Blank White Screen for Flashed Example Programs

[newbornsun]

Hello,

I am attempting to compile and flash a uGFX Mikromedia-STM32-M4-ILI9341 example program to my Mikromedia devboard. I am able to successfully compile and therefore create a .hex file in ChibiStudio using the tetris uGFX example file (by setting GFXDEMO = games/tetris in the makefile). As noted, this all compiles fine and dandy, however, when I try to flash the .hex file using ST-Link utility or other .hex flasher, it works, the board successfully flashes, however, only a blank white screen appears upon startup of the dev board.

I am wondering if you might happen to know why this is the case or if you can provide me with further assistance.

Thank you!

[newbornsun]

Perhaps I should include my console output:

11:41:09 **** Build of configuration Default for project Mikromedia-example ****
make -j4 all 
.
C Compiler Options....
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gfx.c
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gos/gos_chibios.c
arm-none-eabi-gcc -c -ggdb -O1 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -falign-functions=16 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsingle-precision-constant -fomit-frame-pointer -Wall -Wextra -Wstrict-prototypes -fverbose-asm -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fno-common -flto -MMD -MP -MF .build/dep/fakethumbfile.o.d -I. -I../../uGFX -I../../uGFX/3rdparty/tinygl-0.4-ugfx/include -I../../uGFX/boards/base/Mikromedia-STM32-M4-ILI9341 -I../../uGFX/drivers/gdisp/ILI9341 -I../../uGFX/drivers/gaudio/vs1053 -I../../uGFX/demos/applications/notepad -I../../chibios26/os/ports/common/ARMCMx/CMSIS/include -I../../chibios26/os/ports/common/ARMCMx -I../../chibios26/os/ports/GCC/ARMCMx -I../../chibios26/os/ports/GCC/ARMCMx/STM32F4xx -I../../chibios26/os/kernel/include -I../../chibios26/os/hal/include -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32F4xx -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/GPIOv2 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/I2Cv1 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/OTGv1 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/RTCv2 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/SPIv1 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/TIMv1 -I../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/USARTv1 -I../../uGFX/boards/base/Mikromedia-STM32-M4-ILI9341/ChibiOS_Board -DGFX_USE_OS_CHIBIOS=TRUE -DGFX_USE_OS_CHIBIOS=TRUE -DCORTEX_USE_FPU=TRUE -DUSE_FPU=hard -DTHUMB_PRESENT -DTHUMB_NO_INTERWORKING -mthumb -DTHUMB fakethumbfile.c -o .build/obj/fakethumbfile.o
.
Linker Options........
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gos/gos_freertos.c
arm-none-eabi-gcc -u chThdExit -Wl,--defsym=__process_stack_size__=0x400 -Wl,--defsym=__main_stack_size__=0x400 -mcpu=cortex-m4 -falign-functions=16 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -fsingle-precision-constant -nostartfiles -mthumb -Wl,--gc-sections -T../../chibios26/os/ports/GCC/ARMCMx/STM32F4xx/ld/STM32F407xG.ld -lm .build/obj/fakethumbfile.o -o .build/Mikromedia-example.elf
In file included from ../../uGFX/src/../gfx.h:185:0,
                 from ../../uGFX/src/gfx.c:16:
../../uGFX/src/../src/gdisp/gdisp_rules.h:65:6: warning: #warning "GDISP: GDISP_NEED_ANTIALIAS has been set but your hardware does not support reading back pixels. Anti-aliasing will only occur for filled characters." [-Wcpp]
     #warning "GDISP: GDISP_NEED_ANTIALIAS has been set but your hardware does not support reading back pixels. Anti-aliasing will only occur for filled characters."
      ^
.
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gos/gos_win32.c
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gos/gos_linux.c
Compiling ../../uGFX/src/gos/gos_osx.c
...
Compiling ../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/TIMv1/pwm_lld.c
Compiling ../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/USARTv1/serial_lld.c
Compiling ../../chibios26/os/hal/platforms/STM32/USARTv1/uart_lld.c
Compiling ../../uGFX/boards/base/Mikromedia-STM32-M4-ILI9341/ChibiOS_Board/board.c
Compiling ../../uGFX/boards/base/Mikromedia-STM32-M4-ILI9341/ChibiOS_Board/flash_memory.c
Linking .build/Mikromedia-example.elf
Creating .build/Mikromedia-example.hex
Creating .build/Mikromedia-example.bin
Creating .build/Mikromedia-example.dmp
.
   text       data        bss        dec        hex    filename
  26920          0       6036      32956       80bc    .build/Mikromedia-example.elf

11:41:20 Build Finished (took 11s.638ms)

 

Edited January 31, 2017 by Joel Bodenmann
Using code box and shortening unnecessary output

[inmarket]

Start with the gdisp/basics demo as this enables us to test the hardware with the least amount of "fluff".

Make sure that you have the M4 board not the M4-Plus board as that has different hardware on it.

Also the M4 board itself comes in 2 versions, one with the ILI9341 and the other with a different display controller. Make sure you have the ILI9341 version.

This is a board that I have myself so last time I tried this configuration was working well. If we can't identify the problem then I will fire up my board and retest however that won't happen until next week as I am currently away on business. 

[newbornsun]

Hi thanks for the reply.

I believe it is the one with ILI9341, as listed on the website. Is there any way to deterministically check? Haven't seen a Mikromedia STM32 M4 with a different driver...

Also, I should note, that I was only able to compile the above example by including the following in my makefile:

LDFLAGS  = -u chThdExit

Otherwise wont compile and have linking issues as mentioned in a different thread.
 

[newbornsun]

Hi, I figured out the problem. Had to set OPT_LINK_OPTIMIZE = no for some reason...

Took out -u chThdExit and works like a charm. Thanks for the help.

[Joel Bodenmann]

Hello @newbornsun and welcome to the µGFX community!

I'm glad to hear that you got everything working! The OPT_LINK_OPTIMIZE = no doesn't surprise me at all. Basically that doesn't do anything but turning LTO off. There is one (known) GCC version which has a bug in the LTO stuff.
The -u chThdExit stuff would be surprising however. That's definitely wrong and doesn't belong there.

[inmarket]

The GCC link optimizer is a great idea but unreliable. I tend to leave it on as it leads to smaller binaries but turn it off the moment i get any strange linking errors. Glad you found the problem.