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pdi_eng's avatar
pdi_eng
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5 years ago
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Switching newer NIOS II versions

I am not the author of the batch file but I am trying to run a batch file that is supposed to invoke a 9.1 version of NIOS II to send a file over a serial port.

This works on a different computer running XP but I am trying to get it to run on Win10.

I think my main problem is that it keeps invoking the version 11 of NIOS and not the version I am telling it.

In the batch file I set the path variables to the 91sp2 directories but something keeps overwriting those to the 11.0sp1 directory.

I have tried using the Altera tool to switch environments but it only switches between previous versions.

Can someone help me figure this out?

Thanks!

  • pdi_eng's avatar
    pdi_eng
    5 years ago

    I just found out a fix for switching versions!

    While working on a python project, I found out how to access Environment Variables in Windows.

    In Win10 Start Menu, go to View Advanced System Settings. In that window there is an option to view Environment Variables. I re-directed the NIOS II to point to the 9.2 version and I can run the batch file like usual.

    However I have a new error. Now I get an error that tells me that it "can't execute a binary file".

4 Replies

  • BoonBengT_Altera's avatar
    BoonBengT_Altera
    Icon for Moderator rankModerator
    5 years ago

    Hi @pdi_eng,

    Thank you for posting in Intel community forum, hope this message find you well and apologies for the delayed in response.
    What quartus version is installed for both the WindowXP and Win10 machine?
    Also is it possible to share the batch files command that are invoking the nios? (via command shell I believe)
    And what are the altera tools that id being mention which switch the environment tool?

    A suggestion that perhaps we can check on the environment variables (users and system) of both WinXP and Win10 to see if we found anything there.

    Warm regards.
    BB

    • pdi_eng's avatar
      pdi_eng
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi BB!

      I have attached the Batch file that we execute to get the programming setup open and a bashrc file that the Batch file is looking for.

      When ever I would run it, even on the XP, it gave me an error on the first line saying it was an invalid command, so I was playing with a copy and was able to get rid of the error by using "set". The copy is in there too.

      Part of the problem might be that I don't think 9.1 was installed by an installer on the Win10. I think someone copied over the files and it is able to run but the OS doesn't recognize it as an installed program. The XP computer has 9.1, 11 and 12.1 installed where the Win10 has 11 and 12.1 officially installed with the 9.1 files present.

      I have checked the environment variables and they point to the 11 version. I have tried to point the environment variables but none of it seems to stick.

      The Altera Tool that I was talking about is called "Altera_Tool_Switch". It looks like it is supposed to change the appropriate environment variables to the tool you want to use. It originally only had support for versions 6.0 to 7.2 so I tried to tack on support for 9.1 and 11.0. That is also attached.

      Thank you very much for the help!

      -Andrew

      • pdi_eng's avatar
        pdi_eng
        Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
        5 years ago

        So I just had something interesting happen. I wanted to get you more information because this whole setup uses a nios kit. When I went into the kit, there is a batch file called "Nios SKD shell.bat" when I run this, it keeps me in version 9.1!

        For your information it is an Altera Nios development kit version 3.20 build 18.

        However the command that we need to run still doesn't work. It tells me that the command is not found.

        The command that we use is "nr -x "c:\file.germs"". This is supposed to invoke a nios-run command and start downloading the file.germs over COM1 to the target Cyclone FPGA.

        This issue is slightly off topic from my initial question though.