First Build

This tutorial is the end-to-end build procedure for the Simple-ZCU208-Example firmware on the Xilinx ZCU208 evaluation board (FPGA part XCZU48DR-FSVG1517-2-E, firmware version v3.0.0.0 / PRJ_VERSION = 0x03000000). It documents only the commands that differ between this board and the platform-shared workflow; for host-prep details, build-output redirection, the bare-metal-vs-Docker decision, and the serial-console snippet — all of which are board-agnostic — sections below deep-link to the corresponding anchors in the platform docs site (tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html).

Reference toolchain

This walkthrough was authored against:

  • Vivado: v2025.2 (64-bit)

  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (x86_64)

  • Firmware version: v3.0.0.0 (PRJ_VERSION = 0x03000000)

  • Target FPGA part: XCZU48DR-FSVG1517-2-E

  • Conda env: rogue_v6.6.1

Approximate end-to-end build time on a typical Linux build host with the firmware tree on local-disk storage: ~60 min total — firmware (~17 min) plus Yocto (~45 min).

Output filenames embed the build timestamp, the building user’s username, and the current git short-SHA, following the schema <TargetName>-<PRJ_VERSION>-<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>-<user>-<git-short-SHA>. The <full-name> placeholder is used below wherever the exact filename is build-specific.

Clone

Install git-lfs in your shell profile (one-time per environment) before cloning, so any LFS-tracked binaries are fetched correctly:

git lfs install

Clone the repository with all submodules:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/slaclab/Simple-ZCU208-Example.git

The --recursive flag initialises the firmware/submodules/surf, firmware/submodules/axi-soc-ultra-plus-core, firmware/submodules/ruckus, and firmware/submodules/aes-stream-drivers submodules in one step. Omitting it leaves the firmware build unable to find the required RTL and TCL sources.

Setup environment

Source the Vivado 2025.2 environment, then activate the rogue_v6.6.1 conda environment:

source firmware/vivado_setup.sh
source software/setup_env_slac.sh

The first script sets PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and the Xilinx licence server variables required by make. The second activates the rogue_v6.6.1 conda environment used by the Python control layer.

For host-package prerequisites, the non-SLAC Vivado/conda install path, Yocto host-package list, and the build-output redirection step required before the Yocto build, see tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html#setup-environment.

Firmware build

Change into the target directory and run make:

source firmware/vivado_setup.sh
cd firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/
make

Approximate timing: ~17 min on a typical Linux build host with Vivado 2025.2.

After a successful build, the .bit and .xsa artifacts are written to firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/images/ using the schema SimpleZcu208Example-0x03000000-<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>-<user>-<git-short-SHA>:

firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/images/SimpleZcu208Example-0x03000000-<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>-<user>-<git-short-SHA>.bit   (~33 MiB)
firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/images/SimpleZcu208Example-0x03000000-<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>-<user>-<git-short-SHA>.xsa   (~3 MiB)

Note

Your filename will differ — the build embeds the build timestamp, your username, and the current git short-SHA. PRJ_VERSION = 0x03000000 corresponds to firmware version v3.0.0.0 and is tracked in firmware/targets/shared_version.mk.

To review Vivado results in GUI mode after a successful build:

make gui

For the platform-level firmware-build narrative (Vivado strategy, log locations, common build failures), see tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html#firmware-build.

Yocto build

The Yocto build produces the embedded Linux boot images (BOOT.BIN, image.ub, boot.scr, system.bit) that run on the ZCU208 Processing System. From the target directory, pass the .xsa file produced by the firmware build to BuildYoctoProject.sh:

cd firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/
./BuildYoctoProject.sh -f images/SimpleZcu208Example-0x03000000-<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>-<user>-<git-short-SHA>.xsa

Approximate timing: ~45 min on a typical Linux build host with the firmware tree on local-disk storage (~7200 bitbake tasks).

After a successful build, the boot images are in firmware/build/YoctoProjects/SimpleZcu208Example/linux/ and a packaged tarball is also produced at firmware/targets/SimpleZcu208Example/images/<full-name>.linux.tar.gz.

For the bare-metal-vs-Docker decision, the Yocto host-package list, the Dockerfile defect callout, and the deploy-path layout, see tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html#yocto-build.

SD card

Once the Yocto build is complete, write the boot images to an SD card. The verified procedure — covering both the manual mount-and-copy recipe and the scripted CreateDiskImage.sh path (how-to/sd_card_imaging.html) — is documented on the platform docs site at tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html#sd-card. The four files to copy live under firmware/build/YoctoProjects/SimpleZcu208Example/linux/ (BOOT.BIN, image.ub, boot.scr, system.bit).

Boot

  1. Power down the ZCU208 board.

  2. Confirm Mode SW2 [4:1] = 1110 (switch OFF = 1 = High; ON = 0 = Low) for SD boot.

  3. Insert the SD card written in the previous step.

  4. Power up the board.

  5. Confirm the board is reachable on the default DHCP IP 10.0.0.10:

    ping 10.0.0.10

For the serial-console snippet (USB-to-serial bridge, baud rate, terminal program selection on Linux/Windows) and troubleshooting steps for boot or network failures, see tutorial/first_soc_bringup.html#boot.

Run the Rogue GUI

Once the board is reachable on the network, launch the PyDM GUI from the host:

python software/scripts/devGui.py --ip 10.0.0.10

This connects to the on-board ZMQ server, builds the PyRogue device tree, and opens the default PyDM dashboard.

For installing Rogue on a non-SLAC host, see how-to/rogue_install.html. For the platform-level GUI launch how-to (advanced flags, alternative entry points, headless operation), see how-to/rogue_gui_launch.html.

Next steps