Forum Discussion

Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
15 years ago

USB Blaster driver for Max+plus II

I am using MAX+PLUS II trying to program EPM7128STC100-15. I have a USB Blaster download cable. I can not install the driver. The instruction on Altera website does not apply because it's for Quar...
FvM's avatar
FvM
Icon for Super Contributor rankSuper Contributor
1 year ago

Hi,
most USB to Parallel Port Converter on the market or USB docking stations do not work for this purpose because they don't emulate low level access to LPT adapter registers.

An exception is this old DIY project (only German, unfortunately) USB-zu-Parallel-Umsetzer

Some USB-to_LPT bridges support low level register access beyond IEEE-1284 standard, but even if the chip hardware can, the function isn't necessarily implemented in Windows driver.

I would primarily try with a hardware LPT driver, e.g. PCIe card installed in your desktop or ExpressCard for a notebook computer.

  • _AK6DN_'s avatar
    _AK6DN_
    Icon for Frequent Contributor rankFrequent Contributor
    1 year ago

    I agree with FvM on their response and almost 100% assuredly your USB Parallel Port converter will not work.

    The software driver in MaxPlusII wants a real parallel port at 0x378 to bit bang. USB converters don't do that.

    You need a PCI card (not PCIE) or preferably an old PC with a real physical parallel port running WinXP.

  • Eagle_Savy's avatar
    Eagle_Savy
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    1 year ago

    Hi FvM,

    Thank you for the information you provided about the USB-zu-Parallel-Umsetzer.

    I wrote to the email address link in the page of the materials associated, to Henrik, enquiring about how to get hold of this Cable, using my private email address, but I have not received any response. Would you be able to assist with this at all?

    Many thanks for your help

    Eagle_Savy