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lkarp1's avatar
lkarp1
Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
3 months ago

USB Blaster II Problem

Hello,

I’m having a persistent issue with my USB-Blaster II programmer.

No matter what I try, the programmer is detected only as a USB-Blaster variant, without the TCK speed option, and it does not work ...

Occasionally, I can get it working by removing the installed driver and reinstalling it. However, after unplugging the programmer or restarting the computer, it reverts back to being detected as the USB-Blaster variant. Then I have to repeat the process: remove the driver, reinstall it, restart the JTAG server, or sometimes restart the whole computer. Even when it works, it only lasts for a single session.

I have tried several Quartus Programmer versions, but the issue remains the same. The strange part is that I do not have this problem on my personal laptop or on my colleagues’ computers, so it seems specific to this machine. IT Helpdesk was also was not able to solve this problem

Has anyone encountered this issue before or found the root cause?

This is especially frustrating because I need to program a Cyclone GX device, and other programmers do not work for this use case.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

general

6 Replies

    • lkarp1's avatar
      lkarp1
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      3 months ago

      Indeed, that can make it work, stop jtag, plug it in, and start again. but when I disconnect and connect after that, same problem, detected as Blaster Variant

      Reinstalling jtag server did not helped.

      Ok, so small workaround, I can live with that as long as I don't need to restart my computer.

      Any idea will this be fixed?

      Update:

      It looks like if I find jtag server location, and it's not the newest, i could reinstall it from 26.1 and it works. it was using 24 Quartus jtag server. Now I am using newest programmer jtagserver

  • ChrisR_Altera's avatar
    ChrisR_Altera
    Icon for Occasional Contributor rankOccasional Contributor
    3 months ago

    From your update, does that mean it is now working as expected (no workarounds needed)?

    • lkarp1's avatar
      lkarp1
      Icon for New Contributor rankNew Contributor
      3 months ago

      For a moment, it worked - I was able to unplug and plug it back in successfully. But now the same problem has returned.

      Starting and stopping jtagserver is only a workaround, but I can live with it for now.

      • FakhrulA_altera's avatar
        FakhrulA_altera
        Icon for Regular Contributor rankRegular Contributor
        3 months ago

        Hi lkarp1,
         
        Thank you for the update.

        Based on similar reports, this behavior can happen when the USB-Blaster II is plugged in while jtagserver.exe is already running. In that case, the cable may appear as "USB-Blaster variant" and the TCK frequency field is not available. A known workaround is to stop jtagserver.exe first, then plug in the cable, and open Programmer again. [1](https://community.altera.com/discussions/quartus-prime/usb-blasterii-mounts-as-usb-blaster-variant/337405)[2](https://www.intel.com/programmable/technical-pdfs/683039.pdf)

        Please also check the following:
        1. In Device Manager, confirm the driver is installed from:
        <Quartus installation>\drivers\usb-blaster-ii
        2. Set the Altera JTAG Server service to Manual, or reinstall the JTAG server from the Quartus version you are using with:
        jtagserver --uninstall
        jtagserver --install

        3. Try using the standalone Quartus Programmer or the latest available programmer package for your flow, so the driver and jtagserver versions match. (https://community.altera.com/discussions/quartus-prime/usb-blasterii-mounts-as-usb-blaster-variant/337405)(https://community.altera.com/discussions/boards-and-dev-kits/instructions-for-driver-installation-usb-blaster-iii-step-1-/89496)

        Since the cable works on other machines, this points more to a host-side driver or service issue on this PC rather than a hardware issue with the programmer itself. (https://community.altera.com/discussions/quartus-prime/usb-blasterii-mounts-as-usb-blaster-variant/337405)

        If the issue still persists, please share:
        - Quartus edition and version
        - Windows version
        - Output of jtagconfig when the cable shows as "USB-Blaster variant"

        Regards,
        Fakhrul