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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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8 years ago

Issue installing USB-Blaster II to Quartus Prime...

Hi guys. So I have Quartus Prime Lite installed, but I think I missed one thing. I am not able to connect my Max10 Neek development board to communicate via on-board USB-Blaster II. When I first connected the board, I did Not find the drivers manually, as i'm now clear on, and as a result a 'uart/USB driver was found automatically. So now I would like to know the steps I should take to remedy the situation. I have tried going to the USC devices and uninstalling the driver but now it just comes back when I connect USB-Blaster II again, rather than asking for drivers instructions.

I have also read on other threads that I will need to in-install Quartus and try again. True?

Will re-installing fully remove this wrong driver? Thanks for your help.

13 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Hi

    1.What is the status of USB blaster Status on device manager? can attach the screen short of the device manager?

    To install USB Blaster

    Go to Device manager->Right click on Alter USB Blaster and press update driver software ->select browser my computer ->go to the quartus installation director (EX:C:\intelFPGA\17.0\quartus\drivers\usb-blaster) and press NEXT

    Note:Include sub-folder check box to be checked.

    Let me know if this has helped resolve the issue you are facing or if you need any further assistance.

    Best Regards,

    Anand Raj Shankar

    (This message was posted on behalf of Intel Corporation)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Thanks, Anard. I have not been able to get the PC to install the correct drivers yet, so the Device manager shows a generic driver of some sort that Windows10 picked.

    So it shows up as a USB device 'VID_XXX' composite' - it's the last entry 'USB Serial Converter' in the attached image. It keeps coming back when I remove it or remove/re-install Quartus.

    When I in-installed the driver in this window, Win10 did not allow me to find drivers after connecting the board with Blaster ii (Terasic Max2 NEEK) - it simply re-installed the drivers it chose for me the first time.

    So I re-installed Quartus. Still, I am unable to raise the 'new hardware found' as expected after a re-install - there must be remnents I need to remove..?

    The driver is showing that it is 'not migrated' and in the other panel it is 'working properly' - the device show in the detains in the attached image. Is this a situation where I have to go into safe mode (or something) to remove a deeper driver remnant? Thanks for your support.

    Cheers,

    Bob

    Windows10 64bit Pro i7 QC
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    There is no such 'other devices' like that in my list. I think this is because i have gone a step too far for that now. I think it is already placed in the USB controller section (as wrong device).

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    I do see a device also under 'Ports (COM & LTP)' / USB SERIAL PORT (COM4) , that has the same date stamp under the 'events' tab. As if Win10 thinks the Max10 NEEK is a generic or... just guessing at this point.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Hi,

    If Altera USB-Blaster not available in other devices or in Universal serial bus controllers on device manager.

    Possibilities are like:

    1.USB-Blaster not connected to host machine. Connect it and check.

    2.May be USB-Blaster is damaged. (To confirm it, Can you check it in other machines in which blaster is previously detected)

    Let me know if this has helped resolve the issue you are facing or if you need any further assistance.

    Best Regards,

    Anand Raj Shankar

    (This message was posted on behalf of Intel Corporation)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Hi. Board is connected.

    I don't have another PC handy but will try another PC when i can.

    However, I think the board is working fine. Let's assume it is OK for now.

    When i first connected it, i got the 'beep' of a USB device connecting fine, followed by Win10 looking for drivers, windows finds 'some' drivers fine, installs drivers. Great. but no 'blaster' drivers were installed on the PC, just whatever Windows found 'somewhere'.

    However, to the best of my knowledge from the documentation and forum comments is that i performed the procedure wrong.

    So to summarize, As far as i know, windows installed a 'generic' driver based on scanning the new hardware. It did this because I failed to abort the auto-install, as i should have. Is this understanding correct? Thanks.

    ...and, it looks Windows10 assigned the Max10 board as a USB serial post (COM4) , not usb-blaster ? (see image below)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Hi,

    Okay,

    Try to update the driver by right clicking the COM4 ->select browser my computer ->go to the quartus installation director (EX:C:\intelFPGA\17.0\quartus\drivers\usb-blaster) and press next

    Check if it works.

    1.Is usb-blaster folder available in installation directory?

    Let me know if this has helped resolve the issue you are facing or if you need any further assistance.

    Best Regards,

    Anand Raj Shankar

    (This message was posted on behalf of Intel Corporation)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Hi. Thanks. So when I did this, Windows reports the following 'The best drivers for your device are already installed' - option to allow win10 to look further.

    The drivers are in the right place (see image). Including the dll s in lower folders.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    8 years ago

    Maybe I need to turn off some kind of 'previous driver retrieval' function in win10? Every time I remove the problem (COM4) driver now - it removes fine, then I reboot, it's magically there again. It comes back in both places 'usb devices' and 'Ports (COM&LPT)' after removing both places and rebooting.