Debian HiFive Premier P550 Test Report

Test Environment

Hardware Information

• Board: HiFive Premier P550
• Other hardware:
  • A microSD card
  • A USB Type-C to Type-A cable

Operating System Information

• System Version: Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid (ESWIN Debian-v1.0.0-20250730)
• Download Link: https://github.com/eswincomputing/eic7x-images/releases/tag/Debian-v1.0.0-20250730
• Reference Installation Document:
  • https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-image-update-procedure
• Software Reference Manual: https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-software-reference-manual

Installation Steps

1. Download and extract the operating system image.

   for i in 001 002 003 004; do
       wget -c "https://github.com/eswincomputing/eic7x-images/releases/download/Debian-v1.0.0-20250730/EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip.$i"
   done

   In this release, the actual archive volume order does not match the file numbering. Remap the volumes before extraction:

   mkdir -p fixed-split
   cd fixed-split
   
   ln -s ../EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip.002 EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.z01
   ln -s ../EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip.003 EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.z02
   ln -s ../EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip.004 EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.z03
   ln -s ../EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip.001 EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip
   
   7z x EIC7x_Release_Images_0730.zip
   cd EIC7x_Release_Images_0730

2. Format the microSD card as ext4 and copy the P550 minimal images. (Assume /dev/sdb is the microSD card device.)

   lsblk
   sudo umount /dev/sdb* 2>/dev/null || true
   sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdb
   sudo mkfs.ext4 -F -L P550_INSTALL /dev/sdb
   
   sudo mkdir -p /mnt/sd
   sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/sd

   Copy the boot and root images to the microSD card using short filenames:

   sudo cp ./dvb/bootloader_P550.bin /mnt/sd/
   sudo cp ./dvb/minimal/boot-P550-20250904-101110.ext4 /mnt/sd/b
   sudo cp ./dvb/minimal/root-P550-20250904-101110.ext4 /mnt/sd/r
   
   sync
   sudo umount /mnt/sd

3. Insert the microSD card, connect to the board through the serial port, power on the board, and enter U-Boot from SPI Flash.

   • Set the DIP switches to SPI Flash boot mode: DIP_SW1[3:0] = 0100. (ON = 0, OFF = 1)

   • When Hit any key to stop autoboot appears in the serial terminal, quickly press Enter to enter the U-Boot command line.

   • Confirm that the image files on the microSD card are accessible:

     => ls mmc 1
              4751464 bootloader_P550.bin
           1048576000 r
            104857600 b

4. Create the eMMC partition table and flash the Debian images using U-Boot.

   => run gpt_partition
   Writing GPT: success!

   Flash the boot partition:

   => es_fs update mmc 1 b mmc 0:1

   Output:

   Write progress: 100%:++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
   mmc has been successfully writen in mmc 0:1

   Flash the root partition:

   => es_fs update mmc 1 r mmc 0:3

   Output:

   Write progress: 100%:++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
   mmc has been successfully writen in mmc 0:3

5. Power off the board, remove the microSD card, and power it on again.

   => poweroff
   poweroff ...
   eic770x_core_shutdown

   Log in with the following credentials after the system boots:

   Username: eswin
   Password: eswin

Expected Results

The system should boot normally and allow login through the serial port or other methods.

Actual Results

The system boots normally and login through the serial port is successful.

Boot Log

[ OK ] Reached target graphical.target - Graphical Interface.
       Starting systemd-update-utmp-runle…- Record Runlevel Change in UTMP...
[ OK ] Finished systemd-update-utmp-runle…e - Record Runlevel Change in UTMP.

Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid rockos-eswin ttyS0

rockos-eswin login: eswin
Password:

Linux rockos-eswin 6.6.92-eic7x-2025.07 #2025.09.04.09.57+ SMP Thu Sep  4 09:59:13 CST 2025 riscv64

eswin@rockos-eswin:~$ uname -a
Linux rockos-eswin 6.6.92-eic7x-2025.07 #2025.09.04.09.57+ SMP Thu Sep  4 09:59:13 CST 2025 riscv64 GNU/Linux

eswin@rockos-eswin:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

eswin@rockos-eswin:~$

Screen recording (from flashing the image to logging into the system)：

Test Criteria

Test success: The actual result is consistent with the expected result.

Test failure: The actual result is inconsistent with the expected result.

Test Conclusion

Test successful.