CFW for KSGER/Quicko STM32 Soldering Stations

[DavidAlfa]

Hi, I might know a lot of things but I'm not the king of wisdom, I only have a Quicko T12 108W 
For sure lots of people here have tried others and might help much better than me.
If the cost difference is minimal, I'd get the most powerful, enabling the posibility of using JBC tips in the future.
I know Ksger 72/75W power supplies are very tight and will barely handle anything over that, also few security concerns regarding the design.

All I can say is that my 108W supply handled C245 pretty nicely, limiting the voltage to around 20V (Still putting ~150W onto the load), doing the job instead restarting, turning off or exploding

The actual power on a T12 will be the same no matter the power supply, you have 24V and a 8ohm load, max power will be 72W no matter what.

[trisonic]

Warning: it's a MM32SPIN27PF. That's a Cortex M0, so it won't be compatible with this CFW.
There isn't a single ksger with a M0 mcu, all use STM32 F1 series (cortex M3).
Porting it would be lot of work for just a single board.

I recommend replacing it with a stm32F103C8 or CB, ex. from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001953737425.html
Might be a clone, but most work ok. Only CH32F have issues in this FW (ADC reading random values).

hello

I was thinking of buying a ksger v3.1s and putting the custom firmware on it.
as already mentioned, since a few months they produce the control board with a "mm32" chip.
are the pcb and the components on it the same as the version with stm32?
or would i risk soldering an stm32 and then having a pcb not compatible with the controller?

thanks

[DavidAlfa]

I'm almost sure the board is the same. Probably they simply recompiled the existing firmware for it.

I could try compiling the FW for STM32F072 (Like some Quicko boards), which is a Cortex-M0 cpu like that MM32.

However, ST-LINK won't work with it. Not all hope is lost, quoting the datasheet:
"The Boot loader is stored in the system memory and can be reprogrammed to the flash memory through UART1."

So there's a UART bootloader like in STM32, which might be (or not) compatible with the STM32 bootloader format. There's only way to know: Testing it!

To set it in bootloader mode you need to set BOOT0 to high level (3.3V).
However, there's another problem: Boot0 is directly routed to ground in these boards, the only way to set it high is to *very carefully* apply heat, lift it and solder it to VDD.
Then, it's pretty straighforward, tahe the USB serial converter, connect Rx, Tx and Gnd, open STM32CubeProgrammer (Or FLASHER-STM32) and connect to the serial port using 115.200 baudrate.

But in any case, it might not work at all in the end, and if you didn't manage to backup the original firmware, you'll have to replace the controller.

So, first of all, try reading the original firmware using the uart bootloader.

[antofi]

Hi!

So I am in the unfortunate situation, that my device will have the MM32 chip in it. Now fortunately I can get either a STM32F101CBT6 or a STM32F103C8T6. I would lean to take the letter, but I am unsure if it is fine regarding the storage size.

[DavidAlfa]

Although the C8 is sold as 64KB, it actually has the same 128KB as the CB, so any is fine.
But beware, clones don't follow this rule.

If you're planning to replace it, why don't you try the bootloader mode first and see if It can be read or programmed?
Who knows, it might work.

[antofi]

Thanks for the fast reply, I will give it a shot! Regarding whether it is a clone or not, I would be ordering from a reliable seller in Germany, it will definitely be a real STM32 .

[mastershake]

@DavidAlfa i have few questions
i have in plan to buy this station https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003713432532.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.2b4a538bkQ5GYr&algo_pvid=8d5d11eb-da7b-4f09-ae4b-c0cbda821623&algo_exp_id=8d5d11eb-da7b-4f09-ae4b-c0cbda821623-18&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000026905474132%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B243.53%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BPLN%3Bsearch-mainSearch

this version is with larger oled display and stm32 later i wants assembly it make photos etc but before i buy it wanna ask something , how much power i need to fully drive T12 tips - 72W or 75W ?! because ksegr t12 claim about its power transformer deliver 120W 24V/5A while QUEEKO T12-959 claim about its station have power 108W 24V/4,5A - is this big difference in tip heating speed ? 72W is enough or 75W ? i ask because in latest station model which i buyed BAKON 969D 60W or 55W this is maximum power heating of this station and is reall crap i must wait much more to heat tip and it lost temperature faster in sharp tips
regards

someone i know just got one of these thinking it was going to be stm but he says it is stc. i have not seen pics yet but i dont know why he would tell me that if it wasnt. just like i have a handskit unit that was sold to me as stm32 but when i got it and complained it was actually stc they changed the description and basically told me they were sorry and thank you for my order. didnt care at all. i tried disputing it but since they changed the listing to stc aliexpress decided in their favor.

[DavidAlfa]

Always take videos and/or pictures before claiming, just in case.
Doesn't AliExpress save a cached version of the listing, linked to the date when the item was purchased, like in eBay?


I very rarely have claims rejected in Ali.
Ex. My $22 858D was DOA (Dead on arrival), the seller wanted me to return it (More costly than the whole thing), so I argued that I shouldn't pay anything as it wasn't my fault.
Claimed, properly showed the problem to AliExpress, ignored the annoying seller pms, and won.
After some investigation, it was only a bad solder joint 


Another example:
Bought a USB 2.0 hub, but it worked at 1MB/s at best.
Opened it, took pictures, downloaded the datasheet (USB. 1.1 hub wtf) and opened a claim sending all my proofs, showing the board pictures, IC marking, and the datasheet description. Zero issues, next day refund.
Bought a usb 2.0 pin-compatible controller ($1.5) and got a 7-port USB 2.0 hub for... $1.5

[mastershake]

yup this was my first one they ever rejected i make sure to take screen shots and all that now just in case. every other time i ever had an issue aliexpress has been really good to me. needless to say the couple handskit units i have ordered so far have both been crap honestly

[DavidAlfa]

Mastershake, how many stations do you have already?
Last time it was something like 5 ksgers.
Then you also got the T3A, now trying to build the Unisolder... You're not needing heaters in winter hehe

[mastershake]

haha to many. i just havent found THE station yet. for me its kind of a hobby. i also have a few guys working for me doing repairs at the office along with me so some of them we buy for the shop to have around as backups or for the guys to use and see of they like them better then what they are currently using. the unisolders will prob be mine to keep at home though. im kind of ocd so i tend to mess with things more often then not lol to see if there is better.

[ksjh]

Hello David,

thank you for continuing the development of the open source firmware. I bought a Quecoo T12-955 and was able to flash the KSGER_v2 firmware variant without any problems. The main PCB is marked Ver3.3 and uses some different parts than in the KSGER schematic by floobydust. For example, the main P-channel MOSFET is a RU30L30.

The MCU seems to be an original SM32F103CBT6, where the readout protection was not enabled, so I was able to read the factory firmware V2.10 without any hacks. Please PM me if you need the file.

By the way, my STM32CubeIDE wanted to update to version 1.9.0. After updating, I was not able to compile the firmware any more, loads of multiple definition of ... gcc errors. Since the update provides gcc version 10.3.1, adding -fcommon to the GCC options did the trick.

[DavidAlfa]

It'll problably be the same as the existing T21-955 backup, but please compare them, it might be newer version or who knows.
No idea about CubeIDE, I still had 1.8.0 and it never complained since 1.4.0 or even older.
I'm updating the IDE... Already shaking, I have a bad feeling about this

Edit: Indeed, installation f*** everything up.
Will check that later, not having the mood to fight it today.. 

[ksjh]

Oh, the joy of updating otherwise working software...
My update from 1.8.0 to 1.9.0 went smoothly, but then gcc threw errors when compiling/linking, since -fno-common is the default in newer versions of gcc.

I compared my T12-955 firmware dump to the one already in the github repository. They are completely equal.

[DavidAlfa]

Okay, I just wiped ST folder and reinstalled cleanly and worked. Fixed the compilation errors.
Few very silly mistakes, don't know why GCC didn't complain before!

[ksjh]

Great that you found the errors so fast. Now it compiles for me also without any problems.

[ygi]

I don't remember having to do any specific config for previous versions but it seems like v1.9.0 doesn't generate bin file by default. Granted we can just feed the raw elf file to the programmer I think it might be good to document that in the readme.

That can be found in project Properties > C++ build > Settings > MCU post build outputs > "Convert to binary filie (-O binary)"

[B83C]

Hello, thinking of getting a quecoo t12-959, any compatible cfw for it?

[ygi]

Hello, thinking of getting a quecoo t12-959, any compatible cfw for it?

No. It's not STM32 and the display's also unsupported.

[DavidAlfa]

I don't remember having to do any specific config for previous versions but it seems like v1.9.0 doesn't generate bin file by default. Granted we can just feed the raw elf file to the programmer I think it might be good to document that in the readme.

That can be found in project Properties > C++ build > Settings > MCU post build outputs > "Convert to binary filie (-O binary)"

Migrated profiles to CubeMX 6.5.0 and enabled Hex/Bin generation by default
Hmm... I never understood those strange updates ST always do.
Seriously, updading the IDE always gives the same feeling as plugging some scrapyard finding, completely untested, straight to a 400V 1MW transformer, without any breaker or protection in between

Compiled and tested, everything seems working.
I'm just ensuring the newer IDE/Compiler versions work, didn't made new builds because there're no code changes.

[ksjh]

Compiled and tested, everything seems working.

Almost... 
The Debug configuration generates bin and hex files by default now, the Release config still does not.

[DavidAlfa]

Ahh will re-check

Edit: Some profiles had Debug config selected as default. So they were mixed. Enabled bin/hex generation for all configs and all profiles.

[wickated]

Hello David,

thank you for continuing the development of the open source firmware. I bought a Quecoo T12-955 and was able to flash the KSGER_v2 firmware variant without any problems. The main PCB is marked Ver3.3 and uses some different parts than in the KSGER schematic by floobydust. For example, the main P-channel MOSFET is a RU30L30.

thats a good one h2.1 board. only disadvantage is i2c screen. even 8551 OPA is good enough. also David suggests to change LED to fast(low capacity) diode.
and i still dunno if quartz is needed to run CFW 
edit - oh i see - quicko has no quartz, but has quartz load caps instead. ksger has quartz but with no load caps.  looks like budget was limited to only one to choose

[DavidAlfa]

Crystal is only used in the original firmware for the real time clock, unused in cfw.

[yelkvi]

David, is it possible to remake your firmware for TFT SPI display 1,8"?

https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005003797803015.html

Now my SPI OLED display works with your firmware. But he's small.