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New to mbed & ARM, OK with C++, need some help to get started : )

Topic last updated 02 Nov 2016, by Richard Hu. 2 replies
Richard Hu
01 Nov 2016

Hello all, I just started to learn ARM microcontrollers for two months and by far, mbed looks like the right place to start with. I am ok with C++, and I have nearly a year of experience with AVRs, and the mbed library seems pretty straight forward. The problem that I'm having is that I'm quite confused on how to actually download the program onto a Nucleo board that I have. Do I need to install any USB drivers for the Nucleo board? Do I need a special programmer software or the mbed online compiler can directly talk to the Nucleo board?

Thanks! Any help would be appreciated.

Andrea Corrado
01 Nov 2016

Hi Richard,

Great to have you on board!

If you could let me know what board you have I can help you get up and running :)

In terms of how mbed works is very very simple. The device should enumerate as an a mass storage device on your PC when plugged in. Then you use the online-IDE (or offline tools when you need them) to compile a program for that target board, then simply drag that file onto the device and reset and you are done :)

For Example:

  • 1. Go to the page of your board: https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/ST-Nucleo-F401RE/
  • 2. Click add to compiler
  • 3. Then import any of the example programs as a start. (MBED programs are compatible across all platforms regardless what platform the are written for :) )
  • 4. Then compile :)

Let me know how i can help you more.

Regards,

Andrea, team mbed

Richard Hu
02 Nov 2016

Hi Andrea,

Thank you for the help! I'm quite amazed at how simple it is to download a program onto a mbed board. (I guess I'm supposed to drag-and-drop the xxx.bin file that the mbed online compiler downloads to my computer into my board)

If you don't mind, I have a few other question that I want to ask: 1. Is there a place where you can see your own activities in the forum (e.g. my recent posts, my discussions, alert for new reply, etc.) ? 2. What does the "awaiting moderation" icon mean? Does that icon appear everytime I post something or it just appears the first time? 3. Is there an FAQ area about all this kind of stuff? I feel dumb to ask this kind of questions and wish if I could find the answer myself.

Thank you again! You offered me great help to get me started.