Stratix V Advanced Systems Development Kit SW4 Default Settings

--- Quote Start ---

I would say, there is strange behavior of all parties.

Those boards were bought by customer "H". Both Altera and Terasic got paid for it.

"H" decided to sell the boards, and new owners have questions about using the hardware they purchased.

No warranty or software licensing issue have risen, but a request for tech docs for the hardware Terasic manufactured, sold and get paid for.

If you made any changes (significant or not), it can't be done without proper documentation.

--- Quote End ---

It's actually quite straightforward if it has been just the customer H and Terasic only.

I'm glad you don't have any warranty or software licensing issue, but others do and that's one of the reasons we decided to take it up here.

For your information, the deal we made with that particular customer H does NOT involve any documentation. We manufactured the boards and sold them as-is. I personally agree with your point regarding the documentation, but that's outside of our support range in this case.

If customer H comes back to us now and asks for documentation, we'll make another deal with them and it's up to them to decide what to do with the documentation because this kit and everything comes with it are customized just for them.

--- Quote Start ---

Hi Dav,

first many thanks for replying in the forum.

For you this might be funny. For me not. I'm getting pushed around between the guy I bought this board, Altera and now you. As I wrote you, I was first contacting Altera and they said I should contact Terasic about this board.

I'm clearly in the section "didn't know anything about any of these upon purchase". I was expecting to buy a "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit", not an Advanced kit and surely not a custom board.

The boards come in a sealed Altera package with the picture of a "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit" on.

so, how could i have known?

FYI, this is the offer where I bought it:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/stratix-v-gx-fpga-development-kit/201961152917?hash=item2f05d2a195:g:j84aaoswgv5zprmo

Is there any chance you could at least release the pin assignments, etc?

Best regards,

Markus

--- Quote End ---

Hi Markus,

I might have chosen the wrong word. It's definitely not funny for those who got this kit without getting any support at all. The seller should be fully responsible for getting support for all the buyers, similar to what we've been doing for all our customers.

If you buy something which is not what you'd expect, you should return it and get your refund back, but then I saw the price listed from your link, I can totally understand why people still take the risk. It's probably even cheaper than the FPGA device itself !

For your information, the pictures are Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit, Stratix V GX SI Development Kit, and SDI HSMC Daughter Card. Based on how you recognize the package, the contents can be any of these or even something else with a sealing sticker that anyone can print at home. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't rely on the appearance only, but I'm very surprised at the 100% positive feedback from this seller. I can only imagine that either all the buyers are too kind or too smart that they don't need this seller at all.

For the pin assignments that you care the most, I need to check if the pin assignments for both official and custom boards are identical first. If they are, you can use the official version as it's available from the website. If not, I'll take it back internally and let someone to review the deal to see if this will put us in a position that we disclose something which we shouldn't have. Please understand that our situation is difficult and we've never thought of how things will end up like this in the first place.

Dav from Terasic

--- Quote Start ---

This is new old stock.

• The box has scratches, but it is still factory sealed.This is also clearly visible on the photos on ebay.

• The board inside is also factory sealed.

• The board inside is definitely new.

You might be right, but not everyone on this planet has enough money for that. This kit is advertised as a Stratix V GX Development Kit, not the Advanced. So 1250 USD for an 5 year old item with a MSRP of 7000 USD is not outside of what I would expect valid.

--- Quote End ---

Hi there,

I haven't seen anything like this before in my entire professional career over a decade (well maybe not long enough for most of you). The only possibility I can think of is a company is close to an end and they'd sell anything just to get as much as they can.

I'd probably always ask what's the catch. If it is so critical to get support for this customized board and the seller fails/refuses to do so, I'd return the kit and post a negative feedback if I were you.

Dav from Terasic

--- Quote Start ---

I really wouldn't be that harsh with Altera and Terasic. I can somewhat understand their position and therefore for me reputation risk sounds a little too strong. But I believe especially Altera should think about their communication strategy. Personally I feel quite bad handled by their customer support.

I believe ultimately the guy putting a custom Terasic board into a Altera development kit box without adding a little "custom board" sticker should be blamed for the confusion. Such a sticker would have helped really a lot.

--- Quote End ---

Hi there,

Since there was only one target customer and both parties are fully aware of the terms/conditions/differences, no one thought about adding a different sticker to distinguish the kits. The changes were minimized to save time/effort/cost. I understand it might sound like an excuse, but that's the truth.

Had we known this customized board will be sold to others, we would have done something differently.

Dav from Terasic

--- Quote Start ---

I guess these boards are very much promotional material (the retail price seems well below parts value). And officially reselling is prohibited, as if they could stop that (it wouldn't be legal to prohibit resale here in the Netherlands, and I doubt that it is in the USA). So they get difficult with support. I don't think it's a wise move, since they're not really hurting the reseller, but rather those new (or old) customers raring to go do something useful with the board. Not exactly good for future chip sales or customer relations ...

--- Quote End ---

Hi there,

The followings are just my personal thoughts.

Now that you mention it, I seriously doubt it's legitimate to re-sell these customized boards like this because these FPGA devices were probably either given for free or charged with low cost that there must be some terms and conditions to forbid such transaction.

It's different from ordinary secondhand sale and it's the only reasonable explanation about how the seller can get them and sell them at such price, given the customer H is still around.

Dav from Terasic