How to program STM32F407VET6 boards?

[Andrew Crawford]

Hey everyone, I am new to STM hardware and software... Recently got a development board from a third party that's based around the aforementioned microcontroller. From what I gather you can start building on STM projects from STM32CubeMX, however I could not find the board in their board selector (as it is a third party) and im unsure how programming the board would differ from programming the bare MCU if I would simply select to use the MCU itself.

Can I proceed to program the board just by telling the software the model of the MCU, or is there a way to install an additional software package that has the board information (and is this available)? Thanks!

[Tesla DeLorean]

You could inquire if you random board vendor has template or project file.

Otherwise pick the chip, and start inputting the pins you plan to use by referring to the schematic for the board.

You don't even need to use CubeMX, there are HAL example applications under the repository trees, which you could port to your board. Perhaps start with something simple that toggles a GPIO

[Andrew Crawford]

Ah, thank you! If the template/project file isn't otherwise available I can go that route​ and program it myself, however I bought it too long ago to contact the supplier and these boards seem fairly common, would hate to go through all the work if it were out there elsewhere in an easier format. Sorry, should have specified what board I was using as well, but here is an attached image if anyone knows.

[Vangelis Fortounas]

Hi,

Here is a schematic for your board .

Hope it helps you to start programming.

[S.Ma]

Visually the 2x10 pin connector on the top right of the picture is a debug port compatible with ST LINK v2 debugger box. The debugger hw seems not provided.

[Piranha]

So, one can get this board without a debugger for a 10 USD or get a NUCLEO-F446RE with on-board ST-LINK for a 15 USD. I don't understand why people do this to themselves...

[Andrew Crawford]

Ah, thank you all so much! And unfortunately I only did that to myself due to ignorance about STM32s (coming from an Arduino world and still fairly green at that), didn't occur to me that there might be more to programming it than what was already on the board​.

I also found a resource elsewhere online that detailed how to program these boards using the debug port and another peripheral attachment (either an ST link or another nucleo model, can't remember for sure), it just didn't use the STM32CubeMX software so I wasn't sure if the peripheral was due to their methods or if it was necessary in general, but good to know it's just par for the course :p will definitely look more into that.

And thank you for the schematic! The project I am working on is something I would eventually like to move off of the board(s) and just use standalone controllers, so that will definitely come in handy later on regardless. Thanks again!

[thomas.unger]

Hi, bought myself one of those not so long ago. Works fine, mine came with a 3.2'' 320x240 LCD. Lost the firmware when I flashed the board to do some basic testing.

I created a CubeMX project for the board, so this might help somebody getting started. File and schematic used to create the pin layout are attached.

The store where I bought it has a link to the firmware that takes you to a Chinese website: Link: http://pan.baidu.com/s/1bp91T51    password: 4ew3

Maybe somebody is more capable than me downloading the files and providing them. I give up..

[Andrew Crawford]

Hey thanks so much, really appreciate that! Unfortunately I still haven’t gotten around to messing with it (just because I still have another project to finish up with first) but when I get to doing that I’ll definitely give this a look. Thanks again!

[--Oz--]

I have found some files/code for this board here (it maybe the same as Thomas posted above, IDK):

http://myosuploads3.banggood.com/products/20191107/20191107030317data.rar

@Piranha 

There is no best answer for everyone, the st-link programmers are less than $2, also this board has 30+ more pins to work with, LCD interface, NFC port, rtc, micro sd socket, 2mb dataflash, and couple sw's to name a few, all for less than the ST board you mentioned. For my upcoming project, there simply was not enough pins and no simple display connector.