2 blue pills

I have a blue pill version (with jumpers) of the stm32 that I have succesfully programed using the USB to serial device, the information was very helpful.

I also have a maple mini clone and I have upgraded to windows 10.
I can set the device into programming code, but how do I get Arduino IDE to program this device via RX and TX?

What settings do I use on the IDE?

All the documentation I have been able to find so far states that you need to use the usb driver – which doesn’t to work on windows.
Raj

Yikes

I think you may be the first w10 user

Did you install the Windows drivers?

Its possible they dont work on W10

Yes, the driver registers, but no com port is assigned, so I was wondering if there is a work around like the other stm32? (I bought another 5 of those – very tasty for the price)
Since ftdi gate, I’ve lost faith in usb to serial drivers.
My cp2102 works fine for the moment, but my prolific and ftdi adapters no longer work because of dead drivers.
The ch340s that I bought also work like a charm. I can always use a uno to program the stm32 if I have to.

Does the Maple mini appear in the Windows 10 device manager. i,e Maple DFU or Maple serial (you may have to expand the device manager branches to see it)

I changed cables and for some reason it started working.
It assigned a com port and all.
The cable was working fine on a due so not sure what is happening there.

ah.

Those micro usb sockets on the blue pill are not strong.

I had to resolder one when it came loose, i suspect it has a dry joint.
also, i recommend you glue the micro usb socket in place by covering it with epoxy or hot glue etc, otherwise sooner or later it will snap off.

from my experience with ebay purchases “sooner” is more likely.

having used your board for a bit, I think it would help (for the noob like me) to have a photograph of the particular board in the sticky introduction of the sub-forum. As there are a few flavours of this board coming out, its hard to tell sometimes which board is being discussed. Otherwise well done.

I did try the fastled3.1 library with the stm and it wouldn’t compile

The GD32 boards I have are even worse than the Blue Pill.

I know I broke one almost straight away and one I gave to @madias broke as well

So now I always put hot glue all over the connector

Personally when I design PCB’s I don’t like using micro USB connectors for consumer electronics, as I don’t think they are strong enough.
Mini USB is far more robust but its still possible to break the connector on a Maple mini, if you press down too hard and the usb cable has something under it.

I can see why the Arduino team chose those massive USB connecors for the Uno, especially as they get used in schools.

The BBC (UK) new micro controller board the “Micro:Bit) has a micro usb connector, but I think they are bound to be broken very soon in a school environment.

RogerClark wrote:The BBC (UK) new micro controller board the “Micro:Bit) has a micro usb connector, but I think they are bound to be broken very soon in a school environment.

You could pot it in concrete and put a titanium shell round it, some of the people I went to school with would still manage to break it.

(LOL)

That would probably be me, I was prone to hacking stuff even at school.

Ok I have 2 blue pills and (maple mini).
I have 2 computers (mine and my sons)
We are both running WX (windows 10)
I installed the latest build of the drive (10 minutes ago).
I get an assigned comport but I get wierdness.
With one blue pill I get the noise of the usb being plugged in and I get a com port.
But I get this:
Sketch uses 12,316 bytes (10%) of program storage space. Maximum is 122,880 bytes.
Global variables use 2,560 bytes of dynamic memory.
maple_loader v0.1
Resetting to bootloader via DTR pulse
Searching for DFU device [1EAF:0003]…
dfu-util – (C) 2007-2008 by OpenMoko Inc.
Couldn’t find the DFU device: [1EAF:0003] This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY

the other blue pill gets no com port in my computer.
On my sons computer he gets no com port just the noise.

this is the code:
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
// initialize digital pin 13 as an output.
pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}
// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
digitalWrite(13, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
delay(50); // wait for a second
digitalWrite(13, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
delay(50); // wait for a second

Only the Maple Mini comes with any firmware.

I’ve never seen any generic board with a bootloader, I’ve had generic boards arrive (from eBay vendors) that have the LED flashing, but thats all.

The easiest way to flash the blue pill’s is using a USB to serial adaptor. This is well documented, and I’ve posted youtube videos about it.

Maple mini should come with the bootloader, but you need to load (install) the windows drivers using the Bat file in the drivers\win folder.

I think one other person is using W10 and did get it to work, ie I think the drivers still install even on W10, but this may not apply to all W10 versions.

Sorry I think,my initial comment was confusing. I meant I have 2 maple mini clones and All of the problems described actually are to do with the mini s the I have. The generic stm32 has not been a problem from the start. The mini did work as a comm port once, but has not worked since. So is there a way of bypassing the bootloader on the mini and just using the usb to serial device that I have and is working so well with the generic stm32duino.com?

So is there a way of bypassing the bootloader on the mini and just using the usb to serial device that I have and is working so well with the generic stm32duino.com?
1. Connect the Boot1 pin to GND (I usually use a 3.3k resistor instead of a direct connection).
2. Connect the usb/serial adapter to TX1, RX1, Vcc (3.3V), and GND on the mini.
3. In the boards menu, select Generic STM32F103R series, Variant STM32F103RB, 20kb ram, 128Kb flash.
4. Select Upload Method: Serial.
5. Select the correct serial port.
6. Press BUT, then press reset. Release reset first, then release BUT (there should be no blinking leds).
7. Compile and upload.

This replaces the bootloader with your sketch.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 to upload new sketches.

fredbox wrote:So is there a way of bypassing the bootloader on the mini and just using the usb to serial device that I have and is working so well with the generic stm32duino.com?
1. Connect the Boot1 pin to GND (I usually use a 3.3k resistor instead of a direct connection).
2. Connect the usb/serial adapter to TX1, RX1, Vcc (3.3V), and GND on the mini.
3. In the boards menu, select Generic STM32F103R series, Variant STM32F103RB, 20kb ram, 128Kb flash.
4. Select Upload Method: Serial.
5. Select the correct serial port.
6. Press BUT, then press reset. Release reset first, then release BUT (there should be no blinking leds).
7. Compile and upload.

This replaces the bootloader with your sketch.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 to upload new sketches.