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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
Honored ContributorQuestions about a NIOS-II Tutorial, and how to learn NIOS
Hi all,
I am a newbie to NIOS-II, and right now working on a tutorial, the link of which is listed below: https://www.altera.com/en_us/pdfs/literature/tt/tt_qsys_intro.pdf This tutorial is teaching you how to set up a SDRAM test system. On page 6, it says: "To add the custom pattern generator: 1. In the IP Catalog, expand Memory Test Microcores, and then double-click Custom PatternGenerator." However, there is NO Memory Test Microcores Catalog in my qsys interface, as shown in the picture of attached. I have also checked other people's licensed Quartus in my group, none of them have this Memory Test Microcores Catalog. What's wrong here? Btw, I have been spending several months on NIOS, and really feels pain on it. I tried to take the online course first, but found I don't know what it is talking about if I didn't take some project tutorial first. When I started to take tutorial, the questions as the one listed above happens everywhere and all the time. Most tutorial tells you how to blink a LED, then says "you can start your design now". Come on! You can't design anything just by knowing how to blink a LED! Like studying MCU, you need to go through tens of demo code covering every aspects of the chip, then you know how to design. Is there any database where I can find demo tutorial or code like this for NIOS?? Thanks so much for your time~~1 Reply
Altera_ForumFor sdram you will need something written for the exact board you are using. The settings in the memory controller block depend on the type and number of ram chips as well as the exact geometry of the traces on the board. You can't pick a random Altera tutorial unless you have the exact board the tutorial was written for. An FPGA dev board that has SDRAM on it will probably come with an example project or tutorial that uses the SDRAM.
