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AnttiLukats's avatar
AnttiLukats
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1 year ago
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Altera USB Blaster III LEDs usage

Hi,

I would like to know how is the RGB LED on Altera USB Blaster III used? What is the meaning of the LED colors!

Thanks!

Fpga Devkit
  • FakhrulA_altera's avatar
    FakhrulA_altera
    1 year ago

    Hi AnttiLukats,


    Thank you for your patience, and I sincerely apologize for not addressing your question directly in my earlier reply.

    Regarding your inquiry about the meaning of the RGB LED colors on the on-board USB Blaster III, please find the detailed information below:

    • Off: No power / not connected / suspend mode
    • Blue: Connected, not in use
    • Green: Connected, an application is using JTAG, no traffic
    • Green flickering: Connected, data is moving through the JTAG interface
    • Purple flashing: Identify function has been triggered on this cable


    If you have further questions or need additional clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I'm here to help and will ensure your concerns are addressed promptly.


    Thank you again for bringing this up, and I appreciate your understanding.


    Best regards,

    Fakhrul


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  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    This is now really weird. I tried the same chaning PID 6011 but no luck, UB3 is NOT RECOGNIZED. I tried some more playing around with the string descriptions but no luck, the adapter is not recognized. Bummer! Using Prime Pro 24.2 version. You must be somewhat lucky!

  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Ah, forgot: the official UB3 is based on FT4232H, but the UB3 onboard solutions will support FT2232H and FT4232H variants, just the pin mappings will be different.

  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    This is getting really weird. If I use the Arrow blaster strings, then Arrow driver is loaded, also for PID 6011, it happily works with Arrow DLL. If uninstall Arrow drivers then no hardware is detected. It is really a mystery how come it works on your computer. I assume you have also Prime Pro 24.2 ?

  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi thanks for all that testing !

    well, same here I did UNINSTALL arrow drivers, but then nothing is recognized so it really is not working on my PC, weird. Well 24.3 should come out soon (it should be out already..) then we probably will know for sure how it is supposed to work.

    Still I wonder how come it is recognized on your PC. I tried all I could with no results...

  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hm, well the Cypress FX2 is obsoleted so UB2 is going to EOL.. So I think Altera has no alternative as to seek replacement for UB2.

  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Yes FX2G3 is coming soon, almost pin compatible, but requires full rewrite of the firmware! So it is not so easy to change to FX2G3.

  • FakhrulA_altera's avatar
    FakhrulA_altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi AnttiLukats,


    Just to share some information I received from the marketing team:


    The USB Blaster III will have the same functionality as the on-board USB Blaster II but with a simpler design (no MAX or Cypress devices required — it will use FTDI). The USB Blaster III cable will be backward compatible with other Blaster cables (USB Blaster I, USB Blaster II, Ethernet Blaster). However, the USB Blaster III cable is expected to be available in 2026, as we plan to wait until the inventory of USB Blaster I and/or USB Blaster II cables is depleted.


    Do you have any further questions or concerns regarding this? If there’s anything else, please feel free to let me know so I can assist further.


    Otherwise, I’ll transition this thread to community support. Should you have new questions, feel free to open a new thread for assistance from Intel experts. The community members will also continue to support you here.


    Thank you for your engagement!


    Best regards,

    Fakhrul


  • AnttiLukats's avatar
    AnttiLukats
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    well my question was not when is USB Blaster III be available, I wanted and still want to know what is the meaning of the RGB LED colors in on-board USB Blaster III. Can you answer this question please!

  • FakhrulA_altera's avatar
    FakhrulA_altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    1 year ago

    I’m glad that your question has been addressed, I now transition this thread to community support. This thread will be transitioned to community support. If you have a new question, feel free to open a new thread to get support from Intel experts. Otherwise, the community users will continue to help you on this thread. Thank you.