I bought a STM32F100RB Discovery board and didn't realize at the time that it only comes with the ST-LINK V1. Is there a way to update the STM32F103C8 that is used for programming and debugging to ST-Link 2.1?

[JWire.1]

I have done a bit a research already to try and figure out if I could do this. First thing I tried was to use the ST Link update tool but that just updated it to the newest ST Link V1 file.

I also found this link https://visserslatijn.wordpress.com/2019/01/20/upgrade-st-link-v1-to-v2/

Which explains basically the same situation I am in. Seeing as this was posted in 2019 I thought It might be a bit out of date and I was wondering if there was any other way that I could do this? I have other nucleo boards so I was thinking I could use one of those to program the.

STM32F103C8

I also noticed that the nucleo boards use a STM32F103RB and not the STM32F103C8 which as pointed out in the link above has less memory and there are a few minor changes to the schematic. In the end he said he was able to to successfully modify it to a ST-Linkv2.

I would be willing to spend a bit of time to try and figure this out but at the same time I also was hoping for an easier solution than what the link above had to do. I was hoping to give this to someone as a gift but don't want them to have to deal with all of this.

Would love to hear someone's thoughts on this as I don't know if I should spend the time or just say forget it and order a different board.

Thanks

Jacamo

[Tesla DeLorean · Accepted solution]

>> Is there a way to update the STM32F103C8 that is used for programming and debugging to ST-Link 2.1?

No

The original VL-DISCO board is over a decade old, ST walked away for it a long time ago. I'd expect the contemporary tools still work, but all seems a lot of effort, for little reward.

Also from a training/education perspective, employers want NEW skills, supporting current families of parts, the STM32 ecosystem is far broader today.

NUCLEO boards are relatively cheap at the lower end.

There are a lot of cheap boot-leg/clone ST-LINK/V2 dongles.

There are a lot of cheap Black/Blue boards from Taobao, WeAct, VccGnd, etc with richer features, screens, flash, sdcards, pin escape, and accessible JTAG/SWD connectors.

[waclawek.jan]

Given ST officially does not support the V1 STLink, I'd expect ST would discontinue the STM32VLDISCOVERY by now, given they've discontinued 3 newer DISCO boards already. I'd also expect they'd work with the 1st and 2nd tier distributors (at least Mouser, which serves as ST"s own "shop") to remove the board from their offering.

@Amel NASRI​ , any chance to push this to folks who may act in this regard? Thanks.

JW

[Tesla DeLorean]

I'd agree, continuing its sale just creates/perpetuates a frustrating situation for people who want to learn/dabble.

Perhaps a transitory firmware? Could this be converted to CMSIS-DAP or a limited function ST-LINK/V2 or J-LINK ?

There's probably a large warehouse full of these things, next to the Atari ET Game Cartridges..

[JWire.1]

Thanks for the feedback,

I actually had just ordered 2 of these boards (I only meant to get one) from mouser last week and If I remember correctly they still had like 200 in stock. I didn't realize it was that old and my thought process behind getting it was "this board must have a lot of support and examples being the flagship product" but I guess I was wrong there.

Looks like I will just go ahead and just put these in a box to never be seen again and order some newer boards.

Jacamo

[Amel NASRI]

Hi @Community member​ ,

Thanks for sharing. I'm checking the current position of STM32VLDISCOVERY and I'll come back to you as soon as I get the answer.

-Amel

[waclawek.jan]

Thanks, Amel.

JW

[S C]

Hello,

The STM32VLDISCOVERY board is a more than 10-years old board, embedding the first architecture version of the ST-Link. It is still supported by tools with the following limitations (features appeared afterwards):

• not supported under Linux and MacOS systems
• not supported in shared mode (through stlinkserver)
• no SWV trace (signal not connected on hardware)
• no virtual COM port, no mbed feature (hardware design: no UART, no possibility to enumerate multiple USB interfaces)

The board is not considered obsolete right now because it can still be supported with its initial features. The difference with the ST-Link/V1 standalone probe is that this last one has been functionally replaced by ST-Link/V2 standalone probe then STLINK-V3SET probe, while this board targets the STM32F100 discovery and has no alternative for this micro.

Because of hardware differences, it is not possible to extend the features of this board by firmware upgrade. I'm sorry if this board disappointed you because of its limited features. I don't think this board is still produced, and I will ask how this case can be managed to avoid frustrations. Perhaps it could be declared obsolete from now, but I'm wondering because of STM32F100.

For information, an overview of ST-Link features and history is available in a technical note TN1235: https://www.st.com/resource/en/technical_note/tn1235-overview-of-stlink-derivatives-stmicroelectronics.pdf, which could help you choosing a board if you care on the ST-Link features more than on the embedded target microcontroller.

[thundertronics.com]

For programming part, you might be interested in flash and run without debug using st-link command line utility (works with stlink v1):

1. Install st-link utilites, open STM32CubeIDE
2. Open Project→ Properties→ C/C++ Build→ Settings→ tab "Tool Settings" → MCU Post build outputs check "Convert to Intel Hex file"
3. Open Run → Debug Configurations double-click on first line "C/C++ Application" to create new configuration.
4. Under the tab "Main" set "C/C++ Application" to ST-LINK_CLI.exe, inculding full path (look for it in Program Files (x86) directory)
5. Under the tab "Arguments" set "Program arguments" to -c SWD -P ${project_loc}\${config_name:${project_name}}\${project_name}.hex -rst
6. Under the tab "Common" check "Display in favorites menu" – "Run"
7. Open Window → Preferences → General → Keys set Command "Run" Binding to Ctrl+F11 (error with command: gdb --version will not appear when using hotkey).

Usage: press Ctrl+F11 to build and run, or just Ctrl+B if you just want to build without flashing.