Inexpensive board for development

[ssmith]

What's the current recommendation (given the state of the project and the ongoing chip shortage) for an inexpensive board for software development? I'd like to dip my toes in, but want to do it on real ARM hardware.

I found this in stock but it only has 128kB of RAM and is only 100MHz: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/STM32F411E-DISCO?qs=ClYTdQWm4hA7%252B0FuWfpEHA%3D%3D

OTOH I would like to work on core/timer performance as one of my first projects, so maybe having an underpowered board is good motivation.

How much work would it be to port RusEFI from one board to another? Is there a set of known preconfigured processors that I should aim for, or is it "any m32 f4, f7, h7, they're all the same?"

[mck1117]

I have a spare F429 nucleo if you're in the US.

You can always underclock the MCU, but not really overclock. We're more memory strapped than we are CPU cycles, so I'd recommend against a smaller MCU.

[AndreyB]

196kb of ram and 1mb flash min. Which means stm32f407 discovery which is very available

Nucle f7 and h7 also have default targets

I guess please notice firmware/config/boards folder

[ssmith]

196kb of ram and 1mb flash min. Which means stm32f407 discovery which is very available

I can't find the F407-disco from a reputable supplier, except for stupid $$.

Nucle f7 and h7 also have default targets

I guess please notice firmware/config/boards folder

Ah, didn't see that directory. Looks like there's support for Nucleo-h743, which I can't find in stock, but I can find the f753, which is a close relative. OMG 2MB flash and 1MB RAM? That's... grotesque. But just as cheap as the F756 which has less than half the specs. An F412 would actually cost more, but be more in line with existing RusEFI hardware...

What's the story on supporting old hardware?

[ssmith]

I have a spare F429 nucleo if you're in the US.

Thanks, looks like there are available Nucleo boards for a reasonable price.

[mck1117]

Thanks, looks like there are available Nucleo boards for a reasonable price.

F427/429, F767, and H743 are the best supported options there. Looks like the H753 is the same as the H743, but with added crypto hardware (different SKU to avoid ITAR problems), so it should be fully compatible with the H743.