[rant] SOPC Builder 7.1 sucks!

Ok, I just updated to 7.1 SP1 (another 400+ MB download!) and created a new project from scratch. In SOPC builder, I have a Nios, onchip_mem, JTAG UART, and one simple slave peripheral that turns on a LED when a button is pushed. I created the slave peripheral in 7.1, so it should not be considered 'legacy'.

I compile, download, and create a simple "hello world" C project in Nios IDE, and it fails to recognize the processor. I get this message:

Using cable "USB-Blaster [USB-0]", device 1, instance 0x00

Pausing target processor: not responding.

Resetting and trying again: FAILED

Leaving target processor paused

This is what I was referring to earlier when I said that things do not work in 7.1 This same exercise works in 6.1

On another note, even though I do not have legacy components in my system, when I generate the SOPC system, I noticed this message:

Info: simple_slave_0: Generating module simple_slave_0

"c:/altera/71/quartus//bin/jre/bin/java.exe" -Xmx256M -classpath "c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder/bin/sopc_builder.jar;c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder/bin/PinAssigner.jar;c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder/bin/sopc_wizard.jar;c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder/bin/jptf.jar" sopc_builder.sopc_builder -d"c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder" -projectnametop.qpf -projectpathC:/altera/71/qdesigns/simple_nios --no_splash --refresh C:/altera/71/qdesigns/simple_nios/simple_nios_sopc.v --quartus_dir="c:/altera/71/quartus/" --sopc_perl="c:/altera/71/quartus//bin/perl" --sopc_lib_path="C:\altera\71\ip\pci_express_compiler\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\71\ip\ddr2_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\71\ip\sopc_builder_ip+C:\altera\71\ip\nios2_ip+C:\altera\71\ip\triple_speed_ethernet\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\71\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\61\ip\sopc_builder_ip+C:\altera\61\ip\nios2_ip+C:\altera\61\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\61\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder+c:\altera\megacore\pci_compiler-v4.1.1\lib\sopc_builder+C:\altera\megacore\ddr_ddr2_sdram-v3.4.0\lib\sopc_builder+c:\altera\71\quartus\common\librarian\factories+c:\altera\71\quartus\sopc_builder\model\lib+c:\altera\71\ip\pci_compiler\lib\ip_toolbench+c:\altera\71\ip\pci_express_compiler\lib\ip_toolbench+c:\altera\71\ip\rapidio\lib\ip_toolbench+c:\altera\71\ip\ddr2_high_perf\lib\ip_toolbench+c:\altera\71\ip\ddr_high_perf\lib\ip_toolbench+C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios+c:\altera\71\ip\triple_speed_ethernet\lib\ip_toolbench+"

Executing: c:/altera/71/quartus//sopc_builder/bin/sopc_builder --legacy --generate C:/altera/71/qdesigns/simple_nios/simple_nios_sopc.ptf

Info: Starting generation...

See that stuff in there about Perl and the third-to-last line that has a "--legacy" switch? What is that all about?

And if I edit my custom component and click Finish, this dialog box pops up about "Refresh Component List" and it has about 500 lines that say things like:

Debug: librarian info: search path is set to c:\altera\71\quartus\common\librarian\factories,C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios,C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios\.sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios\db,C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios\simple_nios_sopc_sim,C:\altera\71\qdesigns\simple_nios\software,c:\altera\71\quartus\sopc_builder\model\lib,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_express_compiler\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_express_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pcie_compiler,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_express_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pcie_compiler_adapter,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr2_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr2_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder\ddr2_high_perf,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_high_perf\lib\sopc_builder\ddr_high_perf,C:\altera\71\ip\sopc_builder_ip,C:\altera\71\ip\nios2_ip,C:\altera\71\ip\triple_speed_ethernet\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\triple_speed_ethernet\lib\sopc_builder\altera_triple_speed_ethernet,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pci_compiler,C:\altera\71\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pci_compiler_adapter,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder\ddr2_sdram_component,C:\altera\71\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder\ddr_sdram_component,C:\altera\61\ip\sopc_builder_ip,C:\altera\61\ip\nios2_ip,C:\altera\61\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\61\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pci_compiler,C:\altera\61\ip\pci_compiler\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pci_compiler_adapter,C:\altera\61\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\61\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder\ddr2_sdram_component,C:\altera\61\ip\ddr_ddr2_sdram\lib\sopc_builder\ddr_sdram_component,c:\altera\megacore\pci_compiler-v4.1.1\lib\sopc_builder,c:\altera\megacore\pci_compiler-v4.1.1\lib\sopc_builder\altera_avalon_pci_compiler,C:\altera\megacore\ddr_ddr2_sdram-v3.4.0\lib\sopc_builder,C:\altera\megacore\ddr_ddr2_sdram-v3.4.0\lib\sopc_builder\ddr2_sdram_component,C:\altera\megacore\ddr_ddr2_sdram-v3.4.0\lib\sopc_builder\ddr_sdram_component,c:\altera\megacore\ddr_ddr2_sdram-v3.4.0\lib\sopc_builder\n,C:\altera\61\ip\nios2_ip\altera_nios2,c:\altera\71\ip,c:\altera\71\quartus\sopc_builder\model\lib,c:\altera\71\quartus\libraries\megafunctions,

Debug: librarian info: project file list is set to null

Debug: librarian info: librarian root directory is set to c:\altera\71\quartus\common\librarian

Debug: librarian warning: librarian cache directory is set to null

So I still have my original complaints. SOPC Builder 7.1 is slow where there is a custom peripheral in the system, and Nios IDE can't find my processor in 7.1.