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USBBlaster Arduino library === EXPERIMENTAL

This library implements a JTAG programmer based on Altera USB Blaster protocol as a PluggableUSB module. Due to license issues we can only distribute the precompiled library (and the headers), so the minimum required version of SAMD core is 1.6.25.

Usage

Include the library with

#include "Blaster.h"

This will create a composite USB device mocking the original Blaster VID/PID so Quartus can happily use it as a programmer/debugger without any patching.

To attach the JTAG pins call

USBBlaster.begin(bool status_led)

If status_led is true the builtin LED will show the programmer's activity.

To perform the USB communication the user must call

USBBlaster.loop()

every once in a while. Adding it once inside the main loop() function is usually enough.

You can then connect with the programmer using Quartus programmer/urjtag/openocd to load a bitstream in FPGA RAM or debug a running softcore.

Known issues

All OS

Depending on the underlying USB library (libusb or similar) the OS may send/receive more bytes than declared in the USB endpoint. The board often hangs when this happens; if you are facing this situation, please call

USBBlaster.setOutEpSize(60)

before calling USBBlaster.begin() . This will change the endpoint size (OS side) so it's less likely to send more than 64 bytes in a single chunk. Replace 60 with a number that fits your setup.

Windows

Using this library may provoke blue screen of deaths! This is due to:

  • windows trying to load the original Altera driver (which does not expose a composite interface).

    Fix: uninstall the original driver before plugging in the board

  • if USBBlaster.loop() is not called often enough, the Altera driver may "complain" with a BSOD...

    Fix: try to avoid long pauses/delays between two calls to USBBlaster.loop()

Linux

Quartus programmer may hang on any operation you perform. Root causes:

  • udev permissions are not ok

    Fix: add an udev rule (/etc/udev/rules.d/51-altera-usb-blaster.rules) with this content

    SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTR{idProduct}=="6001", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTR{idProduct}=="6002", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTR{idProduct}=="6003", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTR{idProduct}=="6010", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTR{idProduct}=="6810", MODE="0666"

  • libudev.so.0 is not installed in the system (because we are in 2018)

    Fix: symlink libudev.so.1 to libudev.so.0 in /usr/lib (or install libusb0-shim)

  • jtag operations hangs

    Fix: forcibly kill jtagd and relaunch it manually