Build instructions

Before building the firmware for a given board the MicroPython cross-compiler

must be built; it will be used to pre-compile some of the built-in scripts to

bytecode. The cross-compiler is built and run on the host machine, using:

$ make -C mpy-cross

This command should be executed from the root directory of this repository.

All other commands below should be executed from the ports/alif/ directory.

An ARM compiler is required for the build, along with the associated binary

utilities. The recommended toolchain version to use with this port is

Arm GNU toolchain version 13.3.Rel1. The compiler can be changed using the

`CROSS_COMPILE` variable when invoking `make`.

Next, the board to build must be selected. The default board is `ALIF_ENSEMBLE`

but any of the names of the subdirectories in the `boards/` directory is valid.

The board name must be passed as the argument to `BOARD=` when invoking `make`.

All boards require certain submodules to be obtained before they can be built.

The correct set of submodules can be initialised using (with `ALIF_ENSEMBLE`

as an example of the selected board):

make BOARD=ALIF_ENSEMBLE submodules

Then to build the board's firmware run:

make BOARD=ALIF_ENSEMBLE

The above command should produce binary images in the `build-ALIF_ENSEMBLE/`

subdirectory (or the equivalent directory for the board specified).

The SE firmware must be updated **before** flashing the main firmware to match

the version used by MicroPython. This step only needs to be performed once.

Connect the board to your PC via the **SE UART USB** port (on the Ensemble kit,

this is labeled **PRG USB**), then run:

make update-system-package

**Note:** The board must be power-cycled after this step.

To flash the firmware, run:

make BOARD=ALIF_ENSEMBLE deploy