USB-Blaster issues with Windows10

[RandyR]

My class at CU-Boulder uses the Terasic DE10-Lite board and Quartus Lite.  Over the past two years students sometimes run into the issue of the USB_Blaster driver not installing properly, but updating the driver from Windows device manager always worked.  This semester, a significant number of students cannot get the driver to install using this older approach.

The problem is due to the USB-Blaster driver being unsigned, and a large number of the Windows installations have settings that won't allow installation of an unsigned driver.   

https://www.technipages.com/enable-disable-device-driver-signing Option 2 solves the problem, so students have been able to progress.

The big question is what are you doing to resolve this?  Why the driver is unsigned is the big question, as this would solve it quickly.  Next question is why can't I find any resolution on the Intel website?  My class cannot be the only class running into this.  Since many classes are remote due to the pandemic, these types of issues are brutal to resolve.

Thanks.

[YuanLi_S_Intel]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. First of all, i would like to check which quartus version are you using?

You may check with our Intel KDB for more workaround for any problem:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/programmable/support/support-resources/knowledge-base/kdb-filter.html?partialfields=type%3Ahow-to%2Ctype%3Aerrata%2Ctype%3Aanswers

Regards,

Bruce

[RandyR]

This problem is occuring on Quartus-Lite 20.1 and, but the class last semester used the same Quartus version and did not see this.  I believe something changed in Windows recently.

The underlying issue is that the USB-Blaster driver is unsigned, and Windows doesn't like it.  Isn't the customer friendly thing to do would be to get the USB-Blaster driver updated so that Windows doesn't refuse to install it? 

Or, at the least, document and publish a series of steps that would assist your customers?

Please don't just send me a canned email telling me to look in the Knowledge Base, that is zero help.

R Robinson

[YuanLi_S_Intel]

Hi Randy,

Thanks for your feedback. It seems like we have the solution provided in the forum thread previously. But you are right. Will discuss this with internal team and issue a KDB if appropriate.

Thank You.

Regards,

Bruce

[James_B]

Where is the KDB on this ? The inconsistency is the installation of the usb blaster drivers is like a fundamental flaw. 

I have the case of usb blaster ii driver could NOT be signeded using Quartus 20.1 in Windows 10, while a usb blaster ii driver from Quartus 15 lite could be signed in Windows 10. Why is this ? 

When will Microsoft recognize the Intel drivers? 

[RandyR]

James, this is basically a nightmare.  And ridiculous that, in 2021, the Intel USB-Blaster driver is not recognized by Microsoft.  I can't tell you how many hours I have wasted helping students get the driver installed.  Oh, and if they are Bitlocker protected by can't find their Bitlocker keys, that adds to the wasted time.

My suspicion is that the person at Intel (Altera) who knew something about this is long gone, and no one wants to touch it.  This lack of movement on Intel's part is giving me more reasons to switch our classes to Brand X.  My whole point of using Quartus was ease of use over Brand X, but this cable issue has been brutal.

Randy

[James_B]

Hi Randy, 

Yes, this is a legitimate cause for concern. Part of the value position of the tools is to be able to program the parts, and Windows/Quartus 20.1 is just not working. I even tried to disable the signing, as suggested, and this did not work.

I have a large part (Cyclone V A9) and it takes about 30 seconds to program through JTAG with the Quartus 15 usb blaster. 

I would like to see some definitive response on this subject as soon as possible. 

[RandyR]

James, as frustrating as this has been, I have always been able to make this work (on probably 150 different PCs).  I would be willing to show you the steps I follow to get this done.  If you are interested, email me at randyrobinson54test@gmail.com.  We could do a Zoom session if that would help.

Maybe we can send Intel a bill............

Cheers, Randy

[James_B]

Randy, Thanks for the feedback on this. 

I also found this Knowledge Data Base (what Intel calls "KDB") answer record on this topic: 

https://www.intel.com/content/altera-www/global/en_us/index/support/support-resources/knowledge-base/tools/2021/why-does-the-intel--fpga-download-cables-drivers-installation-fa.html

Following the installation of the Software Patch for 20.1 I was able to get the 20.1 drivers installed correctly. 

Thanks,

James