0 installation guide

Cloned repo: https://github.com/vyomasystems-lab/riscv_setup

How Dependencies Were Identified

Examining the Makefile

Looking at the tool definitions revealed:

GCC       := riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc    # cross-compiler for RISC-V
OBJDUMP   := riscv64-unknown-elf-objdump # for generating disassembly
SPIKE     := spike                       # the ISA simulator

Attempting a Dry Run

make run TEST=tests/add.S
# riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc: Command not found
# spike: Command not found

The error messages made it pretty clear what was missing.

Searching for Packages

apt search riscv | grep gcc
# Found: gcc-riscv64-unknown-elf in Ubuntu repositories

apt search spike
# Not found - needs to be built from source

# Spike's GitHub README lists build dependencies:
# - device-tree-compiler
# - libboost-regex-dev
# - libboost-system-dev

Prerequisites

My System specs: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, 512GB disk space, 8GB memory

# Check if basic tools are already installed
make --version  # for build automation
git --version   # for cloning repositories

# Install them if they're missing
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential git  # C/C++ compiler, make, git

Installation Steps

Step 1: RISC-V GNU Toolchain

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y gcc-riscv64-unknown-elf

This package provides several tools: - riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc - C/C++ compiler targeting RISC-V bare-metal - riscv64-unknown-elf-as - RISC-V assembler - riscv64-unknown-elf-ld - linker for RISC-V - riscv64-unknown-elf-objdump - converts binaries to readable assembly - riscv64-unknown-elf-objcopy - for converting object file formats

Check that everything installed correctly:

which riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc
riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc --version

You should see the path /usr/bin/riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc and version 13.x.x or higher.

Step 2: Spike Build Dependencies

sudo apt install -y device-tree-compiler \
                    libboost-regex-dev \
                    libboost-system-dev

These are needed to compile Spike from source: - device-tree-compiler - handles hardware configuration descriptions - libboost-regex-dev - parses ISA strings like "rv64imafdczicsr_zifencei" - libboost-system-dev - provides system operations and error handling

Verify the installation:

which dtc
dpkg -l | grep libboost

Step 3: Building Spike from Source

Spike isn't available in Ubuntu's package repositories, so it needs to be compiled manually.

# Get the source code
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/riscv-software-src/riscv-isa-sim.git
cd riscv-isa-sim

# Set up the build
mkdir build && cd build
../configure --prefix=/usr/local     # where to install
make -j$(nproc)                      # compile using all available cores

# Install system-wide
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig                        # update the library cache

This installs several useful tools: - /usr/local/bin/spike - the main RISC-V ISA simulator - /usr/local/bin/spike-dasm - disassembler utility - /usr/local/bin/elf2hex - converts ELF files to hex format - /usr/local/lib/libriscv.so - simulation library

Confirm everything is working:

which spike
spike --help | head -5
which elf2hex

Verification

Running a Complete Test

cd /home/shiva/Desktop/riscv_workshop/riscv_setup
make run TEST=tests/add.S

If everything is set up properly, you'll see:

Compiling tests/add.S
Disassembly Generation
Running on Spike
DONE

The compilation uses riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc, disassembly uses riscv64-unknown-elf-objdump, and execution happens in Spike.

Check what was generated:

ls work/add/
# add.elf     - the compiled RISC-V binary
# add.disass  - human-readable assembly
# add.dump    - instruction-by-instruction execution trace

cat work/add/add.disass | less
head -50 work/add/add.dump

Troubleshooting

Commands Not Found

If a tool is installed but can't be found:

# Check if they actually exist
ls /usr/bin/riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc
ls /usr/local/bin/spike

# Add to PATH if needed
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:$PATH"
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

TEST Parameter Missing

If make complains that TEST isn't set:

make run TEST=tests/add.S  # always specify which test to run

Summary

The following tools should now be available:

Tool	Purpose	Location
`riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc`	RISC-V C/C++ compiler	`/usr/bin/`
`riscv64-unknown-elf-objdump`	Disassembler	`/usr/bin/`
`spike`	ISA simulator	`/usr/local/bin/`
`elf2hex`	ELF to hex converter	`/usr/local/bin/`

Basic usage examples:

cd /home/shiva/Desktop/riscv_workshop/riscv_setup

make run TEST=tests/add.S        # compile and run
make disasm TEST=tests/add.S     # just generate disassembly
make spike TEST=tests/add.S      # run previously compiled test
make clean TEST=add              # clean up generated files