Quartus v7.2 & 8 together?

[Altera_Forum]

Is anyone using these two versions on the same machine? 

 I've run into several problems attempting to do so. So far I've had to: * manually rename 3 environment variables * change a path in SOPC builder * manually rename the v7.2 directory so NIOS EDS can't find it.  It's a real PITA, and I still can't be sure that everything is building in v8 using the right components. And I'm not looking forward to having to switch back to v7.2 for legacy projects.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi tcdev, 

 I had the same problem. Now I am running the second version of Quartus in a virtual machine, such as VirtualBox (now) from Sun. It is a little bit slower than running on your pc direktly, but you don't have these problems with the path and environment variables and you can be sure all used components are the correct ones.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi Tcdev. 

 There's a script available to aid in switching between tool versions. We have several engineers using it, but I prefer virtual machines myself as well.  On I support lots of different customs on different tool sets, so it keeps the cross corruption to a minimum, but that's a personal preference. (I use VMWARE).  Attached is a script that sets the variables: Use at your own risk, I haven't used it. But I know there's a couple of guys switching between 6.1/7.2/8.0 with it.

[Altera_Forum]

Instead of using the script in the previous post, I prefer to modify the environment variables manually. For both QII 7.2 and QII 8.0, you need to set QUARTUS_ROOTDIR and SOPC_KIT_NIOS2. QII 7.2 also uses SOPC_BUILDER_PATH. 

 QII 8.0 does not require SOPC_BUILDER_PATH. I don't remember whether 8.0 will use this variable if it does exist. I would delete this variable (or temporarily rename it to something else) when running 8.0 and instead control the IP path using "Tools --> Options --> IP Search Path" in SOPC Builder if using IP other than what was installed with QII 8.0. The 8.0 IP will be found automatically without setting the search path.  Quartus will set QUARTUS_ROOTDIR automatically when it starts. Be careful to keep this variable in sync between tools. When starting the Nios II IDE, always be sure that the last version of Quartus that had run was the same version as the IDE version.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  So far I've had to: ... * manually rename the v7.2 directory so NIOS EDS can't find it.  --- Quote End ---    Unless 8.0 is doing something I haven't encountered, there is no need to rename the installation directory when the 3 environment variables are set correctly including the removal of SOPC_BUILDER_PATH for 8.0 as I suggested in my previous post.

[Altera_Forum]

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go! 

Regards, Mark

[Altera_Forum]

SOPC builder was picking up the TSE MAC software paths from v7.2, even though I had changed the environment variables. The paths were listed under "discovered paths" in the project, and there is no way to delete them that I can tell.

[Altera_Forum]

You said SOPC Builder, but I don't remember anything called "discovered paths" by Quartus or SOPC Builder. The nearest things there that come to mind are the SOPC Builder IP search path and the Quartus user libraries. Do you mean something in the Nios II IDE? Where specifically are these discovered paths listed?

[Altera_Forum]

If your problem really is in SOPC Builder, you can try a couple of things that have helped with problems I had. 

 Under Microsoft Windows, delete ip_cache and altera_ip.ini at "C:\Documents and Settings\$USERNAME\.altera.quartus". There is probably something similar under Linux.  Check "C:\Documents and Settings\$USERNAME\.sopc_builder\.sopc_builder". I have deleted an sopc_component_path line from that file to get rid of an IP search path that I couldn't permanently delete at "Tools --> Options --> IP Search Path".