Deploying RT-thread System on STM32 in Ubuntu Environment

RT-Thread is an open-source embedded operating system from China, with the current version being 2.2. It supports many microcontrollers, such as the STM32 series, and can even run on Bluetooth BLE chips. Despite resource constraints in microcontrollers, deploying an easy-to-use micro operating system is beneficial for project development and code management.

Required Tools

An STM32 development board with USB download capability
Ubuntu system
USB to serial cable

I’m using the classic ALIENTEK STM32 MINI V2.0 development board with an STM32F103RBT6 chip, and Ubuntu version 16.04

1. Download the Cross-compilation Toolchain

Download the gcc-arm-none-eabi cross-compilation toolchain. For 16.04 systems, simply use apt install gcc-arm-none-eabi to install

2. Download RT-Thread Compilation Tools

This system uses scons for compilation. For 16.04 systems, use apt install scons to install

3. Download the Source Code

Download the RT-Thread system from: https://github.com/RT-Thread
Extract the directory

4. Modify the Compilation Project

Enter the bsp/stm32f10x directory
Edit the rtconfig.py file
Change CROSS_TOOL to gcc

5. Configure for Your Board

Configure the crystal oscillator in stm32f10x.h via HSE_VALUE, for example 800000
Configure RAM in board.h via STM32_SRAM_SIZE, for example 20
Configure the LED in led.c

6. Compile the Source Code

Run scons in the bsp/stm32f10x directory to generate the rtthread.bin file

7. Flash the Code

You can use Jlink for downloading. Download the Linux executable file from the Jlink official website. Since I’m using a Debian system, I can directly open the JLink_Linux_V614a_x86_64.deb file to install. Then, in the system’s lib/ directory, execute the JlinkExe file to download and flash the program through Jlink.
Here I used a more convenient serial port flashing method. First set pin B0 to high level, B1 to low level, then use the STM32flash-5.0 software for flashing.
- Download from https://sourceforge.net/projects/stm32flash/
- Extract the directory, run make in that directory to get stm32flash
- Copy rtthread.bin to that directory, connect the USB to serial cable, then enter sudo ./stm32flash -w rtthread.bin -v -g 0x0 /dev/ttyUSB0, where ttyUSB0 is the serial device

8. Verify Success

If you can see the LED blinking, the deployment was successful