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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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10 years ago

signal tap with USB blaster II

i have just bought a USB blaster II to upgrade the Altera / TerASIC USB blaster that i have been using ( all off the back of a dodgy USB hub it transpires )

if i use the old USB blaster as i have been, i can program the board and run any of the instances in sigaltap with no problems.

if i pick the new USB blaster II by just choosing it from the JTAG list and swapping the connectors over ( not closing Sig tap etc ) it scans, finds the Cyclone V i'm using and it then programs the FPGA with no errors but then shows "instance not found" in the status column and "invalid JTAG configuration" in the status at the top and it won't let me run either of the instances

if i swap back to the USB blaster it all works fine again

using Signal tap V13.1.4 build 182 as can be seen in the picture attached

using v15.1 is no different either except using the old blaster with the new drivers seems more flakey

any clues?

thanks

Andy

5 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
    10 years ago

    Not all boards with a built in USB blaster support using an external USB blaster. If it does, check your users manual. AFAIK there is no advantage to using an external device.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    10 years ago

    this is my own hardware not an evaluation board etc with the built in blaster

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    10 years ago

    Hi,

    something I saw before is that sometimes the signal tap library gets messed up. Then just delete the stp file and make sure it is not added to the project anywhere. Then recompile ensuring there is nothing left. Finally setup the signal tap with the correct hardware.

    I hope this is of any help and worth a try. You might want to use a revision trying this. :)

    ~fade
  • RRoma13's avatar
    RRoma13
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
    6 years ago

    I have the same problem. download configuration fine and no instance of signaltap or systemconsole(target connection of niosII).

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

    Try to reduce the Jtag Clock from the default 24MHz for USB Blaster II to 16MHz or even 6MHz. This solved my issues with SignalTap and USB Blaster II.

    To change the frequency open a Comand Prompt in Windows or a shell in Linux and go to the path or jour Quatus instalation at /quartus/bin where you can find the jtagconfig.

    Than type: jtagconfig to see which number is the USB Blaster II.

    Type again: jtagconfig --setparam <Nr.> JtagClock 16M