STM32MP215x-DKx - hardware description

Applicable for

This article provides an overview of STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kits.

1. Article purpose[edit | edit source]

This article briefly describes:

How to assemble the different elements provided in the commercial box and additional optional accessories
What are the different components on the boards
How to connect the boards to external material
How to configure the board for boot
What are the configurations of the connector pins

This article is valid for the STM32MP215F-DK Discovery kit: the part numbers are specified in the STM32MP21 microprocessor part numbers article.

Information

This article is an introduction to the STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kit. For more detailed information, refer to the STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kit user manuals.

2. Board assembly and connections[edit | edit source]

The STM32MP215x-DKx Discovery kit package (STM32MP215F-DK ) contains only the MB2059 motherboard.

STM32MP215F-DK Discovery kit front side (picture not contractual)

Information

Display and camera are available for purchase to complete this basic setup.

The complete set contains:

STM32MP215F-DK and additional accessories kits shown here (picture is not contractual)


Position	Description
1	MB2059 main board
2	MicroSD card
3	4.3" TFT 480*272 pixels with LED Backlight and capacitive touch panel RK043FN78H-CT661C (optional)
4	Camera board FFC (provided with the B-CAMS-IMX package) (optional)
5	MB1854 camera board provided with the B-CAMS-IMX package (optional)

STM32MP215F-DK Discovery kit assembly (picture is not contractual)

2.1. Connecting the display to the board (optional)[edit | edit source]

Find the DISPLAY connector (CN8) on the top side of the MB2059 main board
Flip the connector’s latch up

Display board assembly - step 1 (picture is not contractual)

Display board assembly - step 2 (picture is not contractual)

Insert the LCD’s cable with the exposed contacts facing down

Display board assembly - step 3 (picture is not contractual)

Flip the connector’s latch down to secure the cable

Display board assembly - step 4 (picture is not contractual)

2.2. Connecting the MB1854 camera board to the board (optional)[edit | edit source]

Camera board assembly (picture is not contractual)

Find the camera ports on the STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kit (CN4) (#1 in the image above) and MB1854 (CN1) (#2 in the image above). The camera box contains one FFC.

For each port:
- Pull the plastic (#1 in the image below) lightly to insert the contact side of the FFC towards the board (#2 in the image below).
- Push the plastic carefully to hold the FFC (#3 in the image below).

Camera board assembly (picture is not contractual)

2.3. Connecting USB to TTL serial cables[edit | edit source]

To have 2 consoles on your workstation , one for Cortex-M33 and one for Cortex-A35, 2 "USB to TTL serial cables" are needed.

(picture is not contractual)

2.4. STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kit assembled and connected[edit | edit source]

The picture below presents the recommended board connections for getting started with the STM32MP215x-DKx Discovery kits

Warning

To start the board, it is recommended to go through the corresponding Starter Package article first.

As shown in the board overview, other connectors are available for this board (for example, the GPIO expansion connector).

STM32MP215x-DKx Discovery kit connections (picture is not contractual)

3. 3D printed display holder - optional[edit | edit source]

3D printer files (.stl) are available on github^[1] to allow you making the above assembly. The OpenSCAD^[2] source file (.scad) is also provided to help you doing your own customized holder or casing. For best result with Ultimaker printer, we recommend using "tree" supports^[3].

4. Board overview[edit | edit source]

Main board MB2059, revision B: part of the STM32MP215F-DK Discovery kit .

Warning

USART2-RX and USART2-TX are wired to ST-Link connector (CN5) and VCPA35 connector (CN2). ST-LINK and Cortex-A35 Linux console can not used simultaneously via those both connectors.

To allow the Cortex-A35 Linux console : The VCPA35 connector (CN2) needs to be plugged and ST-Link connector (CN5) to be unplugged
To allow debugging over ST-LINK and Cortex-A35 Linux console : CN5 needs to be plugged and CN2 to be unplugged. In such case, the Cortex-A35 Linux console is available through ST-LINK.

Details about the LEDs:

The LD1 LED turns yellow when the power cable is inserted into the CN10 connector.
The red LED (LD5) is used as a BOOTFAIL indicator and to indicate developer boot mode.
Two general-purpose color LEDs (LD2 and LD3) are available as light indicators:
- The blue LED (LD2) is used as the Linux® Heartbeat LED, which is blinking as long as Linux® is alive on the Cortex®-A.
- The orange LED (LD3) is used as a STM32Cube example verdict LED.
The green indicator LED (LD4) is connected to the STM32MP215 MPU.

5. Boot switches[edit | edit source]

The STM32MP215x-DK Discovery kit can boot on SD card or USB based on ROM code boot device selection.

Warning

Pay attention to the boot pins order: Boot[3:0] in ROM code boot device selection article mentionned above, but Boot[0:3] in the table below, to be in line with the pictures.

Boot mode	Boot 0	Boot 1	Boot 2	Storage device used for the Cortex-A35 boot	Storage device used for the Cortex-M33 boot
Forced USB boot for flash memory programming	0	0	0	USB/UART boot for flash programming	NA
Boot from microSD card for A35-TD flavor	1	0	0	SD card	NA
Boot from microSD card for M33-TD flavor	1	1	1	SD card	SD card
Developer mode	1	1	0	NA	NA

When the switch is set to the "ON" position, the BOOTx value is "1"; otherwise it is "0".

6. GPIO mapping[edit | edit source]

6.1. GPIO expansion connector[edit | edit source]

The table below describes the pins of the GPIO expansion connector (CN12 in the board overview picture):

Function	STM32 pin	Pin	Pin	STM32 pin	Function
3V3	-	1	2	-	5V
GPIO2 / I3C1.SDA	PA2	3	4	-	5V
GPIO3 / I3C1.SCL	PG13	5	6	-	GND
GPIO4 / MCO1	PF11	7	8	PF13	GPIO14 / USART6.TX
GND	-	9	10	PH9	GPIO15 / USART6.RX
GPIO17 / USART6.RTS	PC3	11	12	PA9	GPIO18 / SAI2.SCKB
GPIO27/ SDMMC3.D3	PD14	13	14	-	GND
GPIO22 / SDMMC3.CK	PB13	15	16	PH8	GPIO23 / SDMMC3.CMD
3V3	-	17	18	PB14	GPIO24/SDMMC3.D0
GPIO10 / SPI1.MOSI	PI5	19	20	-	GND
GPIO9 / SPI1.MISO	PD1	21	22	PD13	GPIO25/SDMMC3.D1
GPIO11 / SPI1.SCK	PD11	23	24	PD2	GPIO8 / SPI1.NSS
GND	-	25	26	PC7	GPIO7
I3C2.SDA	PG0	27	28	PC12	I3C2.SCL
GPIO5 / TIM11.CH1	PH13	29	30	-	GND
GPIO6 / TIM13.CH1	PC9	31	32	PC8	GPIO12 / TIM8.CH2
GPIO13 / TIM8.CH4	PC10	33	34	-	GND
GPIO19 / SAI2.FSB	PA6	35	36	PF15	GPIO16 / USART6.CTS
GPIO26 / SDMMC3.D2	PB12	37	38	PA5	GPIO20 / SAI2.SDB
GND	-	39	40	PG1	GPIO21 / SAI2.SDA

6.2. User buttons and LEDs[edit | edit source]

The tables below describe the GPIO assignments for the user buttons and LEDs. Refer to the LEDs and buttons on STM32 MPU boards article and #Board overview chapter for more details.

GPIO for LEDs

LED color and label	GPIO
Green LD4	PF10
Red LD5	PH4
Orange LD3	PH12
Blue LD2	PZ3

GPIO for user buttons

Button	GPIO
USER1	PC4
USER2	PF7

[1] ttps://github.com/STMicroelectronics/wiki-stm32mp-addons/tree/main/RK043FN78H-CT661C

[2] ttps://openscad.org/

[3] ttps://ultimaker.com/learn/tree-supports-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work/

[1]

[2]

[3]