Hello,
can't say how the mode selection in ASAP looks like. In Quartus Programmer, you can open the programmer window without a project loaded, select AS-Mode in the "Mode:" dropdown field, and perform "Add File". When a programming hardware is present (can be selected or reselected at any time through Hardware Setup), the Start Buttonis enabled. Auto Detect is never enabled in AS Mode, but you can perform e. g.a "Blankcheck" to test the hardware. If a hardware problem exists, you get something like
error: can't recognize silicon id for device 1. That's the first time, the target hardware comes into play.
Regards,
Frank