DEV Community: gurndar

#4 now it blinky

gurndar — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:50:33 +0000

Yeah
Finally
I made it blinky.
Yeah

Initially, I used this code:

  with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO; use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO;
  with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.RCC;  use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.RCC;

  procedure my_blackpill_project is
  begin
     RCC_Periph.AHB1ENR.GPIOCEN := True;
     GPIOC_Periph.MODER.Arr(13) := 2#01#;
     loop
        GPIOC_Periph.ODR.ODR.Arr (13) := False;
     end loop;
  end my_blackpill_project;

However, it does not work.
I do not know why so I mailed it to Vadim(He is the greatest programmer for me).

And I tried this code that is on vadim's example repository for a0b-tools

 with A0B.STM32F401.GPIO;
  with A0B.STM32F401.GPIO.PIOC;

  procedure my_blackpill_project is
     LED : A0B.STM32F401.GPIO.GPIO_Line
       renames A0B.STM32F401.GPIO.PIOC.PC13;
     Value : Boolean := False;

     procedure Wait is
     begin
        for I in 1 .. 500_000 loop
           null;
        end loop;
     end Wait;

  begin
     LED.Configure_Output;
     loop
        LED.Set (Value);
        Wait;
        Value := not Value;
     end loop;
  end my_blackpill_project;

I initially tried to control the board directly using svd libraries. But it does not work.
And then, I tried to use a0b-stm32f401-gpio library, which is a more abstract version.
Then it worked.

I felt I did a wrong environment setting. Even I worried that if I should change to C/C++.
But after seeing the blinky board, my worries are gone.
My heart of an idiot was ignited again.
Maybe I will encounter lots of obstacles to build avionics with Ada from scratch.

But I will go. And be a map for others who are as stupid as I am.

Thank you
See you later

***EDIT(2026/06/03)
The problem for the direct aproaching was the CPU skipped code enabling GPIOC while bus is processing. So I add dummy reading code to wait for enabling.

with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.RCC; use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.RCC;
with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO; use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO;
with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.I2C; use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.I2C;
procedure my_blackpill_project is
   Dummy : Boolean;
begin
   RCC_Periph.AHB1ENR.GPIOCEN := True;
   Dummy := RCC_Periph.AHB1ENR.GPIOCEN;  -- flush write
   GPIOC_Periph.MODER.Arr(13) := 2#01#;
   loop
      GPIOC_Periph.ODR.ODR.Arr (13) := False;
   end loop;
end my_blackpill_project;

Thank you!

#3 setting env

gurndar — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 02:27:51 +0000

Whatsup
Iam back
Recently, I tried to set up the development environment. It took merely 7 days.
I wanted to use the light_startup library for startup settings on my bare-metal STM32F411. Wow. That was a tragic story.
My old friend Gemini was my first call for help. But he was useless. Wrong commands, wrong diagnosis, wrong file paths. He confidently gave me fake information, and I followed it. That cost me days.
The real breakthrough came when I stopped asking AI "what is wrong" and started feeding it the official documentation. Error messages, library READMEs, gprbuild specs — once the AI had the actual source material, it could finally analyze things correctly. Without that, it was just guessing.
So here is what I learned: AI itself is kind of dumb. But AI + official docs is a different beast.
The actual problems I ran into:

gprbuild 26.0 (LTS) was not compatible with the library. The AI could not even tell me why until I pasted the error message directly.
The linker script had a nested INCLUDE structure, and the linker kept getting lost because nobody told it where to look.
Alire hides toolchain files deep in a cache folder with a random-looking name. You have to hunt it down yourself.

Anyway. I finally got the environment running. Yeahy!
Next time, I will show you how I actually started writing code for the STM32F411.

Sorry for using AI to write a record but I did not record anything during the 7days trial.
So I just tell him what I remember about the tragedy.

For the next time, I will record and write more genuine report.

I will be back.

#2 Library literacy

gurndar — Tue, 26 May 2026 10:53:47 +0000

What's up

I am back.

Today I learned how to read a library cache

Also, I learned what a register and a port are.
A port is a group of registers, and a register is a series of bits containing information for the board.

Now I can read a0b-STM32F401-svd-.ads files
It will help me write code.

But I am curious,
STM32F401 and STM32F411(mine) are on the same production line.
They have the same pinout.
However, can I use the STM32F401 library for Ada for the STM32F411?
Please let me know about this if you have similar experiences.
Thank you

with A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO; use A0B.STM32F401.SVD.GPIO;
-- 

procedure Blackpillprc is

begin
   GPIOC_Periph.MODER.Arr(13) := 2#01#;
   loop
      GPIOC_Periph.ODR.ODR.Arr (13) := False; -- LED ON
      for I in 1..100000 loop null; end loop;
      GPIOC_Periph.ODR.ODR.Arr (13) := True; -- LED OFF
      for I in 1..100000 loop null; end loop; -- 
   end loop;
end Blackpillprc;

This is my first code

#1 The record of making a fixed-wing flyer with Ada

gurndar — Mon, 25 May 2026 12:44:40 +0000

HI

I am a student in South Korea.
Recently, I found out about "Ada", a programming language.
I asked AI what it is, and he told me that it is used in Aviation.
It looked cool.
Thus, I decided to make a fixed-wing flier with Ada.

I bought MPU6050, STM32F411CUE6,
I also started soldering.
But I accidentally removed two capacitors while I soldered the Blackpill board.

......
So I bought a new one.
lol

I am very new to Ada, Embedded programming, and making a flyer.
I am very greedy and an idiot.
I don't know whether I can achieve this big goal.
But I will go.

But I want advice on what I will do.
Also, I do not want to give up my dream.
This is the reason why I am writing this article.

Please go with me, the world's stupidest student.