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Frederic Pillon edited this page Jul 10, 2020 · 28 revisions

Upload methods

Mass Storage

This upload method is mainly dedicated to boards manufactured by ST which integrate a ST-Link: Nucleo, Discovery, Eval.

This enables drag-and-drop flash programming, so there is no need for a separate debug probe. The mass storage device of the ST-Link is a virtual disk, copy on this disk a binary will program it. Once programmed into the MCU the copied binary disappears from the virtual disk.

STLink

/img/Warning-icon.png Deprecated since core version > 1.5.0 replaced by STM32CubeProgrammer (SWD)

Requires a ST-Link/V2 device connected to the PC over USB and to the board via the SWD interface.

/img/Tips-icon.png Several boards manufactured by ST integrate ST-Link: Nucleo, Discovery, Eval.

Be sure that the necessary driver for Windows is installed (available here) and the ST-Link adapter is updated to the latest firmware (application to upgrade the firmware).

Only 3 pins are required for basic programming and debugging of the STM32 MCU devices (4 if the board is powered by the programmer) using Serial Debug Wire (SWD):

  • GND
  • SWDIO
  • SWCLK
  • 3.3V (optional)

/img/Important-icon.png Avoid wired 3.3V to the target board if it is already powered by an other source (external supply, USB,..) else you may damage the board, programmer, USB port or external supply.

Refers to ST-Link V2 user Manual and the board documentations (User Manual, schematics,...) to ensure connect to the right pins.

Serial

/img/Warning-icon.png Deprecated since core version > 1.5.0 replaced by STM32CubeProgrammer (Serial)

This requires to restart the STM32 in 'native bootloader' mode and rely on Boot pins. Check in STM32 microcontroller system memory boot mode AN2606 which pattern to apply to activate the bootloader for the dedicated STM32 MCU. Check also which U(S)ART is used.

/img/Warning-icon.png A serial port or additional USB to Serial adapter is needed.

Connect power, GND, and Tx/Rx pins of the serial adapter to your STM32 U(S)ART.

Adapter Tx goes to STM32 Rx and Rx goes to STM32 Tx.

BMP (Black Magic Probe)

Refers to Black Magic Probe site and its Getting-Started Wiki.

STM32CubeProgrammer

/img/Warning-icon.png Since core version > 1.5.0

STM32CubeProgrammer allows to write and verify device memory through both the debug interface (JTAG and SWD) and the bootloader interface (UART, USB DFU, I2C, SPI, and CAN).

Since version 1.6.0, three upload methods are based on the STM32CubeProgrammer CLI (command-line interface):

  • SWD
  • Serial
  • DFU

Requirement

To use those upload methods, STM32CubeProgrammer have to be installed manually as it is not provided through the tools packages.

User can change the default install path but in this case, the new path have to be added in the PATH environment variable.

Default path of STM32CubeProgrammer binary:

  • Linux: $HOME/STMicroelectronics/STM32Cube/STM32CubeProgrammer/bin
  • Mac: /Applications/STMicroelectronics/STM32Cube/STM32CubeProgrammer/STM32CubeProgrammer.app/Contents/MacOs/bin
  • Windows:
    • 32 bits: %ProgramFiles(X86)%\STMicroelectronics\STM32Cube\STM32CubeProgrammer\bin
    • 64 bits: %ProgramW6432%\STMicroelectronics\STM32Cube\STM32CubeProgrammer\bin

To add your custom installation path you can refer to this HowTo

In any case, if the STM32CubeProgrammer binary is not found, user will be warned like this:

STM32_Programmer.sh/STM32_Programmer_CLI.exe not found.
Please install it or add '<STM32CubeProgrammer path>/bin' to your PATH environment:`
https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stm32cubeprog.html`
Aborting!

Arduino integration

Scripts have been deployed thanks STM32 Tools packages to ease Arduino integration and allow to have only one definition of the tool in the platform.txt:

{upload.protocol} allows to select the right interface to use:

  • 0: SWD
  • 1: Serial (using the built-in ST bootloader)
  • 2: DFU (using the built-in ST bootloader)

See AN2606 for STM32 microcontroller system memory boot mode.

{upload.options} is used to pass extra options:

  • -rst for SWD to reset the device after the flash
  • {serial.port.file} -s for Serial

/img/Note-icon.png Note: I2C, SPI, CAN could be added as supported by the STM32CubeProgrammer tool.

SWD

This method replace the STLink one and works the same way. In addition to the ST-Link/V2 support, it allows to support the ST-Link/V3

Serial

This method replace the STLink one and works the same way.

DFU

This requires to restart the STM32 in 'native bootloader' mode and rely on Boot pins. Check in STM32 microcontroller system memory boot mode AN2606 which pattern to apply to activate the bootloader for the dedicated STM32 MCU.

/img/Warning-icon.png USB cable have to be plug to enter in DFU mode.

HID Bootloader 2.2 (HID BL)

This is a driverless USB bootloader for STM32F10x and STM32F4xx MCUs and is based on HID protocol. No special USB drivers are needed, even on Windows.

The bootloader is installed at 0x8000000 address. On STM32F103, the bootloader consumes only 2 kB of flash memory (0x800). The user code area starts at 0x8000800

The STM32F4xx MCUs have built-in DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) but you can also use HID BL for uploading firmwares.

  • The advantage of using HID BL instead of the DFU bootloader is that the entire firmware update process is automatic. You do not have to press any button or set any PCB jumper.

  • The downside is that the F4 HID BL firmware is larger than the F1 version, consuming 16kB (0x4000) of available flash memory.

The hid-flash tool is available on Windows, Linux and MacOS.

Details of HID bootloader v2.2 (and newer) hid-flash tool as well as ready-to-use binary files can be found at the GitHub repository: https://github.com/Serasidis/STM32_HID_Bootloader

/img/Warning-icon.png USB CDC have to be enable else you will not be able to upload automatically as bootloader reset sequence are manged through the USB CDC communication port.

Maple DFU Bootloader

/img/Warning-icon.png Since core version > 1.5.0

Extract from the legacy wiki page about bootloaders (http://wiki.stm32duino.com/index.php?title=Bootloader):

In order to simplify the upload process leveraging the USB device, Leaflabs developed a custom DFU bootloader that needs to be uploaded in the MCU at address 0x08000000 via one of the standard STM upload methods (ST Link or standard STM serial bootloader); this custom bootloader is called the original Maple bootloader. Leaflabs' documentation about the original Maple bootloader can be found here: http://docs.leaflabs.com/static.leaflabs.com/pub/leaflabs/maple-docs/latest/bootloader.html

stm32duino.com guys modified the original Maple bootloader in order to:

  • enable support for STM32F103 non-Maple boards (blue pill and other generic boards)
  • fix issues found in the original Maple bootloader
  • reduce the bootloader size so that enlarging the memory available to user sketches
  • remove the option to upload to RAM

This modified version of the Maple bootloader is known as STM32duino-bootloader or also bootloader 2.0. Details about the STM32duino-bootloader as well as ready to use binary files can be found in the GitHub repository: https://github.com/rogerclarkmelbourne/STM32duino-bootloader

Notes:

  • Maple devices (including clones) generally come with the original Maple bootloader preloaded.
  • Generic STM32F103 boards on the other side come with no custom bootloader installed.
  • Maple bootloader 2.0 consumes 8KB of flash.
  • Maple bootloader original consumes 20kb of flash and some of the SRAM.

/img/Warning-icon.png USB CDC have to be enable else you will not be able to upload automatically as bootloader reset sequence are manged through the USB CDC communication port.

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