Help! I have 4 BeMicro CV boards that all of a sudden do not program. The programmer freezes up until I unplug the USB cable. When I try to use the JTAG debugger tool, the same happens - the Quartus application hangs until I remove the USB. Everything had worked well up to this point. I had programmed each of these boards several times with the same image (.jic file). Then, my last image appears to have corrupted something beyond recovery. The BeMicro CV is a Cyclone V with a built-in Blaster II on a MAX part. I'm using Quartus 13.1.2 64-bit on Windows 7. Here's what seems to show that it's NOT the USB driver, my computer settings, or my cable: I have a DSE0 eval board, which also has a built-in Blaster II. With what I believe is the same programming setup (different programming file of course), I can program that board without any problem. So, here's what I've tried so far: 1) a variety of USB cables, 2) uninstalled and reinstalled the Blaster driver, 3) attempted JTAG debugger (as previously mentioned), 4) tried an old programming file that I know worked, 5) confirmed that I can program another demo board successfully, and 6) rebooted a few times. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Hi dave321, Did you manage to find out what happened to your boards? I'm having problems with my BeMicro CV board as well, but not with the programmer freezing up, but during output of printf commands through the JTAG. Wondering if your solution might be applicable to mine. Thanks

I concluded that I had somehow blown up my boards (yes, all 4 at once). I had them powered together thru a USB hub and suddenly none of them would program ever again. Perhaps it was a power surge or ESD (both very unlikely, however). And it seems to have killed only USB functionality - the FPGAs all still ran fine. I didn't have time to deal with it so I ordered replacements and then was able to program the new ones with the identical setup and files. Please let me know if you solve your problem and/or find out anything from Arrow/Altera. Best of luck!

I am also having the same problem with the CV boards. I bought two for two different project prototypes, a quick way to get a rough demo going. So far, I have wasted more time with this programmer issue than anything productive. This applies to both boards which are connected to two different computers. None of the I/O has been connected thus far, boards were to tested right out of the box first, that has been going on for three days now. One computer is Windows XP and one is Windows 7 64bit. Both boards fail the same when trying to program them. Active Serial always fails. JTAG worked occasionally but hangs every time now, even after cold reboots. Converting to a JIC file worked once, never again. Trying the active serial again after that, it seemed to erase the chip but never programmed it. I was getting some testing done until JTAG stopped working. A real UB Blaster works flawlessly on the same computers with other boards. I sent a email to the Arrow Altera FAE late Friday afternoon, I'll repost if he has any answers. But it seems that the BeMicro blaster implementation is very poorly designed. Not sure what else to do other than try to modify for a real USB blaster interface. Any help is appreciated! I wish Altera would produce their own lo cot board that actually works. Also, why does this forum drop so many characters while typing? Very annoying, I have to manually correct one out of every four words. Joel

Hi Joel, I have a couple of BeMicro-CV boards and never had any trouble with either of them. I purchased them when they first came out. When did you buy yours? I wonder if Arrow changed something on their design (though it was pretty poorly documented anyway!). I posted an example design here (Post#5); http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43992 Maybe you could try downloading that design ... and then erase the EPCS ... I'm not sure it'll help, but it shouldn't make things worse (since I've used the design on a couple of boards). Cheers, Dave

Thank you Dave, I bought mine last week from Arrow, arrived Thursday. I did try your design, same problem, there is no access via the built in USB blaster at all. None of the usual functions like erase work, all just hang indefinitely (but a real USB Blaster works fine with other boards). Even when the JTAG "worked" it would hang at 93% completed. At first, active serial would give a quick blink of the LED and indicate failure on screen almost immediately. Now everything just hangs. I've tried deleting and reinstalling the driver and also downloading Quartus 14.0 My initial test project was about as simple as it gets, a 32 bit counter from the 50Mhz clock driving two LEDs. I saw it work briefly on two occasions where the JTAG sort of worked. I've used this project for years as a simple first test with no problems (been working with Altera parts since the days of the classic parts). I am debating if I can rip out or disable a few pins on the Max chip and wire its 10 pin blaster header to the EPCS16 instead. Too tired to try that tonight however plus I would like to see what the FAE has to say first. Thank you for your assistance, I wish it had worked.

Programmer freezes on BeMicro CV - used to work fine

14 Replies

Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
Hello,

I found this solution on another forum and it fixed the issue.
Please rotate jumper J11 clockwise from the default 1-3 position(Vccio=2.5V) to 1-2 (Vccio=3.3V).
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
--- Quote Start ---

I found this solution on another forum and it fixed the issue.
Please rotate jumper J11 clockwise from the default 1-3 position(Vccio=2.5V) to 1-2 (Vccio=3.3V).
--- Quote End ---

I just went through the schematic I posted and looked at the devices connected to VCCIO, and they all should operate fine at 2.5V and 3.3V. I do not see an issue in the board design that would cause JTAG not to work with VCCIO set to 2.5V.

I'll test the board I have at work tomorrow and see if it fails ...

Can you post a link to the "other forum" discussion?

Cheers,
Dave
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
--- Quote Start ---
I just went through the schematic I posted and looked at the devices connected to VCCIO, and they all should operate fine at 2.5V and 3.3V. I do not see an issue in the board design that would cause JTAG not to work with VCCIO set to 2.5V.

I'll test the board I have at work tomorrow and see if it fails ...

Can you post a link to the "other forum" discussion?

Cheers,
Dave
--- Quote End ---

Hi Dave,
The discussion on this forum discusses the BeScope design which uses the BeMicroCV. Post# 67 mentions the jumper to fix the programmer.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/156989-bescopebundle-tip-for-those-who-want-to-buy-an-fpga-development-board/page4

I was having the same issue and changing Vccio=3.3V fixes the communication issue. I haven't researched enough to figure out why this is.

Thanks
Carl
Altera_Forum
Honored Contributor
11 years ago
--- Quote Start ---

I'll test the board I have at work tomorrow and see if it fails ...

--- Quote End ---

The board I have works fine with the VCCIO jumper in either position.

The programmer hangs if the jumper is missing, since the FT245R VIO and the JTAG interface is powered via the jumper. The jumper is a 2x2 header, with only two valid settings, but four ways to insert the 2-pin jumper, so perhaps the people experiencing a problem did not jumper to pin 1 (which has a square shaped pin when you turn the board over).

Cheers,
Dave

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Programmer freezes on BeMicro CV - used to work fine

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