SOPC Builder 7.1 Problem with New Components

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, 

 In SOPC Builder 7.1, I am trying to create a component to connect to an off-chip SRAM. I use the "Create new component..." wizard in SOPC Builder.   Everything seems fine. I set the interface to "Avalon Tristate Slave", define all the signals (data, addr, oe_n, etc) and their sizes and directions, define the name, and then hit finish.  The new component appears in the list. I add it to the system, but then run into a problem when I try to connect it to the tri-state bridge. There is a Flash (CFI) on the same physical off-chip bus. It seems that in SOPC 7.1 you need to set the tri-state bridge component to tell it which signals in the components connected to it are shared.   However, when I double click on the tri-state bridge component to edit it, a Java NullPointerException is thrown. Disconnecting my custom SRAM component makes the error go away.  Further, whenever I try to re-edit my custom component, it always comes up with the data signal as an input, even though it was properly set to bidir.  I have seen the posts about adding the folder to the Global Libraries list, but this does nothing.   Anyone else having similar problems with SOPC 7.1? Any ideas to fix it?  Here is the .tcl script that SOPC 7.1 creates to define the custom component:    # TCL File Generated by Component Editor on:  # Sun Jun 10 03:32:15 PDT 2007 # DO NOT MODIFY  # Blackbox -- The top level is not based on an HDL file set_source_file ""  set_module "idt71v416" set_module_description "" set_module_property instantiateInSystemModule false set_module_property version "1.0" set_module_property group "User Logic" set_module_property editable true  # Module parameters  # Clock Interface global_signals_clock add_clock_interface "global_signals_clock"  set_interface_property "global_signals_clock" "externallyDriven" "false" set_interface_property "global_signals_clock" "clockRateKnown" "false" set_interface_property "global_signals_clock" "clockRate" "0" # Ports in interface global_signals_clock add_port_to_interface "global_signals_clock" "clk" "clk" set_port_direction_and_width "clk" "input" 1 add_port_to_interface "global_signals_clock" "reset_n" "reset_n" set_port_direction_and_width "reset_n" "input" 1  # Interface avalon_tristate_slave_0 add_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "avalon_tristate" "slave" "global_signals_clock" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "isNonVolatileStorage" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "burstOnBurstBoundariesOnly" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "transparentBridge" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "readLatency" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "readWaitStates" "1" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "isFlash" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "holdTime" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "printableDevice" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "registerIncomingSignals" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "readWaitTime" "1" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "setupTime" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "addressGroup" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "interleaveBursts" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "addressAlignment" "DYNAMIC" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "isBigEndian" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "writeLatency" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "writeWaitTime" "1" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "timingUnits" "Cycles" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "minimumUninterruptedRunLength" "1" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "registerOutgoingSignals" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "addressSpan" "524288" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "activeCSThroughReadLatency" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "isMemoryDevice" "true" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "alwaysBurstMaxBurst" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "linewrapBursts" "false" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "writeWaitStates" "1" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "maximumPendingReadTransactions" "0" set_interface_property "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "wellBehavedWaitrequest" "false" # Ports in interface avalon_tristate_slave_0 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "data" "data" set_port_direction_and_width "data" "bidir" 16 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "addr" "address" set_port_direction_and_width "addr" "input" 18 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "cs_n" "chipselect_n" set_port_direction_and_width "cs_n" "input" 1 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "oe_n" "read_n" set_port_direction_and_width "oe_n" "input" 1 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "we_n" "write_n" set_port_direction_and_width "we_n" "input" 1 add_port_to_interface "avalon_tristate_slave_0" "be_n" "byteenable_n" set_port_direction_and_width "be_n" "input" 2

[Altera_Forum]

The patch 1.04 for quartus 7.1 SP1 says that  

--- Quote Start ---  quartus 7.1 is not installed on this machine. This patch setup will exit now   --- Quote End ---  . And quartus 7.1 and quartus 7.1 SP1 are installed. I use web editions.  May I go back to quartus 7.0 :( or wait 7.2 (said here : http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2630&postcount=7) ?

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  The patch 1.04 for quartus 7.1 SP1 says that . And quartus 7.1 and quartus 7.1 SP1 are installed. I use web editions.  May I go back to quartus 7.0 :( or wait 7.2 (said here : http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2630&postcount=7) ?  --- Quote End ---    Hi mmTsuchi,  I am using the subscription install of Quartus II 7.1. I haven't tried out the web edition of the tools recently, but it sounds like the error you encountered is an installation issue of Quartus since the patch couldn't identify the version of software you have installed.  Did you install the tools in this order? 1) Quartus II 2) Megacore IP library 3) Nios II EDS kit  Do you have multipule versions of Quartus II on your system?  Perhaps you should check your environment set up to make sure you have Quartus and SOPC Builder environment variables set up correctly. Make sure the QUARTUS_ROOTDIR is pointing to your 7.1 version of Quartus when you run the patch install.  The solution link below gives a very good description of how to manage you SOPC builder environment variables:  http://www.altera.com/support/kdb/solutions/rd03082007_165.html  The tool switch script is very useful and allows me to keep more that one version of the tools on my PC.  One other note: there are two versions of the patch one is for version 7.1 and the other is for 7.1SP1 (see my earlier posts in this topic) - double check the version of Quartus II you have installed by going to Help -> About Quartus II to check your version information.  Here is what I have on my install of Quartus II:  Quartus II Version 7.1 Builder 178 06/25/2007 SJ Full Version  Service Pack Installed: 1.02,1.03,1.04 <- These are patches for SOPC builder I have installed for 7.1. I use the tools a lot. :D  Help Version: Quartus II Help Version 7.1 Platform: Windows 32-bit   I hope this information helps. Put a Post back here if this helps you solve the patch install problem.  Regards, -ATJ