New Contributor
Super ContributorSo assuming there are 20 computers (each computer has a few Quartus versions installed) sharing on one network drive, however some computers have different specification. Let say we divide into two different computer groups, A and B, more powerful A ( with issue) and a less powerful (with no issue) computer B.
When Computer A1 compiling a Quartus project on the network drive, the Quartus software locally installed in the Computer A1 get corrupted. Then, the Computer B1 is able to compile the same project (compiled before by A1) in the network drive without any issue. Then another Computer A2 compile the same project (compiled before by A1) will get corrupted as well after maybe 5 or 7 compile, in the network drive.
The Quartus corruption only happen in computer A1 and A2, causing them unable to compile project locally, while the Quartus in A3, A4 and so on, is still usable and able to compile the project locally.
My guess is the network drive is used to share the project files to the students after each class.
Correct me if my understanding wrong at this point.
My suggestion for now is to restrict the students permission to compile the project in the network drive and ask them to copy and compile the project in their local disk. Try to set up permissions on the network drive so that the students only have read access but not write or execute access. This allows them to copy the project files to their local drive while preventing them from modifying the original files on the network drive.
Could you try to install a Quartus Standard or Pro version, setup an evaluation license and see if the issue persists? (to check if different Quartus version has an impact)
If possible, try to use a different network drive.
I am trying to duplicate the issue from my side but no success yet. Most likely the setup is different.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 165U 1.70 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.4 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Edition Windows 11 Enterprise
Version 23H2
OS build 22631.5335
Regards,
Richard Tan
New ContributorHi Richard,
thanks for your reply. Due to other important tasks I have to do, I won't get around to replying until Tuesday next week, May 27.
Best regards
Stephan
New ContributorHello Richard,
I'm a student / lab assistant who has been involved with trying to find the cause of this error.
There are even more different computers but they can basically be divided into "plenty powerful" (A) and "not so powerful" (B). All the B models will soon be replaced as they are not compatible with Windows 11; so all our computers could be affected in the near future.
When Computer A1 compiling a Quartus project on the network drive, the Quartus software locally installed in the Computer A1 get corrupted. Then, the Computer B1 is able to compile the same project (compiled before by A1) in the network drive without any issue. Then another Computer A2 compile the same project (compiled before by A1) will get corrupted as well after maybe 5 or 7 compile, in the network drive.
The Quartus corruption only happen in computer A1 and A2, causing them unable to compile project locally, while the Quartus in A3, A4 and so on, is still usable and able to compile the project locally.
Exactly! The error only occurs on the A models and only while compiling a project which is stored on a network drive. Once the error has occurred, the Quartus installation on that machine is broken.
Maybe the network drive is not fast enough to keep up with more powerful computers which might explain the error message ("not enough memory", roughly).
In our lab courses the network drive is mostly used for distributing files and is not really meant as a working directory.
However, there are other projects that multiple people work on (not at the same time!) which stay on the network drive to keep everything synchronized. This has always been working fine and still works fine on all the B computers.
Copying the project to a local drive to work on and then uploading it back to the network drive afterwards could indeed serve as a workaround. But we still see the risk of someone unintentionally breaking the Quartus installation should they forget about this.
The fact that projects which are stored on the network drive cannot be compiled on certain computers is annoying but something we could live with, if it simply caused an unsuccessful compilation or even a crash of Quartus. What we see as a reason of potentially leaving the entire Altera/Intel FPGA platform is the tedious restoring process that is necessary once the error has occurred.
Simply uninstalling and reinstalling the software does not work and it took us quite a bit of experimentation to find a reliable restoring procedure:
Fully uninstall Quartus -> reboot -> delete all temporary files and all unresolved registry entries using CCleaner -> reboot -> reinstall Quartus.
We will test the latest version of Quartus Prime Pro in eval mode once we have some spare time next week.
The issue is not specific to a particular system and occurred on computers with...
- OS: Windows 10, Windows 11
- CPU: Intel Xeon W (Desktop), Intel Xeon W (Mobile), Intel i9 (Mobile), AMD Ryzen 7 (Mobile)
- RAM: 32 GB, 128 GB
Any university-specific setup (e.g. antivirus software, Dell management software) can also be ruled out as my personal laptop (AMD 8845HS, 32 GB RAM, Windows 11 Pro 24H2) behaves exactly the same when connected to the network drive.
Regards,
Nils
