I'm facing with annoying problem that I hope you can assist.
When I try programming the FPGA (Cyclone IV) with a .sof file it works as planned.
But when i'm trying to program it with The .jic file it can't retrieve the
configuration files from the EPCQ16 chip (CONF_DONE remain LOW).
For converting the .sof file i'm using Altera's "Convert programming fle" SW
Setup :
"Disable EPCS/EPCQ ID check" - Unchecked
"Disable AS mode CONF_DONE error check" - Checked
My question is what can cause this problem? and how do i fix it?
when you say that it works with a .sof-file, you mean you download it via JTAG, right? Well, it might be that the FPGA is not prepared to use AS (active serial), which is the scheme it uses to retrieve data from the EPCQ16.
The Cyclone IV handbook explains how to connect the relevant pins in chapter 8. I hope you read this in advance, but you can be sure that this seems to be a problem quite often.
A few ideas of what could be wrong:
MSEL pins are not connected in the right scheme
DATA and ASDI/O pins are swapped (they have a confusing naming scheme if you ask me)
improper connection of some signal (especially nCONFIG) or GND