help with ssd module on cyclone ii

[Altera_Forum]

helo evryone. am a newbie to fpga and vhdl programming. i would like to know how i can get to display numbers on the seven segment display of the cyclone ii board several times without powering off the board in between changes i.e. i want to be able to display numbers on the ssd and change the sequence without putting off the board. thanks

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  helo evryone. am a newbie to fpga and vhdl programming. i would like to know how i can get to display numbers on the seven segment display of the cyclone ii board several times without powering off the board in between changes i.e. i want to be able to display numbers on the ssd and change the sequence without putting off the board. thanks  --- Quote End ---    Which Cyclone II board?  Does it have say four push buttons or dip switches?  Use the attached file (rename it to have the .vhd extension), attach four push buttons to the inputs, and the outputs to the seven segment display (the comments in the file show which bits are which).  Now, when you press the buttons, the SSD will show you the corresponding hex number.  Your next task is to create a counter. Make the counter width wide enough so that the four MSBs change about once per second. Connect those MSBs to your hex display, and you will see it count.  Enjoy!  Cheers, Dave

[Altera_Forum]

thanks so much dave! am so sorry, but how wide should the counter width be? thanx as always!

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  thanks so much dave! am so sorry, but how wide should the counter width be? thanx as always!  --- Quote End ---  C'mon, that is part of the challenge, you won't learn without thinking!  Hint:  If I have a 50MHz clock, and I want the most significant bit of the counter to change every 1 second, then I need to count 50MHz x 1s = 50M samples. How wide would my counter need to be?  Cheers, Dave