Recent posts

#51

ST / Re: BB-STM32WL and Platformio/...

Last post by winfried - February 18, 2026, 12:11:25 PM

Thanks for answering and sorry for the misunderstanding, I am the author of pfb-bees and use STM32LoRaWAN from author STMicroelectronics.

Since LoRa arduino Lib does not support the STM32WL5xx, I choose the one from STMicroelectronics, which supports it. Any other suggestion is welcome.

Maybe with this community we can get a working example, for this educational project, here the questions:

Not being a LoRaWan expert:

Is it possible to make a local Network between all devices without a LoRaWan gateway ?

Are additional settings are needed for the Olimex Board BB-STM32WL with the board configuration `olimex_wle5.json` recommended by Olimex for platformio ?

#52

ESP32 / What board should I use?

Last post by fredy - February 18, 2026, 11:32:13 AM

Good morning, everyone.

I'm thinking about a home automation project using Olimex boards, and I have a lot of questions about which board would be best to use. Here's what I have in mind:

The idea would be to go through rooms/spaces where I would put a board with an ESP32, and these would connect or communicate with another Olimex board that would have a central server. Each room would be programmed individually and autonomously, without depending on each other. If one goes down, it would not affect the rest. If the central server goes down, the automations would continue to function locally. The communication protocol between each ESP in each room and the server would be mqtt.

What I would like to automate in each room is the following:

• Lighting and its switches. Essential
• Motion/presence sensor. Essential
• Temperature and humidity sensor. Secondary, to be added in the future
  
• Power outlets. Secondary, to be added in the future

As you can see, I need a few inputs and outputs. I have the following questions about which boards to use:

• I would like everything to be wired, i.e., not using Wi-Fi, or as little as possible.
• In each room, I would put the board either in the power box or in the communications box and try to run an Ethernet cable. I don't know which would be the best place.
  

I can think of several scenarios:

• Put the board in the electrical box: I would have power for the boards and the cables for the switches and lighting close at hand. I could also run an Ethernet cable here.
• If I have power cables nearby, I guess it wouldn't be necessary to use POE boards.

With all this in mind, I can see several boards that could work:

• ESP32-POE-ISO: it doesn't have IO, so I would have to use a MOD-IO board
• ESP32-POE2: It doesn't have IO, so I would have to use a MOD-IO board
• ESP32-EVB: It doesn't have digital inputs, and few relays, so I would have to use a MOD-IO board
• ESP32-C6-EVB: This board seems to be the most complete for my purpose, but it lacks an Ethernet port. I could try to do everything with Wi-Fi or add an Ethernet port if it's easy.
  

Which board do you think would be best to use so that everything is modular and independent?

Thank you very much in advance.
Best regards

#53

ST / Re: BB-STM32WL and Platformio/...

Last post by LubOlimex - February 18, 2026, 08:27:27 AM

It might be better to directly contact the author of the project.

#54

FPGA / Re: Problem getting simplest o...

Last post by Stokpan - February 17, 2026, 10:07:53 PM

However, when I try to use the current nightly build of the toolchain, running the openFPGALoad command is still not working.  It appears to run but the FPGA does not to be configured.

That confirms my own experience as well. The openFPGALoader.exe build from the legacy cc-toolchain-win works, the new one from OSS CAD Suite doesn't.

I've filed a bug report: https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader/issues/628

#55

ST / BB-STM32WL and Platformio/Ardu...

Last post by winfried - February 17, 2026, 07:28:38 PM

For a project, I wanted a private LoRa Network with many of these.

I managed to develop it with the LoRa-STM32WL-DevKit using cmis-dap and also debug and also program it via Serial Device (ESP-Prog), using PA10, PA9 pins, boot button and reset. (note: a newer stm32flash app was needed)

In both cases the serial output always is monitored on LPUART1 TX = PA2, RX = PA3.
(Any hints how I can route to PA9/PA10 are welcome).

see https://git.iem.at/ritsch/pfb-bees.git -> experiments/03-basic
(mostly from the examples form the STM32LoRaWAN library.)

see platformio.ini there.


The main issue: I can send a package but don't receive ones and stuck.

Since I am not an LoRa expert maybe one LoRa-wizard can help me here.
Maybe I miss an additional initialization needed and how can I test/measure if something is really transmitted ?

mfG
 Winfried

#56

New Products release / Introducing the ESP32-P4-PC

Last post by olimex - February 17, 2026, 03:22:13 PM

Introducing the ESP32-P4-PC Open Source Hardware Board - the most comprehensive and feature-rich ESP32-P4 board on the market. 
From HMI systems and industrial controllers to edge AI and vision  applications - the ESP32-P4-PC gives you everything in one board.
https://olimex.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/esp32-p4-pc-open-source-hardware-board-the-most-comprehensive-and-feature-rich-esp32-p4-board-on-the-market/ #OpenSourceHardware #ESP32P4 #Olimex #RISCV #IoT #EmbeddedSystems

#57

FPGA / Re: Problem getting simplest o...

Last post by LubOlimex - February 17, 2026, 08:17:12 AM

By the way I stumbled upon this, made by another customer, might be worth checking it:

https://github.com/dpks2003/gatemate-lab

#58

FPGA / Re: Problem getting simplest o...

Last post by PaulUK_DE - February 17, 2026, 12:52:09 AM

I can confirm that the project for the blinking LED that you link to above works fine with the Legacy toolchain.  The .bit files loads fine via the jtag option and also when I use
run jtag-flash.  I change the board to "olimex_gatemateevb" in the run.bat file.

I also managed to use the run spi command, and confirm that the configuration is retained when I set the switch to 0000 and plug the USB back in.

However, when I try to use the current nightly build of the toolchain, running the openFPGALoad command is still not working.  It appears to run but the FPGA does not to be configured.

#59

FPGA / Re: Problem getting simplest o...

Last post by PaulUK_DE - February 16, 2026, 11:08:27 AM

I will try what you state in the previous message.

Since I made the post, I can conform that the board is NOT faulty.  I found the Legacy tool suit from 2025, that has the folder structure in the workspace as described in their Quick Start Guide.  I followed it, changing only the CCF constraint to point to the correct pin on the FPGA, and that worked.  It uploaded via Jtag and the LED was indeed flashing.

I was doing this with Jtag, I have not tried SPI yet.  So, with the Legacy software it works, I have yet to get it to work with the current version from the nightly builds. 

I have sent CologneChip an email describing the above to see if I am at fault or if it is something else.

Thanks for your upload, I will check it this evening.

#60

FPGA / Re: Problem getting simplest o...

Last post by LubOlimex - February 16, 2026, 08:52:31 AM

Each GateMate-EVB is tested here, one of the tests is empirical. LEDs are checked. Chances of a faulty board are close to zero. Something else is wrong.

I've now uploaded here the .bit file and top.ccf and top.v for the blinking LED so you can compare:

https://github.com/OLIMEX/GateMateA1-EVB/tree/main/SOFTWARE/blinking-led-bit-source

Important! For boards with SPI flash:

Before programming make sure that DIP switches are in ON - ON - OFF - OFF position

After programming, disconnect the USB and move DIP switches in OFF - OFF - OFF - OFF position. Then reconnect the USB and see if the LED blinks.