Hi there,

I am wondering if it is possible to boot a NIOSII(f) processor out of 
the CFM0 region in a Max10 FPGA.

My scenario is: a QSYS System with dual-image (i am planning to use RSU) 
with on-chip ram and on-chip flash.

I want to use the "Golden Image" in CFM0 to remote upgrade the image in 
CFM1+CFM2 and for this i thought i could put the application which i 
create with the NIOS2 SBT tool into the CFM0 Region (probably in the 
higher address space).
Why i want to do that? The image requires not much space and when i look 
at the memory usage of my design and application the CFM0 space is 
enough and i wouldn't have to bother to secure the space where the 
application is stored.
Also i'd like to  write the design in one click into the FPGA.

I thought of several ways to accomplish that but i got none of them 
working.

1st.: Use flash programmer and define the desired offset where the 
application should be stored. Nios2 throws Error 8 and when i look into 
the datasheet: 
https://www.altera.com/content/dam/altera-www/global/en_US/pdfs/literature/ug/ug_nios2_flash_programmer.pdf.
The proble is: i can't use the EPCS Serial Flash Controller in QSYS with 
the Max10 FPGA.

2nd.: edit the .pof file. Not recommended from altera. Found the 
intel-format for .hex files and tried to edit the hex files from the 
application (NIOS2 -> Project -> build target -> mem_init_generate -> 
convert output to intel-format) but i wasn't able to make a file which 
the programmer likes. Probably haven't read enough about intel-format.

3rd.: Memory initialisation. I am not able to initialize on-chip ram 
with compressed dual-image mode but for on-chip flash it is working. So 
if i generate a file with the desired offset it should be possible? To 
write into UFM with mem_init i succeeded. Have to try to edit the .hex 
file.

4th.: Find a way to override the desired memory space in QSYS or to 
redefine the CFM0 memory space.

I would appreciate it if someone can help me with this.