Can't find makefile

[John Hite]

I am trying to run examples from the StmCubeF3 directory. I dbl click the project file and STM32CubeIDE comes up. When I try to build an error message states the makefile is not in the path. An ST document suggested moving my examples to a top level directory so I move them to C:\CubeF3. The makefiles are in the debug directory. Should I move then examples to the default workspace manually which is C:\Users\J\STM32CubeIDE\workspace_1.7.0? I thought directory paths would be resolved relative to project file location, maybe not.

Maybe I extracted my examples to the wrong place or need to import them. As you can tell I am quite new here despite being older than dirt.

I apologize that this is a bit of a repost but I asked it in a query that was too big with multiple questions and it has been marked as Answered so I figure it is dead there.

John

[TDK · Accepted solution]

Go to the example directory in Windows Explorer and find the .project file under the SW4STM32 directory for the example you want. For example, here is one for me:

C:\Users\TDK\STM32Cube\Repository\STM32Cube_FW_F3_V1.11.3\Projects\STM32F302R8-Nucleo\Examples\GPIO\GPIO_IOToggle\SW4STM32\STM32F302R8-Nucleo\.project

Double click that .project file in Windows Explorer.

STM32CubeIDE will open and say the project needs converted. Click OK. Another window will come up with project settings. Defaults should be fine. Click Finish. Some more dialogs come up, and a warning which you can ignore.

Now you should see the project in your workspace on the left side of STM32CubeIDE. Right click and build it and it should build without issue. The play button will load it onto the board, the green bug will debug it.

I verified that this works for me, on this project, with current settings.

[John Hite]

Thanks but no go. Upon double clicking the blue wheel spins a bit then nothing.

I am having trouble with zip files and had to switch to File Viewer Plus 4 to extract the CubeF3 files. Perhaps something did not get unzipped properly when the IDE was being installed.

I will limp along with VisualGDB until I get the zip app working and the IDE re-installed.

Thanks,

John

[John Hite]

And now the rest of the story... (as Paul Harvey used to say. Who? Yeah, I know. Only us old farts know about him.)

TDK you got me on the right path literally and figuratively. I saw that your files were in the Repository directory and that your version was newer than the one I had just downloaded.

Here is how I went down the wrong rabbit hole. This product overview page: https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/nucleo-f303ze.html

said "You might also like..." STM32CubeF3 and sent me to this page that had downloads: https://www.st.com/en/embedded-software/stm32cubef3.html. So I dutifully downloaded the files.

The "Getting Started" document I was reading said download and extract the files in whatever directory you like. That is what did not work.

I had earlier had problems with zip files so I re-installed the IDE and while waiting for the STM32CubeF3 files to download and extract again I decided to build a project. The light finally came on when I saw that the target selector was grinding away, downloading and extracting to the Repository directory.

The Nucleo getting started material could have been a little better and save me a day and a half. I hope someone at ST reads this.

Thanks again, TDK.

John

[TDK]

Unfortunately, a lot of the documentation predates CubeIDE and CubeMX and not a ton of effort has gone into updating it.
For newer families, from about F4 forward, there is an example selector in CubeIDE which will load an example for you without all this nonsense. That makes it much easier.
Glad you got up and running. That’s the most frustrating part of picking things up.

[John Hite]

Hello again and thanks for your persistence and patience. I did not know that an example selector exists. I did find a product selector when trying to build an STM32 project but this was after I tried to launch a project from "a convenient directory". Are the product selector and example selector the same thing? In the product selector there is a column where the Nucleo boards show up.

It was frustrating but it wasn't ever really easy. I could say "By god it was easier in the day, we wrote our assembly, ran the cross assembler, then loaded the code." But a line of with C/C++ or HAL generates a lot more instructions than a line of assembler. So always a little struggle but it is worth it. I would find it unfathomable to write all the stack layers for something like BLE, even in a high level language. Luckily I can buy BLE on a chip with a built-in antenna that comes with a complete set of code consisting of dozens of functions that handle advertising, scanning, etc.

TMI, I will shut up and try to develop now.

Again, many thanks,

John

[TDK]

> Are the product selector and example selector the same thing?

The examples can be loaded from File -> New -> STM32 Project -> Example Selector (but not for the F3 series). Maybe you're looking at the Board Selector from within here. I don't see anything explicitly labeled "Product Selector", but perhaps I'm missing it.

Have fun developing. I don't mind the questions at all. Well written questions are enjoyable to answer, questions like "I can't get X to work" with no other information not so much.