MiSTeX bring-up report – Artix-7 (QMTech) + Orange Pi – no video output #9
Description
MiSTeX bring-up report – Artix-7 (QMTech) + Orange Pi – no video output
Hi Hans,
First of all, thank you for MiSTeX and for making this project open and extensible. I’m very impressed by the architecture and the direction you’re taking it. I wanted to share a short status report of where I am with MiSTeX bring-up and ask for guidance in case I’m missing something obvious.
Here is the video showing my new MisteX setup.
I think I am making some progress here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kblm80mJaTQ
Hardware setup:
FPGA board: QMTech Artix-7 (XC7A100T)
Carrier / motherboard: Custom-assembled MiSTeX motherboard (self-built)
SBC: Orange Pi (Pi-compatible form factor)
MCU: RP2040 (on MiSTeX board)
Connections:
Orange Pi ↔ MiSTeX board via USB-C
JTAG cable between MiSTeX motherboard and QMTech Artix-7
HDMI + VGA connected to MiSTeX board
Board assembly checked under microscope, continuity verified on headers and critical nets.
What works so far:
RP2040
Successfully flashed via USB-C (BOOT jumper shorted)
Mac detects the RP2040 drive and firmware upload completes normally
Orange Pi / Linux:
SD card prepared using official MiSTeX image (both dd and Balena Etcher tested)
Linux boots reliably
Side-note: HDMI output from Orange Pi works only on certain monitors
MiSTeX software flow:
On power-up
Linux boots
openFPGAloader starts automatically
JTAG activity observed
FPGA behavior:
QMTech demo LED pattern stops
LEDs on MiSTeX + FPGA board change state
Looks like a bitstream is being pushed successfully
FPGA LED pins appear to be driven by the loaded core
All of this strongly suggests the Orange Pi → RP2040 → JTAG → FPGA chain is alive.
What does NOT work
No video output from MiSTeX FPGA
HDMI: black screen
VGA: no signal / no noise
No MiSTeX OSD / menu appears
System appears “alive” internally, but no video stage comes up
Observations / open questions
Is video supposed to start automatically, or is there a userspace command / service that must be launched manually after Linux boots?
The /home/orangepi directory contains many garbage files I don’t yet understand.
Is this expected for a clean MiSTeX image?
There is a 5V jumper near VGA on the motherboard:
Should this be installed for VGA output?
There are several buttons and jumpers on the MiSTeX board:
I don’t yet know their function
From an architectural standpoint:
Is the OSD/video path fully FPGA-driven at this stage?
Or does it depend on a userspace process running on the Orange Pi?
What I believe is happening
From LED behavior and JTAG activity, it looks like:
The FPGA is being configured, Core is loaded but the video pipeline is either not initialized or not enabled
This could be:
Hardware issues, assembly problems, wrong parts..
A missing jumper?
A required userspace service not running?
A board definition mismatch?
Or simply a step I misunderstood in the documentation.
If you have time, I would really appreciate:
Confirmation of expected behavior after boot
Whether any manual step is required to bring up video
Or pointers to:
The exact place in the flow where video should become active.
Or common pitfalls for first-time MiSTeX bring-up.
I’m very interested in contributing once I understand the system better, especially around multi-FPGA support.
Thanks again for an amazing project, and no worries at all if time doesn’t permit a response — I know you’re extremely busy.
Best regards,
Ranko
Minimig.ca