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.

[JRaje.1]

Please send the english version of STM32F407VET6 black board schematic ??

[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...

[WHyns]

because they do not know.

[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.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Frequently these things have more utility than Nucleo's, as noted the MicroSD card is big for me as it allows for easy logging and update options. Plus there are a lot of pins exposed.

[MVerm.2]

Hi,

I am also having the exact same board with StLink V2 Clone. Can anyone please describe how to setup the bootloader jumpers BT0 and BT1.

I have tied the ST Link Dongle pins RST, SWClock, SWDIO with their respective destinations on the board. Do I need to connect that SWIM pin from the dongle to the board too?

[Pavel A.]

ST-LINK.v2 white dongles have two connectors, use the large one. The SWIM connector is for STM8.

-- pa

[MVerm.2]

Thank you so much @Pavel A.​  . Can you please tell me what to do with the bootloader jumpers?

[WHyns]

I know you do not want to hear this but here is my way of dealing with these boards ,before I order I ensure I have the cores loaded into my arduino ide, next I check for any arduino bootloader for the board , I insure there is a RX,TX ,boot 0,1 pins ,just in case I have my jtag and a copy of the code to change the protection bit from a 1 to a 0 or vice versa, than I wipe the demo code ,install the arduino bootloader and now this board can be treated just like any arduino board then I can have fun.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Sure, but that tends to be a trailing-edge approach, once all the board support and variant files have been created but someone sufficiently invested in making that work.

A lot of these AliExpress, Taobao, VCC-GND, boards do at least curry interest on GitHub by the MicroPython crowd.