STM32F411CE Blackpill: Add GD25Q16C to the list of flash devices

[jerryneedell]

The mpconfigboard.mk file for the Blackpill specifies a different Flash device that the one linked to on the product page. the link is for the GD25Q16C https://www.adafruit.com/product/4763

I put one of these on the board and naively just created a build with from the tip of main.
Not surprisingly, the board boots to safe mode and the OS is unhappy with the new device....

I changed the mpconfigboard.mk to specify the GD25Q16C

SPI_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 1
EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 1 
EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = GD25Q16C

and when rebuilt all apears to be well. I see a 2Mbyte CIRCUITPY Drive
and I and able to read and write from/to it.

This really is not a "bug" in that I assume it would work if the default FLASH device were used.
Should the Product page be changed to link to the larger flash or should the default Flash be changed to use the 2Mbyte part?

changes made

diff --git a/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk b/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
index 9a95a3539..f7966a7e8 100644
--- a/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
+++ b/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
@@ -4,9 +4,13 @@ USB_PRODUCT = "stm32f411ce blackpill with flash"
 USB_MANUFACTURER = "Unknown"
 
 SPI_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 1
-EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 2
+SPI_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 1
+EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 1
+EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = GD25Q16C
+
+#EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 2
 #See supervisor/shared/external_flash/devices.h for options
-EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = W25Q64FV,W25Q64JV_IQ
+#EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = W25Q64FV,W25Q64JV_IQ
 LONGINT_IMPL = MPZ
 
 INTERNAL_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 0

successful boot

Auto-reload is on. Simply save files over USB to run them or enter REPL to disable.

Press any key to enter the REPL. Use CTRL-D to reload.

Adafruit CircuitPython 6.2.0-beta.3-30-g08e1f926f-dirty on 2021-03-07; stm32f411ce-blackpill-with-flash with STM32F411CE
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 

mounted FS

Filesystem     1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root      122117768 36488688  79382784  32% /
devtmpfs         1801160        0   1801160   0% /dev
tmpfs            1933256    75356   1857900   4% /dev/shm
tmpfs            1933256     8908   1924348   1% /run
tmpfs               5120       12      5108   1% /run/lock
tmpfs            1933256        0   1933256   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p1    258096    49608    208488  20% /boot
tmpfs             386648       12    386636   1% /run/user/1000
/dev/sda1           2024        4      2020   1% /media/pi/CIRCUITPY

[jerryneedell]

I also verified that just adding the GD25Q16C to the list works as well.

diff --git a/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk b/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
index 9a95a3539..166b56b6e 100644
--- a/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
+++ b/ports/stm/boards/stm32f411ce_blackpill_with_flash/mpconfigboard.mk
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ USB_PRODUCT = "stm32f411ce blackpill with flash"
 USB_MANUFACTURER = "Unknown"
 
 SPI_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 1
-EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 2
+EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICE_COUNT = 3
 #See supervisor/shared/external_flash/devices.h for options
-EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = W25Q64FV,W25Q64JV_IQ
+EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEVICES = GD25Q16C,W25Q64FV,W25Q64JV_IQ
 LONGINT_IMPL = MPZ
 
 INTERNAL_FLASH_FILESYSTEM = 0

This is covered in the guide to building CP https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/choosing-a-different-spi-flash-chip so creating a custom build works fine. Perhaps just a note on the Product page would be helpful but I'll close this as it is not really a CP bug.

[jepler]

FWIW, I think we should fix the port so that when the user solders the flash chip Adafruit proposes, CP works.