Mechanics of Altera DE2 Projects

Download: design files

There are four steps involved in programming the DE2 board

  1. Setup project
  2. Import assignments
  3. Compile project
  4. Program the DE2 board

Setup project

To setup a new project, first copy any existing design files into a new folder. For this project, download and unpack design files from diglab1.zip

Select File - New Project Wizard from the top menu.

The New Project Wizard helps you create a new project and preliminary project settings, including the following:

You can change the settings for an existing project and specify additional project-wide settings with the Settings command (Assignments menu). You can use the various pages of the Settings dialog box to add functionality to the project.

Import Assignments

Select Assignments - Import Assignments ... from the top menu.

The DE2 board has a default set of pin assignments (and associated pin names) in DE2_pin_assignments.csv. Your life will be much easier if you import this file and use the variable names assigned by the developer.


Compile Project

Choose Processing – Start Compilation from the top menu. The compilation processing may take awhile. Below is a screen capture after compilation.

Program the DE2 Board

Choose Tools – Programmer.

Make sure the USB cable is in place, and USB Blaster is the selected device. Check the Program/Configure box if not already checked.

If the USB Blaster is not the selected hardware device, you can press the Hardware Setup button


Hardware Setup

This dialog allows you to select a programming hardware setup to use when programming devices.

The button labeled Add Hardware ... is used to add a new hardware driver, not to add a new selection. Just select a hardware configuration from the list to highlight it, then press the Close button.


Maintained by John Loomis, last updated 18 January 2008