I started playing around with FPGA development using the Terasic DE0 development board recently and the first problem I encountered was the installation of the USB blaster driver. As far as I know there is no problem in installing the driver on Windows 7 but if you are using Windows 8 or 8.1 then you probably ran into the problem of Windows not allowing you to install unsigned drivers. I lost a significant amount of time to make the driver work on Windows 8.1 so to speed things up for you, here is what you do.
First, you need to obtain the driver to be installed. You probably already have it if you installed Quartus II, it comes with the installation. On my system it is located in:
C:altera15.0quartusdriversusb-blaster
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Now, if you follow the instruction from Altera USB blaster install you probably get to step 8 of the instructions after which you are not prompted with a window mentioned on step 9. This is due to the fact that Windows 8 doesn’t allow you to install unsigned drivers by default so you need to disable this security option.
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press Windows key and type in “Change advanced startup options”, and enter the options. You should see the following window (click on the picture to enlarge)
Download Quartus II Programmer for free. Quartus II Programmer is a program that enables you to add your programming and configuration files, specify programming options and hardware, and then proceed with the programming or configuration of the device.
Go deeper by opening a folder within the drivers folder) 9. Make sure the proper path was selected then select. If the Windows security window pops up Check the. Always trust software from “Altera Corporation” box and select. For Windows 7 and Windows 8, do the following: 1. Plug the USB-Blaster download. Download drivers for Altera devices for free. Operating System Versions: Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (x64, x86) Category: Devices. Subcategory: Altera devices. Popular Drivers. CTX Silicon Image Quicklogic Citrix. Are you tired of looking for the drivers for your devices?
Advanced startup options – Recovery – Advanced startup
Go to Recovery and under Advanced startup locate Restart now. Before you click on it save whatever stuff you need to save since the restart is (almost) immediate. After you click on the button you will be prompted with a window providing you with a few options. Choose:
Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup Settings -> Restart
After restarting you will be prompted with another window that will provide you some other options. Choose:
7) Disable driver signature enforcement
Having all that in mind, now press the Restart now button from the screenshot above.
After restart try to install the USB blaster driver. Plug in the device, fire up Device Manager, locate the USB-blaster device and click on Update Driver Software.
On the new window that opens choose Browse my computer for driver software.
Choose to manually install the driver
In the next window, locate the driver and click Next.
Enter/browse for the location of the USB blaster driver. It’s in the Quartus II installation folder.
After the Window successfully finds the driver you should be prompted with the window:
Click on Install. When the driver installs you should see it installed in the Device Manager:
To check that Quartus II can now use the driver, open up Quartus II and go to:
Tools -> Programmer
A window will open. Click on Hardware Setup:
A new window will open. In the drop down menu choose USB blaster.
Quatus II – Programmer – Hardware setup window
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Click Close. In the Programmer window you should now see the USB blaster selected as a programmer.
Quartus II – Programmer window with USB blaster selected
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That’s it! The driver is installed and you can now program the FPGA board.