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Altera_Forum
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Honored ContributorDE2-115 complete beginners question
Hi
I am completely new to FPGAs but I am lucky enough to have been given a DE2-115 I know its a big learning curve but being retired I have plenty of time , but I cant even get started to try it out because unfortunately the box is missing the system disk so I went online to see what I can download for the board. I downloaded the user manual but was then stuck I can download the Control panel System Builder System CD but which one , on line I can find lots of versions especially of the system CD Eventualy on the Altera products, DE2-115 product page I clicked the resources tab and that gave me a narrower field to choose from just one Control Panel One Systembuilder but still to System CDs one is DE2-115 CD-ROM (Cypress USB) of which there are then 4 versions the other DE2-115 CD-ROM (NXP USB) Which one do I need ? or do I need both ? Regards Don7 Replies
Altera_ForumThis is the official Terasic resource web page:
http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=165&no=502&partno=4 You need the appropriate CD-ROM according to which USB device your board has. The manual should help you find this.- Altera_Forum
I think you have to download from the Altera website:
1) Quartus (web editon) free 2) Modelsim Altera Starter edition (free) 3) In the installation directory of Quartus youll' find the 'USB blaster' drivers. This is all you need to design a circuit and download it on the FPGA board. P.S. You also need the knoledge of a language such as VHDL or Verilog. This is not a must since you can also design using the schematic design (similar to Spice) but it becomes immediately very cumbersome as the design complexity increases. - Altera_Forum
Hi Thank you for your reply , however its a bit of a vicious circle
you said to choose the CD rom according to which usb device my board has , and to determine this device from the user manual Unfortunately the manual is on the CD rom . so depending on which CD I decide to download I guess will give me a different answer as to which USB I have I have now written to Terasic support quoting the serial number of my board hoping they can give me an answer from that but thanks for the help Don --- Quote Start --- This is the official Terasic resource web page: http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?language=english&categoryno=165&no=502&partno=4 You need the appropriate CD-ROM according to which USB device your board has. The manual should help you find this. --- Quote End --- - Altera_Forum
Thanks nplttr
I will start downloading and installing them now Don - Altera_Forum
I wrote to Terasic in the end
They tell me that my board ( from the serial number ) uses the NXP USB but that this will not work with windows 7 only XP They also said that the Cypress USB only works on windows 7 in 32 bit not 64 bit Don - Altera_Forum--- Quote Start --- They tell me that my board ( from the serial number ) uses the NXP USB but that this will not work with windows 7 only XP They also said that the Cypress USB only works on windows 7 in 32 bit not 64 bit --- Quote End --- I think you can ignore the advice about functionality under Windows for the moment. The board has a USB device attached to the FPGA that you can use for communication with your design. I've never bothered to use it. The board also has an on-board USB-Blaster, and that does work under Windows just fine. If Terasic has changed the USB controller, then they've likely changed the pin assignments on the board, but probably only in a few places. You'll want to make sure you download the schematic for the board revision you own, and determine the pin assignments from that. Do *not* simply use an example design you find on the web! (Including any from Terasic, without first reviewing it!) Cheers. Dave
- Altera_Forum
Thanks Dave
Yes I found that the USB Blaster works fine and I doubt I will need any other usb connectivity for some time , as I have only been playing with FPGA's for about 8 hours ( got my DE2-115 yesterday)
