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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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17 years ago

USB Blaster Out of Stock?!?!

I'm just about ready to order boards and parts for my first FPGA project, and found that the USB Blaster programmer cable is out of stock and not scheduled to ship until 4/22. This simply will not work for my project timeline. I really can't believe that Altera would let this happen and am extremely disappointed.

All fuming and complaining aside, now what should I do? I see a few USB Blaster clones available online, but I'm really concerned about betting the success of my project on some third-party product. I don't have time for experimentation and tinkering with programming hardware. Does anyone have any experiences/recommendations for such a programmer? Or know of a source to get a genuine USB Blaster? Unfortunately I don't have a parallel port so the ByteBlaster is out.

Is there any way to use my Cyclone III Starter Board as a programmer for my own board with a USB Blaster header to do AS configuration of an EPCS device?

Thanks for any advice.

2 Replies

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

    I haven't tried it, but Terasic appears to have a clone. Given Terasic status as a (the?) major kit developer, I think that's probably a safe bet. In my dealing with Terasic they have been professional and prompt. YMMV.

    Tommy