DIY ST-LINK V3

[DanielPi]

Hello.

I am creating my own board with an STM32, and would like to also include my own custom ST LINK V3 on the board itself. Is it possible to get your hands on the firmware for ST-LINK V3? I have seen some unofficial attempts, like this: https://hackaday.io/project/179054-custom-st-link-v20-v21-v30
https://embedblog.eu/?p=780

But I would like to know if there's any way one can get the official firmware from ST.

Edit: As some of you pointed out, there's no need to include the programmer on the actual board unless you're doing a development board, intended to be reprogrammed by the user. A development board is actually exactly what I'm intending on designing, so that's the reason why I want to include the programmer on the board 😉

Regards,

Daniel

[Peter BENSCH · Accepted solution]

Welcome @DanielPi, to the community!

The firmware is closed source, i.e. not open source software and it is illegal to copy it, which can also be read in slightly different words in the Terms of Use, which you can find on the websites of the tools.

But e.g. an STLINK-V3MODS should be cheap enough to use as an alternative, shouldn't it?

Good luck!
/Peter

[Andrew Neil]

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@DanielPi wrote:

I am creating my own board with an STM32, and would like to also include my own custom ST LINK V3 on the board itself. 

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Interesting - why?

As @Peter BENSCH has already said, the ST-Link and its firmware are closed-source.

But there are other open-source debug probes available - search for CMSIS DAP; eg,

https://arm-software.github.io/CMSIS_5/DAP/html/index.html

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2764

https://daplink.io/

https://black-magic.org/ 

[Uwe Bonnes]

Probably the STM32F723 alone will cost more than some ST StlinkV3 module ...

[Peter BENSCH]

There should also be a reason not to put an ST-LINK on your board: the cost. Typically, you want to sell your self-developed device, leaving out any ballast that is useless for the application. However, an ST-LINK requires not only the respective MCU, but also plenty of passive components, a crystal and the USB connector, which, with assembly and board space, totals to around the price of a finished STLINK-V3MODS.

But why make the device more expensive if the customer doesn't need it?

[Uwe Bonnes]

DanielPi probably has the same reason to put an STLink on his (development?)  board as  STM has to put STLinks on Nucleo/Disco/Eval boards. To have something (hopefully) working out of the box.

But doing some own development should only we only a step after work with commercial development has been done. There is so much that can go stray and not having something functional to compare with is bad.

[Andrew Neil]

The reason ST (and everyone else) puts debug probes on their development kits/boards is because those kits are specifically designed for quick and easy development (the clue is in the name) - not for shipping as final-user products.

So, unless @DanielPi  is intending to produce a development board - for people doing STM32 development - it would be very unusual to include a debug probe in a product.

EDIT:

@DanielPi - If you are planning to build & sell a development board, Segger will license a J-Link OB:

https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/models/j-link-ob/ 

[DanielPi]

Thank you very much for you answers Peter!

I edited my original post to point out that I am actually developing a development board, intended to be reprogrammed over and over again by the end user. That's why I wanted to include the programmer on the board.

But since it's closed source, I think I will resort to a UART bootloader.

[DanielPi]

That's exactly right, I am developing a development board, intended to be reprogrammed by the end user.

[DanielPi]

You are exactly right, the product I am developing is a development board!

Thanks for the link on segger, will check it out!