Are there any known issues creating .jbc files with Quartus 18?

Hello Vikas,

It has been some time since I last discussed the issues I've been having with .jbc file creation/use. However, I have finally had the time to better document/explain the scenario I am encountering. I summarize it as follows:

1. I have a project, "Ex_rev1", in Quartus Prime Lite 18.0.0 Build 614 04/24/2018 Lite Edition for the device 10M04SCE144C8G.
2. When I compile the project, I get two programming files as expected: Ex_rev1_pof.jbc and Ex1_rev1.pof.
3. Using the JAM Player and Ex_rev1_pof.jbc to program the device, the programming sequence fails on every attempt to program.
4. If I use the file converter, quartus_cpf (version 18.0.0), to convert Ex1_rev1.pof to a .jbc file, I get (not surprisingly) a binary file whose contents are identical to Ex_rev1_pof.jbc. (This file also fails when used with the JAM Player.)
5. However, if I use an older version of the file converter, quartus_cpf (version 15.1.0), to convert Ex1_rev1.pof to a .jbc file, the resulting file works 50% of the time. That is, the first attempt to program a device using the JAM player is successful. If a second attempt is made to program that same device, the process fails. A third attempt will be successful, a fourth attempt will fail, fifth attempt successful, and so on...

There seem to be two issues, and they may be related:

1. Why the difference in behavior between newer and older Quartus versions with regard to creating working .jbc files? (Please note, I have also used Quartus 18.1 with exactly the same failing results as Quartus 18.0).
2. Why, when I use quartus_cpf version 15.1.0, would I get a .jbc file that seems to work only every other time? (BASIC THEORY: I suspect that the .jbc file works only on unprogrammed devices, possibly causing the repeated failures and successes. For example, since the device is initially unprogrammed, the first attempt is successful. The second attempt will fail since the device is programmed -- but this failure invalidates the device's program and the device does not run. On the third attempt, since the device is not running, the programming will be successful.)

Can you offer any help to this ongoing issue? I sincerely appreciate any attention you or your team can devote to helping me solve this. I am eager to design this very capable device into future designs (and its already been designed into 3 of our products). However, this problem is discouraging me from doing so any further.

To help explain the above in a different way, I've created a diagram of the .jbc file creation process I have followed. Please have a look at the attached .PDF entitled "JBC_issues_flow_diagram.pdf". I hope that it will clarify the issue at hand.

Many thanks in advance for your time/effort.

Sincerely,

RWegg