About a err message in NiosII

[Altera_Forum]

http://forum.niosforum.com/work2/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif hi all, 

 When I applied ByteBlasterII to download  my program into the dev board from Altera, something internal error info cames out, which seemed about the viability of my  ByteBlasterII programmer. You see,the error message went like this  and ended with some other message:  --------------------------------- nios2-terminal: Warning: The JTAG cable you are using is not supported for Nios II systems.  You may experience intermittent JTAG communication failures with this cable.  Please use a USB Blaster revision B cable or another supported cable.  Please refer to the file errata.txt included in the Nios II development kit documents directory for more information.  connected to hardware target using JTAG UART on cable "ByteBlasterII [LPT1]", device 1, instance 0 starting in terminal mode only (Control-C exits)  nios2-terminal: exiting due to I/O error communicating with target ------------------------------------   Followed the error info,I found the file errata.txt  and skimmed it(about the part of configuration) . However,I could not find anything that was helpful to me. --Does the error info mean that all the ByteblasterII cables can not be used for downloading programs into NiosII? --And as for me,does that mean that I have to find (or just buy)a "USB Blaster revision B cable or  another supported cable"to complete my work? --Could you please give some hints to resolve the problem and make it work without buying  a new programming cable(such as a USB Blaster  revision B cable )?   Regards,  Don   http://forum.niosforum.com/work2/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif

[Altera_Forum]

as for your first question,i have encountered the same.i think it is just a warning,in that i have heared that it was past issue in nios2 ide form a engineer .in the other hand ,you can ignore the problem instead of using the "USB Blaster revision B cable or another supported cable". 

about your second issue,"nios2-terminal: exiting due to I/O error communicating with target:,it is possbile that your system is wrong. it is all my opinion.

[Altera_Forum]

The warning is put in place to advise you that the earlier download cables can be susceptible to noise. Errors from noise are likely to happen when the cable is continuously in use for a long period of time. Operations such as monitoring the JTAG UART using nios2-terminal or Nios II debug maintain JTAG connectivity for an extended period of time, as opposed to FPGA configuration, which lasts only a few seconds. Because of this new use-model of the JTAG cable, problems with noise (causing the Nios II I/O error you report) became more commonplace, especially for users in noisy environments or in close proximity to static electric discharge. 

 We have tried many experiments, from informal (BBQ igniters and power drills) to more official lab tests with some electrostatic discharge equipment that can be configured to generate pulses of varying strengths, durations, and frequencies to test the various download cables. As a result of this, the cable that ships with the Nios II Kit (the USB Blaster) was re-designed to be much more resilient to these sorts of external noise.   I cannot remember the specifics, but I believe Altera had a mail-in-replacement program in place for people who have purchased Nios kits and had problems with the cables due to noise. If this is the case, you may wish to contact Altera customer service to inquire about a replacement.  If you cannot or do not wish to replace the cable, there are some simple guidelines that can help with the problem: - Move unshielded or poorly shielded electrical equipment away from the area where your Nios kit is used - Consider moving your nios kit to a different location. For example, my cubicle at work is quite susceptible to noise problems when the (old) cables were left in use for over an hour or so; a co-worker 3-4 meters away experienced far less noise in his cubicle. - Be careful to avoid electrostatic discharge; we have seen that certain combinations of clothing and furniture (!) would frequently produce static discharge "zaps" when the person moved or sat down -- which is of course never something you want around integrated circuits!

[Altera_Forum]

Many thanks to both of you! 

 But Liannunu,if I just ignore the problem,that means I can not download my design into the board,  So at least it seems to me that it is not a problem that can be ignored now http://forum.niosforum.com/work2/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif   Jesse,thank you for your advice,but when I put aside my board for some distance,  the same result when downloading came out,it seems that I have to contact a local agency of Altera.   Here I wonder whether it is the problem of my ByteblasterII cable,would it work when  I replace with another one?    http://forum.niosforum.com/work2/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

[Altera_Forum]

I got it work just now! 

 It seems that there might be some relationship between the normal  running and its configuration mode & initial setup of unused pins.  I changed those and the program ran normally finally!

[Altera_Forum]

Can you tell me the detailed process that you did?

[Altera_Forum]

Hi Don, 

  Check terasic.com   They sell good Altera compatible USB-Blasters at a reasonable price.   I should add that I have no connection with the company, I&#39;m just a happy customer.  Banx.

[Altera_Forum]

I have to agree that the Altera USB Blaster seems to have problems with noise. 

Even a new Rev.C USB Blaster with the yellow flast cable has been modified here to be a working blaster.  We have some strange behavioral with the JTAG connection. Sometimes SignalTap and Quartus prommer cannot connect (error33) but the ide can debug fine. we have to restart quartus to be able to connect to the target again.  What i finde very strange is this comment Jesse did. Short connections work (fpga update) but long time continously connect may fail. hmmm ... well ... yes ... i can update via command line but cannot do signaltap and ide debug .... is there some kind of static charging of the target & blaster system ?   I have also seen problems with GND loops. As the Blaster is not isolated, the GND of the PC will be connected over the usb, but the GND of the target could also be connected over a different path. In some cases there is a kind of GND-Loop that we had to break.  Regards.