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JHaye4's avatar
JHaye4
Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
4 years ago

Quartus programmer initcfg does not work when using a .cdf file

When running the programmer from the command line with the command:

quartus_pgm --initcfg test.cdf


The FPGAs that I am programming do not get configured when the programmer exits like it says in the scripting manual.

I'm using Quartus Standard 17.1

11 Replies

  • YuanLi_S_Intel's avatar
    YuanLi_S_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor

    I am glad that you can program JIC now and understand that we cannot use the command with a .cdf file.


    Please let me know if any help needed. Else i will proceed with case closure. Thank You.



    • JHaye4's avatar
      JHaye4
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor

      The issue is that the quartus_pgm command does not behave as described in the scripting manual when using a .cdf file. Surely an issue should be raised to at least investigate this behaviour and possibly to remedy this issue.

    • JHaye4's avatar
      JHaye4
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor

      I want to use the quartus_pgm command with a chain description file (.cdf) as per this line in the scripting manual you attached:

      The quartus_pgm command details the option --initcfg, the description of that option in the scripting manual you linked is:

      So, when I run the command:
      quartus_pgm --initcfg filename.cdf

      I expect the configuration devices to automatically configure when the programmer is finished, but it does not happen.

  • YuanLi_S_Intel's avatar
    YuanLi_S_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor

    Yes you are right. So you are able to execute the command successfully but the FPGA did not get configured?


    Can you try to generate the CDF file from other quartus version?


    • JHaye4's avatar
      JHaye4
      Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor

      Yes, I can execute the command and the programmer returns successfully. The bitstream does get loaded into the flash storage; however the FPGA is not configured automatically after the programmer is finished (as per the expected behaviour of the --initcfg option). To configure the FPGA I need to power cycle the board.

      Generating the .cdf file from another version is no help to me as we are design frozen on this version.

  • YuanLi_S_Intel's avatar
    YuanLi_S_Intel
    Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor

    What about the MSEL pin? Have you changed that to Active Serial mode? What is the device you are using?


  • Zak's avatar
    Zak
    Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor

    Hello, I have the same EXACT problem.
    I'm running in Active Serial mode with a EPCQ device.

    The flash is programmed correctly. I'm using quartus_pgm command with a .cdf file generated with Quartus 20.1. This loads the Factory Default Enhanced SFL Image in the FPGA in order to program the flash memory.

    Everything works except the --initcfg option of quartus_pgm.


    I'm using a Cyclone V, 5CEFA4U19I7N.

    Can you help me?