diff --git a/scripts/build-toolchains.sh b/scripts/build-toolchains.sh
index 20ce4800..40852767 100755
--- a/scripts/build-toolchains.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-toolchains.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+#this script is based on the firesim build toolchains script
+
 # exit script if any command fails
 set -e
 set -o pipefail
@@ -8,10 +10,70 @@ unamestr=$(uname)
 RDIR=$(pwd)
 : ${CHIPYARD_DIR:=$(pwd)} #default value is the PWD unless overridden
 
+function usage
+{
+    echo "usage: build-setup.sh [ firesim | --firesim] [--submodules-only]"
+    echo "   firesim: if set, pulls in a pre-compiled RISC-V toolchain for an EC2 manager instance"
+    echo "   submodules-only: if set, skips toolchain handling (cloning or building)"
+}
+
+#taken from riscv-tools to check for open-ocd autoconf versions
+check_version() {
+    $1 --version | awk "NR==1 {if (\$NF>$2) {exit 0} exit 1}" || (
+        echo $3 requires at least version $2 of $1. Aborting.
+        exit 1
+    )
+}
+
+if [ "$1" == "--help" -o "$1" == "-h" -o "$1" == "-H" ]; then
+    usage
+    exit 3
+fi
+
+while test $# -gt 0
+do
+   case "$1" in
+        firesim | --firesim) # I don't want to break this api
+            FIRESIMINSTALL=true
+            ;;
+        --submodules-only)
+            SUBMODULES_ONLY=true;
+            ;;
+        -h | -H | --help)
+            usage
+            exit
+            ;;
+        --*) echo "ERROR: bad option $1"
+            usage
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        *) echo "ERROR: bad argument $1"
+            usage
+            exit 2
+            ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
+
 if [ $# -ne 0 ]; then
   TOOLCHAIN=$1
   if [ $1 == "riscv" ]; then
     TOOLCHAIN="riscv-tools"
+    if [ "$FIRESIMINSTALL" = "true" ]; then
+      cd sims/firesim/
+      git clone https://github.com/firesim/firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt.git
+      cd firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+      git checkout 5fee18421a32058ab339572128201f4904354aaa
+      PREBUILTHASH="$(cat HASH)"
+      cd $RDIR/toolchain/riscv-tools/
+      GITHASH="git rev-parse HEAD"
+      cd $RDIR
+      if [[ "$PREBUILTHASH" == "$GITHASH" && "$FIRESIMINSTALL" == "true" ]]; then
+          FASTINSTALL=true
+          #just call a fireism build-toolchain script?
+      fi
+    fi
   elif [ $1 == "hwacha" ]; then
     TOOLCHAIN="esp-tools"
   fi
@@ -26,12 +88,51 @@ RISCV="$(pwd)/$INSTALL_DIR"
 
 # install risc-v tools
 export RISCV="$RISCV"
-git -C $CHIPYARD_DIR submodule update --init --recursive toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN #--jobs 8
-cd "$CHIPYARD_DIR/toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN"
-export MAKEFLAGS="-j16"
-./build.sh
+
+if [ "$FASTINSTALL" = true ]; then
+    cd sims/firesim/firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+    ./installrelease.sh
+    mv distrib $(pwd)/$INSTALL_DIR
+    # copy HASH in case user wants it later
+    cp HASH $(pwd)/$INSTALL_DIR
+    cd $RDIR
+    rm -rf sims/firesim/firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+else
+    git -C $CHIPYARD_DIR submodule update --init --recursive toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN #--jobs 8
+    cd "$CHIPYARD_DIR/toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN"
+    export MAKEFLAGS="-j16"
+    #build the actual toolchain
+    #./build.sh
+    source build.common
+    echo "Starting RISC-V Toolchain build process"
+    build_project riscv-fesvr --prefix=$RISCV
+    build_project riscv-isa-sim --prefix=$RISCV --with-fesvr=$RISCV
+    build_project riscv-gnu-toolchain --prefix=$RISCV
+    CC= CXX= build_project riscv-pk --prefix=$RISCV --host=riscv64-unknown-elf
+    build_project riscv-tests --prefix=$RISCV/riscv64-unknown-elf
+    echo -e "\\nRISC-V Toolchain installation completed!"
+
+    # build static libfesvr library for linking into firesim driver (or others)
+    cd riscv-fesvr/build
+    $CHIPYARD_DIR/sims/firesim/scripts/build-static-libfesvr.sh
+    cd $RDIR
+    # build linux toolchain
+    cd "$CHIPYARD_DIR/toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN/riscv-gnu-toolchain/build"
+    make -j16 linux
+    echo -e "\\nRISC-V Linux GNU Toolchain installation completed!"
+
+    if [ "$FIRESIMINSTALL" = "false" ]; then
+        check_version automake 1.14 "OpenOCD build"
+        check_version autoconf 2.64 "OpenOCD build"
+        build_project riscv-openocd --prefix=$RISCV --enable-remote-bitbang --enable-jtag_vpi --disable-werror      
+        echo -e "\\nRISC-V OpenOCD installation completed!"
+    fi
+
+fi
+
 cd $RDIR
 
+echo "export CHIPYARD_TOOLCHAIN_SOURCED=1" > env.sh
 echo "export RISCV=$RISCV" > env.sh
 echo "export PATH=$RISCV/bin:$RDIR/$DTCversion:\$PATH" >> env.sh
 echo "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$RISCV/lib" >> env.sh
diff --git a/sims/firesim b/sims/firesim
index 7f8152e5..b0b04d34 160000
--- a/sims/firesim
+++ b/sims/firesim
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 7f8152e5114c7f7793df54a41a53a9e6a04fa8cd
+Subproject commit b0b04d343bf252ceb9c495ed7a6f87f30cafa2a3