Using ST-Link v2 and Utility to read program from STM32F103C8T

[ludemon]

Using ST-Link v2 and Utility I've been trying to read and save a hex file from a EVSE device that uses a STM32F1 microprocessor to control and display functions. I thought that it was just a matter of connecting via the  debug/program interface and then saving the result, but unfortunately I seem to have erased everything and now the memory is displayed as empty.
My experience on this sort of thing is limited so can anyone help and possibly comment on what I'm doing wrong?

[Andrew Neil]

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@ludemon wrote:

 the fact that I disabled read out protection in Option Bytes caused the flash memory to be erased. .

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Indeed - that is the documented behaviour.

Think about it: if you could simply bypass the readout protection by just editing the option bytes that wouldn't provide any protection at all - would it?

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@ludemon wrote:

 it seems that if the code is read protected I can't do anything anyway.

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Indeed - that is the whole point of protecting the code!

[ludemon]

Well at the time I didn't know whether read protection was a feature of the Utility or imposed by the code creator. I now know different.

Thanks

[Andrew Neil]

It's a feature of the chip - documented in the Programming Manual:

https://www.st.com/resource/en/programming_manual/pm0075-stm32f10xxx-flash-memory-microcontrollers-stmicroelectronics.pdf#page=17

If your question is now answered, please mark the solution.

[ludemon]

Thank you for pointing this out. however the programming manual is obviously aimed at coding savvy people and not an end user wanting to diagnose a problem and subsequently repair a faulty device to keep it out of landfill 

[Andrew Neil]

It seems that your original question is now answered?

If so, please mark the solution - see:

https://community.st.com/t5/community-guidelines/help-others-to-solve-their-issues/ta-p/575256