USB Blaster 2 + MAX10 - TCK / programming issue

Question

Hi,

I've designed a MAX10 10M02SCE144I7G board to be programmed with JTAG. Programming device is Altera USB Blaster II. When I try programming with Quartus Prime, it says:

Error (209040): Can't access JTAG chain

Error (209012): Operation failed

TCK is pulled down with 10k,

TMS and TDI are pulled up with 10k

I've checked TCK signal with an oszilloscope, showing a broken signal, see attached pictures.

To verify, I've tryed connecting directly onto USB blaser: GND and +3V3 (VCC TARGET) pins (1,10 & 4) + TCK pin pulled down with 1kOhm (so no connection to my board), the TCK clock still shows the same weird behaviour.

A 2nd. USB Blaster is showing the same pattern.

Can somebody please help me identifying the problem?

Attachment: TCK signal when pressing "Start" in the Quartus Prime Programmer, zoomed in and complete view.

altera_forum · Answer

Hi,

the USB-Blaster II download cable has a default TCK frequency of 24 MHz. Can you try to decrease TCK frequency to 6MHz? For more information one can check the following specification, https://www.altera.com/content/dam/altera-www/global/en_us/pdfs/literature/ug/ug_usb_blstr_ii_cable.pdf.

Regards,

Martin

altera_forum · Answer

The JTAG signals need to be clean before the Quartus programmer works properly. The EE's I work with say it is important to treat them as a transmission line. See the JTAG spec for details on termination requirements.

altera_forum · Answer

I've lowered the clockrate to 6MHz and added some termination, it's working now!  Thanks for your help guys, really appreciate it!  Regards

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USB Blaster 2 + MAX10 - TCK / programming issue

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