Files

Here is an overview of the files found in this project:

• .gdbinit: contains startup commands for gdb, the debugger. If you don't want to use this file, you will have to enter the last two lines every time when you start gdb: target extended localhost:4242 and load. This file is a copy of the original by Ross Wolin.
• Makefile: commented makefile used to compile the GraphicLCDController project. You can use this file to see how the whole compilation process works and how to use the tools.
• main.c: this is the actual program (with comments).
• stm32_flash.ld: linker script provided by ST. Contains a description of the memory layout used by the Cortex-M4.
• stm32f4xx_conf.h: this file is used to include the header files of the standard peripheral library. It is a configuration file. You could include those headers directly in main.c, but the peripheral library includes this configuration header (stm32f4xx.h includes it conditionally), so we must provide it - or else we cannot compile our code against the library. This file is provided by ST and is supposed to be adapted to every project.
• system_stm32f4xx.c: implements intialization code called from the startup file startup_stm32f4xx.s (present in the library). This file is provided by ST.

Missing files

This project does not include the peripheral library used to build the program. You can however download the library from ST (see link below). In my setup I have extracted the library in a folder one level above the "GraphicLCDController" folder. That is I have the following directory structure:

- stm +
      |- STM32F4-Discovery_FW_V1.1.0/ (In .gitignore)
      |          +
      |          | - Libraries
      |          | - MCD-ST Liberty SW License Agreement 20Jul2011 v0.1.pdf
      |          | - Project
      |          | - Release_Notes.html
      |          | - Utilities
      |          | - _htmresc
      |
      |- GraphicLCDController/ +
                 | - .gdbinit
                 | - Makefile
                 | - Readme.md
                 | - main.c
                 | - stm32_flash.ld
                 | - stm32f4xx_conf.h
                 | - system_stm32f4xx.c

If you search STM32F4-Discovery_FW_V1.1.0 / STM32F4-Discovery_FW_V1.1.0.tar.gz on the web you will find that the library is offered in many projects.

Tools and software requirements

• Boot device in DFU mode: Can be activated with pins BOOT0=1 and BOOT1=0 at startup.

Normally you only need to short BOOT1 to ground while pressing reset, after that the device is recognised as a DFU device which can be programmed with DFU-Util.

After that put BOOT0 to ground, when powering up the second led on the STM board should burn.

• Installation of required tools on Ubuntu 16.0.4

sudo apt install dfu-util gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi binutils-arm-linux-gnueabi gcc-arm-none-eabi gdb-arm-none-eabi binutils-arm-none-eabi

• dfu-util commands:

dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000:leave -D graphiclcdcontroller.bin

• To compile and send the binary to the stm board do:

cd stm/GraphicLCDController
make
dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000:leave -D graphiclcdcontroller.bin

Thanks

• Many thanks to Malkavian. This project has been based on Malkavian 's stm32 blink tutorial at blinky

• Many thanks to Ross Wolin for writting this article where he shows how to use a makefile to build an application on Linux against the standard peripheral library for the STM32F4 board.

  The makefile found in this project is based on Ross Wolin's makefile.