Why does the ASMI Parallel II IP or the Generic Quad SPI Controller II IP fail to access a QSPI flash memory device?
Description Due to a problem in multiple Quartus® Prime Pro Edition and Standard Edition software versions, the ASMI Parallel II IP or the Generic Quad SPI Controller II IP fails to access a Quad SPI flash memory device. The affected software versions are: Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software versions from 22.1 to 25.3 Quartus® Prime Standard Edition software versions from 22.1 to 24.1 Chronologically, Prior to version 22.1, the initial state of DATA[3:2] was high. For the affected software versions, the initial state of DATA[3:2] was incorrectly changed to Hi-Z. For reader’s information, some quad SPI flash memory devices support RESET or HOLD function on DATA[3] and WRITE_PROTECT function on DATA[2]. DATA pins can be known as DATA, DQ, IO, or SIO across different QSPI flash memory device vendors. This modification to Hi-Z is recognized as low, thus the active-low RESET, HOLD and WRITE_PROTECT functions are enabled. With these, they prevent the flash controller IP from gaining access to flash devices. Resolution DATA[3:2] must be kept high as the initial state. If the targeted flash device is the Active Serial configuration flash memory, this problem is fixed starting from, Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software version 25.3.1, and Quartus® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1. Otherwise (i.e. generic-purpose flash memory or affected software version), please refer to the workarounds below. For affected software versions, Targeted Flash Device Workarounds Active Serial configuration flash memory Differentiated with: DATA[3:2] pins are assigned to dedicated AS_DATA[3:2] pins Disable dedicated Active Serial interface option is turned off The initial state of DATA[3:2] is Hi-Z. Add external pull-up registers to the I/O VCC voltage on DATA[3:2]. Internal weak pull-up resistor option is unavailable for dedicated AS_DATA pins. Generic-purpose flash memory Differentiated with: DATA[3:2] pins are assigned to generic I/O pins Disable dedicated Active Serial interface option is turned on The initial state of DATA[3:2] is Hi-Z. Add external pull-up registers to the I/O VCC voltage on DATA[3:2], or Enable internal weak pull-up resistor on DATA[3:2] pins in Quartus® design project After Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software version 25.3.1 and Quartus® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1, Targeted Flash Device Workarounds Active Serial configuration flash memory Differentiated with: DATA[3:2] pins are assigned to dedicated AS_DATA[3:2] pins Disable dedicated Active Serial interface option is turned off The initial state of DATA[3:2] is reverted to high. No workaround is needed. Generic-purpose flash memory Differentiated with: DATA[3:2] pins are assigned to generic I/O pins Disable dedicated Active Serial interface option is turned on The initial state of DATA[3:2] is Hi-Z. Add external pull-up registers to the I/O VCC voltage on DATA[3:2], or Enable internal weak pull-up resistor on DATA[3:2] pins in Quartus® design project Related IP Cores ASMI Parallel II IP, Generic Quad SPI Controller II IP18Views0likes0CommentsWhy does Nios® V processor design fail to compile during Analysis & Synthesis when the QSYS file is added into the Quartus® Prime project instead of the QIP file?
Description In the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1, any Nios ® V processor designs might fail to compile during Analysis & Synthesis when the QSYS file is added into the Quartus ® Prime project. Here are the possible error messages that you might receive: Error (10170): Verilog HDL syntax error at niosv_cpp_fsm.sv(1418) near text: "'"; expecting ":", or "?", or binary operator. Error (10355): SystemVerilog Enumeration Type Declaration error at riscv.pkg.sv(1163): encoded value for element "MXL32" has width 32, which does not match the width of the enumeration's base type (2) Error (10835): SystemVerilog error at riscv.pkg.sv(149): no support for unions Error (16950): Verilog HDL error at : decimal constant 00000000000000010000000000000000 is too large, using 1874919424 instead Error (16814): Verilog HDL error at ... : unknown literal value 00000000000000010000000000000000 for parameter ... ignored This is because the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1 has been updated to adhere to the software requirements below. This requirement is not mandatory in prior versions of the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software. Resolution To work around this problem in the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition Software version 25.1, Remove the QSYS file from the project using the Remove Files in Project function. Add the QIP file to the project using the Add Files in Project function. Related Articles ERROR building simple NIOS® V Compact project Nios® V Synthesis Fails with Quartus® Prime 25.1 Lite37Views0likes0CommentsWhy does Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs detect Core 0 only in a Nios® V processor multicore system?
Description Due to a problem in the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera software version 25.2.1 (version dated 9 th May 2025), the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE might fail to detect other Nios ® V processor cores (except Core 0) for Nios ® V processor multicore designs. This is because there is a bug in the Ashling* GDBServer software. Error message: [GDB server output] Error: The device configuration selected has only 1 core (Core 0). Core 1 is not available. Resolution To workaround this issue, please switch from Ashling* GDBServer to Open On-Chip Debugger (OpenOCD) when debugging a Nios ® V multicore processor system. Add the “–o" argument when running niosv-download. niosv-download app.elf -o <options> This problem is scheduled to be fixed, beginning with the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera software version 25.3.1 (version dated 1 st August 2025).12Views0likes0CommentsWhy does Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera® FPGAs fail to debug a Nios® V processor C++ software project in Windows?
Description Due to a problem with the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera ® FPGAs software, debugging a Nios ® V processor software project may fail when it is written in the C++ language. This is because there is a bug in the processor toolchain from the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera ® FPGAs software. C projects are not affected by this issue. You might receive the following error messages. Error Messages How is RISC-V GDB executed? Error in services launch sequence: GDB prompt not read From Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera software ../../../gdb/gdb/cp-name-parser.y:192: internal-error: fill_comp: Assertion ‘i’ failed. Executing riscv32-unknown-elf-gdb commands in the command-line interface The affected Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera ® FPGAs software versions are: 24.3.1 (version dated 9 th Aug 2024) 24.4.0 (version dated 27 th Sep 2024) 25.1.1 (version dated 31 st Jan 2025) Note that: This problem only affects Windows environments. C projects are not affected by this problem. Resolution This problem is fixed beginning with the Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera ® FPGAs software version 25.2.1 (version dated 9 th May 2025). You can download Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera ® FPGAs software version 25.2.1 (version dated 9 th May 2025) separately from Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Installer for software version 25.1.1. Follow these steps: Go to the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Installer for software version 25.1.1 download link. Select Windows as the Operating System. Download the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Installer for software version 25.1.1. Launch the installation. Select the following files to install: Add-ons and Standalone Software > Ashling* RiscFree* IDE for Altera Add-ons and Standalone Software > Quartus ® Prime Pro Edition Programmer and Tools Note: Refrain from using the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Installer for software version 25.3 to resolve this problem. The installer contains the older version of the Ashling* software (Software version 25.1.1).24Views0likes0CommentsWhy does Nios® V processor simulation fail when using the generated VHDL testbench from Platform Designer?
Description Due to a problem in the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1, Nios ® V processor simulation may fail with the generated VHDL testbench system from Platform Designer for any processor design. This problem affects: All Altera ® FPGA device families in Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software, and All Nios ® V processor variants (Nios ® V/g, Nios ® V/m, and Nios ® V/c processors). It is because the generation of the Nios ® V processor VHDL testbench system is not supported in Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software version 25.1. Resolution To work around this problem in the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition Software version 25.1, please select “Verilog” at the “Create testbench simulation model” input option. This problem is currently scheduled to be resolved in a future release of the Quartus ® Prime Standard Edition software. Related Articles 3.3.1. Preparing Hardware Design for Simulation19Views0likes0CommentsCan I program Altera in-system programmable (ISP) devices concurrently?
Description Yes, you can program Altera® devices that support ISP concurrently within a particular device family. When the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) ISP Clock (TCK) is run at high frequencies (1 to 10 MHz), the time necessary to shift data and address information into the device becomes negligible compared to the programming pulse time for the memory cells. When programming multiple devices in a JTAG chain, concurrent programming allows the programming pulses for each of the devices to be applied simultaneously. Thus, this concurrent programming allows programming times to be significantly reduced. When the TCK is run at low frequencies (~100 kHz), the time necessary to shift data and address information into the device becomes dominant as compared to the programming pulse time for the memory cells. Thus at these lower frequencies, concurrent programming has negligible benefits. Altera supports concurrent programming when using Serial Vector Format files (.svf), Jam™ files (.jam), and Jam Byte-Code files (.jbc). These file formats automatically use concurrent programming whenever more than one device, of the same family, is targeted. For more information, refer to In-System Programmability Guidelines for MAX II Devices (PDF) and AN 100: In-System Programmability Guidelines (PDF).2Views0likes0CommentsSEVERE: java.io.IOException: Get master service paths failed!
Description This error may be seen in the bts_log.txt file in the examples/board_test_system folder of the Intel® Stratix® 10 TX Signal Integrity Development Kit Installer Package when the connection of the Board Test System (BTS) / Clock Controller / Power Monitor GUI fails but you can still auto-detect both the system MAX V and Intel® Stratix® 10 TX in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer. Resolution You can confirm if this error is caused by abnormal behavior of the system MAX V (U8) by using the command get_service_paths master in System Console and checking that this does not return the master information. To fix this error, reprogram U8 with max5.pof which can be found in the examples/max5 folder of the Intel® Stratix® 10 TX Signal Integrity Development Kit Installer Package.0Views0likes0CommentsError: TBBmalloc: skip allocation functions replacement in ucrtbase.dll: unknown prologue for function _msize
Description Due to a problem in the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 24.1 or earlier, you may see this error message when generating Altera® IP on the Windows* 11 OS (Operating System). Resolution To work around this problem, follow these steps: Go to This PC, right-click, and select Properties. Click Advanced System Setting. In the Advanced tab, select Environment Variable. Under System variables, create a new variable with the name TBB_MALLOC_DISABLE_REPLACEMENT and value as 1. Click OK and restart the Quartus® Prime Software.11Views0likes0CommentsWhy does the Pin Planner display incorrect differential pin pairs for device migration in MAX® V devices?
Description Due to a problem in the Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 21.1 and earler, the Pin Planner displays incorrect differential pin pairs that can't be use for device migration in MAX® V devices. When a migration device is added in the Migration Devices feature, the Pin Planner display only pins that can be used for device migration. When Show Differential Pin Pair Connections is enabled, it displays red lines that show differential pin pairs. But those red lines might not display differential pin pairs that can be used for device migration. For example, when 5M570ZF256 is selected as a current device, 5M1270ZF256 is selected as a migration device, and Show Differential Pin Pair Connections is enabled, the Pin Planner shows the following diagram. Although there are many red lines for differential pin pairs, only the differential pin pairs enclosed by green can be used for device migration. Figure 1. Pin location diagram in the Pin Planner Resolution To work around this problem, manually check if both pins of each differential pin pair have the same pin locations and the same polarity between a current device and a migration device by comparing the pin-out files. In pin-out files of MAX® V devices, find the Emulated LVDS Output Channel column that displays the name of the differential pin. DIFFIO_<symbol>p and DIFFIO_<symbol>n are a differential pin pair. For example, DIFFIO_L1p and DIFFIO_L1n are a differential pin pair. The following are examples of how to check if a differential pin pair can be used for device migration: In 5M570ZF256, Pin C2 is DIFFIO_L1n and Pin C3 is DIFFIO_L1p. But in 5M1270ZF256, Pin C2 is DIFFIO_L1n and Pin C3 is DIFFIO_L2p. They are not a differential pin pair in 5M1270ZF256. The pin pair of C2-C3 can't be used for device migration. In 5M570ZF256, Pin R9 is DIFFIO_L11n and Pin T9 is DIFFIO_L11p. In 5M1270ZF256, Pin R9 is DIFFIO_L13n and Pin T9 is DIFFIO_L13p. The pin pair of R9-T9 is a differential pin pair and has the same polarity in both 5M570ZF256 and 5M1270ZF256. The differential pin pair of R9-T9 can be used for pin migration. This problem has been fixed since Intel® Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 22.1.1View0likes0CommentsWhy does Questa* license fail to install in the Quartus® Prime Lite Edition Software version 24.1?
Description This problem is due to user setup changed to new NIC ID. The license does not match the current NIC ID. Resolution To workaround this problem, you need to regenerate the license using new NIC ID then update the environment variable method and restart the computer to get the license to operate properly.2Views0likes0Comments