STM8L-Discovery: Separating the programmer

[ju1ce]

Has anyone tried to separate (physically, using a saw) the programmer from the rest of the STM8L-DISCOVERY board? Of course, then I would have to supply the power myself, but are there any other things I should take into account? I think it should just work...

I'm asking this because I need the LCD to be near the top of the enclosure board in a project and I can't be bothered to brew my own board yet.

[ju1ce]

I guess no one has this board. I'll order one from Mouser tonight and report back here when I get it (if I remember).

It looks like a very nice chip with an ADC, DAC and LCD interface.

[hans]

Like all STM boards, can't you remove the jumpers + 2 wires?
I guess you can cut from the display, if you were really going for a smaller form factor.
The power supply is probably on the programmer side though, as that's where the power enters. I also see a SOT223 device next the jumpers, so that's probably the 3.3V rail.

Well, if it works, I think you can use the SWD output from the ST-Link for programming any ST device. So that would be quite convenient.

[bingo600]

I wonder why a STM8L-Discovery is interesting ....

Custom $$ compiler & non-32bit cpu.

I'd select a

STM32L-Discovery - Arm CortexM3

Free Compiler & 32-Bit

Both seems to have onboard LCD

/Bingo

[T4P]

...i was "lectured" by another person on this forum some time ago that,
8 bit is faster for bitbanging
And apparently the STM8L is the king of the 8bit market

[ju1ce]

I wonder why a STM8L-Discovery is interesting ....

Custom $$ compiler & non-32bit cpu.

I'd select a

STM32L-Discovery - Arm CortexM3

Free Compiler & 32-Bit

Both seems to have onboard LCD

/Bingo

Well it depends. I'm making a dummy load (one-off), where the current setting is given by the DAC and the current is shown on the LCD. I may also add a few I2C devices like a temperature sensor and a keypad, but even then a compiler with a size limit will suffice.

In this case a 32-bit cpu wouldn't add any extra value, so I decided to stick with a 8-bit cpu because I'm used to them and they are generally simpler.

[Bored@Work]

I digged one out of the junk bin at work (where all our ST boards live). It was marked as MB915-B00. It didn't power up so I couldn't conduct a live saw experiment. But from a quick inspection, there doesn't seem to be an official "cut here" line between the display and the programmer. There is a little bit of space, but it is used, for example, by a horizontal traces.

Anyway, STs eval licene is rather restrictive when it comes to using the eval board in some producr setup. Read it for a good laugh end hen move on to another manufacturer.
:
By the way, there is an attempt at an open source compiler for the 7 and 8 ST MCUs. When we looked at it, it was unusable. And as we have learned, ST won't give open source compiler developers a helping hand. Despising open source and thinking throwing cheap eval boards at the masses is enough to win the hearts and minds over.

[McMonster]

By the way, there is an attempt at an open source compiler for the 7 and 8 ST MCUs. When we looked at it, it was unusable. And as we have learned, ST won't give open source compiler developers a helping hand. Despising open source and thinking throwing cheap eval boards at the masses is enough to win the hearts and minds over.

Same thoughts here. I considered buying one just to see how a different 8-bit micro would work, but couldn't find any compiler that does not limit the code size etc. (or maybe I missed something?). Lack of open source support for the platform won't attract many hobbyists. TI makes the same error with MSP430, great micros, but no support for open source tools, but at least they are there.

[T4P]

It's depressing, it really is.
If not for the fact that i have access to IAR, i would not have tried out a STM32F4-Disco

[McMonster]

Things are different with ARMs, there good and free toolchains, there's OpenOCD for debugging and it's all relatively easy to set up in Eclipse or any other environment you like. I have two ARM dev boards (STM32F4 Discovery and a STM32F107 based board) and I don't have any problems programming and debugging them.

[bingo600]

TI makes the same error with MSP430, great micros, but no support for open source tools, but at least they are there.

This i don't understand ....

I have build several MSP430 GCC compilers , and there's also OSS support for the programmer @their 4.30$ little board.

http://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=720728#720728
http://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=756652#756652

/Bingo

[bingo600]

In this case a 32-bit cpu wouldn't add any extra value, so I decided to stick with a 8-bit cpu because I'm used to them and they are generally simpler.

Afaik the STM8 is quite complex , as the IO looks a lot like ST's 32-bit arm's

But i haven't tried one , i do have a few STM8VL-Discovery's.
But just used the programmer part (ARM) , to convert to Versaloon Debugging dongle.
I have never wanted to waste time on a mcu wo. a free compiler.

/Bingo

[ju1ce]

I tried it and it is definitely possible. You needn't rework any traces if you've got a saw with a blade thin enough. I had to rewire the reset line and connect the 3.3V line to the SWIM connector so that the target board can get power.

Here's the board saying "Hello EEVBlog":

[mrflibble]

TI makes the same error with MSP430, great micros, but no support for open source tools, but at least they are there.

This i don't understand ....

I have build several MSP430 GCC compilers , and there's also OSS support for the programmer @their 4.30$ little board.

Same here. mspgcc + mspdebug works just fine.

[mrflibble]

I tried it and it is definitely possible. You needn't rework any traces if you've got a saw with a blade thin enough. I had to rewire the reset line and connect the 3.3V line to the SWIM connector so that the target board can get power.

That's using the STM8VL-Discovery? If so, then I just found another rationalization for buying one. I wonder if the same trick is going to work for a  STM8S-Discovery. I'd guess yes, but has anyone here tried this?