STM32 Nucleo-F746ZG

VS Code template project for NUCLEO-F746ZG. This template uses the GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain as well as the OpenOCD server for programming and debugging.

Requirements

To setup VS Code to build, flash and debug STM32 controllers, it is necessary to ensure the following programs are installed:

• ARM GCC Toolchain: C, C++ and Assembly programming targeting Arm Cortex-M and Cortex-R family of processors

  https://developer.arm.com/open-source/gnu-toolchain/gnu-rm/downloads

  Use the default installation path (C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded), otherwise you have to adjust the includePath in the .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json. For simplicity add C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\7 2018-q2-update\bin to your users PATH variable and check if arm-none-eabi-gcc -v is available in your terminal:

  $ arm-none-eabi-gcc -v
  Using built-in specs.
  COLLECT_GCC=C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\7 2018-q2-update\bin\arm-none-eabi-gcc.exe
  COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=c:/program\ files\ (x86)/gnu\ tools\ arm\ embedded/7\ 2018-q2-update/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/7.3.1/lto-wrapper.exe
  Target: arm-none-eabi
  Configured with: ...
  Thread model: single
  gcc version 7.3.1 20180622 (release) [ARM/embedded-7-branch revision 261907] (GNU Tools for Arm Embedded Processors 7-2018-q2-update)

• GNU MCU Eclipse Windows Build Tools:

  https://gnu-mcu-eclipse.github.io/windows-build-tools/

  As mentioned on the install page, it is recommended to use %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\GNU MCU Eclipse for installation. Despite it is not recommended, for simplicity I added %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\GNU MCU Eclipse\Build Tools\2.11-20180428-1604\bin (your build number might vary depending on the version you have installed) to your users PATH variable and check if make --v is available in your terminal:

  $ make --v
  GNU Make 4.2.1
  Built for x86_64-w64-mingw32
  Copyright (C) 1988-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
  This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
  There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

• OpenOCD: GDB Server that can be used with a number of debuggers as the STLink

  http://openocd.org

  The OpenOCD does also provide some *.cfg files for different controllers. Again for simplicity add the installation folder to your users PATH variable and check if openocd --v is available in your terminal:

  openocd --v
  GNU MCU Eclipse 64-bits Open On-Chip Debugger 0.10.0+dev-00487-gaf359c18 (2018-05-12-19:30)
  Licensed under GNU GPL v2
  For bug reports, read
          http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html

Now you should be able to build (make) the project and use OpenOCD to flash the attached controller. For debugging you need to install the VS Code plugin:

• Cortex-Debug: Debugging support for ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers

  https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=marus25.cortex-debug

Usage

As long your installation paths are identical and all above commands run in terminal without providing absolute paths, all predefined settings should be fine. Otherwise check .vscode/settings.json and setup your correct paths for the ARM GCC Toolchain and OpenOCD.

Build & Flash

The normal workflow is to run task 🔨 Build (GCC) by pressing STRG+SHIFT+B. This might take a while and will end with something like:

   text    data     bss     dec     hex filename
   8980     132    1588   10700    29cc build/firmware.elf
arm-none-eabi-objcopy -O ihex build/firmware.elf build/firmware.hex
arm-none-eabi-objcopy -O binary -S build/firmware.elf build/firmware.bin

Afterwards run task 🛠️ Program & Verfiy STM (OpenOCD) by pressing STRG+P and type in task Program and hit Enter. Additional tasks are defined in .vscode/tasks.json. Now your microcontroller is flashed and autostarts with the simple blinky project.

Printf via SWO/SWV

Sadly the SWO/SWV debugging does not work in the VS Code terminal for me, therefore it is necessary to run the ST-Link Utility (https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stsw-link004.html) and run ST-LINK > Printf via SWO viewer. Set the system clock to 216000000 and leave the stimulus port to 0. Now you should see all printf messages as long you compile the project with #define DEBUG (.vscode/c_cpp_properties.json global defines in section defines).

Debug in VS Code

To run the Debugger press F5. Now you should have access to all debugging features provided by the Cortex-Debug plugin. The STM32F7x6.svd provides all register information in the Cortex peripherals section. For additional information see https://marcelball.ca/projects/cortex-debug/ and check .vscode/launch.json.