EPCS FLASH Programming

[Altera_Forum]

Is there any way to Flash program an EPCS that is connected for Active Serial Programming to a CYCLONE device without using the JTAG pins on the Cyclone device ? Is there a way to program the EPCS directly from the connector that is attached to the EPCS ?

[Altera_Forum]

Yes, shmueld. Check the configuration devices handbook. Connect the USB-blaster to your EPCS through a AS-config port. I did that in the past and it works well. I would not recommend though, because severely limits your debug capabilities. You can use a JIC file to directly program the EPCS through JTAG by using the Quartus programmer without using the nios flash programmer utility. 

 Arjan

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---   Yes, shmueld. Check the configuration devices handbook. Connect the USB-blaster to your EPCS through a AS-config port.   Dear Arjan, I looked through the configuration devices handbook and couldn't find what I was looking for. At the moment I understand that when programming a CYCLONE with NIOSII processor that the hardware and and the software gets combined into a single file and then can be programmed into the CYCLONE directly via the JTAG pins on the CYCLONE device. As far as I understand, the CYCLONE then programs this data onto the EPCS. My question is can the EPCS be programmed directly using lets say using a POF file without using the JTAG pins via the (direct) serial programming scheme ? I know that the IDE interface does produce a .HEX file that can be associated directly as an intialization file with on chip memories and thus can be incorporated into the POF, but I would prefer not to have to use this option.