Quartus / USB Blaster / Windows 10 blue screen of death - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2015, 11:01:33 am
content: I previously used Quartus II Web Edition 14 on my desktop Win 7 with my clone USB Blaster without issue. Since upgrading to Win 10 I get blue screens when trying to use the Blaster. I've got the latest Quartus Prime Lite 15.1 and still have the same problem with the drivers. I've also tried with a fresh install of Win 10 on my laptop.Thankfully the linux kernel driver works just fine so I dual boot into Ubuntu but it can be a drag when most of my other work I get up to runs under windows.Anyone else using Win 10? I am beginning to suspect Altera are doing an "FTDI-gate" with their win drivers to root out all the clone hardware

author: obiwanjacobi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2015, 08:48:05 pm
content: Not sure about the blaster but the supported windows version for 15.1 is 8.1 - the simulator is only good for windows 8.0.So you're on unsupported territory with Windows 10...

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2015, 09:46:49 pm
content: I'll stick with the Ubuntu dual boot I think. I might try a VirtualBox in Win 10, but it's slow enough as it is!

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2015, 09:49:32 pm
content: Can you in win10 select the compatibility mode for that program and choose win7 or 8 ?http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/set-compatibility-mode-windows-10

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2015, 09:57:21 pm
content: Not really, it's not the Quartus application but the USB Blaster drivers that are crashing windows. A hardware fault.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2015, 07:30:25 am
content: thats what virtual machines are forsome people even keep separate VMs per client/project

author: 1uk3
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2015, 09:54:13 am
content: The original USB Blaster works fine here(Win10 Pro N 64bit)I ordered a clone from china, will post here as soon as it arrives(~2 weeks)

author: kscarbery
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 18, 2015, 08:01:09 pm
content: I am experiencing what could be the same BSoD with a bugcheck of PFN_LIST_CORRUPT: 0x4E (0x9A, 0x425536, 0x6, 0x2)https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff559014%28v=vs.85%29.aspx. I'm running Windows 7 x64 with Quartus Prime 15.1.0 Build 185. I'm seeing the BSoD immediately after trying to load the driver for the (generic) USB Blaster.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 18, 2015, 08:12:21 pm
content: I managed to overcome my USB Blaster BSOD problems. I got an FPGA board from AliExpress that had a spare USB Blaster with it. That one worked.See my post herehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/beginner-fpga-dev-board/67/

author: kscarbery
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 18, 2015, 10:10:38 pm
content: Wow, changing to a different USB Blaster clone also solved my problem. The Terasic Blaster is working fine for me.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 18, 2015, 10:21:15 pm
content: if i remember right the blaster uses an ftdi chip ....fake china blasters may have fake ftdi's in em ... er emulated using a cypress chip ...not altera's fault.

author: marshallh
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 19, 2015, 01:01:31 am
content: I'm currently using one that uses a PIC18F14K50 and an octal buffer. It's actually slightly faster than the real one.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2015, 11:20:43 am
content: Yep, that looks the same as my (new) one

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2015, 04:15:05 am
content: Speaking of Quartus, has anyone migrated to the new Quartus Prime Lite?https://www.altera.com/products/design-software/overview.htmlAre we going to loose features compared to Quartus II Web Edition?https://www.altera.com/products/design-software/fpga-design/quartus-prime/download.html

author: tpw_rules
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2015, 07:49:01 pm
content: How do you all run the driver with windows 10 anyway? I'm using a Terasic board and I can't find a signed driver for it. Every time I reboot, I have to go back into debug options and disable signing to be able to do anything. Super obnoxious. Never had a blue screen though.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2015, 08:01:54 pm
content: To tell you the truth, I don't think I fired up Quartus since my Windows 10 upgrade.

author: marshallh
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 21, 2015, 02:46:09 am
content: Legit USB Blaster Rev C:

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2015, 02:13:08 pm
content: Quote from: tpw_rules on December 20, 2015, 07:49:01 pmI'm using the Altera driver that comes with Quartus. In my case that's C:\altera_lite\15.1\quartus\drivers

author: DuMOHsmol
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 13, 2017, 08:41:46 pm
content: For those suffering BSODs (or hanging Quartus) with cloned USB Blasters, try this driver:http://www.alteraforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19233. Or (mirror)https://yadi.sk/d/lLD5vgk03E2Hb3. Or get it from this postYou may need to disable driver signature enforcement to install it. Worked for me!

author: p_wolf
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 19, 2017, 09:39:20 am
content: Thank you very much! The driver works fine for me with Woindows 10 and Altera prime 16.1!