RuyiSDK Getting Started Example

Note: The Nuclei RV-STAR hardware driver depends on the official Nuclei SDK and dedicated toolchains. In this example, RuyiSDK is used only for virtual environment management, obtaining the source code, and editing; compilation and flashing still use the make and openocd commands.

This example can be compiled and run directly on the development board, making it suitable for beginners.

Install dependencies

sudo apt update; sudo apt install -y wget tar zstd xz-utils git build-essential

Install the ruyi package manager (see the official installation guide for other methods)

wget https://mirror.iscas.ac.cn/ruyisdk/ruyi/tags/0.51.0/ruyi-0.51.0.riscv64
chmod +x ./ruyi-0.51.0.riscv64
sudo cp -v ./ruyi-0.51.0.riscv64 /usr/local/bin/ruyi

Create a RuyiSDK virtual environment

ruyi update

ruyi venv -t gnu-plct generic ./ruyi-venv

source ruyi-venv/bin/activate

Clone the Nuclei SDK

git clone https://github.com/Nuclei-Software/nuclei-sdk.git

cd nuclei-sdk

Download the dedicated Nuclei GCC toolchain

wget https://download.nucleisys.com/upload/files/toolchain/gcc/nuclei_riscv_newlibc_prebuilt_linux64_nuclei-2024.tar.bz2
tar -xjvf nuclei_riscv_newlibc_prebuilt_linux64_nuclei-2024.tar.bz2

Download Nuclei OpenOCD

wget https://download.nucleisys.com/upload/files/toolchain/openocd/nuclei-openocd-2024.02.28-linux-x64.tgz
tar -xzvf nuclei-openocd-2024.02.28-linux-x64.tgz

Set the environment variables

export PATH=~/nuclei-sdk/gcc/bin:$PATH
export PATH=~/nuclei-sdk/Nuclei/openocd/2024.02.28/bin:$PATH

Start OpenOCD in Terminal 1

sudo openocd -f ~/nuclei-sdk/SoC/gd32vf103/Board/gd32vf103v_rvstar/openocd_gd32vf103.cfg

Hello World (GCC)

Compile Hello World

cd ~/nuclei-sdk/application/baremetal/helloworld

make SOC=gd32vf103 BOARD=gd32vf103v_rvstar TOOLCHAIN=nuclei_gnu clean
make SOC=gd32vf103 BOARD=gd32vf103v_rvstar TOOLCHAIN=nuclei_gnu all

Flash the board from Terminal 2

sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyUSB1

riscv64-unknown-elf-gdb helloworld.elf -ex "target extended-remote localhost:3333" -ex "monitor reset halt" -ex "load" -ex "monitor resume" -ex "quit"

minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB1 -b 115200

Under normal circumstances, the terminal displays output similar to:

Nuclei SDK Build Time: May 31 2026, 17:59:30
Download Mode: FLASHXIP
CPU Frequency 108000000 Hz
Hello RISC-V from RV-STAR!
Testing GCC toolchain with Nuclei SDK.

Hello World (LLVM)

Compile Hello World

cd ~/nuclei-sdk/application/baremetal/helloworld

make SOC=gd32vf103 BOARD=gd32vf103v_rvstar TOOLCHAIN=nuclei_llvm clean
make SOC=gd32vf103 BOARD=gd32vf103v_rvstar TOOLCHAIN=nuclei_llvm all

Flash the board from Terminal 2

sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyUSB1

riscv64-unknown-elf-gdb helloworld.elf -ex "target extended-remote localhost:3333" -ex "monitor reset halt" -ex "load" -ex "monitor resume" -ex "quit"

minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB1 -b 115200

Under normal circumstances, the terminal displays output similar to:

Nuclei SDK Build Time: May 31 2026, 18:01:49
Download Mode: FLASHXIP
CPU Frequency 108000000 Hz
Hello RISC-V from RV-STAR!
Testing LLVM/Clang toolchain with Nuclei SDK.