Due to a problem in the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software version 25.1.1, you might see this error when using assignments in your Quartus® Settings File (.qsf) to describe NoC connections. These assignments are used when targeting Agilex™ 7 FPGA M-series devices.
Specifically, you may see this error if your assignment targets a relative path name (without wildcards) with an -entity argument. For example:
set_instance_assignment -name NOC_CONNECTION ON -from soc_inst|agilex_hps|intel_agilex_hps_inst|iniu_0|initiator_inst_0 -to soc_inst|hbm|hbm_fp_0|hbm_fp_0|tniu_ch2_u0|target_0.target_inst_0 -entity design_top
To work around this problem, edit the assignment to remove the -entity argument and use it as part of the full path name. The previous example can be edited as shown next:
set_instance_assignment -name NOC_CONNECTION ON -from design_top|soc_inst|agilex_hps|intel_agilex_hps_inst|iniu_0|initiator_inst_0 -to design_top|soc_inst|hbm|hbm_fp_0|hbm_fp_0|tniu_ch2_u0|target_0.target_inst_0
This problem is scheduled to be fixed in a future release of the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition Software.