Software Updates


It is strongly recommended that you do not update to version 10.0 or higher of Altera's Quartus tools. Major changes have been made to the tools. Many LPM functions are gone, the simulator now only uses ModelSim with scripting for inputs, no GUI is available to setup inputs and it is not as student friendly as earlier versions. Any earlier simulation tutorials and projects will need to be completely redone. This will likely be fixed in a future edition of the textbook, but it will take time. Fortunately older versions (i.e., 9.1 SP2) are still available for download at Altera. The features added in 10.0 and higher are only critical if you have one of the newest FPGA chips, and they are not the ones used on the low cost education boards.
Here is the link for the Quartus 9.1 SP2 download: https://www.altera.com/download/dnl-index.jsp . This link keeps changing, but the old software is still around the website.

There is also a simulator add-on available for Quartus version 11.0 that works like the old Quartus simulator. It is available in the University program section at Altera's website. It runs as a standalone application program, and designs must be compiled first in Quartus and then can be run in the simulator. The current URL for the Quartus II Simulator add-on is http://www.altera.com/education/univ/software/qsim/unv-qsim.html

On the DE2 board if you are using the LCD display core, the signal pin LCD_ON (Pin L4) needs to be tied high. This is done is several of the book's examples, but is not adequately explained in the text.