Cyclon III starter Kit, flash device

[Altera_Forum]

hello, 

i have a problem to program the flash device of the cyclon III starter Kit. I use Quartus 7.2. Up to kno i program the *.sof file and the program works. Now i want to start the program, when i power-on my board. because of that, i do the steps, which are posted in the ug_ciii_starter_kit.pdf to program the flash device. when i finished the programming i switched off and on the board, but the progam didn't work. So i try to do it one more time, but then i get following error message: can't recognize silicon ID for device I. I have already read some posts in the forum and in the knowledge base, but i can't solve the problems. can somebody help me?????

[Altera_Forum]

Looks like the USB Blaster is not able to get the device ID from the JTAG port. Try disconnecting everything and re-connect (probably after a restart) and see if you are able to auto detect the JTAG chain in the Quartus II programmer. If you are able to detect the FPGA in the auto detection, you should be able to program the FPGA.

[Altera_Forum]

first, thanks for the fast answer. 

the auto detect has found my device. to program the *.sof file is still no problem, but when i try to program the *.pof file in flash i still get the error message

[Altera_Forum]

Instead of programming, can you try erasing the flash device only? See if it works.  

You can also try using the default pof file and see if it works.

[Altera_Forum]

okay, i start the programmer, auto detect, attach flash device,cfi_128mb and then erase??? if i had to do this, it doesn't work and i get the same error message, sorry if it was wrong, it is my first time to work with a fpga

[Altera_Forum]

The can't recognize silicon id for device i isn't related to JTAG but to the flash loader IP. It's also using JTAG, but if the FPGA is recognized at the JTAG chain, it's probably not a JTAG problem. A possible reason is, that the present FPGA configuration doesn't contain the PFL IP or is conflicting with flash programmer operation somehow. In this case, the factory default parallel flash loader should be loaded instead. It can be found in the \quartus\common\devinfo\programmer directory.

[Altera_Forum]

So when you do that, what error message do you get? Can't recognize silicon ID for device 1?

[Altera_Forum]

okay, and what kind of file 

pfl_.....sof or sfl_.....sof

[Altera_Forum]

okay i try this, first i load the pfl....sof file. the i have programmed it. no problem. then i try to convert the file and proramm the flash device, but i get the same error message

[Altera_Forum]

i have just seen, that i already use the default PFL, so thats not the reason, i can't neither program nor erase

[Altera_Forum]

Which programming mode have you selected in the Programmer window?

[Altera_Forum]

the programming mode: JTAG

[Altera_Forum]

That's OK, sorry for the obvious question. Have you tried to upgrade to the latest QuartusII version?

[Altera_Forum]

no, but i can try it

[Altera_Forum]

i will hope it works, because i have no administration tights here

[Altera_Forum]

Another reason may be that the flash device has been damaged and is no longer programmable. Some CMOS devices are very sensitive to 

latch-up and electrostatic discharge. This is a frequent cause of failures in CMOS ICs.

[Altera_Forum]

with service pack 3 there is no chance, still the error message. 

i don't hope, that it is damaged. it is strange because the first time, there was no error message, but the program didn't work, and at the second try, the error message appeared

[Altera_Forum]

i try something different, i use the control panel. with it, i can read or write the memory from the board. so i program the flash, it works for ca 120s but then there is a failure to and the progamming aborts

[Altera_Forum]

therefor another question, when i convert my *.sof file to an *.pof file for flash programming, where must i input my *.sof file 

configuration master high byte low byte??? i use active parallel configuration and cfi_128mb, like the guide from the starter kit

[Altera_Forum]

Did you also add the correct flash device?

[Altera_Forum]

i think so, i take the cfi_128mb like in the user guide manual, but i have just seen, that the starter kit has an 16mb flash, could that be the problem,unfortunaltelly i can test it not until monday, because the board is at the university