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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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15 years ago

I got a really strange experience

I use nios IDE to develop a test system, when put .sof files into the DE2 develop board and run C files of niosII, I can get a correct result. But when I change the C files, recompile it and run it, ...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
15 years ago

The initial contents of the FPGAs internal block RAM is stored in the .sof file. If your NIOS code is being stored in internal block RAM, then your compiled code will be part of the .sof file. If you change your C code, you will then obviously need to also regenerate the .sof file.

Using the "Update Memory Initialization File" option on the Quartus "Processing" menu can be a short cut to recompiling the entire Quartus project.

While developing, you can also download updated NIOS code using JTAG to save having to generate a new .sof file every time. For example, from the Nios II Command Shell you can do "nios2-download -g filename.elf". Once you are happy with the results, you can then generate a new .sof file to make the changes more permanent.