15-Apr-2017, 08:37 PM (This post was last modified: 16-Apr-2017, 06:08 AM by Tom BD Bad.)
Firstly I have to give recognition and HUGE praise to Silverxxx over at RC forums who wrote this FirmWare. (Full thread here) That thread has over 500 pages(!) though and I found the instructions somewhat difficult to follow, so...
Because the software doesn't allow me to access all the options without the board/ST-Link connected I can't give screen shots, I'd suggest using these instructions alongside the YouTube vid linked below.
I followed these video instructions from Joshua Carlson on youtube but still had quite a hard time of it, and the video cuts at the point which was giving me most trouble!
My ST-Link is this one I purchased from BG...
Keil is the program that actually flashes the firmware, ST-Link Utility is, essentially, used as a bug fix because Keil has an issue connecting or recognising the board before ST-Link Utility has established the connection. So you need to connect 1st through ST Link Utility for Keil to recognise the connection and allow the flash...
I will do this in steps
1. Download the 'H8 Blue Board' zip or rar, install ST-Link Utility and Keil MDK ARM (Kiel core, mentioned in the youtube vid, has been updated.)
2. Sorry, but you will have to cut the header pins, not sockets, off one end of the ST-Link wires. Leave minimal exposed wire and solder to the H8 pads CLK, DAT and GND. I found that the pads on the board can be easily overheated, so try to solder carefully but quickly!
Try to solder on the 'outside' of the pads to minimise risk of shorting between the wires.
3. Confirm that you ARE using the blue H8 mini board and attach wires from -
the Board -> The ST Link
CLK -> SWDIO
DAT -> SWCLK
GND -> GND
Just to confirm that it is the pads on the H8 board which are marked incorrectly, not my ST-Link.
4. Attach battery to power the board.
5. Plug ST Link into USB, if you have a USB extension to see the LED's on the ST link it helps... You should hear windows sound to confirm connection.
6. run ST Link utility... Here comes the part I had problems with!
6.1. In ST Link utility select 'target' from the top menu and settings (bottom option)
6.2. Confirm that it doesn't say "No ST-Link detected" at the top and that you CAN change options.
6.3. If it does say "No ST-Link detected" close the settings menu and select 'ST-Link' -> 'Firmware Update' from the top menu. If it shows firmware version hit 'yes' to update ST-Link firmware. At this point my ST-Link would loose connection before completing firmware update, if this happens close the firmware update window and disconnect the ST-Link from USB. Then immediately open 'ST-Link->Firmware Update' as you reconnect ST-Link and hit 'yes' as fast as possible! The LED's on the ST-Link should flash as it is updating and remain solid blue when update completed and successful. ST-Link should now be showing as connected.
7. Once the board is recognised and connected in ST-Link Utility go to 'Target' -> 'Option Bytes' open the top drop down box and change protection to 'Level 0' This might bring up a message saying that you need to change settings in 'Target' -> 'Settings' -> 'Mode' & 'Reset Mode'
If so, go back to 'Target' -> 'Settings' and change 'Mode' to the recommended setting, it might give a message that it has changed 'Reset Mode' option automatically.
8. At this point ST Link Utility should have updated the ST-Link firmware and the board should be connected and recognised and the blue LED on the ST-Link remaining on..? If not go back and go through steps 6 and 7 again. Leave ST-Link Utility running and connected while you complete steps 9, 10 & 11...
9. Unpack the 'H8 blue board master' zip/rar file, open 'H8mini_blue_board-master' -> 'Silverware' -> and double click 'silverware.uvprojx'. This will run 'Keil uVision 5' and load Silverxxx code...
10. In Keil click 'Flash' -> 'Flash Tools' and select 'Debug' from the top menu (2nd from the right.) In the top right of this screen you will see a checkbox marked 'use' confirm that this IS 'checked' and change the selection in the drop down box to 'ST-Link Debugger' and click 'OK'
11. From Keil main page, select 'Project' -> 'Build Target' this will show some activity in the 'Build Output' window at the bottom, when it completes you have come to the stage of NO TURNING BACK!
12. Bring ST-Link Utility to the front of your screen and hit the icon showing the plug with the red x or select 'Target' -> 'Disconnect' Once disconnected Keil should recognise the board and be able to modify...
13. Bring Kiel back to the front and hit 'Flash -> 'Erase' This is the point where the stock FC Firmware is GONE FOREVER! You might get an error message saying something like 'the erase has not been completed successfully' RCGroups say this is expected and it HAS actually deleted the software. I ran the erase option again and the second time it didn't show any errors. At this point the LED's on the quad go off and it pretends that it is dead(!) which scared me a bit!
14. Hit 'Flash' -> Download and you should see the code flying up the 'Build Output' window, when completed the LED's on the quad should start flashing again, but with a fade on/fade off stylishness it never showed before, it is now looking for a TX to bind with..! Done!
There are a few things I have given you a heads up about that aren't mentioned in the youtube vid...
I am going to try and activate 'airmode' on one of my H8 boards soon so I will update this post when I do...
Because the software doesn't allow me to access all the options without the board/ST-Link connected I can't give screen shots, I'd suggest using these instructions alongside the YouTube vid linked below.
I followed these video instructions from Joshua Carlson on youtube but still had quite a hard time of it, and the video cuts at the point which was giving me most trouble!
My ST-Link is this one I purchased from BG...
Keil is the program that actually flashes the firmware, ST-Link Utility is, essentially, used as a bug fix because Keil has an issue connecting or recognising the board before ST-Link Utility has established the connection. So you need to connect 1st through ST Link Utility for Keil to recognise the connection and allow the flash...
I will do this in steps
1. Download the 'H8 Blue Board' zip or rar, install ST-Link Utility and Keil MDK ARM (Kiel core, mentioned in the youtube vid, has been updated.)
2. Sorry, but you will have to cut the header pins, not sockets, off one end of the ST-Link wires. Leave minimal exposed wire and solder to the H8 pads CLK, DAT and GND. I found that the pads on the board can be easily overheated, so try to solder carefully but quickly!
Try to solder on the 'outside' of the pads to minimise risk of shorting between the wires.
3. Confirm that you ARE using the blue H8 mini board and attach wires from -
the Board -> The ST Link
CLK -> SWDIO
DAT -> SWCLK
GND -> GND
Just to confirm that it is the pads on the H8 board which are marked incorrectly, not my ST-Link.
4. Attach battery to power the board.
5. Plug ST Link into USB, if you have a USB extension to see the LED's on the ST link it helps... You should hear windows sound to confirm connection.
6. run ST Link utility... Here comes the part I had problems with!
6.1. In ST Link utility select 'target' from the top menu and settings (bottom option)
6.2. Confirm that it doesn't say "No ST-Link detected" at the top and that you CAN change options.
6.3. If it does say "No ST-Link detected" close the settings menu and select 'ST-Link' -> 'Firmware Update' from the top menu. If it shows firmware version hit 'yes' to update ST-Link firmware. At this point my ST-Link would loose connection before completing firmware update, if this happens close the firmware update window and disconnect the ST-Link from USB. Then immediately open 'ST-Link->Firmware Update' as you reconnect ST-Link and hit 'yes' as fast as possible! The LED's on the ST-Link should flash as it is updating and remain solid blue when update completed and successful. ST-Link should now be showing as connected.
7. Once the board is recognised and connected in ST-Link Utility go to 'Target' -> 'Option Bytes' open the top drop down box and change protection to 'Level 0' This might bring up a message saying that you need to change settings in 'Target' -> 'Settings' -> 'Mode' & 'Reset Mode'
If so, go back to 'Target' -> 'Settings' and change 'Mode' to the recommended setting, it might give a message that it has changed 'Reset Mode' option automatically.
8. At this point ST Link Utility should have updated the ST-Link firmware and the board should be connected and recognised and the blue LED on the ST-Link remaining on..? If not go back and go through steps 6 and 7 again. Leave ST-Link Utility running and connected while you complete steps 9, 10 & 11...
9. Unpack the 'H8 blue board master' zip/rar file, open 'H8mini_blue_board-master' -> 'Silverware' -> and double click 'silverware.uvprojx'. This will run 'Keil uVision 5' and load Silverxxx code...
10. In Keil click 'Flash' -> 'Flash Tools' and select 'Debug' from the top menu (2nd from the right.) In the top right of this screen you will see a checkbox marked 'use' confirm that this IS 'checked' and change the selection in the drop down box to 'ST-Link Debugger' and click 'OK'
11. From Keil main page, select 'Project' -> 'Build Target' this will show some activity in the 'Build Output' window at the bottom, when it completes you have come to the stage of NO TURNING BACK!
12. Bring ST-Link Utility to the front of your screen and hit the icon showing the plug with the red x or select 'Target' -> 'Disconnect' Once disconnected Keil should recognise the board and be able to modify...
13. Bring Kiel back to the front and hit 'Flash -> 'Erase' This is the point where the stock FC Firmware is GONE FOREVER! You might get an error message saying something like 'the erase has not been completed successfully' RCGroups say this is expected and it HAS actually deleted the software. I ran the erase option again and the second time it didn't show any errors. At this point the LED's on the quad go off and it pretends that it is dead(!) which scared me a bit!
14. Hit 'Flash' -> Download and you should see the code flying up the 'Build Output' window, when completed the LED's on the quad should start flashing again, but with a fade on/fade off stylishness it never showed before, it is now looking for a TX to bind with..! Done!
There are a few things I have given you a heads up about that aren't mentioned in the youtube vid...
I am going to try and activate 'airmode' on one of my H8 boards soon so I will update this post when I do...
Windless fields and smokeless builds