Forum Discussion

jcanion-csn's avatar
jcanion-csn
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
4 months ago
Solved

Quartus 20.1 and ModelSim 20.1?

Hello Support  

Q1: I am currently teaching Digital Logic Design 2 with Verilog and VHDL. I requested DE10-Lite donations from Intel. I believe the transition from Intel back to Altera FPGA may have been delayed. My concern is that I am unable to complete the form. The fields 'Course' and 'Quality' are blank. Please advise when you can.

Image of request for Quartus and or new versions of ModelSIM?  <attache>

Terasic mentioned requesting the DE10-Lite board, we can have the school purchase it at our academic pricing, but we will ask for donations for the Spring semester.

Q2: I initially had my students download QL 22.1 and MS 20.1; they worked during the summer as I prepped.  When I ran the program, I encountered errors and was advised to downgrade to QL 20.1 and MS 20.1. This resulted in some success programming the device in QL; for MS, the simulations were not successful, and I could not verify the timing.  "Which versions should I use that produce fewer errors? We will use the DE10-Lite and another board, not sure. It has been several frustrating sessions, and it has been a bit confusing. We are currently using Quartus Prime 20.1 and ModelSim 20.1, Intel FPGA Starter Edition 2020.1. 

Q3: Regarding ModelSim, is there a reference user guide?

As we move forward, please advise, and thank you for your time.

Image of the request for donations:  

 

Programmable Logic Device
  • jcanion-csn's avatar
    jcanion-csn
    3 months ago

    Thanks, Richard. As I will be teaching this same class next semester, we will try Questa Standard (free). Does it require a license? Our IT department has not yet resolved the installation issue; Windows rejects the expired certificate. There was a workaround for the BIOS. But still left some workstations not installed correctly? Our last resort was to install ModelSim on the laptops, but it had issues.  

     


    1. Questa 

14 Replies

  • jcanion-csn's avatar
    jcanion-csn
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 month ago

    Thanks Richard last semester students struggled with QL 25.1 the ADC was challnege one of student oyur staff and confirmed the latest version has issue configuring th IP for ADC and PLL? he was advise to download 23.xx so that did work. The question: do we need to get a Questa MS for this version? as I Questa license working fine. Please advise thanks  Jeff

     

    email below bounced: 

     

    Email to Richard bounced?

    From: Canion, Jeff
    Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 12:41 PM
    To: 'Altera Community' <altera-community@us.khoros-mail.com>
    Subject: QL 25.1 vs 23.1 installation

     

    Hi Richard- Happy New Year

     

    We had issues with the IP configuration for the ADC core configuration Ql 25.11

    One of the students reached out for support and was told there was an issue with the software. Half of the class installed 23.x, and it appeared to work.

     

    Please advise: since we have licenses for Questa-Model Sim, do we need to apply for another license, or will the one we have be sufficient?

     

    Advise when you can, and thanks for your time.

    Jeff Canion

     

    Also, we requested (10) boards through the university program, the DE-10 (standard)

    We purchased the DE10-Lite and (2) appear to be damaged th others are ok

     

    • RichardT_altera's avatar
      RichardT_altera
      Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
      1 month ago

      It is not advised to reply to the email altera-community@us.khoros-mail.com. I believe this is a system-generated address that only sends you notifications when there is a reply or an update to the specific topic you are following.
      If you need to respond, please post directly in the topic thread on the forum.

      Regarding the issue with configuring the ADC or PLL IP in Quartus Lite 25.1, if you need further help on debugging, please kindly create a new topic in the forum so the community and Altera support team can better assist you.

      For Questa, Altera recommends downloading the version that is bundled with your Quartus installation to ensure compatibility.
      You may choose to use a newer version, but please do so at your own risk.

      Regards,
      Richard Tan

  • FvM's avatar
    FvM
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    3 months ago

    Hi,

    additional: User guides can be found in the ModelSim or Questa docs/pdf folder.

    I see that there may be a reason to stay with Quartus/ModelSimASE 20.1 for your courses to avoid license installation issues.

    Regards Frank

  • RichardT_altera's avatar
    RichardT_altera
    Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
    3 months ago

    Hi jcanion-csn​ , 

    1. For any inquiries related to the Altera University Program, please contact university@altera.com directly.
    The forum is intended for technical support only.
     https://www.altera.com/newsroom/news/press-release/altera-university-launch

    2. It is recommended to use the simulator tool version bundled with the corresponding Quartus version (e.g., Quartus 20.1 with ModelSim 20.1).
    Did Terasic specify any recommended Quartus version for their board?
    MAX 10 devices appear to still be supported in the latest Quartus Lite/Standard version 24.1.
    Altera always recommends using the latest supported Quartus/Questa version, ensuring that the operating system used is also supported.
    Please note that ModelSim is no longer supported, as it has been replaced by Questa - FPGA Edition* starting from Quartus® Prime Pro Edition version 21.3 and Quartus® Prime Standard Edition version 21.1.
    Does the Questa*-Intel® FPGA Starter Edition software require a...

    3. As mentioned above, ModelSim has been replaced, so you’ll rarely find user guides referencing it as time passes.
    However, you can refer to the Questa Simulation flow (also known as Nativelink simulation) below — it should works well for both.
    1. Questa* Intel® FPGA Edition Simulation Quick-Start ( Intel®...
    For further information, you may invoke the Modelsim, Go to Help> Modelsim -Intel FPGA Edition - PDF Bookcase. 

    Regards,
    Richard Tan