Getting Started With Altera DE2-70 Board
Getting Started With Altera DE2-70 Board
Getting Started With Altera DE2-70 Board
This document describes the scope of Alteras DE2-70 Development and Education Board and the supporting materials provided by the Altera Corporation. It also explains the installation process needed to use a DE2-70 board connected to a computer that has the Quartus II CAD system installed on it. Contents: Purpose of the DE2-70 Board Scope of the DE2-70 board and Supporting Material Installation and USB-Blaster Driver Using the DE2-70 Board
Alteras DE2-70 Development and Education Board has been developed to provide an ideal vehicle for learning about digital logic and computer organization in a laboratory setting. It uses the state-of-the-art technology in both hardware and CAD tools to expose students to a wide range of topics covered in typical courses. The power of the board is such that it is also highly suitable for a variety of design projects as well as for the development of sophisticated digital systems. In addition to the DE2-70 board and the associated software, Altera provides supporting materials that include tutorials, laboratory exercises, and interesting demonstrations.
used in the laboratory environment to protect the board from accidental physical damage. Plug in the 12-volt adapter to provide power to the board. Use the USB cable to connect the USB connector (the one closest to the power switch) on the DE2-70 board to a USB port on a computer that runs the Quartus II software. Turn on the power switch on the DE2-70 board. The computer will recognize the new hardware connected to its USB port, but it will be unable to proceed if it does not have the required driver already installed. The DE2-70 board is programmed by using Alteras USB-Blaster mechanism. If the USB-Blaster driver is not already installed, the New Hardware Wizard in Figure 1 will appear.
Since the desired driver is not available on the Windows Update Web site, select No, not this time in response to the question asked and click Next. This leads to the window in Figure 2.
Figure 2. The driver is found in a specific location. The driver is available within the Quartus II software. Hence, select Install from a specific location and clickNext to get to Figure 3.
Now, choose Search for the best driver in these locations and click Browse to get to the pop-up box in Figure 4. Find the desired driver, which is at location \<Quartus II system directory>\drivers\usb-blaster. Click OK (For Quartus II version 6.1 and later, select the appropriate driver version based on the 64-bit or 32-bit Quartus II version.) and then upon returning to Figure 3 click Next. At this point the installation will commence, but a dialog box in Figure 5 will appear indicating that the driver has not passed the Windows Logo testing. Click Continue Anyway.
The driver will now be installed as indicated in Figure 6. Click Finish and you can start using the DE2-70 board.