Intel® Quartus® Prime Software
Intel® Quartus® Prime Design Software, Design Entry, Synthesis, Simulation, Verification, Timing Analysis, System Design (Platform Designer, formerly Qsys)
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license for older Quartus II

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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I am in the situation where I need to use Cyclone II and Cylone IV FPGA. I found the latest Quartus II version doesn't support Cyclone II. So what version can I use (12.0?) and can I get the license for this older version? or can I purchase the license of latest software and "downgrade" it to older version?  

Thanks 

Leon
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
523 Views

 

--- Quote Start ---  

I am in the situation where I need to use Cyclone II and Cylone IV FPGA. I found the latest Quartus II version doesn't support Cyclone II. So what version can I use (12.0?) and can I get the license for this older version? or can I purchase the license of latest software and "downgrade" it to older version?  

Thanks 

Leon 

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I use Quartus 13.0sp1 to support my use of the Cyclone II part. The free version works just fine, no license needed. 

 

For Cyclone IV I happen to use Quartus 16.0 (again the free version) and the newer version 17.x still support this device family I believe. 

 

You can download the above versions from the Altera software tools download pages.
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
523 Views

However the unlicensed Quartus cannot generate the programming file (.sof), can it?

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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
523 Views

 

--- Quote Start ---  

However the unlicensed Quartus cannot generate the programming file (.sof), can it? 

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Yes it can. It would make no sense at all if it couldn't. 

 

In my particular case I use the quartus_cpf tool to pack the generated .sof file into a .jic file so I can use the programmer to program the attached flash config device thru JTAG.
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Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor II
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The free quartus tools only support the smaller cyclone parts. 

For larger parts (or stratix or arria) you will need a paid licence. But a licence should cover you for all quartus versions.
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