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JBlac
JBlac
Associate III
December 29, 2018
Solved

Why doesn't the TouchGFX F32746G-Disco demo display properly

  • December 29, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 1015 views

​I build the TouchGFX demo in the F32746G-Discovery sample project but the graphics aren't displaying properly.  The touchscreen is working 'cause I can switch screens and sometimes by luck get to a screen that is displaying text (e.g. About TouchGFX) but the rest of the graphics on the screen are just patterns of short horizontal lines, which somewhat represent perhaps a sine wave - don't really know.  Built the program using Atollic 9.2 and loaded with the STM32Cube Programmer (couldn't get ST-LINK to work- no way, no how - gave up in favor of the Cube Programmer and it worked for me right away.  However, need some guidance regarding the graphics display.

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Best answer by JBlac

Solved! It turns out that my problem was because the QSPI external flash wasn't being programmed. I was using ST-LINK at first, then I switched over to using the STM32Cube Programmer as external tools in Atollic Truestudio; but it took a lot of digging and googling to find that I needed to use the "-el" parameter with a valid external loader in order to get the external flash programmed. And QSPI was where all the buttons, etc were stored. Once I got the STM32Cube Programmer to program the QSPI memory, the demo worked fine! I could have used the "-el" parameter on the ST-LINK external tool as well. I must be missing something though because when I used the STM32Cube Programmer to flash the board, it worked; but when I did it using the ....CLI.exe version it didn't. I would get a message about a write parameter error. I'm wondering if the "-el" parameter has an address value that I needed to provide. Would you happen to know the answer to that? I didn't see one in the doc, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss it. But, to your reply...GREAT! I'm looking forward to your document and would appreciate if you could give me a shout when it's available and include a link to it. Thanks. As is the case with most "demos" they are flashy, but provide no guidance in terms of building something like that for yourself. I've put together some P/C graphics programs using C# but the MCU world is new to me...a lot to learn for a 73 y.o. ! I just started fooling around with Arduino about 6 months ago and also did some graphics work in MicroPython/CircuitPython on SAMD21/51 boards. Anyway, thanks again.

3 replies

Mon2
Mon2
Senior III
December 30, 2018

Hang tight. It is working now after a lot of effort but is using the SW4STM32 compiler + TouchGFX + CubeMX. A document will be posted soon by @Clark Sann​ detailing the procedure.

Clark Sann
Clark Sann
Associate III
December 30, 2018

@JB.5lacker​ 

I have seen the same problems with that demo project. Rather than fix it, if I were you I would create my own display using CubeMX. Since that project is defective, I would also advise you to not use it as a template for another project. Using STM32CubeMX seems like a better way to go.

I just posted a message containing instructions on creating a TouchGFX project using SW4STM32, STM32CubeMX, and the STM32F746G-DISCO board. Once it passes moderation, you should be able to find it.

This document shows you the steps to create a new TouchGFX project for your board. By following the steps, you should have a working project in just a few minutes.

JBlac
JBlacAuthorBest answer
Associate III
December 30, 2018

Solved! It turns out that my problem was because the QSPI external flash wasn't being programmed. I was using ST-LINK at first, then I switched over to using the STM32Cube Programmer as external tools in Atollic Truestudio; but it took a lot of digging and googling to find that I needed to use the "-el" parameter with a valid external loader in order to get the external flash programmed. And QSPI was where all the buttons, etc were stored. Once I got the STM32Cube Programmer to program the QSPI memory, the demo worked fine! I could have used the "-el" parameter on the ST-LINK external tool as well. I must be missing something though because when I used the STM32Cube Programmer to flash the board, it worked; but when I did it using the ....CLI.exe version it didn't. I would get a message about a write parameter error. I'm wondering if the "-el" parameter has an address value that I needed to provide. Would you happen to know the answer to that? I didn't see one in the doc, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss it. But, to your reply...GREAT! I'm looking forward to your document and would appreciate if you could give me a shout when it's available and include a link to it. Thanks. As is the case with most "demos" they are flashy, but provide no guidance in terms of building something like that for yourself. I've put together some P/C graphics programs using C# but the MCU world is new to me...a lot to learn for a 73 y.o. ! I just started fooling around with Arduino about 6 months ago and also did some graphics work in MicroPython/CircuitPython on SAMD21/51 boards. Anyway, thanks again.

Martin KJELDSEN
Martin KJELDSEN
Principal III
January 2, 2019

Hi Joe,

The -EL parameter for ST-Link CLI tells the tool which external Flashloader to use (that is, the .stldr files). You use that along with an address (e.g. 0x90000000) to program the external flash memory.

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