NativeLink RTL-Simulation fails after Fitter-Run if project includes two variations of GPIO Lite IP

[ugro]

Hi,

RTL-Simulation with Questa Intel Starter FPGA Edition using Nativelink fails under following conditions:

• there are two variations of the GPIO Lite Intel FPGA IP core included;
• any task other than "Analysis & Synthesis" has been run before starting "RTL Simulation".

Questa will look for vho file which has not been generated for the ip.

Find attached Quartus archive gpio_demo.qar targetting MAX 10 device with instances of PLL IP and GPIO Lite IP.

Steps to simulate successfully:

• Open gpio_demo.qar in Quartus Prime 22.1 Lite Edition.
• Run Analysis & Synthesis.
• Start RTL-Simulation: Questa Intel Starter FPGA Edition 2021.2 runs successfully.

Steps to reproduce simulation error:

• Run Fitter (Place & Route) or Compile Design.
• Start RTL-Simulation: Questa fails with message:

# vcom -93 -work work {O:/work/intel/gpio_demo/ip/oddr/oddr.vho}
# Questa Intel Starter FPGA Edition-64 vcom 2021.2 Compiler 2021.04 Apr 14 2021
# Start time: 13:07:32 on Apr 15,2024
# vcom -reportprogress 300 -93 -work work O:/work/intel/gpio_demo/ip/oddr/oddr.vho 
# ** Error: (vcom-7) Failed to open design unit file "O:/work/intel/gpio_demo/ip/oddr/oddr.vho" in read mode.
# No such file or directory. (errno = ENOENT)

Further investiagtions show that:

• the content of file gpio_demo_run_msim_rtl_vhdl.do in in sub-folder simulation/questa changes depending on the task running before RTL Simulation has been started;
• Quartus Prime 23.1 Lite Edition shows same behaviour;
• project with only one variation of GPIO Lite IP does not show this behaviour
  (see attached Quartus archive gpio_demo_oddr_only.qar).

So it seems to be an issue of the script generation within NativeLink.

Is this the intended behaviour?

I expect that RTL simulation runs successfully disregarding which task has been run before.

Best regards,

Uwe

[RichardTanSY_Altera]

It might be a potential bug and I will confirm this with the engineering.  

1) Run Analysis & Synthesis ->RTL simulation Passed.
2) Run Analysis & Synthesis, Then Run Fitter -> RTL simulation Error. 
3) Run Fitter directly -> RTL simulation Passed. 

Case (3) is particularly interesting as it works after fitter stage. I recommend avoiding situation (2) as a workaround.

FYI, in cases where this error arises in Quartus Standard, we can only provide a workaround unless there's no available solution.

Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,

Richard Tan

[RichardTanSY_Altera]

I have not receive any update from the engineering team. 

I will continue to follow up with the engineering team and provide you with an update as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

p/s: Please keep in mind that any work involving our engineering team may take some time, ranging from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the issue.

Regards,

Richard Tan

[RichardTanSY_Altera]

Unfortunately, as a workaround is available (running with only Analysis and Synthesis), there are no plans to fix this issue in the Quartus Standard software. I apologize for any inconvenience caused, as support is limited for the Quartus Standard edition.

Thank you for your understanding.

With that, I will transition this thread to community support. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank you and have a great day!

Regards,

Richard Tan

[ugro]

Hi Richard,

thank you for your support.

Do you have any further information when this bug will be triggered, for instance:

Is it only related to the GPIO Lite IP?

Is it only related to a certain type of IP?

Is it related to the number of instances of an IP?

Is it related to the number of variations of an IP?

Regards,

Uwe