Blue Pill (STM32F103C8T6) – “No STM32 target found” in STM32CubeIDE & STM32CubeProgrammer

[Bharath_5]

Hi Everyone,

I am facing an issue where my Blue Pill development board (STM32F103C8T6) is not being detected by ST-LINK V2 when using either STM32CubeIDE or STM32CubeProgrammer.

Both tools consistently show the “No STM32 target found” error message. I have two Blue Pill boards and two ST-LINK V2 programmers, and I am facing the same issue on both setups, which makes me believe it’s not a wiring or hardware fault on a single unit.

My Hardware Setup:

• Boards tested: 2 × Blue Pill (STM32F103C8T6)

• Programmers tested: 2 × ST-LINK V2 (Firmware version: V2J34S7)

• Target voltage: ~3.1V (as detected by STM32CubeProgrammer)

• Connections:

  • 3.3V → VCC

  • GND → GND

  • SWDIO → SWDIO

  • SWCLK → SWCLK

Steps Tried:

1. Verified all SWD wiring and signal continuity using a multimeter.

2. Tested both “Hardware reset” and “Software reset” modes in STM32CubeProgrammer.

3. Updated ST-LINK firmware to the latest version (V2J34S7).

4. Switched between multiple USB ports and cables.

5. Verified target power (3.3V stable).

6. Ensured BOOT0 = 0 (Normal boot from Flash).

7. Tried connecting with and without NRST line connected.

8. Reinstalled all ST drivers and software tools.

Despite all these attempts, the target MCU is not detected in either CubeIDE or CubeProgrammer on both ST-LINKs and both Blue Pill boards.

I have tried the above steps then also I cannot resolve this issue, can anyone please help me to resolve this issue.
Thank You

 

[Issamos]

Hello @Bharath_5 

I think that this is may be due to the fact that some blue pill may are based on a clone MCU and not an original one. Also, some of the ST-LINK V2 are also clone products (more details here). So, those products may not connect to the ST Tools.

Best Regards.

II

[Bharath_5]

Hello @Issamos,

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate your time and support.
I am using the below STM32F103C8T6(Blue Pill) and ST-Link V2.

 

Is the Blue Pill and ST-Link I am using not original?

 

[kaosad]

I suspect the jumper wires are the issue. Test for connectivity or change to another set of wires. Most low-quality jumper wires from China have this kind of problem. 

[AScha.3]

Hi,

You have any other STM CPU or board, that you can connect and flash?

Or is it your first time to try debug connection on these tools?

Just to know, what could be wrong or cannot be.

As long as we don't know, everything is possible, even simply both st-link defective.

[TDK]

Don't blue pills use 3.3 V? 3.1 V is considerably off.

Are the ST-LINK V2 programmers counterfeit as well?

Buy a nucleo board. Or take your chances on another random knockoff blue pill and programmer.

[AScha.3]

@TDK 

>Are the ST-LINK V2 programmers counterfeit as well?

Same as the pills , some have CKS or GD chips inside;  all these i would not call "counterfeit" ,

they have just the wrong manufacturer , other than STM, so just bad or wrong design.

btw

A really counterfeit chip i seen only once in my life, in a stlinkV2 ; sandet top and new printing "STM...";

so why not much really counterfeit chips then ? Because the margin is too low...

see on LCSC , the "chinese mouser" :

So a genuine STM32F103C8T6 is about 68 ct at 500 pcs; the chip for a "fake" product , GD32F103CBT6, is same.

Why should anybody try to "make money" by re-labeling here ? (Maybe this was different some years ago, when STM F103 was much more expensive than a GD or CKS chip...

+

cpu voltage: mine here, i just caught..

...about same, working fine.

+

 

@Bharath_5 

How old is your firmware ? V2J34 ...mine is not up to date, but shows V2J46 !

So update CubeProgrammer, then update st-link and try again connecting.

[Bharath_5]

Hi @AScha.3 
Thank you for your response. I really appreciate your time and support.
My firmware version is V2J46S7. 
I have downloaded the latest version of both CubeProgrammer (V2.20.0) and STMCubeIDE (V1.19.0).

I have updated my Firmware again, but I am facing the same issue 

 

[kaosad]

First, I notice the voltage is a bit low 3.09V. Is the power connected to some heavy load? Or is there anything that is short circuited on your target circuit. Second, if you are using the cloned STLink/V2, the voltage shown is the voltage of the STLink, not the voltage detected on the target MCU.

So, you need to probe the 3.3V pin of the target MCU to see if the voltage is correct. Third, if you use this type of STLink/V2 (cloned or original):

then you have to supply a separate power to your target board because it does not provide 3.3V power through its TVCC pin. 

 

[Bharath_5]

Hi @kaosad,
Thank you for your response. I really appreciate your time and support.
I am using the below STM32F103C8T6(Blue Pill) and ST-Link V2.

 

[gbm]

Every BluePIll is perfectly original. The problem is not so many BluePills contain STM32 microcontrollers. Most of them use Chinese clones.

Your debug module is a Chinese clone of ST-Link, which violates ST licences.

During last 4 years ST put some effort toward not supporting the illegal ST-Link clones and non-ST microcontrollers in their software and they have full rights to do this.

Technically it's still possible to use the hardware you have for development but since it's ST-owned forum, describing how to compromise their intellectual rights protection does not seem to be proper.

There is usually nothing wrong with BluePills, it's just you are not entitled to use ST software and illegally cloned debug hardware for development.

For non-commercial stuff you may use any non-STM32 BluePill with Keil MDK-ARM and CMSIS-DAP debug interface.

[mfgkw]

Just for fun: Some time ago I opened two St-Link clones. One (bought in 2022) was build around a controller which looks like STM32F103 and used to work, the other one (bought in 2024) never worked, it uses another µC.