Programming Altera 10 with USB blaster on Windows11 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2023, 08:30:00 pm
content: Hi,absolutely no plan of it, until now I only knew lattice PLDs and their programming via the known usb adapter.I would like to read or program an Altera Max 10 FPGA via the JTAG interface.I had received the tip to look for JTAG Blaster, but there are many variants, from super cheap (10€) to several hundred € expensive.Which one would be suitable ?And: I already have a TL886 II+ programmer and a seeger J-Link mini EDU, could they do it ?MartinEDIT 14.10.2025 : Title changed

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 07:06:27 am
content: Quote from: Martin72 on August 28, 2023, 08:30:00 pmShould work, though I don't have the device and Altera is not specified in the supported devices list.Even an Arduino can do JTAG (as long as you take care of the voltage levels for less than 5V JTAG targets). This is a good brief about JTAG:https://www.fpga4fun.com/JTAG.html, and this is one example of JTAG with Arduino, blog and code:https://eeandcs.blogspot.com/2015/08/jtagxsvf-library-for-arduino.htmlhttps://github.com/mrjimenez/JTAG

author: Wiljan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 08:09:42 am
content: Quote from: Martin72 on August 28, 2023, 08:30:00 pmI got one like this 10 years ago "low cost clone" and it works fine with Quartus II with MAX10 and other Altera / Intel FPGA'shttps://www.amazon.de/-/en/Blaster-Altera-CPLD-FPGA-Programmer/dp/B09TQ1RZZL/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2IF6MU1DXYL74

author: Scrts
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 06:38:13 pm
content: The cheap $10 ones work fine

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 06:59:22 pm
content: Thank you guys, today I´ve bought one from amazon, will report then..

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 07:40:02 pm
content: Quote from: Scrts on August 29, 2023, 06:38:13 pmAgree, as long as you don't use Quartus in a "Virtualbox" ...But directly attached i have had no issues witt the cheap ones (that contains a MCU emulating FTDI + CPLD).I got another clone to work in Vbox ...One of those that has a FTDI & a CPLD (like the original Altera).https://www.ebay.com/itm/264295994034https://www.ebay.com/itm/264066061995Btw; I'm quite sure it's namedUSB-Blaster, not JTAG Blaster/Bingo

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 05:52:57 pm
content: Quote from: Martin72 on August 29, 2023, 06:59:22 pmGet it today..Then download and installed intel quartus prime light ( huuuuge...programm).First nothing worked, then a look in the hardware manager shows that there are no driver intalled for the usb blaster.Installed them manually, now it works.Using the autodetect function, the FPGA* was proper detected.Then pressing "examine" and after appx 1min it´s ready.But when you hit the save file button, the programm crashes.Must play a little bit around to understand what´s going on.Or did I download the wrong software....*)FPGA located at a siglent demoboard for several testsignals.

author: Wiljan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 06:40:00 pm
content: Quote from: Martin72 on September 03, 2023, 05:52:57 pmIt's normal you have to installed the driver for the USB blaster separateYeah all the FPGA software are very big several giga bytes.Then you also have to install the support for the actual FPGA families like MAXAnd often you will need to have different Quartus versions it you need to support different FPGA's family even from same vendor.As far you can see the FPGA device ID when connected with the Blaster is good.You then can read the data back is also good.When the program crash it might be due to the actual FPGA device famely is not installed or maybe the Quartus version does not support the MAX series or maybe if the FPGA are encrypted.What version of Quartus did you install?Have you install any FPGA device family?

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 06:50:49 pm
content: Hi,I had googled for quartus II and ended up with intel.And from there the quartus prime lite software.https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software-kit/773998/intel-quartus-prime-lite-edition-design-software-version-22-1-1-for-windows.html?I installed and started that and then selected Max 10 and went to the programmer part under "Tools".I had nothing else installed.

author: Wiljan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 07:13:21 pm
content: Your quartus does include the Max device so that's fine.What windows version do you use?

author: Wiljan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 07:21:27 pm
content: If you are on win 11 there seem to be a problemhttps://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-Quartus-Prime-Software/Quartus-crashes-crashes-when-open-dialog-box/td-p/1367638

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 07:29:14 pm
content: Hi,Windows 10 on all systems here...I´ll make a pic fron the "crash".

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 07:55:29 pm
content: Crash and report.

author: Wiljan
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2023, 05:49:14 am
content: Not sure why this happens for you.I do not have your Quartus version installed here on my win10 pchttps://forum.qt.io/topic/143116/qfiledialog-getopenfilename-causing-program-to-crashHere they disuses a similar problem with the QT qfiledialog and it seems to make a crash due to the antivirus running on the PCDo you run antivirus and if so which one?You could try to install the Quartus on another pc or install an older version of QuartusI have the 20.1.1 on win10 here with Norton antivirus running and just tried to read out a MAX 10M50DA and save it as a pof file and it did work fine with the clone blaster.

author: mathstudi
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 06:15:32 pm
content: Quote from: Martin72 on September 03, 2023, 05:52:57 pmThank you Martin72, my USB Blaster was delivered today. Manually installing the USB drivers also helped with my installation.The programmer is really big. 26 GB for the lite version. I don't want to know how big the professional version is.

author: mathstudi
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 06:27:27 pm
content: Quote from: Martin72 on September 03, 2023, 07:55:29 pmSame issue here. I use Windows 11 22H2, Build 22621.2283.

author: radiolistener
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2023, 12:01:10 am
content: Quote from: Wiljan on September 03, 2023, 06:40:00 pmand works very-very slow and have a lot of bugs

author: mtwieg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2023, 04:22:59 pm
content: Can anyone confirm/deny whether any/all of these clones work with Signaltap?

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2023, 07:03:14 pm
content: Quote from: mtwieg on September 24, 2023, 04:22:59 pmGood question.

author: Scrts
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2023, 05:32:56 pm
content: I had no problems with SignalTap using the adapter for $10.

author: mtwieg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2023, 12:35:17 pm
content: Quote from: Scrts on September 25, 2023, 05:32:56 pmWhich one, specifically? What OS and quartus version are you using?I looked on Amazon for "USB blaster" and found two listings with reviews. First is this one, which looks similar to the amazon link posted above:https://www.amazon.com/NOYITO-Blaster-CPLD-FPGA-Programmer/dp/B07F5H5LPZ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2Z537F9YE20JQ&keywords=USB+Blaster&qid=1695904031&sprefix=usb+blaster%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-4About half the reviews say that simply plugging it into a windows 10 machine causes it to BSOD, not good.The other hit was this, looks similar to the one Martin72 mentioned in reply #6:https://www.amazon.com/waveshare-USB-Blaster-V2-Programmers/dp/B08CV3L6LF/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8Only three reviews, also doesn't sound good...

author: Daixiwen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2023, 08:21:51 am
content: I've had no problems using theEEBlasterfrom Entner Electronics with Quartus and Signaltap but this clone is a bit more expensive than the $10 ones from Amazon.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2023, 03:32:14 pm
content: I've used SignalTap with this typehttps://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802725721286.htmlNot this exact seller, since I've bought it ages ago, but this overall design with the white and blue label.I would assume they are all more or less the same, it is just a dummy FX2LP device and the firmware is loaded by the IDE anyway.

author: Martin72
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2025, 03:53:07 pm
content: I'm digging up this thread again...Now I could and wanted to reprogram something, so I had to deal with it again.At first, I couldn't get it to work and got the same error messages/crashes as before.It was still the same configuration, Quartus 22 on my Windows 10 computer.I then left it alone and wanted to reinstall it on my Windows 11 notebook.So much memory required... No, not if, like me, you only want to use the programmer.I then only downloaded the current programmer software(24.1), 373MB to 14GB...Plus the Altera 10 library.Both must be in the same folder when you install the programmer.No problem, I started the installation right away from the download area on my notebook.Only then did I plug in the USB blaster and install the drivers manually.No problems with Win11....The rest was easy: I started the program, selected USB Blaster as the hardware, connected the board with the Altera to the programmer, selected “Auto Detect,” the chip was recognized, then I selected “Change File,” loaded the new file, clicked “Start,” and everything was great.I had expected more difficulties, but this way it's nice too.