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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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21 years ago

EPCS on a custom board

Hi, newbie here :-)

I just got Nios II and trying to place it into my custom board with Cyclone EP1C6Q240C6. My serial EPROM is connected normally, to let FPGA "boot" from it: DATA0, nCS0, DCLK, etc...

When I work with SOPC builder I add EPCS controller to my design and it is asking me for a "Reference Designator". Of course, the drop-down list is empty because I picked "Unspecified board". Is there a way to make my board specification to let SOPC builder know more about my board?

I read in the "NIOS II Reference Handbook" what follows: "If no matching reference designator is found for the target board (i.e. the board component does not declare an EPCS device), then an EPCS controller cannot be added to the system." Regardless of this, SOPC lets me add the EPCS to my system, but then Nios SDK complains I have no writeable memory for the software...

Where will I find a document about this subject?

http://forum.niosforum.com/work2/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif Thanks.

2 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    21 years ago

    Hi,

    You have to follow the instruction in "Nios II Flash Programmer&#39;s Guide" to make a Custom Target Board.

    I found it by typing Custom Target Board in the knowledge base on Altera&#39;s website. I&#39;m sure it&#39;s in the NII distribution as well.

    It seems like a lot of hoops to jump through for boards with only an EPCS device, but it wasnt&#39; too hard to follow and it was kinda neat to see my board in the list in SOPC builder.

    Ken
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    21 years ago

    Thanks, it looks like a document I missed but it fits my needs perfectly.