Environment Setup Tutorial¶

Overview¶

This tutorial will set up your SMVDU-TITAN-X development environment from scratch on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS.

Time required: ~1–2 hours (mostly download/build time)

System Requirements¶

Step 1: Clone the Repository¶

git clone --recursive https://github.com/anupamsarashwat1-cloud/smvdu-titan-x.git
cd smvdu-titan-x

git submodule update --init --recursive

Step 2: Install System Dependencies¶

sudo bash scripts/setup/install_deps.sh

This installs:

• Build tools (gcc, cmake, autoconf, etc.)
• Java 17 + SBT (for Chisel/Chipyard)
• Verilator (RTL simulator)
• Python 3 + pip packages (cocotb, LiteX)
• QEMU RISC-V (for software stack testing)
• GTKWave (waveform viewer)

Step 3: Install RISC-V GCC Toolchain¶

bash scripts/setup/setup_riscv_toolchain.sh
source ~/.bashrc

Verify:

riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc --version
# riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc (GCC) 14.x.x ...

Step 4: Build Phase 1 Firmware¶

cd software/firmware/hello_uart
make
make disasm   # Optional: view disassembly

Output:

  AS      main.S
  LD      build/hello_uart.elf

build/hello_uart.elf  :
section             size      addr
.text.init           ...  0x1000
.text                ...
...

  HEX     build/hello_uart.hex
  BIN     build/hello_uart.bin

Step 5: Run Verilator Lint¶

bash scripts/sim/run_verilator.sh --lint-only

Step 6: Set Up Chipyard (Longer Step)¶

bash scripts/setup/setup_chipyard.sh

After Chipyard is set up:

conda activate chipyard
cd hardware/chipyard
make -C sims/verilator CONFIG=smvdu.titan.x.TitanXSimConfig

Step 7: (Optional) Set Up LiteX for Rapid FPGA Prototyping¶

bash scripts/setup/setup_litex.sh

# Test LiteX target
python3 fpga/litex_targets/arty_a7/titan_x_litex.py --help

Step 8: View Documentation Locally¶

pip install mkdocs-material
mkdocs serve
# Open: http://127.0.0.1:8000

Environment Variables Summary¶

After setup, your ~/.bashrc should contain:

# RISC-V Toolchain
export RISCV="/opt/riscv"
export PATH="$RISCV/bin:$PATH"

# Chipyard (if installed)
# conda activate chipyard

Troubleshooting¶

"command not found: riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc"¶

source ~/.bashrc
# Or reload the shell:
exec bash

Chipyard conda env not found¶

conda env list
# If chipyard env missing:
cd hardware/chipyard
conda env create -f environment.yml

Verilator version too old¶

Chipyard requires Verilator ≥ 4.226. Install from source if needed:

# See: https://verilator.org/guide/latest/install.html

Next Steps¶

• Chipyard Setup — Deep dive into Chipyard configuration
• First Simulation — Run your first RTL simulation
• FPGA Deployment — Program your FPGA board