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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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16 years ago

Process for Embedding NIOS Code in .pof

I am having a problem getting my NIOS code to load into my configuration device. i believe the real question here is how do i get the onchip_memory.hex file generated when i compile the nios c...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
16 years ago

The way I have historically done it:

1 - Build your SoPC system. By default, your onchip memory will use a ".hex" file with the same name as the memory (e.g. "onchip_memory_0.hex").

2 - Build your NIOS project in the IDE. Upon successful compilation, the IDE will produce the desired "onchip_memory_0.hex" (or whatever you named your memory component). However, my understanding is that this has changed somewhat in 9.1 and you have to do a little extra work. Let me know if you are using 9.1.

3 - Build your Quartus project. During the assembler stage, the "onchip_memory_0.hex" will automatically be used to initialize your RAM.

Now with regards to the "Update Memory Initialization File" menu item. Use this if:

You have changed your software code.

and you have NOT changed your SoPC system.

and you have NOT changed the rest of your FPGA design.

Basically, running "Update Memory Initialization File" followed by running the assembler just updates your programming file with new RAM contents (containing your software code).

Jake