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Description:

Usb ISP programmer for programming Altera's range of FPGA and CPLD device. This programmer is also idealy suited for our own Altera development boards such as item HCDVBD0006. This programmer is compatible with Altera's Quartus development tools (Use USB blaster in programmer hardware settings).

Items include:
1 X device
1 X USB cable
1 X 10pin JTAGE cable

You can purchase yours here.

Supports 1.5V,1.8V,2.5V,3.5V and 5.0V.

Supports ALTERA products : CPLD ( MAX3000, MAX7000, MAX9000 and MAX II ) ; FPGA ( Stratix, StratixII, Cyclone, CycloneII, ACEX 1K, APEX20K and FLEX 10K) ;Active serial configuration device (EPCS1, EPCS4, EPCS16)

Supports AS, PS and JTAG program ( with Verify and BankCheck function).
Supports embedded logic analyser function of SignalTapII
Supports NIOS II communication and debugger -- When you use it to debug your Black Gold , it will not Pop-up warning
Faster -- about 6 times than ByteblasterII
USB interface
100% compatible with Official ALTERA USB Blaster



Example application


Drivers:

Drivers for this programmer are provided as part of the Altera Quartus software. You can download the free (web) version of this software from the link below. Once downloaded and installed the drivers can be found in the following path:

C:\altera\13.0sp1\quartus\drivers\usb-blaster



Software:

Drivers for this programmer are included in this software. Warning - Large download!

Altera Quartus II Web Edition (13.0)

Altera Quartus Prime Lite Edition (15.1)


FAQ:
Does this program support the Altera....?
This programmer is compatible with the Altera USB blaster download cable. We have not been able to test the entire rage of supported devices ourselves but here is the current supported list:

Stratix® FPGA Series, Cyclone® FPGA Series, MercuryTM Devices, ACEX 1K® Devices, APEXTM II Devices, APEX 20K Devices, APEX 20KE Devices, APEX 20KC Devices, FLEX 10K® Devices, FLEX 10KA Devices, FLEX 10KE Devices, FLEX® 8000 Devices, FLEX 6000 Devices, MAX II Devices, MAX 7000A Devices, MAX 7000B Devices, MAX 7000S Devices, MAX 3000A Devices, ExcaliburTM Devices, Serial Configuration Devices, Enhanced Configuration Devices.

Note: Not recommended for Max 10 series FPGA devices.


Will this program devices not manufactured by Altera?
No, it is not a general purpose JTAG programmer and will only program Altera devices in the supported list above.


I am trying to use the programmer with the Linux version of the Quartus II. It sees the programmer but when I try to use it just says failed. How do I fix this?

This is a permissions issue. See the 3rd post in this thread for a solution.



Libraries, example code, and diagrams are provided as an additional free service by Hobby Components and are not sold as part of this product. We do not provide any guarantees or warranties as to their accuracy or fitness for purpose.

Descriptions and diagrams on this page are copyright Hobby Components Ltd and may not be reproduced without permission.

I cannot program neither the LC MAXII Altera Dev Board nor the Cyclone II dev board using this programmer.
I'm using Quartus II web edition 13.0sp01 on a linux system. The programmer is recognized (from dmesg) as USB-Blaster form Altera; I need to push on the Hardware setup button to select the programmer but when I try to program the board (Start button) I get (Failed) on the progress bar.
Can someone help me?
Thank you
Paolo Terrevoli

I've installed the Linux version and managed to replicate the issue. It a permissions problem and so Quartus doesn't have access to the programmer. You can resolve this by creating a udev rules file:

First you need to get the product ID of the programmer. In a terminal window issue the following command:



You will see a list of attached USB devices. Look for the one named Altera Blaster. It should look like this:




Note the numbers after the ID. The first is the USB VID of 09fb and the second is the PID of 6001

You should see the same numbers.

Next CD to the rule.d directory:




Then create a new rules file:




In the text editor paste the following text:



Note the VID and PID values. These should match the ones listed from the lsusb command.

Save the file and exit the text editor.

You will now need to make sure the group permissions of the file is the same as the group name of your Quartus install. If you have a standard Quartus install it will probably be using your user group name but if you want to make sure just open up a second terminal window and CD to wherever you have installed Quartus and issue the command ls -l



Go back to the original terminal window and change the group permission of the rule file by issuing the following command:



In your case change username to whatever group name your version of Quartus is using

type ls -l to make sure the group permission for the file has changed.


To make the changes take effect either reboot your computer or issue the following command:



Quartus should now have access to the programmer.