Quartus Hardware and Software IP Patches

[Altera_Forum]

I want to include patched hardware and software versions of Altera IP in a Quartus QSYS project I am responsible for. On the Quartus/QSYS side of things I simply add the IP folders to the QSYS project directory and the QSYS IP catalog shows both the patched IP version from the project directory and the non-patched IP version from the Altera installation directory. I instantiate the patched version and all is well for the FPGA. However, on the NIOS processor side of things, it appears that nios2-bsp-generate-files pulls the IP's associated source and header files from the non-patched Altera installation directory rather than the project specific patched directory.  

 I am reluctant to simply place the patch IP into the Altera IP installation directories as this could lead to future problems when the Altera software is upgraded or when the project is moved to another machine or developer. I am currently placing the source files into the BSP HAL directory myself and then configuring the BSP settings file to not write these specific files. However, this feels like the wrong way to do this and that I am missing something somewhere.  Bob

[Altera_Forum]

For custom IP, I'm pretty sure you need to write Nios software drivers to reference the correct IP. See this training as a starting point: 

 https://www.altera.com/support/training/course/oniitoolsdesign.html

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  For custom IP, I'm pretty sure you need to write Nios software drivers to reference the correct IP. See this training as a starting point:  https://www.altera.com/support/training/course/oniitoolsdesign.html  --- Quote End ---    Thank you for the suggestion. I reviewed the training but did not see anything to help me. The problem I am having is that, unlike the Quartus FPGA side of things, the Eclipse/SBT side of things appears to only pull IP (software as in *.c, *.h files) from the Altera installation directory. Since the IP that I am concerned with is third party patches to existing Altera IP, I am reluctant to simply replace the files in the installation folder with the patched IP because of the possibility of updates to Quartus overwriting the patches and the problem of portability of the project if moved to another person or machine. Can you suggest anywhere else to look?

[Altera_Forum]

You shouldn't replace the files. Like I said, you need to write drivers to access custom IP through software with the Nios. See this: 

 https://www.altera.com/content/dam/altera-www/global/en_us/pdfs/literature/an/an459.pdf  The AN refers to an IP that is already part of Quartus, but it shows the process you'd need to write drivers for custom IP that is not part of Quartus.