SD Card Configuration

This guide covers the complete process for preparing, formatting, flashing, and configuring an SD card for the X-Band Phased Array Development Platform.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

Important

This version of Kuiper Linux is not yet released publicly. Reach out to an ADI FAE for a copy

Step 1: Format the SD Card

Before programming the SD Card, it must be properly formatted and erased.

  1. Insert the SD Card into your card reader

  2. Open SD Card Formatter software

  3. Select your SD Card from the drive dropdown

    • Verify you’ve selected the correct drive

  4. Choose Quick Format option

  5. Label the SD Card (optional, e.g., XBand_2024)

  6. Click Format and confirm

  7. Wait for completion - you should see a success prompt

  8. Close SD Card Formatter

Warning

Double-check that you’ve selected the correct drive. Formatting will erase all data on the selected drive.

Note

Use the SD Card Formatter program rather than Windows/Mac built-in formatting tools to ensure proper SD card structure.

Step 2: Flash the Kuiper Linux Image

  1. Open BalenaEtcher application

  2. Click “Flash from file”

  3. Select the Kuiper Linux image:

    • Navigate to your downloaded .img file

    • Example: 2024-06-18-ADI-Kuiper-full.img

  4. Click “Select target”

  5. Select your SD Card:

    • CRITICAL: Double-check you’ve selected the correct drive

    • Selecting the wrong drive will erase its contents

  6. Click “Flash!”

    • This may require administrator privileges

    • The flashing process takes approximately 10-15 minutes

    • A verification process will follow the flashing

Important

The verification will always fail at the end - this is expected and can be ignored. Simply close BalenaEtcher when the flashing completes.

Flashing Progress

During the flashing process, BalenaEtcher will show:

  • Flashing: Writing the image to the SD card (~10 minutes)

  • Validating: Verifying the written data (~5 minutes)

  • Fail message: Expected - ignore and close the application

Step 3: Prevent SD Card Encryption (For automatic PC encryptions)

Important

ADI Internal Users Only: Within ADI networks, if files are moved directly in Windows Explorer, the SD Card will get encrypted and fail to boot. Follow these steps to work around this issue.

Map Network Drive to Avoid Encryption

After flashing is complete, you must move specific files to the SD Card. To avoid encryption:

  1. Remove and re-insert the SD Card into your PC

    • Windows will mount it as two drives: BOOT and rootfs

  2. Open Windows Explorer (but don’t navigate to the SD Card yet)

  3. Right-click the BOOT drive and select Properties

  4. Go to the Sharing tab

  5. Copy the network drive path (e.g., \\COMPUTERNAME\BOOT)

  6. Right-click “This PC” and select Map Network Drive

  7. Paste the network path you copied

  8. Click Finish

  9. Use this mapped network drive for all file operations

    • Files copied through the network drive will not be encrypted

Tip

External Users: You can skip the network drive mapping and copy files directly to the BOOT partition.

Step 4: Copy Required Files

The SD card needs specific boot files copied to the root directory of the BOOT partition.

File Locations

You need to copy three files from your HDL build or reference design:

  1. Image: Linux kernel image

    • Source: zynqmp-common/Image

  2. BOOT.BIN: First-stage bootloader and FPGA bitstream

    • Source: zynqmp-zcu102-rev10-stingray/BOOT.BIN

  3. system.dtb: Device tree blob

    • Source: zynqmp-zcu102-rev10-stingray/<clock_config>/system.dtb

Note

The system.dtb file location depends on your clocking configuration. Common options:

  • vcxo100/system.dtb - 100 MHz VCXO reference

  • xo122p88/system.dtb - 122.88 MHz XO reference Select the system.dtb that matches your hardware clocking setup.

Copy Procedure

  1. Navigate to the BOOT drive (or mapped network drive for ADI users)

  2. Copy Image file:

    • From: <build_directory>/zynqmp-common/Image

    • To: Root of BOOT drive

  3. Copy BOOT.BIN:

    • From: <build_directory>/zynqmp-zcu102-rev10-stingray/BOOT.BIN

    • To: Root of BOOT drive

    • Overwrite if it already exists

  4. Copy system.dtb:

    • From: <build_directory>/zynqmp-zcu102-rev10-stingray/<clock_config>/system.dtb

    • To: Root of BOOT drive

    • Overwrite if it already exists

Warning

Ensure you copy the correct system.dtb for your clocking configuration. Using the wrong device tree will cause boot failures or hardware misconfiguration.

File Verification

After copying, the root of your BOOT partition should contain:

BOOT/
├── Image
├── BOOT.BIN
└── system.dtb

Step 5: Safely Remove SD Card

  1. Close Windows Explorer and any programs accessing the SD card

  2. Unmount/Eject the SD Card:

    • Right-click the drive and select “Eject”

    • Or use the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the system tray

  3. Wait for confirmation that it’s safe to remove

  4. Remove the SD Card from your card reader

Step 6: Install and Boot

Installation

  1. Power down the X-Band platform completely

  2. Remove any existing SD Card from the ZCU102

  3. Insert the newly programmed SD Card into the ZCU102 SD card slot

  4. Ensure ZCU102 is configured for SD boot (see ZCU102 Configuration)

First Boot

  1. Open a serial terminal on your host PC:

    • Baud rate: 115200

    • Data bits: 8

    • Parity: None

    • Stop bits: 1

    • Flow control: None

  2. Connect USB-UART cable from PC to ZCU102 (J83)

  3. Power on the X-Band platform (see power-on sequence in main Setup guide)

  4. Monitor boot process in the serial terminal:

    • U-Boot messages appear (~5 seconds)

    • Linux kernel boot messages (~15 seconds)

    • System initialization (~20 seconds)

    • Login prompt appears (~30-40 seconds total)

Verify Boot Success

  1. Login with credentials:

    • Username: root

    • Password: analog

  2. Wait 60 seconds for system initialization to complete

  3. Check IIO devices:

    root@analog:~# iio_attr -d

    • You should see 40 IIO devices listed

    IIO Device Verification

  4. Verify Kuiper version:

    root@analog:~# cat /boot/VERSION.txt

    • Confirm it matches your downloaded image version

    SD Card Image Verification

  5. Verify Stingray LED status:

    • Inspect the Stingray board and confirm the following LEDs are illuminated:

      • Red LED: Power good

      • Yellow LED: System activity

      • Green LED: Boot complete

    • All three LEDs lit simultaneously confirm a successful boot

    Stingray LED Status

Tip

Boot is confirmed successful when 40 IIO devices appear in the terminal and the red, yellow, and green LEDs are all illuminated on the Stingray board. Your SD Card is properly configured and ready for use with MATLAB/Python scripts.

Additional Resources

See also