Software Installation and Licensing Procedures
To be able to compile programs and do the labs at home, you will need following three pieces of
software from Altera. You need to install these programs in this order
1. Quartus II
2. MegaCore IP Library
3. Nios II EDS
Tip: Try to install all software into default folders. This way you minimize the chances of
something going wrong. DO NOT use SPACES in any of the folder names!!!
Once you have installed the software, you will have to obtain a license to use it.
You can obtain the license at the following web-page:
https://www.altera.com/support/licensing/free_software/lic-q2web.jsp
To get a license file, you will need to obtain the NIC ID (also known as the MAC address) of the
network card in your computer. You can obtain this address/ID by opening a DOS/command
window and typing the command:
ipconfig /all
In the output of this command look for the line that reads something like:
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-B0-D0-87-FC-48
The NIC address is the number above without the dashes. (i.e. 00B0D087FC48 for the above
example).
Once you enter this and other information at the registration site, Altera will email
you a license.dat file. Store this file on your machine, and then start the Quartus program.
Go to the Tools menu and select License Setup. In the top window, enter the full path of
your license.dat file.
In the lab we will be using the full version of the software, but web edition has all you need as
well.