#353 How to use STM32 boards with Arduino IDE and how fast are they? (incl. surprise)

In video #345 I asked the question whether the ESP32 or the STM32 Bluepill is the better choice. The video created quite some controversy, mainly because I compared the weakest STM32F103 chip with the quite powerful ESP32. Some viewers thought I was unfair and suggested to do a test with more powerful chips like the blackpill. This is what we will do (incl. ESP8266). And we will learn quite a few things about the chances and the weakness of the “STM32duino” project. For example, its capability to do inline debugging. At the end of the video, you will have a good overview and know some tricks to save you a lot of time and hassle. And of course, you will know which board you need for speed…
I am a proud Patreon of @greatscottlab , @ElectroBOOM , @ELECTRONOOBS , @EEVblog , and others
No Docker, Microsoft Teams, Zoom

Links:

The links above usually are affiliate links which support the channel (no additional cost for you).
If you want to support the channel, please use the links below to start your shopping. No additional charges for you, but I get a commission (of your purchases the next 24 hours) to buy new stuff for the channel

Please do not try to Email me or invite me on LinkedIn. These communication channels are reserved for my primary job
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
#noMidrollAds

[MiniLuv-]

The man with the Swiss accent does it again - another video of really useful information and comparisons. Thanks Andreas.

[AndreasSpiess]

The small ST-Link sticks seem also be upgradeable if you try hard and plug- and unplug them several times. Quite a few viewers helped me to get the job done. Thank you!

[naimfuad]

that windows usb disconnect sound 12:57 left me scrambling by checking all usb port

[john-r-edge]

Great having a silverback expert to listen to about the latest tech - as he can relate it to the legacy gear of the 60s and 70s. As someone a similar level of chronological endurance as Andreas, I encountered some of the items mentioned in the 70s.
At University I did Fortran programming via punch cards - one 80 char line per card; don't drop your card stack and get them out of order.
We had Digital Equipment Corp computers - though not their VAX line, rather the earlier PDP-11 which were accessed via hardcopy terminals (and a very few dumb terminals with VDU, cutting edge for the time).
The oldest input method I worked with was having to submit code via paper tape, 7-hole type (so 7-bit) prepared on a teletype which had a keyboard, paper tape punch and tape reader. Like Telex but with full ASCII character set (Telex is 5-bit).
That was painful - to correct just one error the old paper tape was copied to a new one up to the bad line, you type in the new line, and copy the rest of the tape.
I also used the Teletypes as a primitive word processor to generate newsletters onto Gestetner stencils for printing newsletters for a club (photocopying still rather expensive).
And who knows what a Gestetner stencil is?

[lohikarhu]

I've only watched the introduction, and already in awe of your ability to get this work done! And, additionally, how responsive you are to viewer input... Respekt!

[circadianrebel]

Oh, a correction: The bluepills (and pretty much all STM32's) do have a built in bootloader. They have a serial bootloader that is burned in the silicon itself and can be selected with the boot jumpers. They actually have 3 different bootloader slots, but the USB requires flashing and doesn't come installed by default.

[sarveshk]

Wow! Just uploaded! Watching it because it's Uncle Andreas testing my favorite boards!
I've started using Bluepills now, and wonder why I wasn't using them before. Amazing microcontrollers with lots of customization options.

[mikesnapper]

I ordered some of the black pills to give them a spin. So far i mostly use arduinos, and AVR chips, but debugging through serial printing, or even just blinking leds is pretty annying, having a full live debugger support in vscode is going to be amazing if i get it to work. Your videos are constantly improving ee hobbyist life. I still frequently use the wire wrapping tool i got because of your video (never knew it even existed before) and love it.

[Royaltea_Citizen]

This guy is setting some high standards! Thanks for doing all of this for the community.

[patric]

To get the most out of the STM32 boards try using the STM32CubeMX and STM32CubeIDE development tools. Not as straightforward as the Arduino IDE but great for configuring all the hardware features

[Beatfreak]

Thanks for another great video. I hope you will find the time in the future to test the power consumption for the stm32s, especially the L series boards.

[vijaysulakhe]

Excellent explanation and video, many THANKS. Hope you make more video about STM32 projects with Arduino IDE.

[varunkoganti]

Mr. Spiess I use the stm33f103c8t6 (blue pill) with the cheap clone stlink V2 debugger, my experience is positive. I faced no issues.


Edit - I only use ARM Keil cause I like C.

[noweare]

This was a large undertaking. You did a great job. Who could even speculate that in 2020 makers would have access to these type of chips to program and make awesome things with.

[Electromakerio]

We loved this project so much, that we featured it in this weeks episode of The Electromaker Show!

[tapizvolador]

Hi Andreas, again an excellent video.
i didn't understand everything, not because you are not clear but because I am still learning. However, I looked the whole video till the very last second because I find it addictive and would like to become versatile in these technologies.
Being more or less of the same generation as you, I appreciated your jump in the past with which I am more comfortable.
Congratulations.

[khalid_ba]

Two years ago, I ported OnStep, an open source telescope controller to the STM32F1. I used the Blue Pill, since it was cheap (US $2) and available from multiple sources (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress), unlike the Teensy at the time. The Blue Pills always came with 128K which is about enough for OnStep. Both STM32 and CKS chips worked perfectly with no issues for about a year and a half. Over 350 people built OnStep controllers based on the PCB I co-designed for the Blue Pill. We program the Blue Pill using PA9/PA10 and a USB to TTL adapter (FTDI, CP2102, CHG340).

However, in the past few months we saw Blue Pills with only 64K and OnStep would not run. No idea what the issue is. It is impossible to guarantee that a Blue Pill has 128K before testing it, so this confuses users. We are looking into alternatives, including the Black Pill.

I also ported OnStep to the STM32F4, and since we use stepper motors for it, I used a ready made 3D printer board (FYSETC S6 in this case). I program it using DFU without any issues.

[TheAoab]

Thanks a lot for the awesome video, you have spent a lot of time to make all the comparisons and give us the results ready. Thanks again. By the way, the small hand is very funny.

[pinealservo]

Many Blue Pill boards have an incorrect resistor connected to USB which will cause many USB controllers to reject them. Even with the clone chips you should be able to get USB working if you replace the resistor with the correct value. But I agree, you should probably not buy Blue Pill boards.

[UpcycleElectronics]

Very helpful.
I just got a F411 working with micropython 2 days ago. REPL for the win! No proprietary cube programmer tracker/spyware needed.
I'm on Fedora Silverblue as well. So the toolchain is completely sandboxed, containerized, and independent of my OS. It will never break from Mr. Bill looking through my Windows and deciding to close his Gates.
I used the micropython and mcauser github repos. I only needed the USB connection to the DFU bootloader for programming. The only hiccup I had was solved by reading the and using the suggested dfu-util (from Linux repos) instead of the utility packaged with micropython. This was probably due to the fact the user space I am running in is rootless.
With Silverblue, a udev device rule needs to have permissions set to mode 0666 for the specific device while programming. Just having the user name added to the dialout group is not enough.