cmake --version
openocd --version

2. Sync PolarFire Yocto (2025.03 release)

From WSL:

mkdir -p ~/yocto-mpfs-2025.03
cd ~/yocto-mpfs-2025.03
repo init -u https://github.com/polarfire-soc/polarfire-soc-yocto-manifests.git \
  -b 2025.03 -m default.xml
repo sync -j4

Expect ~10 GB download, ~15–30 min depending on network.

3. Configure BSP for Discovery Kit

From same WSL dir:

source meta-polarfire-soc-yocto-bsp/polarfire-soc_yocto_setup.sh \
  -b build -m mpfs-disco-kit

This initializes OpenEmbedded and bitbake layers for the board.

4. Build the Yocto SDK (populate_sdk)

Important: This takes 2–4 hours and uses 20–30 GB disk.

source openembedded-core/oe-init-build-env build
bitbake core-image-minimal-dev -c populate_sdk

Monitor progress:

tail -f build/bitbake.log  # optional; running jobs shown as 'NOTE:'

When done, check build/tmp/deploy/sdk/*.sh exists.

5. Install SDK to /opt (WSL)

From project repo in WSL:

bash scripts/wsl/finish_yocto_sdk_install.sh

This:

• Finds the generated .sh installer
• Runs it with sudo into /opt/oecore-x86_64
• Prints the environment-setup-* path to source before builds

Example output:

Environment script(s):
/opt/oecore-x86_64/environment-setup-riscv64-oe-linux

Store that path; you'll source it in ./scripts/build.sh.

---

SSH to board

Linux / WSL (working ✓)

wsl -d Ubuntu -- ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@192.168.8.100 "uname -a"

Windows OpenSSH (MAC negotiation issue ✗)

Windows OpenSSH 9.5 and board OpenSSH 9.6 have a MAC mismatch. Workarounds:

1. Use WSL SSH (recommended)
2. Add to ~/.ssh/config on Windows:

   Host 192.168.8.100
     StrictKeyExchange no
   

3. Board serial console — check /var/log/auth.log for auth errors

---

Project structure & workflow

See README.md and .cursor/rules/embedded-firmware-pat.md for the plan-first embedded dev loop:

Step	Command	Result
Edit	${EDITOR} firmware/foo.c	Source changes
Build	. env-setup.sh && ./scripts/build.sh	build/app binary
Deploy	(wired in build.sh via scp from WSL)	Binary on board
Run	wsl -d Ubuntu -- ssh root@192.168.8.100 ./app	Live test
Verify	Check logs / output / LED / ADC / etc.	Pass/fail criteria

---

Troubleshooting

populate_sdk hangs or fails

• Disk full — Check df -h in WSL; need 20–30 GB under build/tmp/sstate-cache/.
• Network — Yocto fetches many tarballs; use bitbake … -c populate_sdk 2>&1 | tee build/populate_sdk.log to capture errors.
• Obsolete packages — Ubuntu 24.04 dropped python3-distutils and some old libs; skip them (script above does this).

SSH Corrupted MAC on input

Use WSL SSH instead, or check board serial console for sshd errors.

riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc not found

Ensure apt installed it (step 1) and it's in PATH:

which riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc  # should print /usr/bin/...

Board unreachable (no ping / SSH timeout)

• Board IP is 192.168.8.100 by default; verify against README.md and .cursor/AGENTS.md.
• Board and dev machine must be on same subnet (e.g. 192.168.8.x) or SSH forwarded.
• Verify sshd is running on board (serial console or board manual).

---

References

• Yocto Project: https://docs.yoctoproject.org/
• PolarFire SoC BSP: https://github.com/polarfire-soc/meta-polarfire-soc-yocto-bsp
• Discovery Kit: https://www.microchip.com/en-us/products/fpgas-and-plds/system-on-chip-fpgas/polarfire-soc-fpgas/
• This project: README.md, .cursor/AGENTS.md, .cursor/rules/embedded-firmware-pat.md

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Lessons & notes (update after each session)

• ✓ Windows SSH incompatible with board SSH (MAC negotiation). Use WSL.
• ✓ Yocto host packages — some Ubuntu 24.04 names differ from older docs; script above handles it.
• (Add more as you encounter them.)