Environment Setup for Windows

Download Tools

1. Install Visual Studio Code. Recommended to also install the C/C++ Extension Pack, CMake Tools, Gitlens, and Hex Editor extensions.
2. Install Git for Windows
   • Optionally select Visual Studio Code as Git's default editor during installation
   • Override the default branch name for new repositories to "main"
   • Leave all other installation settings as default
3. Install MSYS2. MSYS2 provides Windows-native development tools like compilers and build systems.
   • Optionally use MSYS2 as the default integrated terminal in VSCode
4. Install J-Link Tools. These utilities interface with Segger J-Link probes for programming and debugging.
   • If using a Nucleo board, follow the instructions here to convert on-board ST-Link into J-Link
5. Install Segger Ozone. This is a graphical debugging utility that works with J-Link.
6. Install STM32CubeMX. This is a graphical tool used to generate initialization code for STM32s. It also contains all the STM32 firmware libraries.

Set up Build System

1. Open C:\msys64\home\${USER}\.bashrc and add the following line at the end:

   export PATH=$PATH:/mingw64/bin:"/c/Program Files/Git/cmd"

2. Open MSYS2 and run the following commands:

   pacman -Sy
   pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-arm-none-eabi-{binutils,gdb,gcc,newlib} mingw-w64-x86_64-{cmake,ninja}

   This will install the ARM toolchain (arm-none-eabi-*) and build tools (CMake, Ninja)
3. Confirm that everything installed properly:

   git --version
   arm-none-eabi-gcc --version
   cmake --version
   ninja --version

   MSYS2 will be your primary terminal for Solar Gators projects. Optionally you can add the /bin folders to your system PATH variable to run the necessary utilities from the Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell. You can also add the MSYS2 terminal to the Windows Terminal app or the integrated terminal in VSCode.
4. Set the default CMake generator to Ninja by creating an environment variable called CMAKE_GENERATOR and setting its value to Ninja

Build and Run Example Project

1. Run git clone https://github.com/Solar-Gators/Car-IV-Firmware.git --recursive
2. Navigate to Firmware/nucleol476rg-base/ and run cmake -S . -B build to generate the build system. To build the executable, run either cmake --build build or ninja from the build directory. Verify that the build completes without errors and a .hex file appears in the build directory.
3. Open J-Flash Lite, erase the board, then program the .hex file onto the board. Press the black reset button and confirm that the green LED is blinking.

Optional

Use MSYS2 as Integrated Terminal in VSCode

1. In VSCode type ctrl+shift+p to bring up the Command Palette and type Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON) to open the settings.json file
2. Add the following to "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows":

   "MSYS2": {
   	"path": "C:\\msys64\\usr\\bin\\bash.exe",
   	"args": [
   		"--login",
   		"-i"
   	],
   	"env": {
   		"CHERE_INVOKING": "1"
   	}
   }

   Change "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows" to "MSYS2"