STM32F411E-DISCO board basics

Posted on August 21, 2016 at 16:38

I've attached a .HEX file with the original F411-DISCO board to this post. You'd download a copy of the ST-LINK Utilities, load the file into that, and then program it. ie File->Open, Target->Program

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Attachments :

F411E-DISCO.hex : https://st--c.eu10.content.force.com/sfc/dist/version/download/?oid=00Db0000000YtG6&ids=0680X000006Hzmu&d=%2Fa%2F0X0000000bPd%2FgSC.DmdToix6yWPdD5_RXcOg6_R.M_Yhk0qLLt3ExP0&asPdf=false

Posted on August 22, 2016 at 14:51

Thankyou Clive1 for taking the time to track the image down and put together a quick list of instructions, much appreciated.

I've taken the attached file, downloaded the ST-Link V2 software on Windows, installed the device driver, fired up the ST-Link utility, and followed the steps you provided with some minor changes. Everything worked beautifully.

The installation files I used were from here:

http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/development-tools/hardware-development-tools/development-tool-hardware-for-mcus/debug-hardware-for-mcus/debug-hardware-for-stm32-mcus/st-link-v2.html

Some additional context that was missing from my original post:

I've been trying to get things going on a Linux box with the arm-none-eabi toolset, and not having a lot of luck. I have been struggling with both my unfamiliarity with the platform and some intermittent hardware issues. I'd reached the point where I really needed to go back, confirm a working environment with the best-supported tools, and be able to program something that I could use to confirm that the program has worked. Any sort of LED blinker would suit, but having the same image that I had seen working on the board previously would have been be ideal.

Thankyou for your post and for getting me back onto the right track. This gives me a lot to experiment with. Being armed with a known working case will hopegully mean that I can figure out what has been going wrong thus far.

...

So, it looks like I'm well-covered for the first two questions now. :)

In asking the latter two questions in my original post, I was hoping to get a better idea as to the best place to start in order to get a trivial image running. Being new to the platform, I do not yet know the best-supported toolchain, nor the best-supported level to come in at (eg. low-level, CMSIS, HAL, something else?) yet. Having one solid working example means that I can use this to diagnose problems with less trivial examples, as well as giving me a foundation on which I can build further.

Any thoughts welcome. :)

Posted on August 22, 2016 at 14:53

Hi _._.156,

You may find all what you need to get started with the Discovery kit for STM32F411 line in

http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/evaluation-tools/product-evaluation-tools/mcu-eval-tools/stm32-mcu-eval-tools/stm32-mcu-discovery-kits/32f411ediscovery.html

. Simple examples as well as more complicated ones may be found in the

http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/embedded-software/mcus-embedded-software/stm32-embedded-software/stm32cube-embedded-software/stm32cubef4.html

(STM32Cube_FW_F4_V1.13.0\Projects\STM32F411E-Discovery).

-Mayla-

Posted on August 22, 2016 at 15:07

As IDE, I recommend you to select the

http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/development-tools/software-development-tools/stm32-software-development-tools/stm32-ides/sw4stm32.html?sc=sw4stm32

free toolchain which can be used on Linux platform.

Pre-configured projects for SW4STM32 and other IDEs are available in the Cube package. The demonstration you are looking for is under STM32Cube_FW_F4_V1.13.0\Projects\STM32F411E-Discovery\Demonstrations.

-Mayla-

Posted on August 22, 2016 at 16:28

I use the Standard Peripheral Library (SPL), with Keil, in Windows. It is uncomplicated.

I can build things with makefiles and GNU/GCC, and have published a couple of examples of doing that with STM32F4-DISCO boards, although admittedly not the 411E.

I wouldn't be that hard to fashion an example build that would blink the LEDs, or output to a serial connector on an

http://www.newark.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f4dis-bb/expansion-stm32f4-cortex-m4-for/dp/47W1731

or via the SWV

Posted on August 24, 2016 at 13:32

I was recently able to get a simple blinker going with arm-none-eabi under Linux. Everything should be downhill from here.

For anyone else looking to solve the same problem, here are some Makefile settings that may help:

INCLUDES=-I../Inc -I ../Drivers/STM32F4xx_HAL_Driver/Inc -I../Drivers/CMSIS/Device/ST/STM32F4xx/Include -I../Drivers/CMSIS/Include

CFLAGS=-DSTM32F411xE -Wall -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mthumb -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard $(INCLUDES) -O2

LDFLAGS=-mcpu=cortex-m4 -mthumb -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -TSTM32F411VETx_FLASH.ld --specs=nosys.specs

ADDR=0x8000000

OBJS=main.o stm32f4xx_hal_gpio.o stm32f4xx_hal_rcc.o stm32f4xx_hal_msp.o stm32f4xx_it.o stm32f4xx_hal.o stm32f4xx_hal_cortex.o system_stm32f4xx.o startup_stm32f411xe.o

Here are some of the rules I used:

main.o: main.c

        $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<

stm32f4xx_hal.o: ../Drivers/STM32F4xx_HAL_Driver/Src/stm32f4xx_hal.c

        $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<

startup_stm32f411xe.o: ../Drivers/CMSIS/Device/ST/STM32F4xx/Source/Templates/gcc/startup_stm32f411xe.s

        $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<

foo.bin: foo.elf

        $(OBJCOPY) -Obinary foo.elf foo.bin

        

foo.elf: $(OBJS) main.o

        $(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJS)

flash: foo.bin

        st-flash --reset write foo.bin $(ADDR)

Note that this was a hack job- it's not neat. The aim was to get something going, making it pretty can come later. ;)

The base code is a mish-mash of CubeMX generated code using ''Other Toolchains (GPDSC)'', and some from ''SW4STM32''. It is probably easier to just start with SW4STM32 (thanks Mayla), but I can't confirm the steps there.

STM32F411VETx_FLASH.ld was generated by CubeMX using SW4STM32 and used without change. I don't believe the other toolchain generated an ld file that I could use.

I believe ''startup_stm32f411xe.s'' is needed to resolve a missing init or exit or similar.

I experimented with ''-nostdlib'' and ''-nostartfiles'', but didn't succeed with these options.

The hex code and ST-Link advice from clive1 was invaluable for confirming the ability to flash, how correct data should look, and what many of the correct settings were (thanks clive1).

I can't promise that the above is the best way to do it- it's just the first solution I was able to find. Someone with more experience with the environment could probably offer a far better solution.

Thankyou clive1 and Mayla for your suggestions and advice- there were too many variables for me to be able to solve this problem without your input. There are still a number of pointers that you have given that I intend to explore fully. Thanks again. :)