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JWrig25's avatar
JWrig25
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
5 years ago

New error when programming device: "Unable to scan device chain. On-board programming hardware is disabled."

I have been trying to get the Avalon-MM design programmed on my Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit. I finally got it to compile on an old version of Quartus since the newer versions are not compatible with the design. I have tried to then program my board with the design but I run into the error above. I have been able to program the board successfully in the past and have no idea why it stopped working now. I made sure all the DIP switches are in the correct factory default positions but that did not fix the issue. I am on my second FPGA board since the first one stopped working like my second just stopped and also gave me the same error. Everything suggested to me to fix it requires that I can program with the board in Quartus or can connect to the BTS or BUP which I cannot do. The BTS gives me the error: "Connecting to the target... java.lang.Exception: No USB Blaster detected. Please check connections and restart the program". When I try to program on Quartus, it will recognize the USB_Blaster II but gives me the error "Unable to scan device chain. On-board programming hardware is disabled". Please help, I have had nothing but problems with these FPGA boards, with Quartus not programming, designs specific to my FPGA not compiling, other issues and now this.

24 Replies

  • JWrig25's avatar
    JWrig25
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    5 years ago

    FYI: I used Quartus 14.0 to compile the Avalon design, and the 2nd FPGA I have been using would program even though when I turn it on it doesn't load the factory default settings like trying to connect to the BUP, but was always still able to program the board with Quartus up until now, recently I had been inserting the FPGA into a PCIe slot on a Linux CPU host but since the Hard IP isn't configured, no communications have been made to the board that way so I don't believe that is the issue.

  • JohnT_Altera's avatar
    JohnT_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    I think the embedded USB-Blaster is damage. I would recommend you to use the external USB-Blaster.

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi, the Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit does not come with an external USB-Blaster device. Would I need to buy one and from where?

      Thanks

  • JWrig25's avatar
    JWrig25
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi, I will look into this option but I was wondering if there were any other potential solutions before I commit to buying the external USB-Blaster II.

  • JohnT_Altera's avatar
    JohnT_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    Usually if this happen, it is detecting something is connected to the 10-pin header of the JTAG pin. You can try to clean the 10-pin header if is is able to resolved the issue. If not then the only method is to use external USB-Blaster.

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi,

      I purchased the external USB-Blaster II device but unfortunately it did not solve the problem. I used Quartus 14.0 to try and program the FPGA using the new part but the error still pops up saying that Quartus can't find the device programming hardware. I have tried running the jtagconfig --debug command, and both the external USB-Blaster and the direct internal USB-Blaster get the same output being "Unable to read device chain". The external USB-Blaster says "JTAG chain broken" and the internal USB-Blaster says "Hardware Disabled". I am not sure what to do now. I will try to use Quartus 18.1, the first version I was programming with and see if that works but I have my doubts. Any help would be appreciated.

  • JohnT_Altera's avatar
    JohnT_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    May I know if you have other boards to test out? Are you able to see that the board is power up successfully?

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi,

      I do have one other Stratix V GX FPGA Development Kit, that was the original device I was using until the board got corrupted via programming by Quartus Prime, and that one also since then became unprogrammable. That is when I moved to my current second board which now also doesn't work. I do believe the boards power up correctly with the Config Done LED lighting up, but they power up into a different "programmed state" than the original factory default state.

  • JohnT_Altera's avatar
    JohnT_Altera
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    May i know what configuration mode are you using on your board? If you are using AS mode then can you change the MSEL to other setting and try to reprogram the FPGA?

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      I am not sure what config mode is being used, I know that when the board turns on, it will load the current image and light up the config done LED. How do I find the config mode I am using?

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      SW4 is in the factory default setup, so all the switches are in the On(0) position except for MSEL3 which is in the OFF(1) position. What should I change it to?

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi,

      I will try that and see if that works, I pry won't be able to get to that until tomorrow but I will let you know the results, thanks again for all your help.

    • JWrig25's avatar
      JWrig25
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
      5 years ago

      Hi,

      I switched SW4 to have MSEL1 at 1, MSEL4 at 1, and MSEL3 at 0, and tried to program with the external USB-Blaster II device connected to my FPGA. Unfortunately, the programming failed immediately, the auto detect feature also throws an error, and by moving the switches the Error LED (D16) lights up. Any other ideas?