STM32F411CE doesn't seem to work

[TzOk83]

I've tried to upload BLINK example (I've changed LED_BUILTIN to PC13) using "Generic F411CE" Board profile to the "Black Pill" WeAct V2.0 board (STM32F411CEU6), and it doesn't seem to work. I've also tried turning the USB support as CDC Generic Serial, but there was no serial port after uploading this firmware. I've tried uploading either by SWD (ST-Link v2) or by USB-DFU. Both times the upload was successful, but program didn't seem to start (of course I have tried to reset and power cycle the MPU).

[fpistm]

Hi @TzOk83
it seems a clock config issue.
You can try to reconfigure it defining the SystemClock_Config at sketch level:

extern "C" void SystemClock_Config(void)
{
...
}

[flatpedals]

I have a WeAct 1.3 411CE and I can upload in Arduino IDE and PlatformIO via DFU (STM32Cube prog) and Serial(USB to TTL dongle).
ArduinoIDE: 'Blackpill F401CC' under 'Generic STM32F4 series'

PlatformIO: edited 'BlackPill 401CC (ST)' to a 'BlackPill 411CE (ST)'.
blackpill_f411ceJSON(PIO).zip

As I said DFU and Serial are working, then there is a working Serial Port available (STM Serial) while uploaded sketch is running.

I updated the core and the new 'Generic F411CC' showed up in board manager for a short while but now it's gone, so I can't select it to see if it's a problem vs the 'Blackpill F401CC'.

All good with this board untill now, maybe a STM32DUINO Bootloader would be nice so BOOT0 isn't required at every upload. I also soldered a Winbond 25q32jv and the SMD cap but never got to test that SPI memory.

Edited:
Maybe try erasing your chip memory and also reinstall all the STM drivers (Show hidden devices in Device Manager and clean everything related).
I erased and flashed via DFU (STM32CubeProg) a lot of times while testing the WeAct HID bootloader and STM32 HID bootloader. They are both useless in Arduino IDE. The STM32 HID seems to allow successful flashing but the MCU is never reset and the sketch doesn't run. I have to erase memory to get it out of that frozen state.
WeAct HID is different since it's flashed at a different address. Stuck with DFU and Serial for now...

More edits:
I updated the core and reinstalled boards, now a series of 'Generic 401xx' show up, but no 'Generic 411xx'. 'BlackPill 401CC' is still working.
Also, the Serial Port is broken in PlatformIO after upload, something to do with USB CDC. So only in Arduino IDE with CDC mode selected there is a working com port.

Last edit, I promise:
Fixed USB CDC in PlatformIO, requires this platformio.ini:
`[env:blackpill_f411ce]
platform = ststm32
board = blackpill_f411ce
framework = arduino

upload_protocol = dfu
upload_port = anything

build_flags =
-D PIO_FRAMEWORK_ARDUINO_ENABLE_CDC
-D USBCON
-D USBD_VID=0x0483
-D USB_MANUFACTURER="Unknown"
-D USB_PRODUCT=""BLACKPILL_411CE""
-D HAL_PCD_MODULE_ENABLED`

[fpistm]

@flatpedals
the Generic F411Cx has been added recently and is merged in the master: #866

[MCUdude]

By looking at the pictures of the F411C "Black Pill" board on this Aliexpress listing It appears to me that the external crystal is running at 25 MHz. The generic pinouts expect an 8 MHz crystal/clock.

You can try to change the value of this line to 25 (actual input clock frequency in MHz) and see if it makes a difference. Oh, you'll have to do a manual install since 1.9.0 isn't out yet.

[fpistm]

@MCUdude
In fact there is issue with the generic systemCoreClock config.
It configures the clock assuming it is a 8Mhz for HSE but by default it is defined to 25MHz
https://github.com/stm32duino/Arduino_Core_STM32/blob/master/system/STM32F4xx/system_stm32f4xx.c#L68

So it is misaligned when HSE is not bypass.

[MCUdude]

In fact there is issue with the generic systemCoreClock config.
It configures the clock assuming it is a 8Mhz for HSE but by default it is defined to 25MHz
https://github.com/stm32duino/Arduino_Core_STM32/blob/master/system/STM32F4xx/system_stm32f4xx.c#L68

So it is misaligned when HSE is not bypass.

But it would have worked if he used an extern 8 MHz crystal instead, and not touching the code?

[fpistm]

Yes but in this case this is not a bypass, I guess.
Without bypass the clock config is not correct.

[MCUdude]

The board uses a crystal oscillator (that needs to be driven), not a clock (that drives itself). I will assume that since the MCU detects a crystal it will not enable bypass mode, and thus nothing will work since the expected clock frequency is 8 MHz and not 25.

What I do want to know is that if there's something that can be done to the pinout's clock config that somehow can detect what frequency is being applied, and adjust its setting based on this. Can this be done? Can the clock config functions on the generic pinouts be further improved to automatically support a wider range of external clocks/crystals without user interaction?

[flatpedals]

There is a dicussion about clock detection on 401: https://www.stm32duino.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9&start=70
stevestrong also: https://www.stm32duino.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=52

[TzOk83]

Haven't tried uploading yet, but I believe this should work:
PILL_F411XX.zip

# BlackPill F411CE
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE=BlackPill F411CE
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE.upload.maximum_size=524288
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE.upload.maximum_data_size=131072
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE.build.board=BLACKPILL_F411CE
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE.build.product_line=STM32F411xE
GenF4.menu.pnum.BLACKPILL_F411CE.build.variant=PILL_F411XX

[fpistm]

In fact you want a "Clock framework". 😉
Anyway this is something, I will not be able to do.
My guess, is that we cold not handle easily all possible value and they will be always complains about that. The generic should only implement a default clock config based on the HSI/MSI/CSI/LSI.
As a generic variant the end user would have to use his own SystemClock_Config if he would customize it. The generic are mainly for those who want test quickly a custom board.
A "commercial" board could then be added easily using the generic one.

As I explain in an other issue, several variants could now point to the generic one with some customization under board switch.

[TzOk83]

With the attached BlackPill 411CE profile it uploads ok, and BLINK example works, but I can't make USB serial to work.

[fpistm]

@TzOk83
You have to ensure the USB clock is at 48 MHz

[TzOk83]

Have no idea how to check this. The crystal is 25 MHz, and MCU in this version is supposed to run at 100 MHz, yet I took most of the files from PILL_401XX which runs at 84 MHz.

[fpistm]

The simpliest way is to use cube MX to generate a proper config.