Test firmware changes on a PandA

This guide covers the workflow for building and deploying server or FPGA firmware changes to a live PandA for manual testing.

Simulation-mode testing (server)¶

Server changes can be unit-tested natively in simulation mode — no PandA required. The only dependencies are make and gcc.

cd PandABlocks-server
make sim

Simulation mode runs the server against a software model of the block hardware. See the PandABlocks-server documentation for the full test flow.

Live testing with devtool (server and FPGA)¶

To test changes against real hardware, use the Yocto devtool workflow inside the kas build container:

1. Open a shell in the kas container:

   KAS_MACHINE=<machine> kas-container --ssh-agent shell kas.yml

2. Use devtool to build an updated package in the Yocto workspace:

   devtool modify <recipe-name>
   # make your changes in the workspace source tree
   devtool build <recipe-name>

3. Deploy the built .ipk to the PandA:

   devtool deploy-target <recipe-name> root@<panda-hostname>

4. Restart the relevant service on the PandA:

   ssh root@<panda-hostname> systemctl daemon-reload
   ssh root@<panda-hostname> systemctl restart <service-name>

5. Test your changes on the live hardware.

Deploying a custom FPGA bitstream¶

To test a custom FPGA bitstream:

1. Build the .ipk containing the bitstream in PandABlocks-FPGA (see the FPGA repo docs).

2. Install it on the PandA:

   scp panda-fpga_<version>.ipk root@<panda-hostname>:/tmp/
   ssh root@<panda-hostname> opkg install --force-reinstall /tmp/panda-fpga_<version>.ipk

3. Override the active bitstream if needed — see Choose the FPGA bitstream.

4. Restart the relevant service:

   ssh root@<panda-hostname> systemctl restart panda-fpga