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Altera_Forum
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17 years ago

SignalTap II Segmented acquisition mode

I am attempting to use SignalTap II in the segmented buffer acquisition mode.

When I have my STP file loaded and able to acquire data, the entire area where I would select that buffer mode under the "Signal Configuration" window is grayed out. I cannot select the checkbox for "Segmented". The only option I can access in that entire section is for trigger location (pre-trigger, center-trigger & post-trigger)

Anyone else run into this? Is this a function of the Web-Edition not having this feature working (I have not seen any mention of this in the documentation)?

Any help you can offer would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Br

5 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    Figure 13-16 in the QII handbook, which shows the difference between circular and segmented buffers, seems to imply that you need more than 2 trigger levels in order to use the segmented buffer acquisition mode.

    I tried a build with 10 levels and everything stayed grayed out as before.

    No joy.

    Br
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    Some settings on SignalTap can be changed at runtime, others need a recompilation. You can't change acquistion mode at runtime.

    There is a selectable lock mode to prevent those changes that would need recompilation. When locked mode is selected, many options are grayed.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    Excellent, thank you.

    How do you change the locked options in QII? I did not see the ability to change this mode when I built the component in Mega-wizard.

    In the signal tap II window under the menu option Edit -> Lock Mode I do see that I have the option "Allow Trigger Condition Changes only" selected but that, too, is grayed out so that I cannot change it if I wanted to.

    Thank you,

    Br
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    17 years ago

    --- Quote Start ---

    How do you change the locked options in QII? I did not see the ability to change this mode when I built the component in Mega-wizard.

    --- Quote End ---

    I didn't realize you were using the Mega-Wizard. I never used the Mega Wizard for Singal Tap, but that is probably the reason that locked mode can't be changed.

    You normally don't use the Mega-Wizard with Signal Tap. Create a new STP file directly with Quartus (New File on the Quartus menu). Then you'll get the Singal Tap Windows GUI with all the options enabled.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    14 years ago

    I also prefer to use the megawizard for generating signaltap instances - much faster setup/changes than using the GUI all the time. Anyway, the issue you are having with the segmented buffers option being grayed out is a known "bug"/issue with the Quartus tools. However, there is a work-around/fix as long as you are using Quartus v8.0 or above. The Altera knowledge base explains what you need to do here: http://www.altera.com/support/kdb/solutions/rd11292007_46.html

    Hope this helps! I was scratching my head about this one for quite a while until I found the knowledge-base article.

    L8r!

    Jonathon