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How to program configuration flash with Vivado Hardware Manager

Writing an .mcs file to Quad SPI or Linear BPI flash

How to program configuration flash with Vivado Hardware Manager  Posted on January 18, 2021  |  Jeff Johnson

Most FPGA/SoC dev boards have a flash device for non-volatile storage. Typically it would be either a Quad SPI flash (serial interface) or a Linear BPI flash (parallel interface). Although it can be used for storing anything, it’s typically used for storing the configuration for the FPGA or SoC (eg. the bitstream, FSBL, U-Boot, Linux Kernel). If the boot mode of the FPGA or SoC is appropriately set, on power-up it should read from the flash, load the bitstream into the FPGA and then load and run the software components.

In this post we’ll look at the steps to program the flash of a dev board using Vivado Hardware Manager. I’ll be doing this for the KCU105 board, but I’ve also included a list of some popular dev boards and the appropriate flash settings to use for each.

How to program the flash

  1. Launch Vivado. On the welcome screen, click on “Open Hardware Manager”.

  1. Power up your dev board and ensure that it’s JTAG port is connected to your computer.
  2. In the Hardware Manager, click “Open target” and then “Auto Connect”.

  1. Right click on the FPGA/SoC device and click “Add Configuration Memory Device”.

  1. Now we have to specify the memory part that is connected to the FPGA/SoC device on our particular dev board. To find the memory part for your dev board, you’ll have to dig into the user guide or the board schematics. To help you out, I’ve listed the flash names for a bunch of FPGA/SoC dev boards below the image (scroll down).

7-Series boards

Board Type Size Part # Flash name
AC701 QSPI 32MB N25Q256A13ESF40G mt25ql256-spi-x1_x2_x4
KC705 QSPI 16MB N25Q128A13BSF40F mt25qu128-spi-x1_x2_x4
KC705 BPI 128MB PC28F00AP30TF 28f00ap30t-bpi-x16
VC707 BPI 128MB PC28F00AG18FE mt28gu01gaax1e-bpi-x16
VC709 BPI 128MB PC28F00AG18FE mt28gu01gaax1e-bpi-x16
ZC702 QSPI 16MB N25Q128A11ESF40G mt25qu128-spi-x1_x2_x4
ZC706 Dual QSPI 32MB S25FL128SAGMFIR01 s25fl128l-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8

Ultrascale/Ultrascale+ boards

Board Type Size Part # Flash name
KCU105 Dual QSPI 64MB N25Q256A11ESF40F mt25qu256-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
KCU116 Dual QSPI 256MB MT25QU01GBBB8ESF-0SIT mt25qu01g-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
VCU108 BPI 128MB MT28GU01GAAA1EGC-0SIT mt28gu01gaax1e-bpi-x16
VCU110 Dual QSPI 128MB MT25QU512ABA8E12-0SIT mt25qu512-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
VCU118 Dual QSPI 256MB MT25QU01GBB8ESF mt25qu01g-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
VCU118 BPI 128MB MT28GU01GAAA1EGC-0SIT mt28gu01gaax1e-bpi-x16

Zynq Ultrascale+ boards

Board Type Size Part # Flash name
ZCU104 QSPI 64MB MT25QU512ABB8ESF mt25qu512-spi-x1_x2_x4
ZCU102 Dual QSPI 128MB MT25QU512ABB8ESF mt25qu512-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
ZCU106 Dual QSPI 128MB MT25QU512ABB8ESF mt25qu512-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
ZCU111 Dual QSPI 512MB MT25QU02GCBB8E12-0sit mt25qu02g-spi-x1_x2_x4_x8
Board Type Size Part # Flash name
Arty A7 QSPI 16MB N25Q128A13ESF40 mt25ql128-spi-x1_x2_x4
PYNQ Z1 QSPI 16MB S25FL128SAGMFI00 s25fl128sxxxxxx0-spi-x1_x2_x4
PYNQ Z2 QSPI 16MB S25FL128S s25fl128sxxxxxx0-spi-x1_x2_x4
ZedBoard QSPI 32MB S25FL256S s25fl256sxxxxxx0-spi-x1_x2_x4
MicroZed QSPI 16MB S25FL128SAGBHI200 s25fl128sxxxxxx0-spi-x1_x2_x4
Z-Turn QSPI 16MB W25Q128BVFIG mt25ql128-spi-x1_x2_x4

Note about Dual Quad SPI

You might notice that the flash names listed above are all proceeded by x1_x2_x4 or x1_x2_x4_x8. The latter postfix is used for dual quad SPI interfaces, where two Quad SPI devices are connected to an 8 bit wide interface. However, just because there are 2 Quad SPI flashes connected, doesn’t mean that you have to use them both. If you wanted to use the first Quad SPI device only, then you should use the x1_x2_x4 postfix.

  1. Once you select the flash device, you will be asked if you want to program the configuration memory device now. Click “OK”.

  1. Now you need to select the .mcs and .prm files to program the flash with. Note that in my case, I’m programming the KCU105’s flash in dual Quad SPI mode, which means that I need two .mcs files and two .prm files. If you are not using dual Quad SPI mode, then you will only have the option to select one of each file.

After clicking “OK”, the Vivado Hardware Manager should program your board’s flash and verify that it was programmed correctly.