Re: How to make 18.x more stable?

DBay · ‎10-01-2018

18.0 crashed about 80% of the time trying to compile programs with LL regions. 18.1 is much better. It probably crashes only 20% of the time for LL regions. This has enabled me to finally move forward with my project. Now, it seems to crash a lot in the fitter, but not necessarily related to LL regions. Sometimes it still is if you can decode the cryptic reports.

The crashes now, not only create a crash report(should remove the service request box, since that isn't offered anymore), but 50% of the time, will actually crash all of Quartus. Sometimes it makes it a ghost(can't see it on the display) and you have to manually kill it with project manager.

Deleting the db directories helps for a while, but then it seems to get out of sorts and you need to do it again. In fact I just had it crash on startup(after a crash) that required deleting db just to get quartus to open the project without crashing.

Kenny_Tan · ‎10-03-2018

Hi Dbay,

Can you attached a simplified non confidential design here? We can try from our side to see if it really crash. What is the Operating System that you were using?

Thanks,

DBay · ‎10-03-2018

I'll see if I have time to make something up. I'm sure that if you have a project with LL regions, export everything to an upperlevel project. The upper level will have LL regions of it's own that may or may not conflict. Import everything, then set the partitions to anything, you will get a crash. The only way I have been able to get this process to work is to make sure that no LL regions overlap, set the LLregions to floating(even though they don't overlap, it will crash if they are locked), set the partitions to source(It will crash if anything else is set the first time. After you get a successful compile, then this can be changed). Then export and import to the 3rd(then 4th) level project.

The crashes will get worse as you get more and more levels. I am around 3-4 levels of importing partions at the moment, with 100% crashes on this last level. I got lucky on the lower level to get this far. I needed to go back to a successfully compiled level to move the LL regions, and now I can't get it to compile at all. Even Quartus will crash sometimes now. Many times before, just the process would crash, but quartus would be OK.(I restarted anyway)

If you really want to have fun, import one lower level partition into several instances in an upper level. It reeeaallly likes that one.

My computer is a W7 machine 6/12 core @ 4.5GHz and 64GB of RAM. This has all worked just fine in quartus 13.1. I never had any issues other than making the program work. 13.1 never crashed. I'm just trying to upgrade an old STIII design to Aria10, then to ST10. The code works, Quartus doesn't!

Kenny_Tan · ‎10-03-2018

Let me try on my side, I forgot to ask you are using Quartus Pro 18.0 version, right?

DBay · ‎10-03-2018

18.0 standard started the fiasco. I moved to 18.1 standard and it got better for the initial, lower level projects. It enabled me to get to the final level, but then it started crashing all the time. Even going back to move LL regions it crashed.

I may try pro. It can't be any worse. I didn't initially for some reason I can't remember now.

Kenny_Tan · ‎10-03-2018

What device that you were using? Because not all device can move to pro version.

Kenny_Tan · ‎10-03-2018

Also, can you put out the crash message over here?

DBay · ‎10-03-2018

It's an arria 10.

I've been sending them in for several months. Probably about 10-20 a day. The next time it crashes, I'll put them here.

Kenny_Tan · ‎10-03-2018

can you upgrade to Q18,0 Pro, since Arria 10 is supported there. I will make my test in Q18.0 Pro.