The firmware requires a number of tools to be installed on the build machine:
- Visual Studio
- .NET Microframework 4.3 SDK
- Keil MDK compiler or GCC Compiler
- STM32 Cube Programmer
- Netduino Updater for deployment
The firmware has two elements, native code (compiled using GCC or MDK) and managed code (compiled with the C# compiler).
Visual Studio 2013 Express or Visual Studio 2015 Community can be used as well as the commercially available versions of Visual Studio.
When using Visual Studio 2013, it is also necessary to download and install the Windows SDK 2013.
Visual Studio 2015 requires installation of the Windows SDK. This can be installed as follows:
- Go to Control Panel and select Programs and Features
- Select Visual Studio 2015
- Select the Change option.
- Select Universal Windows App Development Tools and check all of the items in the folder.
- Update the installation.
Finally, it is necessary to ensure that MSBuild is on the path when a command prompt is open:
- Go to Control Panel and open the System applet
- Select Advanced and click on the Environment Variables button.
- Add the location of MSBuild to the Path variable. Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\bin
The build process requires the installation of the .NET Microfromaework 4.3 SDK. Click on the link to download the zip file containing the installers.
The zip file contains two components:
- .NET Microframework MSI
- Visual Studio extension (netmfvs2013.vsix for Visual Studio 2013 and netmfvs14.vsix for Visual Studio 2015)
Install the MicroFrameworkSDK.msi and the appropriate Visual Studio extension.
The MDK compiler is a commercial compiler available from Keil. This compiler produces smaller code than the free GCC. MDK is only available on the Windows platform.
The firmware is known to compile with version 5.10+ of the compiler.
When installing the MDK compiler it is necessary to ensure that the installation directory does not contain any space characters.
Arm have release a free multi-platform embedded toolchain for the Arm Cortex-M and Cortex-R processors. This includes a version of GCC for Windows, Mac and Linux.
The GCC compiler is not as efficient as the MDK compiler when it generates object code. The firmware can be compiled with GCC however the firmware will consume more memory than the equivalent firmware compiled with MDK. It is also possible that the firmware may not fit in the memory of the Netduino when compiled with GCC.
When installing the GCC compiler it is necessary to ensure that the installation directory does not contain ant space characters.
ST provide a tool for deploying software to the STM32 family of boards. STM32CubeProg can be downloaded from the ST website.
Once installed it is advised that the path to STM32_Programmer_CLI.exe is added to the system PATH variable. This will allow the firmware to be flashed to the Netduino from a batch file.
The firmware can also be deployed using the Netduino Updater.