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Ixiasoft
1.3.1.3. Preloader
The Preloader duration is influenced by the following elements:
- Location of next boot stage
- Size of next boot stage image
- Speed of SDRAM (since Preloader loads the image from Flash to SDRAM)
- Speed of Flash
- Various Preloader options:
- SDRAM scrubbing
- Hardware diagnostic
- Checking the CRC of the next boot stage image
- Serial logging
- Program FPGA
In order to reduce the Preloader duration, the above parameters may be tweaked. For example:
- Reduce the size of the next boot stage (for example remove networking support from U-Boot if not needed)
- Use a faster flash (it requires changing Preloader source code – option is not available in Preloader Generator)
- Disable hardware diagnostic if enabled (uncheck HARDWARE_DIAGNOSTIC in Preloader Generator)
- Disable serial console output - (uncheck SERIAL_SUPPORT in Preloader Generator)
- Disable CRC of the next boot stage image (uncheck CHECKSUM_NEXT_IMAGE in Preloader Generator)
If the FPGA programming is selected in the Preloader, then the following also impacts the duration:
- Location of FPGA Image (QSPI or SD Card FAT partition)
- Size of the FPGA Image (compression may reduce it significantly)