Stratix V Advanced Systems Development Kit SW4 Default Settings

[Altera_Forum]

The documentation for the stratix v advanced systems development kit (https://www.altera.com/products/boards_and_kits/dev-kits/altera/kit-stratix-v-advanced.html) seems to be incorrect in regards to the default settings for SW4. What is the correct default settings for that switch? Here is what the documentation illustrates: 

 https://alteraforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13748&stc=1   I want to set up this board so that it loads the designs stored in flash. According to the documentation, it states that SW4.6 needs to be in the ON position, but switch 6 is for Clock Selection...  Thanks,  QG

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Both Terasic and Altera are facing reputation risk now.  --- Quote End ---   I guess these boards are very much promotional material (the retail price seems well below parts value). And officially reselling is prohibited, as if they could stop that (it wouldn't be legal to prohibit resale here in the Netherlands, and I doubt that it is in the USA). So they get difficult with support. I don't think it's a wise move, since they're not really hurting the reseller, but rather those new (or old) customers raring to go do something useful with the board. Not exactly good for future chip sales or customer relations ...

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I would say, there is strange behavior of all parties.  Those boards were bought by customer "H". Both Altera and Terasic got paid for it. "H" decided to sell the boards, and new owners have questions about using the hardware they purchased. No warranty or software licensing issue have risen, but a request for tech docs for the hardware Terasic manufactured, sold and get paid for. If you made any changes (significant or not), it can't be done without proper documentation.  --- Quote End ---    It's actually quite straightforward if it has been just the customer H and Terasic only.   I'm glad you don't have any warranty or software licensing issue, but others do and that's one of the reasons we decided to take it up here.   For your information, the deal we made with that particular customer H does NOT involve any documentation. We manufactured the boards and sold them as-is. I personally agree with your point regarding the documentation, but that's outside of our support range in this case.   If customer H comes back to us now and asks for documentation, we'll make another deal with them and it's up to them to decide what to do with the documentation because this kit and everything comes with it are customized just for them.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Hi Dav,  first many thanks for replying in the forum.    For you this might be funny. For me not. I'm getting pushed around between the guy I bought this board, Altera and now you. As I wrote you, I was first contacting Altera and they said I should contact Terasic about this board.    I'm clearly in the section "didn't know anything about any of these upon purchase". I was expecting to buy a "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit", not an Advanced kit and surely not a custom board.  The boards come in a sealed Altera package with the picture of a "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit" on. so, how could i have known?  FYI, this is the offer where I bought it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/stratix-v-gx-fpga-development-kit/201961152917?hash=item2f05d2a195:g:j84aaoswgv5zprmo  Is there any chance you could at least release the pin assignments, etc?  Best regards, Markus  --- Quote End ---    Hi Markus,   I might have chosen the wrong word. It's definitely not funny for those who got this kit without getting any support at all. The seller should be fully responsible for getting support for all the buyers, similar to what we've been doing for all our customers.   If you buy something which is not what you'd expect, you should return it and get your refund back, but then I saw the price listed from your link, I can totally understand why people still take the risk. It's probably even cheaper than the FPGA device itself !   For your information, the pictures are Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit, Stratix V GX SI Development Kit, and SDI HSMC Daughter Card. Based on how you recognize the package, the contents can be any of these or even something else with a sealing sticker that anyone can print at home. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't rely on the appearance only, but I'm very surprised at the 100% positive feedback from this seller. I can only imagine that either all the buyers are too kind or too smart that they don't need this seller at all.   For the pin assignments that you care the most, I need to check if the pin assignments for both official and custom boards are identical first. If they are, you can use the official version as it's available from the website. If not, I'll take it back internally and let someone to review the deal to see if this will put us in a position that we disclose something which we shouldn't have. Please understand that our situation is difficult and we've never thought of how things will end up like this in the first place.   Dav from Terasic

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  This is new old stock. 

• The box has scratches, but it is still factory sealed.This is also clearly visible on the photos on ebay. 
• The board inside is also factory sealed. 
• The board inside is definitely new. 

    You might be right, but not everyone on this planet has enough money for that. This kit is advertised as a Stratix V GX Development Kit, not the Advanced. So 1250 USD for an 5 year old item with a MSRP of 7000 USD is not outside of what I would expect valid.  --- Quote End ---    Hi there,  I haven't seen anything like this before in my entire professional career over a decade (well maybe not long enough for most of you). The only possibility I can think of is a company is close to an end and they'd sell anything just to get as much as they can.   I'd probably always ask what's the catch. If it is so critical to get support for this customized board and the seller fails/refuses to do so, I'd return the kit and post a negative feedback if I were you.   Dav from Terasic

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I really wouldn't be that harsh with Altera and Terasic. I can somewhat understand their position and therefore for me reputation risk sounds a little too strong. But I believe especially Altera should think about their communication strategy. Personally I feel quite bad handled by their customer support.  I believe ultimately the guy putting a custom Terasic board into a Altera development kit box without adding a little "custom board" sticker should be blamed for the confusion. Such a sticker would have helped really a lot.  --- Quote End ---    Hi there,  Since there was only one target customer and both parties are fully aware of the terms/conditions/differences, no one thought about adding a different sticker to distinguish the kits. The changes were minimized to save time/effort/cost. I understand it might sound like an excuse, but that's the truth.   Had we known this customized board will be sold to others, we would have done something differently.   Dav from Terasic

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I guess these boards are very much promotional material (the retail price seems well below parts value). And officially reselling is prohibited, as if they could stop that (it wouldn't be legal to prohibit resale here in the Netherlands, and I doubt that it is in the USA). So they get difficult with support. I don't think it's a wise move, since they're not really hurting the reseller, but rather those new (or old) customers raring to go do something useful with the board. Not exactly good for future chip sales or customer relations ...  --- Quote End ---    Hi there,  The followings are just my personal thoughts.   Now that you mention it, I seriously doubt it's legitimate to re-sell these customized boards like this because these FPGA devices were probably either given for free or charged with low cost that there must be some terms and conditions to forbid such transaction.   It's different from ordinary secondhand sale and it's the only reasonable explanation about how the seller can get them and sell them at such price, given the customer H is still around.   Dav from Terasic

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  It's different from ordinary secondhand sale and it's the only reasonable explanation about how the seller can get them and sell them at such price, given the customer H is still around.  --- Quote End ---    It is not different to the current owners ! Complain about the resale to the resellers. Not to the current owners. Just support them. They may be your current or future customers.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  It is not different to the current owners ! Complain about the resale to the resellers. Not to the current owners. Just support them. They may be your current or future customers.  --- Quote End ---    Hi there,  We are not in a position to complain anything to anyone here. We could have pushed all the inquires back because we are not responsible for no one according to the deal we made, but we've decided to at least take a look at the pin assignments.   I truly hope those who bought this customized board from that ebay seller and yet still decided to keep it after they saw the facts here will be our future customers, but I personally wouldn't be that optimistic, not when the price gap is tremendous.   Dav from Terasic

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  If you buy something which is not what you'd expect, you should return it and get your refund back, but then I saw the price listed from your link, I can totally understand why people still take the risk.  --- Quote End ---    I'm located overseas in Europe and payed by Paypal. Sending the item back is really expensive and getting refund for it will be quite difficult, because in my experience both Ebay and Paypal very often favour US sellers. But if it will be clear the board is really useless fro me, I will go this way.    --- Quote Start ---  For your information, the pictures are Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit, Stratix V GX SI Development Kit, and SDI HSMC Daughter Card. Based on how you recognize the package, the contents can be any of these or even something else with a sealing sticker that anyone can print at home.  --- Quote End ---    The item description states "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit" and there is a matching picture, so it looked quite clear to me. My fault.    --- Quote Start ---  For the pin assignments that you care the most, I need to check if the pin assignments for both official and custom boards are identical first. If they are, you can use the official version as it's available from the website. If not, I'll take it back internally and let someone to review the deal to see if this will put us in a position that we disclose something which we shouldn't have. Please understand that our situation is difficult and we've never thought of how things will end up like this in the first place.  --- Quote End ---    I understand your position and therefore any information will be very appreciated.    --- Quote Start ---  I haven't seen anything like this before in my entire professional career over a decade (well maybe not long enough for most of you). The only possibility I can think of is a company is close to an end and they'd sell anything just to get as much as they can.  --- Quote End ---    I'm quite a newbie on FPGA, but at my work we buy a lot of hardware. When we buy servers from IBM or Fujitsu discounts of 25-35% of the MSRP on new items are standard. New 5 year old stock we often get with 80% or more discount. So this also looked valid to me.    --- Quote Start ---  I'd return the kit and post a negative feedback if I were you.  --- Quote End ---    Posting a negative feedback will most probably not stick, because the seller will dispute it and Ebay will delete it.    --- Quote Start ---  I truly hope those who bought this customized board from that ebay seller and yet still decided to keep it after they saw the facts here will be our future customers, but I personally wouldn't be that optimistic, not when the price gap is tremendous.  --- Quote End ---    Sad thing is Altera is not in the value chain of this board. I believe most people who bought this board need a Quartus license, so there could be a deal like board support package against license. I would buy it.

[Altera_Forum]

As the original poster for this thread, I would just like to say that I appreciate Dav's efforts. It is definitely an issue for all of us who bought this board, but it really isn't Terasic's nor Altera's problem. We bought something on Ebay and hence it really is caveat emptor. Hopefully, with some good faith and gesture, Dav and Terasic comes through with some documentation to help us poor saps. The board is not a waste and hence can be utilized, but documentation is needed. BTW, the software from Intel was written in JAVA, and hence a bit of reverse engineering can produce the source code :) 

 QG

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  As the original poster for this thread, I would just like to say that I appreciate Dav's efforts. It is definitely an issue for all of us who bought this board, but it really isn't Terasic's nor Altera's problem. We bought something on Ebay and hence it really is caveat emptor. Hopefully, with some good faith and gesture, Dav and Terasic comes through with some documentation to help us poor saps. The board is not a waste and hence can be utilized, but documentation is needed. BTW, the software from Intel was written in JAVA, and hence a bit of reverse engineering can produce the source code :)  QG  --- Quote End ---    I have ended up with two of these dual FPGA “Advanced Systems Development Kit” boards as well, paying quite a bit ($4800 each) and unfortunately not realizing these are not the device I thought they were. My serial number on one is 5SGXAS00000236 and P/N 0277 0K.  i noticed the problem when I saw the QDR and MoSys missing, but I had been traveling so have no window to return.  Can we at least have the pin assignments so we can use these boards? :( this is stomach unsettling.

[Altera_Forum]

I realize this topic is old and maybe dead, but I hope maybe someone has figured something out???

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I realize this topic is old and maybe dead, but I hope maybe someone has figured something out???  --- Quote End ---    Like what ? See my message# 16 in this thread. Just refer to the info on the 'Altera Stratix V Advanced Systems Development Kit' (http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?no=733) but note that the FPGAs are 5SGXEABN2F45C2. Schematics seem to be exactly the same. Go to town.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Like what ? See my message# 16 in this thread. Just refer to the info on the 'Altera Stratix V Advanced Systems Development Kit' (http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?no=733) but note that the FPGAs are 5SGXEABN2F45C2. Schematics seem to be exactly the same. Go to town.  --- Quote End ---    Thank you! I knew which chips they had switched to, but didn’t want to just guess that the schematics were the same. Shame to be missing the QDR but they’ll work - thanks!

[Altera_Forum]

To those who have been tricked into purchasing this kit with AB device: 

 Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. The pin assignment has been confirmed to be exactly the same except the device where you have to change from A7 to AB.   There's also a special version of BTS which would work on boards populated with AB devices. However, it's not our proprietary to release.   I hope this official statement would clear some of the doubts to continue your work.   Dav from Terasic

[epolet]

Altera support team, how does it come out, that after you "upgraded" the forum web site all user accounts are lost?

"Altera Forum" user posts all questions and answers. Impossible to contact any of the users who participated in the discussion. I don't receive notifications from the tread updates, assume no one does.