Can someone tell me where I find the arduino IDe "hardware directory" in Linux Mint 19.3 please?
There are multiple hardware directories. If you were only interested in the general topic, I'd be happy to explain the locations of all of them, however I suspect you want this information for a specific reason and the long explanation of the location of all hardware directories would not help to answer your true question. So please provide a detailed explanation of why you need this information. If you're trying to follow a tutorial or instructions, post a link to it. This will allow us to provide you with the exact information you need.
Thanks for the reply.
I am trying to install the necessary add-on into my Arduino IDE for STM32 programmable boards.
From this site: http://www.brokking.net/YMFC-32_downloads.html
After extracting:
The instruction to "put the file into the hardware directory" is at 2:40 here:
I hope I have provided sufficient information.
Please advise if I have not.
Jim.
OK, the first thing you should know is that the author of that video is giving very bad advice to install the STM32 platform into the Arduino IDE installation folder. The reason you should never put anything in the Arduino IDE installation folder is that every time you update to a new version of the IDE everything will be lost. The Arduino IDE is designed with this in mind by providing you with a separate folder you can install things (the sketchbook folder), which is not affected by updates to the Arduino IDE. The fact that the author of the video doesn't know this well documented basic of the Arduino IDE casts doubt on the quality of any other information they provide, so be skeptical. This is a good lesson that, in addition to a lot of excellent information, there is also a lot of bad information about Arduino on the Internet.
They are distributing an outdated version of the STM32 platform. My advice is to use the modern version of the platform, and to follow the official instructions for installation via Boards Manager (rather than doing a manual installation as shown in the video):
Note that there is the "Extra step", needed for installing the upload tool, which I found to be quite a hassle, so if the video demonstrates that part it might be helpful. Apparently ST wants to make sure they get you to sign up for an account on their website so they can spam you mercilessly, so they don't permit the upload tool to be installed via Boards Manager, as is done with all the other platforms that use a fully open source toolchain.
Although the information is not necessary if you use the officially recommended installation method, I'll go ahead and answer your question, since it's nice to know. The hardware folder shown in the video is in the Arduino IDE installation folder. This hardware folder contains the copy of the Arduino AVR Boards platform (e.g., Uno, Mega, Leonardo) that comes with the Arduino IDE.
When manually installing boards platforms, you should create a hardware folder under your sketchbook folder and install the platform there. You can find the location of the sketchbook folder in the Arduino IDE at File > Preferences > Sketchbook location. Boards platforms installed via Boards Manager (the recommended installation method for the STM32 platform) are installed to yet another hardware folder. Since you can install, update, and uninstall these platforms entirely from the Arduino IDE's GUI, it's not necessary for you to know where this folder is located (though I'm happy to tell you if you want to know).
this is the boards manager url for the 'old' STM32 package (Roger Clark's)
http://dan.drown.org/stm32duino/package_STM32duino_index.json
pert:
OK, the first thing you should know is that the author of that video is giving very bad advice to install the STM32 platform into the Arduino IDE installation folder. ........................................... it's not necessary for you to know where this folder is located (though I'm happy to tell you if you want to know).
Many thanks for your courteous and comprehensive appraisal of the video. It has illustrated in bold relief the degree to which I am seriously out of my depth in even considering using STM32 boards and software.
I now have a factory made flight controller at hand and good instructions for it for the purpose I require. So, at least for the time being, I will abandon my attempt at getting a STM32 board flashed (uploaded) with the necessary files sketch etc, etc. and pursue this alternate option.
Yes I agree, it not necessary for me to know where the mystery folder is located.
I will edit this thread as solved.
Jim.
You're welcome.
I didn't mean to dissuade you from using the STM32. Although I've found it to be less easy to get set up than any other Arduino boards boards, it's certainly doable with a bit of persistence. It's merely the matter of perhaps an extra hour of work if things go badly (as they did for me). If that leads you to years of fun with these powerful and cheap microcontrollers, it's time well spent.