If you are interested in experimenting, feel free to try this, but we recommend you use the lab machines (hopefully they're working and another OS update didn't brick JTAG). TAs will likely not be able to help with installation (although you can always ask publicly on Piazza).

On Mac (ARM Machines)

On an ARM Mac (M1, M2, M3) you cannot run Quartus natively. You'll have to create a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine to install and run Quartus on.

Prior to following this guide, ensure that you have ~64 GB of storage available. The VM will also be less performant if your machine only has 8 GB of RAM.

Note: If you already have Parallels, you can just follow steps 5 and 6. Also step 4 if your Windows is not yet activated. VMware is a free option though.

1. Download and Install VMware Fusion

Create a new account by registering here
Open this link, ensure that you're logged in
Click the cloud image in the top-right corner to view a dropdown, select VMware Cloud Foundation
Click My Downloads on the left sidebar
In the search bar in the top-right, type VMware Fusion and select the result
Select VMware Fusion 13 Pro for Personal Use, click 13.5.2
Click the cloud download icon to begin the download, you may have to agree to agree to some terms by checking a box before you can download the file
Install the file like any other Mac application downloaded from the web

2. Create a Windows 11 Virtual Machine

Open VMware Fusion and select File -> New
Select the option Get Windows from Microsoft and choose the Professional edition
Wait for the download, it will still take a while after the visual download bar is completed. Just give it time
Click Continue on the Choose Firmware Type page
Create a password on theChoose Encryption page, then click continue
Click continue on Choose a Virtual Disk
Click Customize Settings and save the VM file
Click Processors and Memory in the new settings pop-up, then choose the max number of processor cores and memory before VMware gives you a warning.

On my M2 Macbook Air with 16 GB of RAM, this is 4 processor cores and 12288 MB (12 GB) of RAM

When booting, listen to the prompt asking you to Press any key to load from CD/DVD
When you get to the Activate Windows page, select I don't have a product key
Select Windows 11 Pro as the operating system to install
When asked Which type of installation do you want?, choose Custom, not Upgrade
When asked Where do you want to install Windows?, you should only have one Drive option. Make sure it's selected and click Next
Go through a normal Windows install, you'll have to also create a Microsoft account if you don't have one

3. Install VMware Tools

Select Virtual Machine -> Install VMware Tools
A pop-up will occur in the bottom-right asking to select what to do with VMWare tools, click it and choose run setup.exe. Then just follow the installation prompts

The text may get very small at this point, simply say yes to the prompt asking to restart the VM to apply the changes and the font will revert

After this, you'll have a shared clipboard between MacOS and the VM. You can copy in MacOS and paste in Windows using Ctrl+V

4. Activate Windows

Open this link
Enter your @andrew.cmu.edu email as your username, it will allow you to log in using CMU's Web Login
From the Home page, select Education under Azure services
Expand the Learning Resources dropdown and select Software
Search for Windows 11 Education, Version 23H2
Select the result, then click View Key at the bottom on the new pop-up on the right and copy the key
In the Windows 11 VM, use this key to activate Windows as one normally would. This can be googled if you're stuck

5. Install Quartus

Navigate to this link
Ensure that Quartus Prime Lite is selected as the Software Package and Windows is selected as the Operating System
Under Individual Files, download Quartus® Prime (includes Nios II EDS)
Also under individual files, download Cyclone® V Device Support to program the DE0-CV (18-341) and/or Cyclone® IV Device Support to program the DE2-115 (18-240)
The file QuartusLiteSetup-23.1std.1.993-windows.exe should have been downloaded, double click this to begin installing

6. Install USB Blaster Driver.

Download this zip file in Windows and unzip it

You can also download it on Mac and just copy + paste if you setup VMware tools correctly

Use the following instructions to disable Driver Signature Enforcement on your next start of Windows
This is necessary because Altera doesn't sign their drivers. 🙃

Go to Settings -> System -> Recovery
In Recovery Options -> Advanced startup click on Restart now, then select Restart now
Select Troubleshoot
Select Advanced options
Select Startup Settings
Select Restart
Press 7 for Disable driver signature enforcement

Now move into the USB-Blaster-ARM folder
Right click on the file usbblstr of type Setup Information and select install
Click Yes to allow changes on the device
Click Install this driver software anyway
You should be able to now plug in your USB Blaster cable and synthesize! When you plug in the cable, make sure to select the option that allows Windows to have access to the USB Blaster

Credit:
VMware Install Instructions: lost_signal here.
USB Blaster Driver: mcmaster_ece here.
Miscellaneous Quartus Install Stuff: ZeddZoo here