SD card interface

[Altera_Forum]

Hi, 

 I want to add a SD card reader to the hardware of a cyclone3. I have the JTAG/ISP SPI interface wired out. If the system is booted from flash, can I bolt a SD card reader to the programmer interface somehow? (for FAT) Or do I need more pins?

[Altera_Forum]

If you mean the jtag pins (tck, tms, ...) the answer is No. Those are dedicated pins and you can't use them. You need to wire out any other general purpose I/Os.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  If you mean the jtag pins (tck, tms, ...) the answer is No. Those are dedicated pins and you can't use them. You need to wire out any other general purpose I/Os.  --- Quote End ---    Yes, and the FlashNCE, and data pins.. Thanks for the reply!

[Altera_Forum]

FlashNCE and data pins are dual purpose pins and they can indeed be used as GP I/O pins. 

You have to set them as generic I/O in the device configuration assignments

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  FlashNCE and data pins are dual purpose pins and they can indeed be used as GP I/O pins. You have to set them as generic I/O in the device configuration assignments  --- Quote End ---    Ok, so you would program those with the file?

[Altera_Forum]

If you set these dual-purpose pins as "Use as regular I/O" in the Quartus project settings, you can use them like any other I/O pin. 

The configuration file instructs the fpga to initialize them in the orrect way. After this, is up to your design to control them for your specific purpose.