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gary239955_stm1_stmicro_com
gary239955_stm1_stmicro_com
Associate II
September 10, 2014
Question

Getting jump-started with STM32F429ZIT6U

  • September 10, 2014
  • 6 replies
  • 1294 views
Posted on September 10, 2014 at 11:00

My boss recently gave me a 32F429IDISCOVERY board and asked

me to familiarize myself with the hardware, install and

learn a development environment, and teach myself how to

develop apps for the board, and run one on this hardware.

There are follow-up tasks after that, but I will limit

this plea to just implementing a ''Hello, world!'' program 

on the Discovery board.

Although I have been developing embedded controls for over

30 years, this is my first outing with an ARM product.

My boss also gave me a list of links to resources at ST

Micro, from which I learned there are a least 4, 3rd-party

IDEs to support this processor. I chose to focus on the Keil

MDK-ARM� because it is based on uVision4, which I have

already used with other processors and thus can bypass a

significant chunk of the learning curve.  According to the

documentation I can run it for free as long as I keep my

app size under 32k (and I hope you can do something useful

with that).

I contacted our local Arrow outside sales rep and he gave

me a massive data dump which includes notes from a jump-

start seminar they gave in March.  There is a class on the

STM32F4x family of processors (450 slides), another on the

STM32F3x Standard Firmware Library, and a 3rd (Called ''hands

on'' which seems to be a lab on getting your first STM32F4x

application to run.

I have data sheets and users manuals on more processors and

eval boards than I can shake a stick at, and wading my way

through the pile will be a task in itself.

Based on the info I had, I downloaded a file from Keil

called mdk511a.exe and had to go through my IT department

to get it installed.  The installation seemed to terminate

normally, but when I tried to re-start it the next day I

discovered the install had left no shortcut in either my

Start bar or my Desktop. Looking in my (new)

C:\Keil_v5\ARM\BIN folder I found exactly two

executeables:

- ElfDwT.exe

- FCARM.exe

which I attempted to launch with the ''Run...'' command. But

nothing happened.  So I am clearly not informed enough to

complete even this very fundamental step.

I tried to go back to my Arrow rep, but he is on vacation

(I am in Europe, and they take vacation very seriously

here.)

Does anyone have any pointers to get my first app up and

running (including getting beyond what is probably a stupid

mistake)?

Thanks.

#read-joseph-yiu #keil #possibly-worst-forum-software
This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Super User
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 09:37

There's no need to put manual line breaks in your post!

Sounds like you have a basic failure of the Keil install - so you should contact Keil support about that.

Or get your local Keil distributor to give you a hand.

Also, if you ''have to go through your IT department to get it installed'', then you should insist that they sit with you through the whole  install - their job is

not

  done until you can actually open the IDE!

Note that Keil made some major breaking changes in MDK 5 (see all the grief on the Keil forum) - if you're familiar with uVision-4, it might be better to start with MDK 4.x

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
frankmeyer9
frankmeyer9
Associate III
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 10:52

There's no need to put manual line breaks in your post!

 

Still better than continuously scrolling left and right, as with some postings here ...

Sounds like you have a basic failure of the Keil install - so you should contact Keil support about that.

 

Perhaps you tried to install it as non-administrator ?

I personally didn't try the last Keil versions, however, I would expect the installer to catch this kind of problem.

And yes, the Keil forum would be the first place to ask this question.

gary239955_stm1_stmicro_com
gary239955_stm1_stmicro_comAuthor
Associate II
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 12:40

Every forum is a little bit different and I am new to this one.  I composed that query off-line before I saw how the formatting worked.

I may sound a little burned out, but I have miniscule  expectations of Keil providing support to a freeware user. (I have found--in the interim--on their site a web page  showing the steps of the installation.)

The days of thorough customer support are behind us and we must make do with the best available, which is product  specific. My employer has a prior relationship with Arrow and they are (usually) very diligent about responding  promptly, vacation notwithstanding. I really don't have time  to ask one question and then wait 48 hours to see if I will  get an answer or not. (I have too many questions.)

As to waiting until it was running before letting the IT guy go, I did try simple tests like creating a new project, but it didn't occur to me to shut it down and make sure I could launch it a second time--I will test that from now on.

As regards MDK4 and uVision4: there is a note somewhere on the Keil web site that the matching version numbers is pure co-incidence.  I originally assumed the change from MDK4 to -5 was a change to the UI or the way projects were stored. That being the case, I saw no point in learning the old system at all (I already had to live through this when TI  gave Code Composer Studio a makeover).

I looked at the posts on the Keil forum, and the complaints appear to be exactly what I assumed, not about lack of  functionality in MDK5.

As to posting this question on the Keil forum, I am a little distressed this didn't dawn on me in the first place.

Thanks.

Tesla DeLorean
Tesla DeLorean
Guru
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 16:28

Although I have been developing embedded controls for over 30 years, this is my first outing with an ARM product.

Wow, you're a bit late to the party, but welcome. When did your buses get more than 8-bits?

I'd agree with Andrew that uv4 would be the way to go, and with the Standard Peripheral Library. The ''Hello World'' is complicated somewhat by the lack of a serial connection, though one can put one on the board with a simple USB-to-CMOS Serial type adapter, perhaps $4 on eBay. There is also the SWO/SWV connection which provides a Debug Serial output stream.

Here's a printf() example for an STM32F429 board [DEAD LINK /public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/cortex_mx_stm32/Flat.aspx?RootFolder=/public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/cortex_mx_stm32/printf%20keil%20stm32%20eval2%20board&FolderCTID=0x01200200770978C69A1141439FE559EB459D7580009C4E14902C3CDE46A77F0FFD06506F5B&currentviews=58]https://my.st.com/public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/cortex_mx_stm32/Flat.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fpublic%2FSTe2ecommunities%2Fmcu%2FLists%2Fcortex_mx_stm32%2Fprintf%20keil%20stm32%20eval2%20board&FolderCTID=0x01200200770978C69A1141439FE559EB459D7580009C4E14902C3CDE46A77F0FFD06506F5B¤tviews=58

The ST-LINK Utilities has an SWV viewer too, some Discovery boards need a solder bridge (SB) to made so that PB3 connects to the ST-LINK, and you have to set the trace clock to match the CPU clock.

SWV in Keil for STM32F429I-DISCO about half way down [DEAD LINK /public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/STM32Discovery/Flat.aspx?RootFolder=/public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/STM32Discovery/ADC3%20converting%203%20inputs%20%2B%20display&FolderCTID=0x01200200770978C69A1141439FE559EB459D75800084C20D8867EAD444A5987D47BE638E0F&currentviews=253]this thread.

I tried to go back to my Arrow rep, but he is on vacation (I am in Europe, and they take vacation very seriously here.)

Well the Central Europeans seem to disappear for the entirety of August, so it helps to be self sufficient/sustaining.

I'd recommend getting one of Joseph Yiu's books on the Cortex-Mx families, the most recent edition was an

http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Cortex%C2%AE-M3-Cortex%C2%AE-M4-Processors-Edition/dp/0124080820

, but other editions may be easier to source. These offer a counter-point to the regular ARM TRMs (Technical Reference Manuals), which should be reviewed. ST also has a Programming Manual which will complement the Reference Manual (register level functional stuff) and the Data Sheet/Manual (pin assignment, physical characteristics)

The F4 and STM32F429I-DISCO firmware downloads should have project examples and templates, review the construction of these, and the defines and include paths used. The library should have some documentation in a Windows Help .CHM format, and the source code for the library also provides a lot of useful detail which the Keil editor can jump to via ''show definition'' type context menus.
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Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Super User
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 21:19

''I have miniscule  expectations of Keil providing support to a freeware user.''

Are you intending to stay a ''freeware user'', or are you really evaluating  with a bona fide view to purchase?

If the latter, then a test of customer support is, surely, a valid part of the evaluation?!

And now this stupid forum has gone and entirely messed-up its wrapping - so you were  right to put in manual line breaks!!

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Super User
September 11, 2014
Posted on September 11, 2014 at 21:21

I'd recommend getting one of Joseph Yiu's books on the Cortex-Mx families

Yes - absolutely!
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
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