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chriskuku
Senior II
October 28, 2020
Question

ST-Link Firmware Upgrade Discovery Board MB997C

  • October 28, 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 2460 views

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7 replies

chriskuku
chriskukuAuthor
Senior II
October 28, 2020

Sorry, I did not know that what I wrote in the title already was the question :)

Anyway, I got a somewhat older STM32F407 Discovery board (MB997C), which has a program loaded into flash. I would like to read out that program (whole flash).

For this purpose I connected it to my Notebook via USB-cable, but the board isn't recognizes as a USB-Device.

Can I upgrade the firmware for this board.

It is the highest priority that the content of the Flash has to be left untouched and preserved at any rate.

Can I read out the Flash by other means to make a backup first?

--

Christoph

Tesla DeLorean
Guru
October 28, 2020

Use the Mini USB, on the NORTH end of board, NOT the Micro A-B on the SOUTH end

Use ST-LINK Utilities, or STM32 Cube Programmer

Device should have 1MB of FLASH, should be able to read/save

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TDK
October 28, 2020

Are you connecting to the correct USB port (CN1)? Should be able to connect with STM32CubeProgrammer.

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chriskuku
chriskukuAuthor
Senior II
October 29, 2020

@clive1, @TDK: sure, I was using the Mini-USB (CN1), "North", as you put it.

And, yes, I used ST-LINK Utility. And that board wasn't recognized, as I wrote. While the newer one (MB997D) *is* recognized.

The I asked: "Can I upgrade the firmware for this board?" (forgot the question mark)

And can I do that without harm to the current flash contents? Better not, I guess.

So my question: "Can I read out the flash contents by other means now?"

Tesla DeLorean
Guru
October 29, 2020

If your system can't find the ST-LINK it is not going to be able to upgrade/fix the firmware on it.

To get at the firmware on the F407 device, you can strap BOOT0 to VDD so it resets into the System Boot Loader, and either use USART1 via PA9/PA10 (there is a capacitor that needs removing) and use the serial protocol of the boot loader. The South End USB connectors should come up as an "STM32 DFU Device" and you can use the USB/DFU DfuSe protocol of the boot loader.

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chriskuku
chriskukuAuthor
Senior II
October 29, 2020

The situation now is: I cannot see the board as a USB device on Micro USB (NORTH) Adapter.

So you say I can use the South End USB Connector. With what program can I then read out the device by means of the "USB/DfuSe protocol"?

I tried to connect the board through the SOUTH USB connector to my computer with BOOT0 jumpered to Vdd. There doesn't seem to be a USB device being attached. See no LED being lit on the board as if it is not being powered (?).

TDK
October 29, 2020

You could use the bootloader if you have a UART device available. Going to be much easier to use the built-in ST-Link though.

> The I asked: "Can I upgrade the firmware for this board?" (forgot the question mark)

> And can I do that without harm to the current flash contents?

The flash contents are the firmware. The are one and the same.

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chriskuku
chriskukuAuthor
Senior II
October 29, 2020

@TDK: "The flash contents are the firmware"

In what respect differs "the firmware in flash" from the program that is loaded into flash from e.g. 0x08000000 (my application, that's what I mean when sayiing it's gotta be preserved)?

Andreas Bolsch
Lead III
November 2, 2020

Please mark as resolved by removing SB10.

chriskuku
chriskukuAuthor
Senior II
November 2, 2020

You seem to have been cross reading in mikrocontroller.net. =)

Yes, indeed, my predecessor made a couple of modifications to the STM32F407-Discovery (MB997C), shorted SB10 among other things. Reverting the mods to their original setting enabled me to read out the flash.

 Thus the issue is solved. Is there a button for marking "as solved"?