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Associate II
April 21, 2026
Solved

STM32F4DISCOVERY issue - RDP stuck at 0xFF

  • April 21, 2026
  • 22 replies
  • 682 views

 

Hey everyone,
I'm having a weird issue with my STM32F4DISCOVERY board (MB997). It was working fine before, but now I can't program it anymore.
Board info:

 

  • Board: STM32F4DISCOVERY
  • Device: STM32F407VGT6
  • ST-LINK FW: V2J46M33
  • ST-LINK SN: 0671FF37324D423143244649

 

Symptoms:

 

  • STM32CubeProgrammer connects OK (Device ID 0x413 confirmed)
  • Flash erase fails: Error: failed to erase memory sectors [0-2]
  • RDP Option Byte shows 0xFF (corrupted)
  • BOR_LEV = 3 (BOR OFF)
  • Writing RDP from 0xFF to 0xAA fails, always comes back as 0xFF
  • VDD measured at 2.89V

 

What I've tried:

 

  • Under Reset mode
  • ST-LINK Utility
  • STM32cubeProgrammer
  • Different USB cable
  • ST-LINK firmware update
Nothing works. RDP is stuck at 0xFF.
Has anyone seen this before? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Best answer by mƎALLEm

@raniaa wrote:
 

If the same program works on the second board, can I conclude that the first board is faulty? And if the same problem also appears on the second board, what should I check or do next?


If with the second board and without connecting something else still working, the first board is broken.

If with the second board and without connecting something else, stops working, there is something in your application/code causes the behavior.. 

22 replies

ST Technical Moderator
April 21, 2026

Hello @raniaa 
This is kind a weird issue to have
first did you apply any
-hardware modification
-flashed some code
-modified the RDP
between when the board was working fine and stopped working?
-Also, the 2.89V is suspicious
-also, do you feel like the MCU itself gets overheated? 
can you test the voltage at MCU level and see what you get? maybe the board voltage regulator becomes faulty
which lead to some corruption when flashing the memory: (don't forget to remove the jumper before measuring)

Gyessine_0-1776779317776.png

-Also, can you try to connect it using the under-reset mode then reprogram RDP to 0xAA enable BOR and do a power cycle
BR
Gyessine

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raniaaAuthor
Associate II
April 21, 2026

Hello,

Yes, I did flash code before the issue appeared.
I did not modify the RDP manually.

The MCU is not overheating.

I measured the voltage directly on the MCU VDD pins using a multimeter, and I get around 2.93V

mƎALLEm
ST Technical Moderator
April 21, 2026

@raniaa wrote:

I measured the voltage directly on the MCU VDD pins using a multimeter, and I get around 2.93V


The idea here is to remove JP1 and measure the voltage of the power source side on that jumper. The purpose is to detect if there is a voltage drop on the voltage regulator output while powering supply the MCU.

To give better visibility on the answered topics, please click "Best answer" on the reply which solved your issue or answered your question.