u/CommunicationDue3212

got ahold of a Zybo Z7-10 from uni around a week ago and this is my first proper SoC FPGA experience. ive used normal FPGA before but this zynq PS side has genuinely been driving me insane

all i wanted to do was get a basic UART hello world running through Vitis 2025.2 over JTAG and i still cant get consistent UART output from my own application

in QSPI boot mode i can at least see U-Boot/boot logs on serial terminal, but my own app outputs basically nothing

things ive already tried/debugged in order:

1. enabled UART1 + verified MIO48/49 mapping

   result: UART config in BSP/xparameters looked correct

2. tried normal hello world with xil_printf/print/printf

   result: absolutely no UART output

3. tried different baud rates + serial terminals

   result: mostly blank terminal

4. used XSDB manually to download/run ELF

   result: ELF downloaded successfully but still no UART output

5. set breakpoints at main()

   result: main() breakpoint hit successfully so application was at least starting

6. checked DDR through XSDB

   result: got "Cannot access DDR: the controller is held in reset"

7. kept getting vector catches at 0x0

   result: looked like runtime crashing very early

8. debugged FSBL behavior

   result: FSBL entered fallback loop at one point

9. got hw_server conflicts + repeated xsdb weirdness

   result: constantly restarting/debugging sessions

10. got DAP IDCODE failures + usb bulk read failed + ftdi_write_data_submit failed

result: debugger/FTDI communication itself started looking unstable

11. ttyUSB disconnect/reconnect spam in dmesg

result: FTDI interfaces repeatedly disconnecting from USB

12. manually tested DDR reads/writes later after rebuilding platform/preset

result: DDR eventually became readable and system looked more stable

13. later vector catches reduced and CPU started stopping at 0x8 and 0xC instead

result: execution looked more stable than before

14. tried direct XUartPs driver + raw UART register writes

result: still no proper UART output

15. changed linker/memory setup away from DDR and used memory_ram/OCM instead

result: RX LED finally started blinking and terminal showed gibberish instead of staying completely blank

the weird part is that pure FPGA/PL stuff works completely fine. i made a simple pushbutton -> LED design and it worked instantly first try, so the FPGA fabric itself seems healthy

i genuinely dont know what im missing anymore because this is my first time working with a SoC FPGA and almost every tutorial online is for older Vivado/Vitis versions where the entire flow looks different

at this point i cant even tell whether the actual issue is:

1. DDR init

2. FSBL handoff

3. UART/stdout routing

4. debugger corruption

5. FTDI/USB instability

6. or just me misunderstanding zynq bringup entirely

is this normal zynq beginner pain or am i missing something obvious here

would seriously appreciate guidance/resources from people using newer Vivado/Vitis versions

So I recently got ahold of a Digilent Zynq 7010 board from my uni. I’ve played around with FPGAs before but this is my first proper SoC FPGA board, so I’m trying to figure out the best way to approach it.

Right now I’m mostly interested in DSP/audio processing, image processing, and hardware acceleration type projects. Was wondering what projects people would recommend starting with on Zynq, and what resources/repos/docs are actually worth following for learning the PS + PL workflow properly instead of just blindly following Vivado tutorials.

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So after reading a lot of reviews and reddit threads I’m leaning towards Yamaha Pacifica PAC012 because everyone keeps saying Yamaha QC is way better than most beginner guitars in this budget.

For amp I was initially thinking Marshall MG10 but now I’m seeing people say Vault Frenzy 20 or Fender Frontman 10G are better value.

My total budget is STRICTLY under 25k including amp, cable and all basic stuff.

Mainly wanna play:

- rock

- metal

- clean ambient-ish stuff sometimes (hence the HSS)

Also I’ll mostly practice in hostel/room so bedroom volume matters more than stage volume.

Current plan:

- Yamaha PAC012

- Vault Frenzy 20

Good combo or should I change something?

Also is Bajaao reliable for guitars? Never ordered instruments online before so a bit skeptical about damage/setup/customer support etc.