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x3utils v1.6.5

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@ztakis ztakis released this 02 Jul 15:59

x3utils v1.6.5

Summary

  • Safer C45 flashing, better validation/backups, cleaner packages, mac is back and a little launcher personality.

Highlights

  • Improved C45 / clone ST-Link flashing reliability with safer OpenOCD TCL error handling.
  • Added shared .bin validation across flashing, dumping, launcher, and SHU compatibility workflows.
  • Added secondary backup storage outside the x3utils folder for extra safety.
  • Added extra tools under the special/ folder.
  • Cleaned up and reorganized bundled OpenOCD files for the release packages.
  • Re-added macOS support, for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

C45 / Clone ST-Link Improvements

The C45 target scripts now handle errors more safely during guided connect-under-reset and flashing.

Failures during adapter initialization, DEMCR write, target re-examine, halt, erase, write, or verify now stop the process with an error instead of continuing silently. Flash and verify operations are wrapped inside TCL helper procedures so the launcher/scripts can correctly detect failed OpenOCD operations.

This is especially important for C45 / clone ST-Link flashing, where a bad connection or interrupted flash should fail clearly.

macOS Support

macOS support has been brought back after falling behind the Windows and Linux packages.

The macOS package includes bundled OpenOCD builds for:

  • Apple Silicon / arm64
  • Intel / x86_64

The tool automatically selects the correct OpenOCD build for the current Mac architecture.

macOS C45 flashing can be slower than Windows/Linux, so the tool now warns users to wait up to 1 minute for the flash operation to finish and not interrupt the process.

Validation and Backup Improvements

Added shared validation scripts:

  • Windows: validate_bin.cmd
  • Linux/macOS: validate_bin.sh

Validation checks include:

  • file exists
  • .bin extension
  • expected 128 KB size
  • unsupported path characters
  • repeated-byte / invalid dump detection
  • non-ASCII path detection on Windows

The validator also supports a nosize option, allowing future workflows to use valid .bin files with custom sizes.

Dump and compatibility flows now verify generated files before continuing.

Secondary backups are now also stored in:

  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\x3utils_backup
  • Linux: ~/.x3utils_backup
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/x3utils_backup

Launcher and Script Updates

  • Added a new retro ASCII art scooter mascot/banner to the launchers.
  • Updated launcher menus and connection option handling.
  • Updated C45 target names to the newer at32f415xx_* naming.
  • Improved error messages when flash or backup scripts fail.
  • Centralized OpenOCD binary and scripts directory validation in config files.
  • Added OpenOCD executable permission checks on Linux/macOS.

Special Tools

Extra tools are now available in the special/ folder:

  • flash_only - flash without the forced backup step
  • flash_slot0 - experimental slot-0 flashing
  • flash_gt3_compat - experimental GT3 SHU compatibility tool

These are intended for advanced users and special cases.

Notes

As always, make a backup before flashing and do not interrupt the process once flashing has started.