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Altera_Forum
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11 years ago

Quartus II and Flex 10KE FPGA Compatibility?

Hi,

I have Quartus II V12.1 installed and a FPGA board with an Altera Flex 10KE, part number: EPF10K100EQC240-2. I want to be able to read the code that has been written onto this FPGA. I have a USB blaster with JTAG allowing a physical connection between the board and my computer. I understand the Flex 10KE is outdated but is there a version of Quartus available that is compatible with the Flex 10KE? Or, how can I read the programmed code on the FPGA with Quartus II V12.1?

9 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Specifically; Quartus II 9.0SP2 was the last version to support the FLEX10K series.

    I recently installed this version under Windows 7 and found that you cannot use the USB-Blaster drivers in that installation as they are not signed. You have to use the drivers for a newer version of Quartus. When I got that message, I just installed the programmer for 13.1.

    Cheers,

    Dave
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    --- Quote Start ---

    how can I read the programmed code on the FPGA with Quartus II V12.1?

    --- Quote End ---

    In general, the FPGA does not contain the programmed code, the configuration source does. If the configuration source is an EPC2 device, then you'd better hope it is in the JTAG chain, otherwise you cannot read it. The configuration source might also be a microcontroller or CPLD. Without seeing your board, we have no idea. Hopefully you have a schematic :)

    Cheers,

    Dave
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    --- Quote Start ---

    In general, the FPGA does not contain the programmed code, the configuration source does. If the configuration source is an EPC2 device, then you'd better hope it is in the JTAG chain, otherwise you cannot read it. The configuration source might also be a microcontroller or CPLD. Without seeing your board, we have no idea. Hopefully you have a schematic :)

    Cheers,

    Dave

    --- Quote End ---

    Right now, I have Quartus II V9.0 installed. It does support my Flex 10KE FPGA. In response to Dave's quote, on the board there is an Altera EPC2LI20. I do have a JTAG connector to USB blaster to USB to computer.

    How would I pull the information from the EPC2 using Quartus?
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    What exactly are you trying to read? all that the EPC contains is the binary programming file (ie. the .sof) - it doesnt give you source code or the logic thats in the chip.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    --- Quote Start ---

    What exactly are you trying to read? all that the EPC contains is the binary programming file (ie. the .sof) - it doesnt give you source code or the logic thats in the chip.

    --- Quote End ---

    I am trying to read the source code from my board. Is there a way for me to pull the binary file and read the source code using Quartus II?
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    No way at all. You need to actually have the source code on disk somewhere. The EPC device just contains the compiled version of the source.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    --- Quote Start ---

    No way at all. You need to actually have the source code on disk somewhere. The EPC device just contains the compiled version of the source.

    --- Quote End ---

    Hi Tricky,

    How would I use Quartus II to take the .pof or .sof from the board and save it locally so I can copy it on other boards?

    Thanks
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    just use a programmer to copy the pof file to a new epc device.