Forum Discussion
10CL040YF484 Programming fails
- 1st Vendor Batch (Date Code: 2525):
- First Test (3 FPGAs):
- Card 1: ISP and JTAG programming successful; functioning correctly.
- Card 2: Programmed in ISP mode, but fails to execute and returns a JTAG error. Replacing the FPGA on this board with another one resulted in the same issue. -
- Second Test (3 FPGAs):
- Cards 3 & 4: ISP and JTAG programming successful; functioning correctly.
- Card 5: ISP and JTAG programming successful, but the device is not functioning correctly, and most pins are not working as required.
- Mouser Batch (Date Code: 2619):
- Third Test (2 FPGAs):
- Card 6: ISP and JTAG programming successful, but the device fails to function properly, with most pins not meeting requirements.
- Card 7: ISP programming successful, but returns a JTAG error and fails to execute.
Based on these outcomes, could you please help us identify where the problem lies?
17 Replies
- FvM
Super Contributor
Hi Suvarna,
thanks for clarification about MSEL1. Didn't notice jumper resistor option. As you are supplying B6 with 3.3V, MSEL can be connected to 3.3V. 2.5V should be accepted as well.
Having configuration correct, I wonder what causes failure of your board. I would probably try without C160-163 and D10/11 to be sure that they don't interfer with AS configuration load.
Regarding 2.5 V switching regulator, I said I'd prefer LDO. it's exclusively loaded by VCCA and programming connector. Efficiency in normal operation is probably better for 3.3V supplied LDO. But your solution should work, too.
Regards
Frank
P.S.: I notice that Figure 99. Combining JTAG and AS Configuration Schemes also has 10 pF capacitors, but without additional series resistors.- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
Could you kindly check power section schematic for fpga. is it necessary to provide power sequencing?
pls tell us the final conclusion in our procured devices.
- Farabi_Altera
Regular Contributor
Hi Suvarna,
---
1. Power Sequencing — Is it Required?
No, power sequencing is not required for Cyclone 10 LP.
Cyclone 10 LP devices support power up or power down of the VCCINT, VCCA, and VCCIO pins in any sequence to simplify the system level design. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design GuidelinesNo special power up or down sequence control is required, because the Cyclone 10 LP FPGA can be powered up and down in any sequence. Cyclone 10 LP FPGA Evaluation Kit User Guide
Power sequencing is not applicable for Cyclone 10 LP devices. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
You can drive signals into the I/O pins before or during power up or power down without damaging the device. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
---
2. Power Supply Voltages for Your Device
The three main rails and their nominal voltages are:
VCCINT: 1.0 V or 1.2 V (core voltage power supply). Cyclone 10 LP Core Fabric and General Purpose I/Os Handbook All VCCINT pins must be connected to either a 1.0 V supply or a 1.2 V supply. Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.0 V and Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.2 V have different ordering codes. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines
VCCA: 2.5 V nominal (PLL analog power supply). Cyclone 10 LP Core Fabric and General Purpose I/Os Handbook
VCCIO: 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.5, 3.0, or 3.3 V (I/O banks power supply), depending on your I/O standard. Cyclone 10 LP Core Fabric and General Purpose I/Os Handbook
For VCCD_PLL (digital PLL supply): These are the digital power pins for PLLs[1..4]. You must power up these pins even if the PLL is not used. They are required to be connected to either 1.0 V (if VCCINT is 1.0 V) or 1.2 V (if VCCINT is 1.2 V). Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines
---
3. Power Ramp Requirements (what IS mandatory)
Although sequencing is free, the ramp itself has rules:
The individual power supply ramp-up and ramp-down rates can range from 50 µs to 50 ms. The power ramp must be monotonic. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
When power is applied to a Cyclone 10 LP device, a POR event occurs if the power supply reaches the recommended operating range within a certain period of time (specified as a maximum power supply ramp time; tRAMP). The maximum power supply ramp time for Cyclone 10 LP devices is 50 ms for standard POR or 3 ms for fast POR, while the minimum power supply ramp time is 50 µs. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
In Cyclone 10 LP devices, you can select a fast or standard POR time, depending on the MSEL pin settings. The fast POR time is 3 ms < TPOR < 9 ms for a fast configuration time. The standard POR time is 50 ms < TPOR < 200 ms, which has a lower power-ramp rate. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
After power up, the device does not release nSTATUS until VCCINT, VCCA, and VCCIO for the I/O banks that contain configuration pins are above the POR trip point of the device. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
---
4. JTAG Board Bring-Up Checklist (common failure points)
If you're seeing JTAG scan failures, check these items:
A device operating in JTAG mode uses four required pins — TDI, TDO, TMS, and TCK. The TCK pin has an internal weak pull-down resistor, while the TDI and TMS pins have weak internal pull-up resistors. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
Connect TCK through a 1 kΩ pull-down resistor to GND. To disable the JTAG circuitry entirely, connect TCK to GND. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines
JTAG pins in the Cyclone 10 LP device are powered up by VCCIO. However, you may need to use VCCA in some cases. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
In single device configuration and JTAG programming, nCE should be connected to GND. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines
Noise on the JTAG pins during configuration, user mode, or power-up can cause the device to go into an undefined state or mode. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
You might have to add buffers to a JTAG chain, depending on the JTAG signal integrity, especially the TCK signal, because it is the JTAG clock and the fastest switching JTAG signal. Altera recommends buffering the signals at the connector because cables and board connectors tend to make bad transmission lines and introduce noise to the signals. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines
---
Summary / Final Conclusion for 10CL040YF484:
✅ No power sequencing required — bring up VCCINT, VCCA, VCCIO in any order.
✅ Ramp must be monotonic, between 50 µs and 50 ms (standard POR) or 3 ms (fast POR).
✅ VCCA = 2.5 V (±3% ripple max if using a switcher); VCCINT = 1.0 V or 1.2 V per your specific ordering code variant.
✅ VCCD_PLL must be powered even if PLLs are unused.
✅ For JTAG: pull TCK low (1 kΩ to GND), pull TMS/TDI high, tie nCE to GND for single-device use.
- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
Could you kindly check power section scehmatic for fpga. is it necessary to provide power sequencing?
pls tell us the final conclusion in our procured devives.
- Farabi_Altera
Regular Contributor
Hi Suvarna,
Let me check and get back to you.
- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
in previous designs also we gave same ISP and JTAG connections. even if JTAG failure , .pof file is loaded into EPCQ16A , atleat then FPGA should respond . what is the critical problem here . i am unable to find out.
i verified voltages in bad card and working card please see below.
Working card voltages : VCCIO = 3.32V, VCCA = 2.47V, VCCINT = 1.203V
bad card 1 voltages : VCCIO = 3.305V, VCCA = 2.472V, VCCINT = 1.204V in this jtag failed but fpga responding but some of the pins are not functioning in this card.
bad card 2 voltages : VCCIO = 3.29V, VCCA = 2.48V, VCCINT = 1.207V in this jtag failed,isp loaded but not responding.
Regards
suvarna
- FvM
Super Contributor
Hi Survarna,
reviewing your schematic, I notice that it fails to set AS configuration mode due to floating MSEL1. For apparently intended mode 0010, MSEL1 has to be connected to 3.3V. FPGA actually reads mode 0000 (PS) and won't load AS flash. Volatile JTAG configuration should nevertheless work.
Regarding JTAG failure (programmer doesn't detect connected FPGA), you can focus on JTAG connection and FPGA power supply. All POR monitored voltages must be present and in range.Isolation of GNDA pins through ferrite bead isn't complying with Altera pin connection guidelines but probably does no harm. I would also prefer a LDO for 2.5V PLL supply.
I believe that I last implemented separate AS programming ("ISP") connector 15 or 20 years ago. Since then we used JIC programming through JTAG connector.
I understand that failing and (at least partly) working boards share the same hardware design.
Regards
Frank- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
MSEL1 pin i gave resistor option for 3.3v or 2.5v at present in cards i connected msel1 to 2.5v side resistor. all cards are belonging to same pcb same hardware design we assemble the pcbs in 3 batches.
is TPS563209 not suitable for PLL 2.5V supply ? we used 3 seperate regulators for 3.3V,1.2V,2.5V.
- suvarna
New Contributor
- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
please see my previous mail attached schematic and please see images attached . in working card DEVICE ID is coming and in bad card direct its telling JTAG error.
please see the attached images
VCCIO bank1 voltage is 3.3V only and VREF pins i am using them as i/o pins.
MSEL setting "0010" and nCE grounded with 10k resistor and connected to programmer 6th pin. with same download cable and same program i am loading in to good card and bad card.
TCK freq is 6MHZ waveform attached.
- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
Please find the attached schematic in previous reply.
The cards in which JTAG error is coming in that TDO is not coming. in this card CONF_DONE pin always high and NCSO is "LOW" after programming in AS mode and NSTATUS is LOW. NCONFIG once program started its becoming LOWfor some time and then HIGHuntill proram and after Program over in AS mode.
and in working cards NSTATUS during Program LOW and after Program over it is HIGH. CONF_DONE is during Program LOW and after Program over it is HIGH. NCONFIG once program started its becoming LOW for some time and then HIGH untill proram and after Program over in AS mode.
- suvarna
New Contributor
- Farabi_Altera
Regular Contributor
This is a useful dataset — you have two distinct failure modes across two vendor batches, which actually helps narrow down the root causes. Let me break them down.
Failure Mode A — ISP programs successfully but JTAG errors / device fails to execute (Cards 2 & 7)
The most likely culprit here is a board-level JTAG signal integrity or pin connection issue, not a bad FPGA. A few things to check:
- JTAG pin noise or floating state: Noise on the JTAG pins during configuration, user mode, or power-up can cause the device to go into an undefined state or mode. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines Verify TCK, TMS, TDI, and TDO are clean on these specific boards with a scope.
- JTAG takes priority: Because JTAG configuration takes precedence over all other configuration methods, the JTAG pins should not be left floating or toggling during configuration if you do not use the JTAG interface. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines If TCK is picking up noise on those two boards, it can interfere with the non-JTAG configuration flow.
- TDO connection: TDO is a dedicated JTAG test data output pin. If the TDO pin is not used, leave this pin unconnected. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines Check that TDO is not inadvertently shorted or loaded on Cards 2 and 7.
- nCE pin: You may receive a CONF_DONE failure if the nCE pin of the device is not connected to GND. For successful JTAG programming of a device chain, all nCE pins must be connected to GND. Why do I receive the error 'CONF_DONE pin failed to go high in device X' when I try to JTAG configure my Intel® FPGA using the Intel® Quartus® Prime Software and a download cable? Confirm nCE is properly grounded on those boards.
- MSEL pins: JTAG configuration is always available, regardless of the MSEL settings. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines However, the MSEL pins must be connected to select the configuration scheme — do not leave them floating. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines If MSEL is floating on those boards, behavior will be unpredictable. In Cyclone 10 LP devices, you must hardwire MSEL pins to VCCA (for logic high) or GND (for logic low). Which voltage should I use for MSEL pins to drive a logic high in Intel® Cyclone® 10 LP devices?
- AS mode + JTAG interaction: If your MSEL pins are set to AS mode, note that the ACTIVE_DISENGAGE instruction is required before JTAG programming regardless of the current state of the Cyclone 10 LP device if the MSEL pins are set to an AS configuration scheme. Cyclone 10 LP Core Fabric and General Purpose I/Os Handbook Also, if the MSEL pins are set to AS mode, the Cyclone 10 LP device does not transmit a DCLK signal when JTAG configuration takes place. Cyclone 10 LP Core Fabric and General Purpose I/Os Handbook
The fact that swapping the FPGA on Card 2 reproduced the same failure strongly points to a board-level issue on that specific card, not a device defect.
Failure Mode B — ISP and JTAG program successfully but most pins not functioning (Cards 5 & 6)
This pattern — programming succeeds but I/O behavior is wrong — typically points to power supply or I/O bank voltage issues rather than a programming problem.
- VCCIO levels: Cyclone 10 LP devices support a wide range of industry I/O standards. The device output pins do not meet the I/O standard specifications if the VCCIO level is out of the recommended operating range for the I/O standard. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines Measure VCCIO on each I/O bank on Cards 5 and 6 — a marginal or incorrect VCCIO rail is a very common cause of "pins not working" after successful configuration.
- GPIO tri-stated until configured: All Cyclone 10 LP GPIO pins are tri-stated until the device is configured and the configuration pins drive out. Altera Cyclone 10 LP Device Design Guidelines If CONF_DONE is not asserting properly, the device may appear configured but GPIOs remain tri-stated.
- VCCINT supply: VCCINT pins are the internal logic array voltage supply pins. All VCCINT pins must be connected to either a 1.0 V supply or a 1.2 V supply. Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.0 V and Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.2 V have different ordering codes. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines Confirm you are supplying the correct VCCINT for your specific ordering code variant.
- CRC error detection note: CRC error detection is only supported in Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.2 V, and not in Cyclone 10 LP devices with VCCINT 1.0 V. Cyclone 10 LP Device Family Pin Connection Guidelines If you are relying on CRC error detection and running a 1.0 V core variant, that could mask configuration integrity issues.
Cross-batch observation
Both failure modes appear across both vendor batches (2525 and 2619), which argues against a batch/lot quality issue and strongly suggests board-level variation — likely marginal power rails, JTAG signal integrity differences, or MSEL/nCE wiring inconsistencies between individual cards. I'd recommend:
- Scope VCCIO, VCCINT, and VCCA on the failing cards and compare against passing cards.
- Scope TCK on the failing cards for noise or ringing.
- Verify MSEL, nCE, and nCONFIG connections match exactly between passing and failing boards.
- Check CONF_DONE assertion timing after programming completes on the failing cards.
If you can share the schematic or scope captures from a failing vs. passing card, that would help narrow it down further.
- suvarna
New Contributor
Dear Sir,
I forwarded replys and please check and suggest what further action to proceed.
Regards
suvarna