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MLash3's avatar
MLash3
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6 years ago

Stratix V GX kit - flash programming problem: "No Nios II processors available"

We have two Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kits (DK-DEV-5SGXEA7N). Both were operating correctly but at one moment one of boards has started to operate strangely. On the buggy board, our project works only with a reduced clock rate (but works well on the second board as is).

Also, we can't update flash memory through Nios II EDS according to the "Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit User Guide": we can perform uploading file "factory_recovery\s5gxea7_fpga_bup.sof" by "Quartus II Programmer", but "nios2-flash-programmer" says "There are no Nios II processors available...". Moreover, this type of board has LCD and good board displays "Connecting" on it after configuring s5gxea7_fpga_bup.sof . But LCD stays dark in case of the buggy board.

We have checked the buggy board visually and checked the clock by passing it to the output - it looks ok. How to debug what is wrong with one of the boards?

3 Replies

  • Ahmed_H_Intel1's avatar
    Ahmed_H_Intel1
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    6 years ago

    Hi,

    I am suspecting the Power device as the LCD went dark. please check the input and output voltage for each power device on the board. How many boards you have (the percentage of loss)?. I see you must measure the board traces first to make sure that the FPGA got powered correctly.

    Please download the schematic from here and check the power devices one by one.

    I am looking forward to hear from you.

    Regards.

  • MLash3's avatar
    MLash3
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    6 years ago

    We have two boards, one is completely good, one is half-good (this one).

    I measured some voltages, but I'm not sure that all of them. It looks ok:

    C111, 12V_mux, measured=12.03V

    C83, DC_IN, measured=19.03V

    C171, "0.9V", measured=0.91V

    C236, 2.5V S5_VCCIO_HSMB, measured=2.50V

    C116, S5_VCCINT, measured=0.90V

    C341, S5_VCCA_PLL_2.5V, measured=2.46V

    C505, S5_VCCR_GXB, 0V ???

    C525, QSFP_VCC, measured=3.32V

    C515, 5.37V_MONITOR, measured=5.39V

    C149, DDR3 VTT, VREF 1.5V, measured=1.50V

    C286, VREF_HSMB, measured=2.48V

    C42, VTT_QDRII_RLD 0.9V, measured=0.89V

    C55, S5_VCCIO_1.8V, measured=1.81V

    Are any handy test points for this? I did it by randomly picking capacitors and searching through the scheme for voltage on them.

    By the way, "LCD is dark" means that there are no symbols on it. Actually it shows filled black line:

    And several times yesterday there was another result: "Not connected" on the display:

    I do not know what it means, but the working board shows "Connecting..." on the LCD. The behavior depends on power on/offs - sometimes LCD shows "Not connected", sometimes black line. I just do on/off every several minutes and result can be different.

    For me, it looks like something wrong with FPGA or memory, it works unstable. And even if LCD shows "Not connected" I can't update flash by Nios II EDS, it tells "There are no Nios II processors available...".

  • Ahmed_H_Intel1's avatar
    Ahmed_H_Intel1
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    6 years ago

    Hi,

    The VCCR_GXB is zero voltage? then you must measure the "LTM4614" Switching Regulator output. It shouldn't be zero. And please check the VCCT_GXB voltage.