ARTIQ on Zynq

How to use

1. Install ARTIQ. Get the corresponding version to the artiq-zynq version you are targeting.
2. To obtain firmware binaries, use AFWS or build your own; see the ARTIQ manual for detailed instructions or skip to "Development" below. ZC706 variants only can also be downloaded from latest successful build on Hydra.
3. Place boot.bin file at the root / of a FAT-formatted SD card.
4. Optionally, create a config.txt configuration file containing key=value pairs on each line and place it at the root of the SD card. See below for valid keys. The ip, ip6 and mac keys can be used to set networking information. If these keys are not found, the firmware will use default values which may or may not be compatible with your network.
5. Insert the SD card into the board and set the board to boot from the SD card. For ZC706, this is achieved by placing the large DIP switch SW11 into the 00110 position. On Kasli-SoC, place the BOOT MODE switches to SD.
6. Power up the board. After successful boot the firmware should respond to ping at its IP addresses. Boot output can be observed from UART at 115200bps 8-N-1.
7. Create and use an ARTIQ device database as usual.

Configuration

Configuring the device is done using the config.txt text file at the root of the SD card plus optionally a config folder. When searching for a configuration key, the firmware first looks for a file named /config/[key].bin and, if it exists, returns the contents of that file. If not, it looks into /config.txt, which should contain a list of key=value pairs, one per line. config.txt should be used for most keys but the config folder allows for setting configuration values which consist of binary data, such as the startup kernel.

The following configuration keys are available among others:

• mac: Ethernet MAC address.
• ip: IPv4 address.
• ip6: IPv6 address.
• idle_kernel: idle kernel in ELF format (as produced by artiq_compile).
• startup_kernel: startup kernel in ELF format (as produced by artiq_compile).
• rtio_clock: source of RTIO clock; valid values are ext0_bypass and int_125.

See ARTIQ manual for full list. Configurations can be read/written/removed with artiq_coremgmt. Config erase is not implemented, as it isn't particularly useful.

For convenience, the boot key can be used with artiq_coremgmt and a boot.bin file to replace firmware/gateware in a running system. This key is read-only. When loading boot.bin onto the SD card directly, place it at the root and not in the config folder.

Development instructions

ARTIQ on Zynq is packaged using Nix Flakes. Install Nix 2.8+ and enable flakes by adding experimental-features = nix-command flakes to nix.conf (e.g. ~/.config/nix/nix.conf).

Pure build with Nix:

nix build .#zc706-nist_clock-jtag  # or zc706-nist_qc2-jtag or zc706-nist_clock-sd or etc

Run nix flake show to see all valid build targets. Targets suffixed with -jtag produce separate firmware and gateware files, intended for use in booting via JTAG server/Ethernet, e.g. ./remote_run.sh -i with a remote JTAG server. Targets suffixed with -sd will produce boot.bin file suitable for SD card boot. -firmware and -gateware respectively build firmware and gateware only.

The Kasli-SoC target requires a system description file as input. See ARTIQ manual for exact instructions or use incremental build.

Impure incremental build:

For boards with fixed variants, i.e. ZC706, etc. :

nix develop
cd src
gateware/<board>.py -g ../build/gateware -V <variant> # gateware
make GWARGS="-V <variant>" <runtime/satman>    # firmware

For boards with system descriptions, i.e. Kasli-SoC, etc. :

nix develop
cd src
gateware/<board>.py -g ../build/gateware <description.json> # gateware
make TARGET=<board> GWARGS="path/to/description.json" <runtime/satman> # firmware

szl.elf can be obtained with:

nix build git+https://git.m-labs.hk/m-labs/zynq-rs#<board>-szl

To generate boot.bin use mkbootimage, e.g.:

echo "the_ROM_image:
    {
        [bootloader]result/szl.elf
        gateware/top.bit
        [elf_use_ph]firmware/armv7-none-eabihf/release/<runtime/satman>
    }
    EOF" >> boot.bif
mkbootimage boot.bif boot.bin

Notes:

• The impure build process is also compatible with non-Nix systems.
• Firmware type must be either runtime for DRTIO-less or DRTIO master variants, or satman for DRTIO satellite.
• If the board is connected to the local machine by JTAG, use the local_run.sh script.
• A known Xilinx hardware bug prevents repeatedly loading the bootloader over JTAG without a POR reset. If booting over JTAG, install a jumper on PS_POR_B and use the POR reset script here.

Pre-Commit Hooks

You are strongly recommended to use the provided pre-commit hooks to automatically reformat files and check for non-optimal Rust/C/C++ practices. Run pre-commit install to install the hook and pre-commit will automatically run cargo fmt, cargo clippy, and clang-format for you.

Several things to note:

• If cargo fmt, cargo clippy, or clang-format returns an error, the pre-commit hook will fail. You should fix all errors before trying to commit again.
• If cargo fmt or clang-format reformats some files, the pre-commit hook will also fail. You should review the changes and, if satisfied, try to commit again.

License

Copyright (C) 2019-2026 M-Labs Limited.

ARTIQ is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

ARTIQ is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with ARTIQ. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.