Convert bitstream to binary

If you want to load a bitstream at runtime from your OS, using fpgautil, Vivado can generate a binary version for you, but if you want you can convert the bit version into a binary one using bootgen.

Last update the 25/03/2022 - Tutorial created by R. Meloni the 13/01/2022

Contact us

If you encounter errors or if you have any doubts, please open an issue on GitHub, or send an e-mail to:

Raffaele Meloni - raffaele.meloni99@gmail.com

Generate binary with bootgen

Install bootgen, a tool which stitches binary files together and generates device boot images:

$ sudo apt-get install bootgen-xlnx
    
# How to use it
$ bootgen --help

Create a directory into build/ for your bitstreams:

$ mkdir build/bitstream/<project-name>
$ cd build/bitstream/<project-name>

# copy into this directory your bitstream

Create a <bif-file>.bif with this content:

# <bif-file>.bif content
all:
{
    <absolute-path-to-bitstream-file>
}

The execute bootgen:

# Generate a binary file from bitstream (<arch-family> = zynqmp for zynqmp family as zcu102)
$ bootgen -image <bif-file>.bif -arch <arch-family> -o <bitname>.bit.bin -w on

Now <bitname>.bit.bin is available into the work directory, it can be copied into the SD card and loaded through fpgautil.