Searxhing for a Cyclone III guru

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

Please note I am new to this forum so if my post is in violation of any rules - please forgive me

We are a HW startup in SF.

We have a system that uses an Altera Cylone III dev kit.

We need someone who can possibly meet with us and help us to understand how to program the board to do what we need.

Yes - it's that basic.

Hoping to find a guru with a sense of humor and patience.

If someone can point us to the right place to look for this person - it would be greatly appreciated.

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

I misspelled searching

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

--- Quote Start ---

Please note I am new to this forum so if my post is in violation of any rules - please forgive me

We are a HW startup in SF.

We have a system that uses an Altera Cylone III dev kit.

We need someone who can possibly meet with us and help us to understand how to program the board to do what we need.

Yes - it's that basic.

--- Quote End ---

Post a link to the board you own. See how far you can get via this forum. It shouldn't take much to get you started. I might even have the board you have.

Cheers,

Dave

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

Dave,

The

Exact device is DK-DEV-3C120N

Thanks,

Rich

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

Hi Rich,

--- Quote Start ---

The Exact device is DK-DEV-3C120N

--- Quote End ---

Ok, here's the link on the Altera page

http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3.html

I don't have this board, so cannot provide you with a working initial design. However, I can help you get started.

Here's what I recommend you do;

1. Download the installation files at the link above.

2. Download the *exact* version of Quartus they use, eg., version 11.1.0

3. Try to build one of their examples.

Only once you get something working, try and update Quartus.

One problem many people find with these kits is that the communications to the kit depends on a specific version of the DLLs shipped with Quartus. Rather than fighting with "DLL Hell", just install the software that the kit was designed for.

To support multiple versions of Quartus, I typically install VirtualBox, create a Windows XP or 7 virtual machine, and then clone that machine for the different tool versions, eg., start with my Win7 virtual machine, and create a clone called Win7-Quartus-v11.1, and then install Quartus. Repeat for other versions of the tools.

So long as you run virtualbox from a Windows XP host or Linux host, the USB-Blaster from the kit can be passed into the virtual machine and the software "just works". I haven't had much luck with Win7 hosts releasing the USB-Blaster to the virtual machine ... though I haven't tried lately.

If you get stuck, ask for help. If you get an example going, let me know, and I'll tell you the next step.

Cheers,

Dave

Altera_Forum · ‎08-06-2013

Dave,

Thanks - stand by and wait for the smoke....

Rich