RA Family

Build, flash, and debug the ready-to-use LVGL projects of the Renesas RA boards with e² studio, the Flexible Software Package (FSP), and J-Link.

Edit on GitHub

Supported boards in the RA Family:

  • EK-RA8D1
  • EK-RA8P1
  • EK-RA6M3G
  • EK-RA8D2

Run the Project

Install e² studio: The official IDE of Renesas is called e² studio. Because it's Eclipse-based, it runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac as well.

Members of the RA family require certain versions of the Flexible Software Package (FSP). See the individual README.md files in the applicable repositories for info. FSPs can be downloaded here.

Note that from FSP version 6.0 and above LVGL is part of the middleware section of the components. Therefore, when cloning the latest versions of the supported LVGL board repositories, recursive updating of the git submodules is no longer needed.

Install J-Link: J-Link is used for debugging, it can be downloaded here.

Clone the project: Clone the ready-to-use repository of your selected board.

For FSP versions prior to 6.0 the submodules are needed as well:

bash
git clone https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_renesas_ek-ra8d1_gcc.git --recurse-submodules

Downloading the .zip from GitHub doesn't work as it doesn't download the submodules.

For FSP version 6.0 and above a simple clone is enough:

bash
git clone https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_renesas_ek-ra8d1_gcc.git

Import the project: Open e² studio, go to File -> Import project and select General / Existing projects into workspace. Select the cloned folder and press Finish.

Generate the project content: Double-click on configuration.xml. This will activate the Configuration Window.

Renesas' Flexible Software Package (FSP) includes BSP and HAL layer support extended with multiple RTOS variants and other middleware stacks. The components will be available via code generation, including the entry point in main.c.

Press Generate Project Content in the top right corner.

Code generation with FSP
Code generation with FSP

Build the project: Press Ctrl + Alt + B.

Start debugging: Click the Debug button.

If prompted with Debug Configurations, on the Debugger tab select J-Link ARM as Debug hardware and the proper IC as Target Device:

  • R7FA8D1BH for EK-RA8D1
  • R7FA6M3AH for EK-RA6M3G
Debugger parameters for RA8
Debugger parameters for the EK-RA8D1
Debugger parameters for RA6
Debugger parameters for the EK-RA6M3G

On EK-RA8D1 boards, the SW1 DIP switch 7 (in the middle of the board) should be ON, all others are OFF.

Also note that opening a project previously built on top of an FSP prior to v6.0 will trigger a dialog asking whether you want to migrate to the new FSP v6.0. The migration will not break the project.

Modify the Project

Open a demo

The entry point of the main task is contained in src/LVGL_thread_entry.c.

You can disable the LVGL demos (or just comment them out) and call some lv_example_...() functions, or add your own custom code.

Configuration

src/lv_conf.h (or src/lv_conf_user.h) contains the most important settings for LVGL. Namely:

Hardware and software components can be modified in a visual way using the Configuration Window.

As of e² studio 2025-04.1 and FSP 6.0.0, LVGL is a managed component.

Common Issues

Missing Smart bundle

When you start debugging you might get an error saying that a Smart bundle was not found. To fix it, in the project properties go to C/C++ Build / Refresh Policy. You should see a different project name there than yours. Just delete it and add your project.

Fixing the missing Smart bundle error in the Refresh Policy settings
Fixing the missing Smart bundle error in the Refresh Policy settings

The application crashes immediately

Sometimes when you start debugging, the application jumps to weird addresses even without reaching the main function.

To solve it, in the Debug perspective right-click on the debug session and click Restart.

The application crashes immediately or when a new screen is created

Probably the FreeRTOS stack size is too small. Open configuration.xml, search for rtos.awsfreertos.thread.stack and set it to at least 16384. It should be enough for a typical application, but for a complex one you might need to go higher.

After that, in e² studio double-click configuration.xml and select Generate Project Content.

Support

In case of any problems or questions open an issue in the corresponding repository.

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