# 3. Programmer usage

You may program your devices in any way you want. The easiest way in our opinion is to use st-link utility.

# Connection example diagram

connection-prog.png

The example of connection is shown below.

programmer_connection

Fig. Example of SWD connection with can-mini node.

SWD-NEEDLE connector (opens new window) is designed for easy acces to TARGET device SWD.

drawing

# 3.1. Most common issues

WARNING

Please, read this section carefully to avoid most common issues!

  1. SWD and CAN sockets look similar and they use the same 4-pin cable. SWD has 3.3V, but CAN has 5V. Don't mix them up.
  2. Be sure that your SWD pins are connected correctly (3.3 to 3.3, GND to GND)
  3. On the sniffer VUSB led should be orange, 3.3 led should be red, ST-link led should be blue, and blink led should blink with yellow. If they are not, probably you are making something wrong. It also may indicate that the board works incorrectly.
  4. If your node already has a correct firmware, after such connection it should blink. If it is not, probably the firmware is wrong or the connection is mistaken.

# 3.2. Windows

  1. Install ST-LINK utility from the official site (opens new window)

  2. Open ST-LINK utility, connect the programmer to the PC via USB

  3. Connect target device to the programmer via SWD connectors as shown on the picture above with respect to the warnings. If you gen an error, check the Windows issues section.

  4. Choose option Target -> Connect. Device should be successfully connected. If you get an error, check the issues below.

drawing
  1. You should see Device ID if everything fine (as shown in picture below)
drawing
  1. Choose file -> open file ... and navigate to the downloaded firmware .bin as shown in the pictures below
drawing drawing
  1. Choose Target -> Program & Verify ... CTRL+P
drawing
  1. Wait until downloading is in progress
drawing
  1. You should see Verification...OK if everything is ok.
drawing

At that point, the firmware is succesfully downloaded. You can verify the software version by using gui_tool.

Windows issues

Wrong connection may leds to one of 2 following errors:

  1. Can not connect to target
drawing

Programmer is successfully detected, but your device is not detected via SWD by the programmer. Either SWD connection is not ok, or there is a problem on the target side.

Sometimes it may happen that the 3.3 and GND is connected, but SWDIO and SWCLK are not ok enough. In this case the node blinks because it has a power, but connection is not stable enough to start a programming. Just make more tension by pushing jumpers a little bit and then press Program & Verify one more time.

  1. No ST-LINK detected
drawing

Either your programmer is not connected to your PC, or it is broken. Check the leds on the programmer device.

# 3.3. Linux

  1. Install st-link using the instruction from the official GitHub repository (opens new window)
  2. Type the following to program your device with desired .bin file:
st-flash write desired_bin_file.bin 0x8000000

where desired_bin_file.bin is the name of the binary file.

# 3.4. Alternatives (Dronecode Probe)

As alternative way to upload firmware Dronecode Probe (opens new window) can be used.

First you will need next stuff:

Name Pics
1. SWD Needle connector drawing
2. DEBUG-WIRE drawing
3. Dronecode Probe drawing

Connect all relative to the diagram below

connection-prog-dcp.png

← 4. Sniffer usage →