Why does Qsys stop responding when generating DDR3 external memory interface?

[Bosenraum]

I am trying to generate a design that is using the DDR3 SDRAM Controller with UniPHY IP core and during the Qsys HDL generation the generate window will hang rendering Qsys unusable. I am using Quartus 17.0 and Windows 10 Enterprise. I have tried reinstalling Quartus as well as running Quartus 14.1 and both times had the same result.

The generation always gets to this point:

Info: p0: Generating A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_p0_altdqdqs

Info: p0: 

Info: p0: *****************************

Info: p0: 

Info: p0: Remember to run the A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_p0_pin_assignments.tcl

Info: p0: script after running Synthesis and before Fitting.

Info: p0: 

Info: p0: *****************************

Info: p0: 

Info: p0: "mem_if_ddr3_emif_0" instantiated altera_mem_if_ddr3_hard_phy_core "p0"

and then stops. It does not explicitly fail, it just hangs execution and the only way to stop it is through task manager. I am also confident that this is not just the generation running very slowly because I have left this running for over 12 hours with no additional progress.

There are 3 warnings that are generated that also show in Qsys prior to generation:

Warning: A6_soc.mem_if_ddr3_emif_0: 'Quick' simulation modes are NOT timing accurate. Some simulation memory models may issue warnings or errors

Warning: A6_soc.mem_if_ddr3_emif_0.pll_bridge: pll_bridge.pll_sharing cannot be both connected and exported

Warning: A6_soc.mem_if_ddr3_emif_0: mem_if_ddr3_emif_0.pll_sharing must be exported, or connected to a matching conduit.

After researching these warnings they do not seem to be causing the issue and the official workarounds seem to be to ignore them.

The generation halts when using both the soft and hard version of the UniPHY controller, and Qsys generation works just fine if I remove the UniPHY IP from the design, so this may also be an issue with the SDRAM controller IP.

UPDATE:

I decided to try and run the command line utility "qsys-generate" and after failing the same way I noticed there were actually errors being thrown that the GUI was not showing me.

Error: s0: Error during execution of "{C:/intelfpga/17.0/quartus/../nios2eds/Nios II Command Shell.bat} make all 2>> stderr.txt": child process exited abnormally Error: s0: Execution of command "{C:/intelfpga/17.0/quartus/../nios2eds/Nios II Command Shell.bat} make all 2>> stderr.txt" failed Error: s0: Authorized application C:\intelFPGA\17.0\quartus\bin64\jtagserver.exe is enabled in the firewall. Error: s0: ]2;Altera Nios II EDS 17.0 [gcc4]C:/intelfpga/17.0/quartus/bin64/uniphy_mcc -ac_code sequencer_mc/ac_rom.s -inst_code sequencer_mc/inst_rom.s -ac_rom ../A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_s0_AC_ROM.hex -inst_rom ../A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_s0_inst_ROM.hex -header sequencer/sequencer_auto.h -vheader ../sequencer_auto_h.sv -ac_rom_init sequencer/sequencer_auto_ac_init.c -inst_rom_init sequencer/sequencer_auto_inst_init.c -DAC_ROM_USER_ADD_0=0_0000_0000_0000 -DAC_ROM_USER_ADD_1=0_0000_0000_1000 -DAC_ROM_MR0=0001000110001 -DAC_ROM_MR0_CALIB= -DAC_ROM_MR0_DLL_RESET=0001100110000 -DAC_ROM_MR1=0000000000100 -DAC_ROM_MR1_OCD_ENABLE= -DAC_ROM_MR2=0000000001000 -DAC_ROM_MR3=0000000000000 -DAC_ROM_MR0_MIRR=0001001001001 -DAC_ROM_MR0_DLL_RESET_MIRR=0001011001000 -DAC_ROM_MR1_MIRR=0000000000100 -DAC_ROM_MR2_MIRR=0000000010000 -DAC_ROM_MR3_MIRR=0000000000000 -DQUARTER_RATE=0 -DHALF_RATE=0 -DFULL_RATE=1 -DNON_DES_CAL=0 -DAP_MODE=0 -DGUARANTEED_READ_BRINGUP_TEST=0 -DMEM_ADDR_WIDTH=13 -DHARD_PHY=1 Error: s0: UniPHY Sequencer Microcode Compiler Error: s0: Copyright (C) 2017 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Error: s0: Info: Reading sequencer_mc/ac_rom.s ... Error: s0: Info: Reading sequencer_mc/inst_rom.s ... Error: s0: Info: Writing ../A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_s0_AC_ROM.hex ... Error: s0: Info: Writing ../A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_s0_inst_ROM.hex ... Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto_ac_init.c ... Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto_inst_init.c ... Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto.h ... Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto.h ... Error: s0: Info: Writing ../sequencer_auto_h.sv ... Error: s0: Info: Microcode compilation successful Error: s0: C:/intelfpga/17.0/quartus/../nios2eds/sdk2/bin/nios2-bsp hal sequencer_bsp .. --default_sections_mapping sequencer_mem --use_bootloader DONT_CHANGE Error: s0: Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions. Error: s0: Error: s0: Error: s0: Distributions can be installed by visiting the Windows Store: Error: s0: Error: s0: Error: s0: https://aka.ms/wslstore Error: s0: Error: s0: Error: s0: Press any key to continue... Error: s0: Error: s0: Error: s0: Error: s0: child process exited abnormally Error: s0: Cannot find sequencer/sequencer.elf Error: s0: An error occurred while executing "error "An error occurred"" (procedure "_error" line 8) invoked from within "_error "Cannot find $seq_file"" ("if" then script line 2) invoked from within "if {[file exists $seq_file] == 0} { _error "Cannot find $seq_file" }" (procedure "alt_mem_if::util::seq_mem_size::get_max_memory_usage" line 14) invoked from within "alt_mem_if::util::seq_mem_size::get_max_memory_usage [file join "sequencer" "sequencer.elf"" invoked from within "set calc_mem_size [alt_mem_if::util::seq_mem_size::get_max_memory_usage [file join "sequencer" "sequencer.elf"]]" ("if" then script line 2) invoked from within "if { !$do_only_rw_mgr_mc && !($bfm_mode || $hps_mode)} { set calc_mem_size [alt_mem_if::util::seq_mem_size::get_max_memory_usage [file join "sequenc..." (procedure "generate_qsys_sequencer_sw" line 924) invoked from within "generate_qsys_sequencer_sw $prepend_str $protocol $pre_compile_dir $fileset $inhdl_dir $rdimm $lrdimm 0 0 $nios_hex_file_name $ac_rom_init_file_name ..." invoked from within "set seq_mem_size_list [generate_qsys_sequencer_sw $prepend_str $protocol $pre_compile_dir $fileset $inhdl_dir $rdimm $lrdimm 0 0 $nios_hex_file_name ..." ("if" else script line 2) invoked from within "if {[::alt_mem_if::util::qini::qini_value alt_mem_if_seq_size_request 0] > 0} { set seq_mem_size [::alt_mem_if::util::qini::qini_value alt_mem_if_se..." (procedure "alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_qsys_sequencer" line 238) invoked from within "alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_qsys_sequencer "${name}" $protocol $tmpdir $fileset {}" invoked from within "set qsys_sequencer_files_list [alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_qsys_sequencer "${name}" $protocol $tmpdir $fileset {}]" (procedure "alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_sequencer_files" line 3) invoked from within "alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_sequencer_files $name "DDR3" $tmpdir QUARTUS_SYNTH" invoked from within "foreach generated_file [alt_mem_if::gen::uniphy_gen::generate_sequencer_files $name "DDR3" $tmpdir QUARTUS_SYNTH] { set file_name [file tail $genera..." (procedure "generate_synth" line 8) invoked from within "generate_synth A6_soc_mem_if_ddr3_emif_0_s0" Info: s0: "mem_if_ddr3_emif_0" instantiated altera_mem_if_ddr3_qseq "s0" Error: Generation stopped, 429 or more modules remaining Info: A6_soc: Done "A6_soc" with 152 modules, 138 files Error: qsys-generate failed with exit code 1: 34 Errors, 3 Warnings Info: Finished: Create HDL design files for synthesis

At this point I noticed these errors were similar to two other threads I've found.

Hard EMIF QSYS generation problem: https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P00003yyP3ISAU/hard-emif-qsys-generation-problem?language=en_US

[Qsys] LPDDR2 Controller (UniPHY): HDL generation fails:

https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P00003yyLGaSAM/qsys-lpddr2-controller-uniphy-hdl-generation-fails?language=en_US

They both seem to relate to the Nios II Command Shell.bat file, and searching for this I was able to find an Altera answer regarding environment variables: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/programmable/support/support-resources/knowledge-base/solutions/rd02192013_986.html

But this did not fix my problem.

I have managed to generate my design using Quartus 17.0 on Windows 7 and as near as I can tell my environments are the same, yet it fails on Windows 10. Unfortunately using the Windows 7 machine is not a viable workaround either.

If anyone else has experienced this or has any more ideas they would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[LinuxFanatic2018]

Did you tried some ​examples for other FPGA and development boards? May be this problem caused by wrong settings? And other demo projects will generate/regenerate flawlessly?

[Bosenraum]

I am experiencing this on a few different projects and FPGAs. I should also mention that some of the designs I'm using were created (and successfully generated) by a coworker so this issue seems to be specific to me. I cannot even generate an example design for the memory controller IP through the Qsys megawizard. I'm wondering if this may be some sort of but related to this IP and Windows 10 but that is just speculation. If I remove this specific IP core I can use Qsys to generate just fine.

[Bosenraum]

I have managed to workaround this issue by fully re-imaging my Windows 10 machine. I still have no idea what the root cause of this issue is but at least i can continue working now.

[billmax]

I'm seeing the same error with DDR3 uniphy_mcc generation, across multiple versions of Quartus from 15.1 to 20.1 (pre- and post- the switch to wsl).  I don't know what has changed on this machine since it was working... below is an example but I get it on any generation of any DDR3 IP.

Info: m0: "emif_0" instantiated altera_mem_if_ddr3_afi_mux "m0"
Error: s0: Error during execution of "{E:/intelfpga/20.1/quartus/../nios2eds/Nios II Command Shell.bat} make all 2>> stderr.txt": child process exited abnormally
Error: s0: Execution of command "{E:/intelfpga/20.1/quartus/../nios2eds/Nios II Command Shell.bat} make all 2>> stderr.txt" failed
Error: s0: /mnt/e/intelfpga/20.1/quartus/bin64/uniphy_mcc.exe -ac_code sequencer_mc/ac_rom.s -inst_code sequencer_mc/inst_rom.s -ac_rom ../lreso_rbo_bw_ddr3_system_0_bw_ddr3_mst_emif_0_s0_AC_ROM.hex -inst_rom ../lreso_rbo_bw_ddr3_system_0_bw_ddr3_mst_emif_0_s0_inst_ROM.hex -header sequencer/sequencer_auto.h -vheader ../sequencer_auto_h.sv -ac_rom_init sequencer/sequencer_auto_ac_init.c -inst_rom_init sequencer/sequencer_auto_inst_init.c -DAC_ROM_USER_ADD_0=0_0000_0000_0000 -DAC_ROM_USER_ADD_1=0_0000_0000_1000 -DAC_ROM_MR0=0110001110001 -DAC_ROM_MR0_CALIB= -DAC_ROM_MR0_DLL_RESET=0110101110000 -DAC_ROM_MR1=0000001000110 -DAC_ROM_MR1_OCD_ENABLE= -DAC_ROM_MR2=0001001011000 -DAC_ROM_MR3=0000000000000 -DAC_ROM_MR0_MIRR=0110001101001 -DAC_ROM_MR0_DLL_RESET_MIRR=0110011101000 -DAC_ROM_MR1_MIRR=0000000100110 -DAC_ROM_MR2_MIRR=0001000111000 -DAC_ROM_MR3_MIRR=0000000000000 -DQUARTER_RATE=1 -DHALF_RATE=0 -DFULL_RATE=0 -DNON_DES_CAL=0 -DAP_MODE=0 -DGUARANTEED_READ_BRINGUP_TEST=0 -DMEM_ADDR_WIDTH=13 -DHARD_PHY=0
Error: s0: UniPHY Sequencer Microcode Compiler
Error: s0: Copyright (C) 2020 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Error: s0: Info: Reading sequencer_mc/ac_rom.s ...
Error: s0: Info: Reading sequencer_mc/inst_rom.s ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing ../lreso_rbo_bw_ddr3_system_0_bw_ddr3_mst_emif_0_s0_AC_ROM.hex ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing ../lreso_rbo_bw_ddr3_system_0_bw_ddr3_mst_emif_0_s0_inst_ROM.hex ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto_ac_init.c ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto_inst_init.c ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto.h ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing sequencer/sequencer_auto.h ...
Error: s0: Info: Writing ../sequencer_auto_h.sv ...
Error: s0: Info: Microcode compilation successful

[MADesigner]

Did you ever solve this issue.  I am having the exact same problem.