Programming Tool for WCH RISC-V Microcontrollers using WCH-Link

Description

With this open-source platform-independant command-line tool, WCH RISC-V microcontrollers can be programmed using a RISC-V compatible WCH-Link via their serial debug interface.

The tool currently supports the following microcontrollers:

• CH32V002, CH32V003, CH32V004, CH32V005, CH32V006, CH32V007,
• CH32V103, CH32V203, CH32V208, CH32V303, CH32V305, CH32V307,
• CH32X033, CH32X035,
• CH32L103,
• CH571, CH573, CH581, CH582, CH583, CH591, CH592.

The tool currently supports the following programmers:

• WCH-LinkB,
• WCH-LinkE,
• WCH-LinkW,
• other compatible programmers.

Preparations

To use the WCH-Link on Linux, you need to grant access permissions beforehand by executing the following commands:

echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1a86", ATTR{idProduct}=="8010", MODE="666"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-WCH-LinkE.rules
echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1a86", ATTR{idProduct}=="8012", MODE="666"' | sudo tee -a /etc/udev/rules.d/99-WCH-LinkE.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

On Windows, if you need to you can install the WinUSB driver over the WCH interface 1 using the Zadig tool.

Installation

Ensure that the prerequisites for installing Python packages are met. Then execute the following command in the command line:

pip install rvprog

Usage

To upload firmware, you should make the following connections to the WCH-Link (SWCLK is not present on CH32V00x and therefore does not need to be connected):

WCH-Link      RISC-V MCU
+------+      +--------+
| SWCLK| ---> |SWCLK   |
| SWDIO| <--> |SWDIO   |
|   GND| ---> |GND     |
|   3V3| ---> |VDD     |
+------+      +--------+

If the blue LED on the WCH-Link remains illuminated once it is connected to the USB port, it means that the device is currently in ARM mode and must be switched to RISC-V mode initially. There are a few ways to accomplish this:

• You can utilize the rvprog tool with the -v option (see below).
• Alternatively, you can select "WCH-LinkRV" in the software provided by WCH, such as MounRiver Studio or WCH-LinkUtility.
• Another option is to hold down the ModeS button on the device while plugging it into the USB port.

More information can be found in the WCH-Link User Manual.

Usage: rvprog [-h] [-a] [-v] [-b] [-u] [-l] [-e] [-G] [-R] [-f FLASH]

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help                show help message and exit
  -a, --armmode             switch WCH-Link to ARM mode
  -v, --rvmode              switch WCH-Link to RISC-V mode
  -b, --unbrick             unbrick chip (power cycle erase)
  -u, --unlock              unlock chip (remove read protection)
  -l, --lock                lock chip (set read protection)
  -e, --erase               perform a whole chip erase
  -G, --pingpio             make PD7 a GPIO pin (CH32V00x only)
  -R, --pinreset            make PD7 a reset pin (CH32V00x only)
  -f FLASH, --flash FLASH   write BIN file to flash

Example:
rvprog -f firmware.bin

Links

• MCU Flash Tools
• MCU Templates
• MCU Development Boards
• AVR Development Boards
• AVR Programmers
• SAMD Development Boards