User manual

DE2 User Manual
16
3.4 Flash Memory Programmer
The Control Panel can be used to write/read data to/from the Flash memory chip on the DE2 board.
It can be used to:
• Erase the entire Flash memory
• Write one byte to the memory
• Read one byte from the memory
• Write a binary file to the memory
• Load the contents of the Flash memory into a file
Note the following characteristics of the Flash memory:
• The Flash memory chip is organized as 4 M (or 1 M on some boards) x 8 bits.
• You must erase the entire Flash memory before you can write into it. (Be aware that the
number of times a Flash memory can be erased is limited.)
• The time required to erase the entire Flash memory is about 20 seconds. Do not close the
DE2 Control Panel in the middle of the operation.
To open the Flash memory control window, shown in Figure 3.6, select the FLASH tab in the
Control Panel.
Figure 3.6. Flash memory control window.
A byte of data can be written into a random location on the Flash chip as follows:
1. Click on the Chip Erase button. The button and the window frame title will prompt you to
wait until the operation is finished, which takes about 20 seconds.