diff --git a/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh b/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
index d0be57c2..63f47505 100755
--- a/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
+++ b/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@ if [ ! -d "$HOME/$1-install" ]; then
     cd $HOME
 
     # init all submodules including the tools
-    CHIPYARD_DIR=$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR .$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/scripts/build-toolchains.sh $1
+    CHIPYARD_DIR=$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/scripts/build-toolchains.sh $1
 fi
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 9729ae2e..03507b25 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -13,12 +13,6 @@
 [submodule "tools/firrtl"]
 	path = tools/firrtl
 	url = https://github.com/freechipsproject/firrtl
-[submodule "riscv-tools"]
-	path = toolchains/riscv-tools
-	url = https://github.com/riscv/riscv-tools.git
-[submodule "esp-tools"]
-	path = toolchains/esp-tools
-	url = https://github.com/ucb-bar/esp-tools.git
 [submodule "tools/torture"]
 	path = tools/torture
 	url = https://github.com/ucb-bar/riscv-torture.git
@@ -40,10 +34,15 @@
 [submodule "generators/block-inclusivecache-sifive"]
 	path = generators/sifive-cache
 	url = https://github.com/sifive/block-inclusivecache-sifive.git
+[submodule "toolchains/riscv-tools"]
+	path = toolchains/riscv-tools
+	url = https://github.com/freechipsproject/rocket-tools.git
+[submodule "toolchains/esp-tools"]
+	path = toolchains/esp-tools
+	url = https://github.com/ucb-bar/esp-tools.git
 [submodule "vlsi/hammer"]
 	path = vlsi/hammer
 	url = git@github.com:ucb-bar/hammer.git
 [submodule "vlsi/hammer-cad-plugins"]
 	path = vlsi/hammer-cad-plugins
 	url = git@github.com:ucb-bar/hammer-cad-plugins
-
diff --git a/scripts/build-static-libfesvr.sh b/scripts/build-static-libfesvr.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..360028ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-static-libfesvr.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# This ungodly script surreptitiously builds an archive from existing fesvr objects
+# Invoke from riscv-fesvr/build
+
+if [ "x$RISCV" = "x" ]
+then
+  echo "Please set the RISCV environment variable to your preferred install path."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+set -e
+
+objs=$(head -n 1 <(make -f <( echo -e 'include Makefile\n$(info $(value fesvr_objs))') -n))
+ar rcs -o libfesvr.a $objs
+cp -f libfesvr.a $RISCV/lib
+
diff --git a/scripts/build-toolchains.sh b/scripts/build-toolchains.sh
index 20ce4800..ac4316b7 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
@@ -8,31 +10,151 @@ unamestr=$(uname)
 RDIR=$(pwd)
 : ${CHIPYARD_DIR:=$(pwd)} #default value is the PWD unless overridden
 
-if [ $# -ne 0 ]; then
-  TOOLCHAIN=$1
-  if [ $1 == "riscv" ]; then
-    TOOLCHAIN="riscv-tools"
-  elif [ $1 == "hwacha" ]; then
-    TOOLCHAIN="esp-tools"
-  fi
-else
-  TOOLCHAIN="riscv-tools"
+PRECOMPILED_REPO_HASH=56a40961c98db5e8f904f15dc6efd0870bfefd9e
+
+function usage
+{
+    echo "usage: ./scripts/build-toolchains.sh [riscv-tools] [esp-tools] [ec2fast | --ec2fast] "
+    echo "   riscv: if set, builds the riscv toolchain (this is also the default)"
+    echo "   hwacha: if set, builds esp-tools toolchain"
+    echo "   ec2fast: if set, pulls in a pre-compiled RISC-V toolchain for an EC2 manager instance"
+}
+
+#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
+
+TOOLCHAIN="riscv-tools"
+EC2FASTINSTALL="false"
+FASTINSTALL="false"
+while test $# -gt 0
+do
+   case "$1" in
+        riscv-tools)
+            TOOLCHAIN="riscv-tools"
+            ;;
+        esp-tools)
+            TOOLCHAIN="esp-tools"
+            ;;
+        ec2fast | --ec2fast) # I don't want to break this api
+            EC2FASTINSTALL=true
+            ;;
+        -h | -H | --help)
+            usage
+            exit 3
+            ;;
+        --*) echo "ERROR: bad option $1"
+            usage
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        *) echo "ERROR: bad argument $1"
+            usage
+            exit 2
+            ;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
+
+if [ "$EC2FASTINSTALL" = "true" ]; then
+    if [ "$TOOLCHAIN" = "riscv-tools" ]; then
+      cd $RDIR
+      git clone https://github.com/firesim/firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt.git
+      cd firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+      git checkout $PRECOMPILED_REPO_HASH
+      PREBUILTHASH="$(cat HASH)"
+      git -C $CHIPYARD_DIR submodule update --init  toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN
+      cd "$CHIPYARD_DIR/toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN"
+      GITHASH="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
+      cd $RDIR
+      echo "prebuilt hash: $PREBUILTHASH"
+      echo "git      hash: $GITHASH"
+      if [[ $PREBUILTHASH == $GITHASH && "$EC2FASTINSTALL" == "true" ]]; then
+          FASTINSTALL=true
+          echo "Using fast pre-compiled install for riscv-tools"
+      else
+          echo "Error: hash of precompiled toolchain doesn't match the riscv-tools submodule hash."
+          exit
+      fi
+    else
+          echo "Error: No precompiled toolchain for esp-tools or other non-native riscv-tools."
+          exit 
+    fi
 fi
 
 INSTALL_DIR="$TOOLCHAIN-install"
-mkdir -p "$(pwd)/$INSTALL_DIR"
 
 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 [ "$FASTINSTALL" = true ]; then
+    cd firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+    ./installrelease.sh
+    mv distrib "$RISCV"
+    # copy HASH in case user wants it later
+    cp HASH "$RISCV"
+    cd $RDIR
+    rm -rf firesim-riscv-tools-prebuilt
+else
+    mkdir -p "$RISCV"
+    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/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!"
+
+fi
+
 cd $RDIR
 
-echo "export RISCV=$RISCV" > env.sh
+echo "export CHIPYARD_TOOLCHAIN_SOURCED=1" > env.sh
+echo "export RISCV=$RISCV" >> env.sh
 echo "export PATH=$RISCV/bin:$RDIR/$DTCversion:\$PATH" >> env.sh
 echo "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$RISCV/lib" >> env.sh
 echo "Toolchain Build Complete!"
+
+
+if [ "$FASTINSTALL" = "false" ]; then
+    # commands that can't run on EC2 (specifically, OpenOCD because of autoconf version_
+    # see if the instance info page exists. if not, we are not on ec2.
+    # this is one of the few methods that works without sudo
+    if wget -T 1 -t 3 -O /dev/null http://169.254.169.254/; then
+        echo "Skipping RISC-V OpenOCD"
+    else
+        echo "Building RISC-V OpenOCD"
+        cd "$CHIPYARD_DIR/toolchains/$TOOLCHAIN"
+        check_version automake 1.14 "OpenOCD build"
+        check_version autoconf 2.64 "OpenOCD build"
+        build_project riscv-openocd --prefix=$RISCV --enable-remote-bitbang --enable-jtag_vpi --disable-werror
+        echo -e "\\nRISC-V OpenOCD installation completed!"
+        cd $RDIR
+    fi
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools.sh b/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools.sh
index 50c41f7a..3a95f5c6 100755
--- a/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools.sh
+++ b/scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools.sh
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ scripts_dir="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 # ignore riscv-tools for submodule init recursive
 # you must do this globally (otherwise riscv-tools deep
 # in the submodule tree will get pulled anyway
-git config --global submodule.riscv-tools.update none
-git config --global submodule.esp-tools.update none
+git config submodule.toolchains/riscv-tools.update none
+git config submodule.toolchains/esp-tools.update none
 git config --global submodule.experimental-blocks.update none
 # Disable updates to the FireSim submodule until explicitly requested
 git config submodule.sims/firesim.update none
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ git config submodule.sims/firesim.update none
 git config submodule.vlsi/hammer-cad-plugins.update none
 git submodule update --init --recursive #--jobs 8
 # unignore riscv-tools,catapult-shell2 globally
-git config --global --unset submodule.riscv-tools.update
-git config --global --unset submodule.esp-tools.update
+git config --unset submodule.toolchains/riscv-tools.update
+git config --unset submodule.toolchains/esp-tools.update
 git config --global --unset submodule.experimental-blocks.update
 git config --unset submodule.vlsi/hammer-cad-plugins.update
 
diff --git a/sims/firesim b/sims/firesim
index 7f8152e5..4cd75833 160000
--- a/sims/firesim
+++ b/sims/firesim
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 7f8152e5114c7f7793df54a41a53a9e6a04fa8cd
+Subproject commit 4cd75833dfc1f9f796a1c5505ece6937fd253189