describe building legacy firmware

src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
   - [Sinara 9805 RF Power Amplifier Booster](./hw/booster.md)
   - [Sinara 8451 Thermostat](./hw/thermostat.md)
 - [Software/Support](./sw_sup/software_support.md)
+  - [Building legacy firmware](./sw_sup/artiq_legacy.md)
   - [Networking](./sw_sup/networking.md)
   - [DRTIO](./sw_sup/drtio.md)
   - [UART Logs](./sw_sup/uart_logs.md)

src/extra/prep_pkg.py

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import shutil
+import os
+import argparse
+import zipfile
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("-v", default=None, help="Variant name")
+    parser.add_argument("-d", default="./artiq_kasli", help="path to built")
+    parser.add_argument("-o", default=None, help="output zip (default: kasli-<variant>.zip")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    if not args.v:
+        raise ValueError("need to specify variant!!")
+    basepath = os.path.abspath(args.d)
+    tempdir = os.path.join(basepath, "kasli-{}".format(args.v))
+    try:
+        os.mkdir(tempdir)
+    except FileExistsError:
+        pass
+    shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "gateware/top.bit"), os.path.join(tempdir, "top.bit"))
+    shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "software/bootloader/bootloader.bin"), os.path.join(tempdir, "bootloader.bin"))
+    try:
+        shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "software/runtime/runtime.elf"), os.path.join(tempdir, "runtime.elf"))
+        shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "software/runtime/runtime.fbi"), os.path.join(tempdir, "runtime.fbi"))
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "software/satman/satman.elf"), os.path.join(tempdir, "satman.elf"))
+        shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(basepath, args.v, "software/satman/satman.fbi"), os.path.join(tempdir, "satman.fbi"))
+    output = args.o if args.o else "kasli-{}".format(args.v)
+
+    shutil.make_archive(output, "zip", tempdir)
+    shutil.rmtree(tempdir)
+    
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

src/sw_sup/artiq_legacy.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# Building ARTIQ-6 and earlier
+
+Pre-flake ARTIQ (that is 6 and earlier) requires slightly different steps for building.
+
+## Initial setup
+
+The following steps need to be done only once.
+
+First we will need to specify older nixpkg version - 21.05. Open ``~/.nix-channels`` with your favorite text editor.
+
+If there are any ``nixpkgs`` present already, comment them out with ``#``.
+
+Then add the following line:
+
+```
+https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-21.05 nixpkgs
+```
+
+Save and exit.
+
+Now, we need special ``nix-scripts`` to configure building environment, and a local copy of the artiq repository, in legacy release.
+
+```shell
+mkdir artiq-legacy
+cd artiq-legacy
+git clone https://git.m-labs.hk/M-Labs/nix-scripts
+git clone https://github.com/m-labs/artiq/
+cd artiq
+git checkout release-6  # or release-5...
+cd ..
+```
+
+## Setting up the environment and building firmware
+
+Within ``fish`` shell (others may not work correctly), set up the ARTIQ build environment:
+
+```shell
+nix-shell -I artiqSrc=<full path to artiq repo in legacy branch> nix-scripts/artiq-fast/shell-dev.nix
+```
+
+Then build the required firmware as usual:
+
+```shell
+python -m artiq.gateware.targets.kasli_generic <variant>.json
+```
+
+If you are building legacy ARTIQ for local use and you want to flash it, use:
+```shell
+artiq_flash -V <variant> -d artiq_kasli --srcbuild
+```
+
+There's a slight discrepancy from usual command - ``-V <variant>`` option is not present in ARTIQ-7+, but it is necessary here.
+
+If you want to send the binaries to a customer, there's no need packing up the whole build directory - only ``top.bit``, ``bootloader.bin`` and ``runtime.elf/fbi`` or ``satman.elf/fbi`` are necessary. You can use the ``prep_pkg.py`` script from extras to package them up neatly into a zip file for distributions:
+
+```shell
+python prep_pkg.py -v <variant> -d artiq_kasli/
+```
+
+Then the customer can use ``artiq_flash`` easily, after extracting the contents:
+
+```shell
+artiq_flash -V <variant> -d .
+```