fix: start hw_server explicitly before Vivado JTAG scan

Previously the TCL script relied on Vivado's connect_hw_server to
auto-start hw_server. On Windows this either never worked (hw_server
never shows in Task Manager) or hung indefinitely during Vivado's
slow batch-mode initialisation.

Root cause: hw_server was never started.

Changes:
- vitis_checker.py: add 'hw_server' to TOOL_ALIASES + get_hw_server_path()
- zynq_checker.py: start hw_server via Popen before Vivado, kill in finally
  - 2s sleep for port binding after start
  - timeout from config.step_timeouts.check_env (default bumped to 120s)
  - clean terminate/kill sequence in finally
- config_manager.py: check_env default 30 → 120s

src/config_manager.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG: dict[str, Any] = {
     "inter_step_delay": 2,
     "boot_wait_delay": 10,
     "step_timeouts": {
-        "check_env": 30,
+        "check_env": 120,
         "flash_erase": 120,
         "flash_program": 600,
         "bitstream": 60,

src/gui/main_window.py

@@ -1436,11 +1436,10 @@ class MainWindow(ctk.CTk):
                     else:
                         self._sub_step_frame.set_phase("error")
 
-                # Step 4: mark sub-steps based on result
+                # Step 4: sub-steps already marked individually inside _run_step_4;
+                # avoid set_phase which would restart a pulse on Boot Verify.
                 if i == 3 and hasattr(self, '_tftp_sub_step_frame'):
-                    if success:
+                    if not success:
-                        self._tftp_sub_step_frame.set_phase("Boot Verify")
-                    else:
                         self._tftp_sub_step_frame.set_step_error("Boot Verify")
             except Exception as e:
                 results.append(False)

src/vitis_checker.py

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ TOOL_ALIASES: dict[str, list[str]] = {
     "xsct": ["xsct"],
     "program_flash": ["program_flash"],
     "bootgen": ["bootgen"],
+    "hw_server": ["hw_server"],
 }
 
 # Product subdirectories under xilinx_root to scan (in preference order)
@@ -330,6 +331,24 @@ def get_vivado_path(vitis_path: str = "", xilinx_root: str = "") -> str | None:
     return _find_executable("vivado", vitis_path, platform.system().lower(), xilinx_root)
 
 
+def get_hw_server_path(vitis_path: str = "", xilinx_root: str = "") -> str | None:
+    """Find the hw_server executable (Xilinx hardware server).
+
+    hw_server must be running before Vivado/xsct can connect to the
+    JTAG chain. This finder searches the same Vitis/Vivado bin dirs.
+
+    Args:
+        vitis_path: Legacy Vitis installation directory.
+        xilinx_root: Xilinx root directory.
+
+    Returns:
+        Path to hw_server executable, or None.
+    """
+    return _find_executable(
+        "hw_server", vitis_path, platform.system().lower(), xilinx_root
+    )
+
+
 # ── Tool version detection ───────────────────────────────────────────
 
 

src/zynq_checker.py

@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ import os
 import re
 import subprocess
 import tempfile
+import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Callable
 
 from config_manager import Config
-from vitis_checker import get_vivado_path, build_tool_command
+from vitis_checker import get_vivado_path, get_hw_server_path, build_tool_command
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -87,42 +88,60 @@ def check_zynq_jtag(config: Config, callback: Callable | None = None) -> ZynqChe
     if callback:
         callback("start", "Connecting to hw_server...")
 
-    # Find vivado executable via Xilinx root scan
+    xilinx_root = getattr(config, "xilinx_path", "")
-    vivado_path = get_vivado_path(
+
-        xilinx_root=getattr(config, "xilinx_path", ""),
+    # ── 1. Find and start hw_server ──────────────────────────
-    )
+    hw_server_path = get_hw_server_path(xilinx_root=xilinx_root)
-    if not vivado_path:
+    if not hw_server_path:
         return ZynqCheckResult(
-            devices=[],
+            devices=[], jtag_chain=[], is_present=False,
-            jtag_chain=[],
+            ps_detected=False, pl_detected=False,
-            is_present=False,
-            ps_detected=False,
-            pl_detected=False,
             hw_server_url=hw_server_url,
-            error="Vivado not found",
+            error="hw_server not found — install Vivado/Vitis hardware server",
         )
 
-    # Create temporary TCL script
+    hw_proc: subprocess.Popen | None = None
-    tcl_content = _build_jtag_query_tcl()
-    tcl_path = Path(tempfile.gettempdir()) / f"zynq_jtag_check_{os.getpid()}.tcl"
     try:
+        # Start hw_server in the background (it daemonises own I/O)
+        hw_proc = subprocess.Popen(
+            build_tool_command(hw_server_path),
+            stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+            stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        )
+        # Give hw_server a moment to bind its port
+        time.sleep(2)
+
+        # ── 2. Find vivado ────────────────────────────────────
+        vivado_path = get_vivado_path(xilinx_root=xilinx_root)
+        if not vivado_path:
+            return ZynqCheckResult(
+                devices=[], jtag_chain=[], is_present=False,
+                ps_detected=False, pl_detected=False,
+                hw_server_url=hw_server_url,
+                error="Vivado not found",
+            )
+
+        # ── 3. Create and run JTAG query TCL ──────────────────
+        tcl_content = _build_jtag_query_tcl()
+        tcl_path = Path(tempfile.gettempdir()) / f"zynq_jtag_check_{os.getpid()}.tcl"
         tcl_path.write_text(tcl_content)
 
         if callback:
             callback("progress", "Scanning JTAG chain...")
 
-        # Run Vivado in batch mode (with environment setup)
+        cmd = build_tool_command(
-        cmd = build_tool_command(vivado_path, "-mode", "batch", "-source", str(tcl_path))
+            vivado_path, "-mode", "batch", "-source", str(tcl_path),
+        )
+        python_timeout = config.step_timeouts.get("check_env", 120)
         result = subprocess.run(
             cmd,
             capture_output=True,
             text=True,
-            timeout=30,
+            timeout=python_timeout,
         )
+        tcl_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
 
         output = result.stdout + result.stderr
-
-        # Parse JTAG device information from output
         jtag_chain = _parse_jtag_chain(output)
         devices = _filter_zynq_devices(jtag_chain)
 
@@ -135,42 +154,42 @@ def check_zynq_jtag(config: Config, callback: Callable | None = None) -> ZynqChe
             else:
                 callback("error", "No Zynq device found on JTAG chain")
 
-        # Check PS and PL detection
         ps_detected = any(d.is_arm_dap for d in jtag_chain)
         pl_detected = any(d.is_pl_device for d in jtag_chain)
 
         return ZynqCheckResult(
-            devices=devices,
+            devices=devices, jtag_chain=jtag_chain,
-            jtag_chain=jtag_chain,
             is_present=len(devices) > 0,
-            ps_detected=ps_detected,
+            ps_detected=ps_detected, pl_detected=pl_detected,
-            pl_detected=pl_detected,
             hw_server_url=hw_server_url,
             error="" if devices else "No Zynq device found on JTAG chain",
         )
 
     except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
         return ZynqCheckResult(
-            devices=[],
+            devices=[], jtag_chain=[], is_present=False,
-            jtag_chain=[],
+            ps_detected=False, pl_detected=False,
-            is_present=False,
-            ps_detected=False,
-            pl_detected=False,
             hw_server_url=hw_server_url,
-            error="JTAG scan timed out after 30s",
+            error=f"JTAG scan timed out after {config.step_timeouts.get('check_env', 120)}s",
         )
     except OSError as e:
         return ZynqCheckResult(
-            devices=[],
+            devices=[], jtag_chain=[], is_present=False,
-            jtag_chain=[],
+            ps_detected=False, pl_detected=False,
-            is_present=False,
-            ps_detected=False,
-            pl_detected=False,
             hw_server_url=hw_server_url,
             error=f"OS error: {e}",
         )
     finally:
-        tcl_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        # ── 4. Kill hw_server ─────────────────────────────────
+        if hw_proc is not None and hw_proc.poll() is None:
+            try:
+                hw_proc.terminate()
+                hw_proc.wait(timeout=3)
+            except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+                hw_proc.kill()
+                hw_proc.wait()
+            except OSError:
+                pass  # already dead
 
 
 def _build_jtag_query_tcl() -> str: