USB Blaster II is not reinitialize after done programming

[HuaHongGan]

I run into problem where my board is not resetting to user mode after programming the POF file using USB Blaster II AS mode. I checked the board schematic and it is matched to Figure 8-2 under:

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/programmable/us/en/pdfs/literature/hb/cyclone-iv/cyiv-51008.pdf

Also, this does not happen when I am using USB Blaster I. By using USB Blaster I, right after I burn the new POF the board is up and running. 

I also dig a little bit deeper and I got this,

Blaster 1	No Program	Programming	After Programming
CONF_DONE	1	0	1
CONFIG	1	1	1
nCE	0	1	0
Blaster 2	No Program	Programming	After Programming
CONF_DONE	1	0	0
CONFIG	1	1	1
nCE	0	1	1

USB Blaster 1 act correctly by releasing CONF_DONE and nCE after programming which make the program run. However, on the Blaster 2 it doesn’t do that. It seems like it is still latching and not releasing the IO.

P/S: this comparison was done on the same Hardware & Software except switching out between Blaster I and II.

I have raise this issues 1 year ago and I got nothing back from Intel/Altera. I guess I will give it another try and see someone has the same issues and got it fixed.

[NurAiman_M_Intel]

Hi,

Apologize for missing out your case. Please note that this case has been escalated to me.

May I know what is the FPGA and the Quartus version that was used?

Have you try to re-install the USB Blaster ii driver again?

Regards,

Nur

[HuaHongGan]

Hi Nur,

Our products use wide variety of Cyclone Family. This issue happened on Cyclone III and Cyclone IV. I have not test on Cyclone 10LP. Currently I am using Quartus 17.1 to support Cyclone IV and newer and Quartus 12.1 for Cyclone III or older.

I am pretty sure the USB Blaster II driver was installed under Quartus 17.1 subfolder driver. 

I have not try to re-install the USB Blaster II driver. Does Intel acknowledge this issue before and release a driver fix onto it?

We need to get this fix and we bought 20 of this USB Blaster II for our upgrade and now this is a big issue that stop our production upgrade. 

Thanks
Gan

[NurAiman_M_Intel]

Hi Gan,

Normally the issue involve TCK frequency that need to be lower than 24MHz(please try different frequency). But I think you have try it?

We do not have any other issue with USB blaster i/ii last year, except for expired license and we have provided a patch for that.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/programmable/articles/000086243.html -if you want to have a look(can be use for other quartus version)

How are you sure that this issue is cause by the USB blaster ii? I can't say the reason of this issue is due to USB Blaster ii itself.

It can also be quartus or other issue.

Have you try with different USB Blaster ii?

Can you confirm this; you can program but cannot configure or cannot program at all?

Is there any error messages?

Regards,

Aiman

[HuaHongGan]

Hi Aiman,

Sorry for late reply. Here is all the test, I did

1. I had used 5 USB Blaster II and they all act the same. After programmed, the nCE was kept at 0 and CONF_DONE at 1 which is incorrect. However, I change to USB Blaster I and it just work perfectly fine. 
2. I used one of the USB Blaster II and set it to 6M, 16M and 24M for the JtagClock. It does not work. This is the cmd I use to change the clock "jtagconfig --setparam 1 JtagClock 16M"

For your last question,

Yes, I am able to program it but the problem is the USB Blaster II seems to latch my device up/down and require a hard power recycle to make my device work again. I don't think this is normal. According to the the data sheet, once the programming is done the device should refreshed and run with the new code but not recycling the power.

Can you check on your end? Take a Cyclone 3 and program AS POF with USB Blaster II. See if it happens on your side.

Thanks

Gan

[NurAiman_M_Intel]

We do not receive any response from you to the previous answer that I have provided. This thread will be transitioned to community support. If you have a new question, feel free to open a new thread to get the support from Intel experts. Otherwise, the community users will continue to help you on this thread. Thank you