Nios II BSP Generator Fails with EIC and Altera Serial Flash Controller for EPCQ

If the Nios II processor uses an external interrupt controller (EIC) and is also attached to the Altera Serial Flash Controller (altera_epcq_controller), Nios II BSP generation fails. The BSP generator displays an error saying that the altera_epcq_controller driver does not support the enhanced interrupt API.

The Altera Serial Flash Controller supports an interrupt input, so the BSP generator expects the HAL driver to provide interrupt support. When an EIC is present, the BSP generator expects to see enhanced interrupt API assignments in the driver's *_sw.tcl file.

However, the HAL driver for altera_epcq_controller does not use the interrupt, and so its *_sw.tcl file does not contain the enhanced interrupt API assignments. As a result, the BSP generator rejects the driver.

Manually modify the following *_sw.tcl file for the altera_epcq_controller driver:

<IP installation directory>/ip/altera/altera_epcq_controller/altera_epcq_controller_sw.tcl

where <IP installation directory> represents the directory where Altera IP is installed. Add the following assignments:

set_sw_property isr_preemption_supported true

set_sw_property supported_interrupt_apis "legacy_interrupt_api enhanced_interrupt_api"

If altera_epcq_controller_sw.tcl is not writable, copy the altera_epcq_controller folder to the ip directory under your Qsys project, and modify your copy of altera_epcq_controller_sw.tcl. The tools search your Qsys project directory before searching <IP installation directory>, so the modified file overrides the original.