No ST-Link Detected

jrronzani · ‎2025-12-23

Hi,

I'm having trouble getting my ST-Link V2 dongle to be recognized by Cube Programmer. It is recognized by Windows 10 in the device manager, I have been able to update the firmware, and I can get it to load in STM32 ST-Link Utility, but that program doesn't support the .elf file format I need.

When I launch Cube Programmer, it does recognize something as shown by the voltage and the firmware (image attached), but when I click the refresh button next to the serial number it says "No ST-Link detected."

I've read from others that there are a lot knockoffs of these dongles floating around that don't work anymore. That might be the problem with mine (this is the second one I've bought and tried). Can anyone point me to a good source to buy a legit one?

In the products page, I've only seen the bigger ST-Link V2 unit and the smaller USB-C V3 unit, but not the V2 Dongle.

I'm trying to flash a board for an Atari 2600 homebrew game I made and I attached a diagram of what the instructions show for the board which specifically shows the ST-Link V2 (STM8 & STM32) . Does anyone know of a fix for this device or another device I could buy that could accomplish this same goal?

I am brand new to all of this and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much.

jrronzani · ‎2025-12-23

Hey thanks for the feedback!

I got it working somehow after installing STM32CubeIDE. Maybe it triggered something to work somehow or maybe it was just coincidence.

Either way, I was successfully able to get my Atari game flashed after hours of banging my head against the wall with this device! Haha!

I will look into getting a better device from somewhere like Digikey so I don't run into this issue again. I'm brand new to this scene and I didn't even know where to start. Thanks for your help!

View solution in original post

TDK · ‎2025-12-23

The USB dongle you show is not an ST product and unfortunately there is no guarantee it will work with ST tools. Most of these devices have counterfeit chips.

If you want a programmer that works, buy a genuine ST product from a reputable vendor like digikey.

If you feel a post has answered your question, please click "Accept as Solution".

jrronzani · ‎2025-12-23

Hey thanks for the feedback!

I got it working somehow after installing STM32CubeIDE. Maybe it triggered something to work somehow or maybe it was just coincidence.

Either way, I was successfully able to get my Atari game flashed after hours of banging my head against the wall with this device! Haha!

I will look into getting a better device from somewhere like Digikey so I don't run into this issue again. I'm brand new to this scene and I didn't even know where to start. Thanks for your help!

amandaolivia2 · ‎2026-05-16

@jrronzani wrote:
Hi,

I'm having trouble getting my ST-Link V2 dongle to be recognized by Cube Programmer. It is recognized by Windows 10 in the device manager, I have been able to update the firmware, and I can get it to load in STM32 ST-Link Utility, but that program doesn't support the .elf file format I need.

When I launch Cube Programmer, it does recognize something as shown by the voltage and the firmware (image attached), but when I click the refresh button next to the serial number it says "No ST-Link detected."

I've read from others that there are a lot knockoffs of these dongles floating around that don't work anymore. That might be the problem with mine (this is the second one I've bought and tried). Can anyone point me to a good source to buy a legit one?

This situation actually reminds me of issues often discussed in gsmneo frp communities, where cloned or unsupported flashing tools may partially connect to a device but fail during authentication or communication stages, even though Windows still detects the hardware correctly. You can check more about it here https://themorsecodetranslator.net/. In the products page, I've only seen the bigger ST-Link V2 unit and the smaller USB-C V3 unit, but not the V2 Dongle.

I'm trying to flash a board for an Atari 2600 homebrew game I made and I attached a diagram of what the instructions show for the board which specifically shows the ST-Link V2 (STM8 & STM32) . Does anyone know of a fix for this device or another device I could buy that could accomplish this same goal?

I am brand new to all of this and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much.

I also have the same question because I’m facing a very similar issue with my ST-Link V2 dongle. Windows detects it correctly and even the ST-Link Utility seems to communicate with it, but Cube Programmer keeps saying “No ST-Link detected” when trying to refresh the serial number.

I’ve also read that many clone versions of these dongles have compatibility problems with newer STM32 tools, so I’m wondering if that could be the cause too. If anyone knows a reliable place to buy a genuine ST-Link V2 or another compatible programmer that works well for flashing .elf files, I’d really appreciate the recommendation.

jrronzani · ‎2026-05-16

Hey there! I solved this by simply installing STMCubeIDE as well and somehow STM32CubeProgrammer started recognizing my device! Perhaps it automatically fixed some the one with the drivers. My friend was having the same issue and that fixed it for him as well. So give it a shot!