A board slightly different from the Blue Pill

Hi all,

I have bought a board which is very similar to the Blue Pill(STM32F103C8T6). Apparently the only difference is that mine has only one simple Boot0 jumper without High/low options.

My Problem: When I want to upload the compiled code (e.g. Blink), I get the error “Failed to init device”. What is(are!) my fault(s)?

Here is some information:

*I use PL-2303(USB/TTL) to upload the code. OS: W7x64
*I think all the drivers are installed(i.e. I’ve ran the bat file in “Arduino_STM32” and the installers in Maple-DFU and Maple-Serial folders).When the board is connected, the PC does recognize it merely as a serial port (not a DFU device).
*Also I’ve tried to flash the STM32duino BootLoader using the ST Flash Loader Demonstrator, but unfortunately the software didn’t get response from the board.
*I press and hold the reset button for ~3-4 secs before uploading the code.
*Both 5V and 3.3V are tested on the USB-to-serial module.
*First time I connected the board, the code was uploaded successfully BUT nothing happened in the board!

Note: As my board has no high/low Boot0 and Boot1 jumpers (unlike all normal bluepills), I’ve done all the above measures in two Boot0 jumper states: attached/detached(open circuit)

Bests
Amin

If the Flash Loader Demonstrator will not connect, the board my be faulty.

Double check which pins you connected the USB to serial, and that rx goes to tx etc.

Try a lower speed in the Flash loader, also change the timeout to a lower value, as 2 secs is a long time to wait.

so sorry, but that’s a stm32f051c8t6 if i read it correctly
might even be a CB, compare with the 8 immediately below it on the chip

aliexpress/ebay refund for incorrect goods / bad description ?

zmemw16 wrote:so sorry, but that’s a stm32f051c8t6 if i read it correctly

I don’t think those chips even support native USB. The only thing you can do with that USB connector is power the board.

Effectively, looking at the specs of the chip itself : No USB at all !

Firstly thanks to all kind replies..

@Roger: In fact I’ve checked them many times but unfortunately no change was made.

@Others: You’re right guys! This board is armed with a Cortex-M0. (Sorry for any misdescription)

So now a question comes up: Are the [admirable]Roger’s hardware files usable to program these boards(i.e. STM32F0XXX series)?
Btw In the Arduino’s board manager there is a package (namely, SAMD Boards) which is apparently for Cortex-M0+(not M0).

Amin

aminous wrote:So now a question comes up: Are the [admirable]Roger’s hardware files usable to program these boards(i.e. STM32F0XXX series)?

how much was it?

it’ll program as there is a nucleo version with the break off st-link, they’re about £12-£16 on aliexpress.

now baite electronics does do an exceedingly nice set of 5 ‘maple mini’ stm32f103c8t6 for £14-07. i know as i’ve just looked in my aliexpress basket, that set is almost a permanently resident item.
we know these do work and are of reasonable quality, usb is mini-b not micro (for £2.82 each,£3.50 odd singularly), other sources of similarly named boards are not necessarily so as the song goes. supposedly some are baites having been reworked <not afiliated to anyone or anything excluding the feline btw>

i’m pretty confident others would agree, time for that +1 button.

stephen

zmemw16 wrote:
how much was it?

The F0 series does not work with the libmaple core, however using the HALMX core it may be possible to make a board variant for that processor

see. http://www.stm32duino.com/viewtopic.php?p=13408#p13408

But you would still need to use an external USB to Serial adaptor or STLink etc

I think its going to be much less hassle if you spend another $5 and buy a Maple Mini ( preferrably one from the Chinese manufacturer called Baite, as these are usually the best quality.

Btw. take a look in the wiki, as it has details on the Baite Maple mini and the reject boards with defaced Bait logos etc. wiki.stm32duino.com

It seems like people should get the maple mini style board if they intend to program using Arduino Style (USB Serial + bootloader). If you plan to use the device with an STlink programmer it is easier to use either the bluepill or redpill or any other stm32f103x boards that breakout the SWD pins.

I suspect most people would prefer to have USB even if they upload via STLink

I’m not suggesting they don’t want USB Serial. It is just easier to access the SWD pins on a blue pill than it is on a maple mini. They are clearly marked. On the maple minis you have to connect to pins 21 and 22 and they aren’t marked for SWD.

Although the Maple mini doesnt have the SWD pins marked, it does have a good USB reset circuit and a nice strong usb connector.

The Blue Pill has the wrong USB pull-up resistor and needs to be modified before it can be used on USB, and AFIK the way we reset the USB on these generic boards actually breaks the USB spec, and doesn’t always work if connected via a USB hub etc

If vcc-gnd.com would fit a PFET on the Blue Pill and made the usb connector stronger, it would be a much better product, albeit they would have to charge more as their costs would be a bit higher

Thanks Roger. I’ve decided to work on M1 cores rather than M0s to avoid further problems!

@Rick Thanks.

Hi.
Anyone have schematic for this board?

http://i66.tinypic.com/8w9pg2.jpg

Best regards
Umesh

the board seems to be quite easy to trace.

short of that, flip those pins to find out how it is connected.

on the wiki, http://wiki.stm32duino.com/index.php?title=Blue_Pill
srp

The above board variant provided by umeshjayan is slightly different than common BluePill, it has only 1 BOOT jumper instead of 2…

well it’s a good start.
first find the mcu datasheet and its pin diagram.
next check board pin names against BP ones. continue if good or out with red pen.
red pen through boot1 link, set it to whichever makes more sense.
boot0 needs a resistor pull up or pull down as above, maybe 2 ??
usb socket has a lot of vcc & gnd copper, not much sign of tracking, check reverse, forget usb.
not really much else is there ?
2 or 4 layer pcb, i’d suspect 2. look for traces direct to the mcu, top and reverse, save those ending in tph’s for later
note values of components, try to match connections.
look for components connected in a manner similar to BP.
reset has to be r & c between vcc & gnd, common point to button, other side of button a trace or maybe via resistor to mcu reset.
caps on 5v & 3v3, ldo maybe, should have caps close’ish. as no usb, transistor circuitry unlikely
look at nucleo version, user guide for schematic ???
a somewhat short of sleep stephen

[martinayotte – Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:54 pm] –
The above board variant provided by umeshjayan is slightly different than common BluePill, it has only 1 BOOT jumper instead of 2…

Well spotted, Martin…

I wonder if that board has the correct USB pullup or if it has any other differences.

Boot1 is of limited use, as the RAM on the F103 is too small to load a particularly usable application into RAM.

So I can understand why the manufacturer would go for a cost saving and not include Boot1