[motberg]

   
Yes, totally aware of the risks involved, so keep us posted about your experience... in the name of science 

 
 
Edit: Just noticed Kingwa's somewhat official endorsement of the device from Taobao, anyone brave enough to order from that site?

I am in China and just took delivery a couple days ago from the same supplier linked on the Audio-GD website.
I have not yet done the flash... but downloaded and installed the Altera 12.1sp1 software, and the Taobao USB Blaster was recognized by the computer and the drivers loaded successfully.
So - so far so good...
 
One thing to mention (if I did everything correctly, this is my first time flashing firmware - I am doing a NOS7) is that the software is like 6 GB, and the preinstaller installs it first to your temp folder, so seems you need well over 12 GB of free space..

 

[DACLadder]

  If it crash in 2 machine check if you have the correct version of driver (32 vs 64 bit) and try different USB cable. worse case you have broken blaster

Could very well be the spartan supplied cable.
 
Kingwa's instructions has some useful information about the Quartus SW setup and attachment of the Byteblaster to the 10-pin DSP header.   For the most part the illustrated steps should apply to all later versions of the SW.  
 
Kingwa's download of Quartus is the full design version that requires a license.  It is also about 10x larger file size than the standalone programmer.  Both get the job done so use what is compatible for your PC.    

 

[comzee]

From Audio-GD website:

2, The update had two ways, one is update by yourself , we will send the firmware to you . ​

I emailed them asking for it and got this reply:
 

Please read the guide in our web.

I guess this means they will automatically send you the firmware by email when it is released....?

 

[DACLadder]

  I emailed them asking for it and got this reply:
 
I guess this means they will automatically send you the firmware by email when it is released....?

Kingwa is concerned about theft of intellectual property.  Reading between the lines he may require some users to use TeamViewer that I assume is similar to Windows Remote Desktop.   AGD takes control of your PC, applies the updates, and deletes the programming file before handing back control to you. 

 

[DACLadder]

Quartus 12.1 does not appear to be compatible with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.  Altera lists the following...
 

 * Windows 7 (64 and 32 bit) * Windows XP SP2 (64 and 32 bit) * Windows XP Pro X64 Edition * Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit)

 
Quartus 15.0 supports Windows 8.1 but not Windows 10.   Quartus 16.0 supports Win 7/ 8/ 10 but not Windows XP.

 

[robi-k]

Unfortunately, I can't download DSP firmware package from Kingwa website . Could you share this DSP firmware package with me, if you managed to download it?

 

[mivarpet]

  Unfortunately, I can't download DSP firmware package from Kingwa website . Could you share this DSP firmware package with me, if you managed to download it?

Unfortunately, I think we need to wait until November.  The Audio GD site says -
 
"Will offer in Nov. 2016. Prepare the software and hardware tools please if you want update."
 
I made the same excited mistake!  At least its only a few days now until November....

 

[mivarpet]

  Quartus 12.1 does not appear to be compatible with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.  Altera lists the following...
 

 * Windows 7 (64 and 32 bit) * Windows XP SP2 (64 and 32 bit) * Windows XP Pro X64 Edition * Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit)

 
Quartus 15.0 supports Windows 8.1 but not Windows 10.   Quartus 16.0 supports Win 7/ 8/ 10 but not Windows XP.

 
I have installed 12.1 on a Windows 10 64 bit machine successfully.  It sees my programmer but I have not yet programmed with it.

 

[DACLadder]

   
I have installed 12.1 on a Windows 10 64 bit machine successfully.  It sees my programmer but I have not yet programmed with it.

Congrats.  Quartus 16.0 will run OK on both my machines when No Hardware is selected.  Any time I try to add the USB Blaster [USB 0] things go downhill fast.  I had Quartus 11.1 running on the Win 7 laptop but got the same BSOD results.  So I am anxious to try a different Byteblaster.

 

[DACLadder]

OK I promise this is my last post for a while.  I have been researching Altera Blasters.  Using Windows driver verifier reports the Quartus USB drivers were designed by FTDI which is a major USB chip supplier.   And a real USB Blaster uses an FTDI FT245 chip for the USB interface.  So this makes sense - an FTDI driver for an FTDI chip.  Searching Ebay "blaster FT245" returns some knockoffs that probably copy the original Altera design.  See below and scroll down to see a large picture...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altera-USB-Blaster-programmer-FPGA-CPLD-REV-C-FT245-CPLD-ALTERA-solution-/141032986271?hash=item20d638969f:g:6KYAAOxyDLZSBIxu
 
I took apart my little Ebay blaster.   Much different design inside with an ST Micro ST32 ARM processor connected to the USB interface.  They are faking out the USB device ID to look like the FTDI chip.  So the same FTDI USB driver is used for the ST32 chip. 
 
Perhaps the cheap Ebay blasters work fine for you.  They don't for me.  But I have learned a lot and glad I am doing this well ahead of receiving the download file from Kingwa.

 

[Clemmaster]

I could download the firmware on my phone.

I'm on a trip now and will try the upgrade when I return.

 

[BoyNamedSue]

  OK I promise this is my last post for a while.  I have been researching Altera Blasters.  Using Windows driver verifier reports the Quartus USB drivers were designed by FTDI which is a major USB chip supplier.   And a real USB Blaster uses an FTDI FT245 chip for the USB interface.  So this makes sense - an FTDI driver for an FTDI chip.  Searching Ebay "blaster FT245" returns some knockoffs that probably copy the original Altera design.  See below and scroll down to see a large picture...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altera-USB-Blaster-programmer-FPGA-CPLD-REV-C-FT245-CPLD-ALTERA-solution-/141032986271?hash=item20d638969f:g:6KYAAOxyDLZSBIxu
 
I took apart my little Ebay blaster.   Much different design inside with an ST Micro ST32 ARM processor connected to the USB interface.  They are faking out the USB device ID to look like the FTDI chip.  So the same FTDI USB driver is used for the ST32 chip. 
 
Perhaps the cheap Ebay blasters work fine for you.  They don't for me.  But I have learned a lot and glad I am doing this well ahead of receiving the download file from Kingwa.

 
Just to clarify, is the USB blaster you linked in your post the one you recommend or the one to avoid? If the latter, which one do you recommend? Thanks for doing the research on the Altera blasters to benefit the community!

 

[DACLadder]

   
Just to clarify, is the USB blaster you linked in your post the one you recommend or the one to avoid? If the latter, which one do you recommend? Thanks for doing the research on the Altera blasters to benefit the community!

The one in the link (included again below) with FT245 USB chip more closely resembles the official $300 device sold by Altera.  They sell for around $25 on Ebay.  I have not ordered one of these as I am waiting on a Terasis Blaster that I ordered from Digikey.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altera-USB-Blaster-programmer-FPGA-CPLD-REV-C-FT245-CPLD-ALTERA-solution-/141032986271?hash=item20d638969f:g:6KYAAOxyDLZSBIxu
 
The sub $10 Blasters you find more common on Ebay did not work for me.  Others report no issue though.  I'm out about $9 so don't feel too bad.  Here's an example of the cheaper Blasters.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/altera-Mini-Usb-Blaster-Cable-For-CPLD-FPGA-NIOS-JTAG-Altera-Programmer-M278-/401158753382?hash=item5d66eccc66:g:hrgAAOSwHPlWdLjU  

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Thanks for the quick response. Going to order one now. Will post results when it arrives.

 

[tbend]

Did order one of these
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altera-USB-Blaster-programmer-FPGA-CPLD-REV-C-FT245-CPLD-ALTERA-solution-/141032986271?hash=item20d638969f:g:6KYAAOxyDLZSBIxu&rmvSB=true
 
Have someone have sucess upgrade their Audio Gd Dac?