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lkarp1's avatar
lkarp1
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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...
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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

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

    As we haven't received a response to our previous notification, this thread will be transitioned to community support. We hope all your concerns have been addressed. If you have any new questions, please feel free to open a new thread to receive support from Altera experts. Otherwise, community users will continue to assist you here. Thank you.