Nios® II Software Developer Handbook

ID 683525
Date 8/28/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

3.2.6. Running the Project on Nios II Hardware

This section describes how to run a Nios II program using the Nios II SBT for Eclipse on Nios II hardware, such as an Intel FPGA development board.

Note:

If your project was created with version 10.1 or earlier of the Nios II SBT, you must re-import it to create the Nios II launch configuration correctly.

To run a software project, right-click the application project name, point to Run As, and click Nios II Hardware. To run a software project as a ModelSim simulation, right-click the application project name, point to Run As, and click Nios II ModelSim.

This command carries out the following actions:

  • Creates a Nios II run configuration.
  • Builds the project executable. If all target files are up to date, nothing is built.
  • Establishes communications with the target, and verifies that the FPGA is configured with the correct hardware design.
  • Downloads the Executable and Linking Format File (.elf) to the target memory
  • Starts execution at the .elf entry point.

Program output appears in the Nios II Console view. The Nios II Console view maintains a terminal I/O connection with a communication device connected to the Nios II processor in the hardware system, such as a JTAG UART. When the Nios II program writes to stdout or stderr, the Nios II Console view displays the text. The Nios II Console view can also accept character input from the host keyboard, which is sent to the processor and read as stdin.

To disconnect the terminal from the target, click the Terminate icon in the Nios II Console view. Terminating only disconnects the host from the target. The target processor continues executing the program.