Debian trixie/sid HiFive Unmatched Test Report

Test Environment

Operating System Information

System Version: Debian trixie/sid
Download Link: https://github.com/yuzibo/Unmatched-Debian-image/releases/tag/0.0.5-beta
Reference Installation Document
- https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/SiFive/%20HiFiveUnmatched
- https://github.com/yuzibo/Unmatched-Debian-image

Hardware Information

HiFive Unmatched Rev A
A microUSB cable (comes with HiFive Unmatched)
An ATX power supply
A microSD card (if you prefer U-Boot on microSD)
A M.2 NVMe SSD
- M.2 NVMe to USB enclosure to flash the image

Installation Steps

For HiFive Unmatched there are multiple ways to boot, according to the software reference manual.

For this Debian image, two options we can use:

Use the U-Boot image from the GitHub release page, flash it to the microSD card, DIP switch set to MSEL[3:0]=1011 (which is the factory default)
Manually compile mainline U-Boot, flash it to SPI Flash, DIP switch set to MSEL[3:0]=0110
- Requires an OS already installed and is capable of flashing SPI
- See U-Boot’s documentation here: https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/sifive/unmatched.html

U-Boot on microSD

/dev/sdX is the location of the microSD card, /dev/sdY is the location of M.2 NVMe SSD, please adjust accordingly.

wget https://github.com/yuzibo/Unmatched-Debian-image/releases/download/0.0.5-beta/sd-uboot.img.xz \
     https://github.com/yuzibo/Unmatched-Debian-image/releases/download/0.0.5-beta/nvme-rootfs.img.xz
xz -dkv sd-uboot.img.xz
xz -dkv nvme-rootfs.img.xz
sudo dd if=sd-uboot.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress
sudo dd if=nvme-rootfs.img of=/dev/sdY bs=1M status=progress
sync
sudo eject /dev/sdX; sudo eject /dev/sdY

Now, install both the microSD card and NVMe SSD to the board.

Make sure the DIP switches are correctly set: MSEL[3:0]=1011

U-Boot on SPI Flash

Assuming you already have an OS up and running on Unmatched.

You need to manually build U-Boot.

Building U-Boot

Below is only a rough guideline: you’ll need to install required packages, and configure toolchains (both cross build and native build are okay).

For full documentation please check out U-Boot’s official website: https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/sifive/unmatched.html

git clone https://github.com/riscv/opensbi.git
pushd opensbi
make PLATFORM=generic -j$(nproc)
popd
wget https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot/archive/refs/tags/v2025.04.tar.gz
tar xvf v2025.04.tar.gz
cd u-boot-2025.04
export OPENSBI=../opensbi/build/platform/generic/firmware/fw_dynamic.bin
make sifive_unmatched_defconfig
make -j$(nproc)

Flash the images

The following steps are from the official U-Boot documentation.

sgdisk --clear -a 1 \
    --new=1:40:2087     --change-name=1:spl   --typecode=1:5B193300-FC78-40CD-8002-E86C45580B47 \
    --new=2:2088:10279  --change-name=2:uboot --typecode=2:2E54B353-1271-4842-806F-E436D6AF6985 \
    --new=3:10280:10535 --change-name=3:env   --typecode=3:3DE21764-95BD-54BD-A5C3-4ABE786F38A8 \
    /dev/mtdblock0
dd if=spl/u-boot-spl.bin of=/dev/mtdblock0 bs=4096 seek=5 conv=sync
dd if=u-boot.itb  of=/dev/mtdblock0 bs=4096 seek=261 conv=sync

On another computer, flash the Debian image into NVMe SSD:

wget https://github.com/yuzibo/Unmatched-Debian-image/releases/download/0.0.5-beta/nvme-rootfs.img.xz
xz -dkv nvme-rootfs.img.xz
sudo dd if=nvme-rootfs.img of=/dev/sdY bs=1M status=progress
sync
sudo eject /dev/sdX; sudo eject /dev/sdY

Now power off the board, install the NVMe SSD with Debian image flashed, change DIP switch to MSEL[3:0]=0110 and then power on the board.

Logging into the System

Logging into the system via the onboard serial port (using the microUSB cable connected to another computer).

Default username: rv Default password: rv

Resizing partition

The root partition by default is not automatically resized.

Do as the following:

rv@unmatched:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/nvme0n1

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.40.4).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.

GPT PMBR size mismatch (6291455 != 250069679) will be corrected by write.
This disk is currently in use - repartitioning is probably a bad idea.
It's recommended to umount all file systems, and swapoff all swap
partitions on this disk.


Command (m for help): e
Partition number (1-4, default 4): 4

New <size>{K,M,G,T,P} in bytes or <size>S in sectors (default 118.8G): <Enter>

Partition 4 has been resized.

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Syncing disks.

rv@unmatched:~$ sudo resize2fs /dev/nvme0n1p4
[  178.683726] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p4): resizing filesystem from 681979 to 31154257 blocks
resize2fs 1.47.2 (1-Jan-2025)
Filesystem at /dev/nvme0n1p4 is mounted on /; on-line resizing required
old_desc_blocks = 1, new_desc_blocks = 15
[  179.016304] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p4): resized filesystem to 31154257
The filesystem on /dev/nvme0n1p4 is now 31154257 (4k) blocks long.

rv@unmatched:~$ df -hT
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev           devtmpfs  7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.6G  376K  1.6G   1% /run
/dev/nvme0n1p4 ext4      117G  541M  112G   1% /
tmpfs          tmpfs     7.9G     0  7.9G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
tmpfs          tmpfs     7.9G     0  7.9G   0% /tmp
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
/dev/nvme0n1p3 ext4      358M   69M  266M  21% /boot
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/getty@tty1.service
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/serial-getty@ttySIF0.service
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.6G  4.0K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000
rv@unmatched:~$

Expected Results

The system boots normally and allows login through the onboard serial port.

Actual Results

The system booted successfully, and login through the onboard serial port was also successful.

Boot Log

Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid unmatched ttySIF0

unmatched login: rv
Password:
Linux unmatched 6.12.17-riscv64 #1 SMP Debian 6.12.17-1 (2025-03-01) riscv64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
rv@unmatched:~$ fastfetch
        _,met$$$$$gg.          rv@unmatched
     ,g$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P.       ------------
   ,g$$P""       """Y$$.".     OS: Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid riscv64
  ,$$P'              `$$$.     Host: SiFive HiFive Unmatched A00
',$$P       ,ggs.     `$$b:    Kernel: Linux 6.12.17-riscv64
`d$$'     ,$P"'   .    $$$     Uptime: 50 seconds
 $$P      d$'     ,    $$P     Packages: 186 (dpkg)
 $$:      $$.   -    ,d$$'     Shell: bash 5.2.37
 $$;      Y$b._   _,d$P'       Terminal: vt220
 Y$$.    `.`"Y$$$$P"'          CPU: fu740-c000 (4)
 `$$b      "-.__               Memory: 294.54 MiB / 15.60 GiB (2%)
  `Y$$b                        Swap: Disabled
   `Y$$.                       Disk (/): 545.80 MiB / 2.49 GiB (21%) - ext4
     `$$b.                     Local IP (end0): 10.0.0.117/24
       `Y$$b.                  Locale: C
         `"Y$b._
             `""""

rv@unmatched:~$ uname -a
Linux unmatched 6.12.17-riscv64 #1 SMP Debian 6.12.17-1 (2025-03-01) riscv64 GNU/Linux
rv@unmatched:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
hart            : 2
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : sifive,bullet0
mvendorid       : 0x489
marchid         : 0x8000000000000007
mimpid          : 0x20181004
hart isa        : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd

processor       : 1
hart            : 1
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : sifive,bullet0
mvendorid       : 0x489
marchid         : 0x8000000000000007
mimpid          : 0x20181004
hart isa        : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd

processor       : 2
hart            : 3
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : sifive,bullet0
mvendorid       : 0x489
marchid         : 0x8000000000000007
mimpid          : 0x20181004
hart isa        : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd

processor       : 3
hart            : 4
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : sifive,bullet0
mvendorid       : 0x489
marchid         : 0x8000000000000007
mimpid          : 0x20181004
hart isa        : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_zca_zcd

rv@unmatched:~$ 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/"
rv@unmatched:~$ cat /etc/deb
debconf.conf    debian_version
rv@unmatched:~$ cat /etc/debian_version
trixie/sid

Screen records

U-Boot on SPI Flash:

U-Boot on microSD:

(Note the boot failure from MMC is normal, bootflow will automatically scan the next available boot device, which is NVMe in this case.)

Note

Even though we only tested CLI and marked this report as basic support for now, that’s only because we’re not using a dGPU this time. If you plug in an appropriate GPU that the system supports, e.g. AMD ones, it’s very likely you can get video output. You’ll need to install desktop and GPU related packages, of course.

Test Criteria

Successful: The actual result matches the expected result.

Failed: The actual result does not match the expected result.

Test Conclusion

Test successful.

System Version

Status

Last Update