Ultimate7e tutorial: Processor upgrade

perhaps, I've always been a bit impatient lol, but I know for sure that at the end there were no bridges and all points were soldered well, I went and picked up my magnifying headpiece today to be sure. so with that it mind i must have damaged something, either the chip or something else on the board when i hooked it up the first time when there were bridges. the second chip didn't even respond to the stlink, so whether i got bad chips or i destroyed them who knows.

but this 7e is still salvageable, the trace I pulled doesn't connect to anything, it's just part of the original 64pin screen, but I'll not try again with this one till more mcu's arrive, I'm not willing to risk more damage using the ones I have (serves me right for buying the cheapest I could find on ebay lol) but I will try once more with it to be sure.

Just one last question before I give up. You did use the "run as administrator" option to start stlink right?

Everytime I don't (forget to), I get kicked out upon attempting to connect.

heh yeah bud i did

thanks for all your help guys, believe me it's much appreciated!

like i said i will try this 7e again when the next lot of mcu's arrive so it's not dead and buried yet, i'm just worried i've got a dud batch of the mcu's as i noticed that in the stlink software the revision id and device id remain blank when connected to the mcu, it does show as an 'stm23f10xx high density' and the flash size shows '256KBytes' but the other two boxes are blank, but this might be the norm for some of them?

i'll also be doing my new 7e too so hopefully things work out

again thanks for all the help and info

A long way to ultimate DEVO 7e+.
Replace the MCU + Remove the CYRF module.

Dieter

mtx63 wrote: A long way to ultimate DEVO 7e+.
Replace the MCU + Remove the CYRF module.

Nice work! Just curious, why remove the original CYRF module? Given your ability to solder, I would assume that you could easily modify the original module for full range. Is there an advantage to removing it?

I need space. want install multimedia modules.
and hope Deviation 5.0.x 7E 256k ultimate.

Dieter

I hope PhracturedBlue can help.

PhracturedBlue wrote: HappyHarry,
Does the STLink software allow you to set option bytes, and if so did you? I don't recall if this is necessary for the STM32 or not, but on many microcontrollers, the option bytes control the boot sequence. Sorry for being so vague, I haven't used my STLink in about a year, and I don't recall what the programming options are.

yeah you can definitely go into the options and change the option bytes, but the only thing i can remember being able to change was the read block* for all of the different hex addresses in the memory, (*i think that's what it said, but there may have been more options as i just had a quick look) and unfortunately i can't check just now as my 7e won't talk to the the stlink at all. i have a new 7e coming this week some time and also some new mcu's so i'll let you know more once they both arrive. but to answer your question no i didn't set these as i didn't know what they were for or that they were needed, i just had a look inside all the menus when i was trying to get things to work

quick question, to save me waiting for the slow boat for the mcu's my local RS has the stm32f103rdt6 in stock, is this as usable as the 256k and 512k versions?

PB , a wish ...
Test Build - Devo 7e 256k Ultimate - Deviation 5.x.x

Dieter

ok my 384k versions have arrived, time out, round three ding ding lol

Fingers crossed, keep us posted !

ok i'm really stuck this time, here's my workflow

board was already without an mcu and the pads wicked clean

1: prepped and soldered in the the new mcu
2: fully checked for good solder and no bridges
3: soldered wires to debug header and boot0 jumpers
4: hooked up boot0 jumper, and connected the debug header to the stlink as so5: started the stlink software as an admin
6: plugged the stlinkv2 into the pc
7: connected to the device
8: erased the chip
9: flashed the 256k boot bin
10: compared the file to the flash
11: clicked disconnect in the software
12: removed boot0 jumper, disconnected stlink, reassembled the tx
13: connected the tx usb to the pc, held down ext and turned on the power
14: no lights, no usb device appearing, nothing :/

here's some pics i took of the process.

stlink first connected after soldering


the settings for the stlink


the available option bytes


and the core panel once the device has been flashed


here's the log file of me connecting the device, checking the 256k boot file against the mcu's memory, and running a checksum against both to be sure they match.
sorry for the long post but i'm totally stumped, can anyone give me some idea of how to debug this at all? is there some other component that could be damaged on the board that would cause this? does the 7e programming mode work properly with USB3 and 3.1? as i said i'm stumped :/

I'm stumped too. Let's try a few things.

I noticed you have version "V2J24S4". "V2J25S4" is out. So the first thing you should do is update the firmware on your st-link. It is in the menu "ST-LINK->Firmware Update". You'll need to unplug from usb and replug, but do not connect to the processor, just select update right away.

I also noticed that your first picture shows "SWD Frequency = 4,0 MHz", but you settings shows "1,8 MHz". what's going on there? The rest of your settings look fine.

After updating and confirming the frequency try:
1) Erasing the entire chip again.
2) Re-download and flash devo7ebootloader_256.bin. Check that the start address is 0x08000000 and select "Verify after programming".

I hope that works. If it doesn't, try the whole process again but don't jumper the BOOT0 pin. If you are able to connect via st-link without BOOT0 jumped, then you still have the same problem as before where something is pulling BOOT0 pin high.

If this is a modded devo7e, you might have to remove all the other rf modules that you had soldered to the programming header. It could make a difference, cause the modules would draw power from the st-link also (thus turning on) and I'm not sure what logic state the pins will be in while you are trying to flash the processor.

For reference, here is the output I have in my log window from connection to completion of a successful flash.

updated the stlink, connected erased, flashed and tried to start, no go. also the freq setting was from the last time i was troubleshooting, i saw it and changed it back to 1.8 before continuing hence the change in the images.

so with that in mind i disconnected my jumper for boot0 and tried to connect to the the mcu using stlink and it worked! but there is infinite resistance between vdd and boot0 either at the opposite side of the jumper or at the boot0 pin on the mcu, so what else could be pulling it high? and there are definitely no bridges and the solder connections are good.

[edit]
also yeah this was a fully modded 7e but everything including the 2 3way switches and 2 extra modules and wiring were disconnected prior to starting the first upgrade process. so it's just a bare 7e main board with the diode removed and bridged inside the stock rf transmitter.

would tying boot0 to ground risk any damage considering it's being pulled high by something?
[/edit]

Have all extra rf modules been removed (including +ve and ground wires)? If they have and you are still getting this, you could try as PhracturedBlue suggested a few posts ago.

PhracturedBlue wrote: You should check that the boot0 pin is pulled low. in fact you could just short the non-Vdd side to Vss. Not being shorted high is not sufficient. any cap on the pin during bootup can pull it high long enough to enter programming mode. (you could also tie it low through an ammeter and see if there is any current draw. there should be no current on the BOOT0 pin.

If you can get a connection to the STlink with the boot0 jumper removed, than BOOT0 is your culprit. It is theouretically possible to have internal latch-up that would cause this permanently, but I find it quite unlikely.

The non-VDD side is the pin exactly above your ground pin of the programming header. I'd try the ammeter test first after which pulling to ground via a 4.7K pull-down resistor. Hopefully it allows you to at least get to the dfu programming screen.

ok tying the non Vdd side of boot0 to Vss makes no difference, i also found out that the power button is being completely ignored so who knows what i've done. anyway i'm finished with this 7e, if someone wants to have a look at the main board i'd be willing to ship it out and cover a few beers for someone, but afaic it's done, my new one should be here this week and hopefully i have a better time of it with that one lol

again thanks for all the help