modelsim-Altera "create wave" problem with generic

I am using Quartus Prime Lite 15.1/modelsim-Altera starter 10.4 - university edition (professor)

When I create fixed ports in VHDL

...

port (aa, bb: in STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(7 downto 0);

...

then start modelsim and select "create wave", it finds all the ports and properly defines their widths

and all is well

If I replace the port definition with a generic

...

generic( N: INTEGER := 8);

port (aa, bb: in STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(N-1 downto 0);

...

then start modelsim and select "create wave", it finds all the ports but defines any port using a generic

as 1 bit wide - not allowing me to create proper waveforms

In either case if I start a simulation, or add waves, the signals are the correct width as expected since the

design properly analyzes and elaborates

Summary: I can't "create wave" in modelsim if my ports use a generic to determine width and hence cannot generate

input waveforms for ports w/generics

Any ideas?