No warning that a host machine was required

HiFive Unmatched
1

Hi, I have 5 x86_64 boxes that went down with some malware that messed up my linux.
This malware is carried in usb sticks by sneakernet.
I can no longer boot live distros, the USB ports are disabled on boot.
I have partial success after copying the boot image to a sata, but other weird fails.
cannot find /usr/bin. no such file, no such directory.

So I thought that I could try a non-x86_64 board and be immune to this malware.
I did not expect to need another box to run the Unmatched.
.. Back to the drawing board.

Please warn customers of this requirement when they shop.

Thank you.

2

Uh, I built the thing and everything just worked.
No host machine required.
I see
HiFive Unmatched - SiFive Boards
has been removed.
It was the document that talked about needing a host machine.

Thanks,

5

Hi,

I still do now understand the original need for a host machine.
I built a Clockwork Pi Dev Term that I had sitting around,
thinking that I could use that to talk to the Unmatched.

But when I had built the Unmatched,
with angle brackets holding a chassis fan above the board,
things just worked,
I could plug in a keyboard and mess around in shell.

I had other questions, but the “Getting Started” pdf,
which talked about needing a Host Machine,
has been pulled from the SiFive website.

But, but, when I would use Featherpad.?, Mousepad.? a lot,
it would stop working and go non-executable.
I wonder if the “recent file” list does not allocate space safely,
I had been going edit-crazy on a certain 100 or so files.

Since I had bought (2) Unmatched, the first time I DD copied the boot
onto the corrupted micro SD card.
However, it has happened again, and I have misplaced the other micro SD card.
And I have yet to understand the instructions to make a fresh boot image.

I contacted SiFive and asked for an “as-shipped” boot image,
but so far no response.

So my Unmatched are both down.

6

Hi,

Pre-built SD card images for SiFive HiFive Unmatched can be found at: Releases · sifiveinc/freedom-u-sdk · GitHub

You’ll need a host machine and an SD card reader to write the SD card. You’ll also need software to write the SD card image. dd software is typically available in Linux and can be used to write the SD card. More detailed instructions are in chapeter 2.7 of the SW ref doc here: https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-unmatched-software-reference-manual

7

Thank you,

A couple of days ago,
I actually did

unxz the *wic.xz
and

dd it to a micro SD card.

And it booted,.. but I thought that I had already tried that long ago.

Anyway, it does boot. No feh, no meh, I need to compile stuff.
I am scared to use featherpad, mousepad, so I must learn nano.

But,
When customers look at some downloads,
they want to know
+== What it is for and how to use it. ==+,
Where you talk about the wic downloads,

and where you download the wic*.xz,
Please say
“Once you unxz one of these files,
it is a bootable image, and you can ..”

src=$(ls *wic.xz)

dst=/dev/sdx

sudo dd if=$src of=$dst

to make a bootable micro SD card

Also, you keep saying “host machine” like it is in symbiosis with the unmatched board.
I keep thinking the “host machine” acts as a terminal to communicate with the unmatched board.
It would be more clear to say that

“You will need a working unix box.
to prepare the micro SD boot card for your SiFive board.”

again, +== What it is for and how to use it. ==+,
Tell the customer where something fits in some process.

8

.. wait,

This cli boot image does not have gcc.
I tried some Ubuntu.wic.xz and it does not have gcc.
questing*.img.xz does not unxz,.. file format not recognised.

I am still dead in the water.