JTAG Chain problem - no device detected (Tried with multiple boards)

[Altera_Forum]

Hi everyone, 

I'm doing some work with custom cyclone III boards and am in the process of trying to program the device using a JTAG port and a USB Blaster cable. The boards were used last year and successfully programmed.  This is the first time I am working with the boards (we have about 6 of them) and I'm having no luck. I don't think it is a hardware problem at the board level as I receive the error  Error: Can't access JTAG chain Error: No device detected  No matter which board I try.  We currently only have one USB Blaster, but I'm looking  into getting another to see if that is where the fault is. I am also installing quartus on a completely different  system, Ubuntu 12 32-bit, as opposed to the windows 7 64-bit system it is not working on, to see if that is where the problem is. In the mean time I was hoping to find out  other possible places the problem could exist.  Background information  USB Blaster is visible to the computer and altera programmer shows up as "device is working properly" in the device manager.  USB Blaster has power LED active and when attempting to program, the other LED becomes active as well.  The board has power and the power LED is active.  I'm not sure where else the problem could be except at the USB Blaster cable level or the computer setup. I don't suspect it is a fault with the board hardware as the same problem occurs with multiple boards and the boards have been successfully programmed before.  Are there any other possible causes that I am missing? Any suggestions how I should proceed?  Thanks, Mat.

[Altera_Forum]

Try running `jtagconfig -d` from the command line and take a look at the output. If that doesn't give you anything useful then the jtag chain debugger might help.

[Altera_Forum]

Thanks for the reply 

After running jtagconfig -d the USB-Blaster LED stays steadily active and I get the following vague output  1) USB-Blaster [USB-0]  Unable to read device chain (JTAG chain broken)   Captured DR after reset = ()  Captured IR after reset = ()  Captured Bypass chain = ()  With the JTAG Chain Debugger if I run an integrity test I get the following equally useless output :(  Error: JTAG chain problem detected Error: No device detected  I'm getting the feeling that it is the USB-Blaster causing the problem seeing as it is unlikely that a hardware fault has developed in 6 previously working boards. Is this a reasonable assumption?  # EDIT#  I've have just finished trying on the other computer setup (Ubuntu 32-bit) and the same problem occurred. So I guess that rules out a problem on the computer end. Are there any other places I could look while I wait for another USB-Blaster.  Thanks, Mat.

[Altera_Forum]

The computer to Usb-Blaster communication looks like it's working (the error message would be something like "bad hardware" if it wasn't). 

 But there could be a problem on the far side of the USB-Blaster. The common faults are TDO stuck high or low, but the jtag chain debugger can normally diagnose those (as can jtagconfig -d).  JTAG chain broken means that data shifted out of TDI did not come back through TDO. This could be caused by open circuit on any of the jtag lines but I suspect TDI. If you have a scope then I suggest checking for activity on TCK, TMS, TDI and TDO.

[Altera_Forum]

We have access to a scope, but I'm having 

difficulties trying to probe, we've located the TDI pin on the cyclone III but we are not able to run any JTAG test, programming attempts long enough to be able to test for any signals. Any test we run (JTAG chain integrity test, IDCODE iteration test until stop) terminates within seconds of starting.  Any help measuring the signals would be appreciated. Bear in mind I'm a university student and have little experience probing complex circuits.  Thanks, Mat.

[Altera_Forum]

I would recommend attaching the scope to the lines, setting a trigger level of about half the peak voltage (maybe 1.2v depending on what sort of logic you're driving) and running `jtagconfig` from the command line. 

 If you have a two channel scope then once you have one of the signals running you can trigger off that one and measure them both. All four signals should be changing during the jtagconfig scans.

[Altera_Forum]

Thanks for all your help Wombat, 

turns out the problem was all bad communication. It was written in the documentation to flash via JTAG however after chasing up some previous members of the team it turns out the board was set up for active serial programming. Mat.

[Altera_Forum]

Mat, 

 I'm having the exact same problem with a custom board built with Stratix V FPGA. Auto detect feature in Programmer is "unable to scan the device chain". I'm new to Altera boards and I have few questions.  1. Did Auto detect return "unable to scan device chain" in your board too. 2. How did you do AS programming.   Please help.  -Karthick

[Altera_Forum]

Karthick, 

Sorry it took so long to reply I've been super busy. You select AS programming in the drop down box of the programmer, where you currently have JTAG programming selected. For me this removed the current device I had set up as the device was not supported via AS programming. So I had to add a new device, as for the device number I couldn't help you because the one I used was listed in our own documentation with no reason given, but I would suggest to check the data sheet, it might list which device to use in AS mode or something like that. PS, this will only work if your board has been configure for AS programming so check the data sheet and compare against your boards schematics to see what mode it was configured for. Sorry I couldn't be more help, Mat.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi,  

 I am having the same problem with you Matt, but this is not because of programing mode, I think. What could be the other reasons?  Thanks!

[Altera_Forum]

I have also the JTAG issue on EP325F324(Cyclone3) Device. 

nCE = Pull down to GND with Zero Ohm nStatus = pull_up(3.3v) with 10k Conf_Done = Pull_Up(3.3v) with 10k nConfig = Pull_up (3.3v) with 10k Mode-set = "0000"  Jtag chain Debugger is sying as "Error: Incorrct TCK Value"  What I am missing for JTAG Configuration for this cyclone3 device?

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  Thanks for all your help Wombat, turns out the problem was all bad communication. It was written in the documentation to flash via JTAG however after chasing up some previous members of the team it turns out the board was set up for active serial programming. Mat.  --- Quote End ---     i am having the same problem can u please share the document link . thanks in advance

[Altera_Forum]

We had a problem with JTAG and it was the BGA package not soldered on properly, which I said was the problem initially, but got fierce blowback from the guy who soldered it on. What a pain. Altera's diagrams are indeed correct in this regard.