rv_display

Zephyr application driving a Good Display GDEM075F52 (7.5" 800×480 monochrome e-paper, UC8179 controller) from an ST Nucleo-H753ZI. The current src/main.c cycles a white → split → black test pattern to validate the panel.

Hardware

• Nucleo-H753ZI dev board (Cortex-M7 @ 480 MHz, 1 MB SRAM, 2 MB flash).
• GDEM075F52 e-paper panel + DESPI-C02 adapter.
• Wiring on the Arduino R3 header (see boards/nucleo_h753zi.overlay):

DESPI-C02	Arduino pin	STM32
VCC	3V3	—
GND	GND	—
DIN	D11	PB5 (SPI1 MOSI)
CLK	D13	PA5 (SPI1 SCK)
/CS	D10	PD14 (SPI1 CS)
D/C	D9	PD15
/RST	D8	PF3
BUSY	D7	PG12

DESPI-C02 BS jumper at 3.3 V, current-sense switch at 0.47 Ω (typical for 7.5" panels — confirm against the Good Display datasheet for your specific revision).

Prerequisites

The bootstrap (zephyr-bootstrap) handles west, the Python venv, the Zephyr SDK, and all the Zephyr Python deps. You bring:

Linux / macOS

Tool	Why	Install
bash, curl, git	invoking the bootstrap, cloning	preinstalled / apt install git / brew install git
python3 + venv (or uv)	the workspace's Python env	apt install python3-venv
openocd	west flash runner (Nucleo ST-Link V3)	apt install openocd / brew install openocd
tio or picocom (optional)	nicer serial monitor than the stty + cat fallback	apt install tio / brew install picocom

Windows (PowerShell)

Tool	Why	Install
PowerShell 5.1+ or 7+	running the bootstrap	preinstalled / winget install Microsoft.PowerShell
git	cloning	winget install Git.Git
Python 3 (or uv)	the workspace's Python env	winget install Python.Python.3
7z.exe	extracting the SDK .7z archives during -Toolchain	scoop install 7zip
openocd.exe	west flash runner	scoop install openocd (or xPack openocd)

Hardware

Already covered above — Nucleo-H753ZI + GDEM075F52 + DESPI-C02 adapter, plus the USB-A → USB-Micro-B cable that came with the Nucleo.

See the full zephyr-bootstrap prerequisites table for the host-tool details (uv as a faster alternative to pip, etc.).

Bootstrap

Set up a fresh workspace from scratch with zephyr-bootstrap.

Linux / macOS (bash)

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Assar63/zephyr-bootstrap/main/new-workspace.sh \
    | bash -s -- --ide clion --toolchain arm \
        ~/projects/rv_display-workspace \
        https://github.com/Assar63/rv_display.git

Windows (PowerShell)

iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Assar63/zephyr-bootstrap/main/new-workspace.ps1 -OutFile new-workspace.ps1
.\new-workspace.ps1 -Ide clion -Toolchain arm `
    C:\dev\rv_display-workspace `
    https://github.com/Assar63/rv_display.git

The PowerShell variant copies activate.ps1 + tools\ into the workspace rather than symlinking, so it works without Developer Mode.

What the bootstrap does, either way

1. Creates the workspace dir and clones this repo into it.
2. Sets up an in-tree Python venv (uv if installed, else pip).
3. Runs west init -l rv_display + west update (Zephyr main plus the modules listed in west.yml: cmsis, cmsis_6, hal_stm32, segger, tinycrypt, mbedtls, hal_common, lvgl).
4. Installs the Zephyr SDK (arm-zephyr-eabi only) into ~/zephyr-sdk-<version>/ (or %USERPROFILE%\zephyr-sdk-<version>\ on Windows).
5. Runs the project's CLion init — pins per-workspace west config, then prints attach-dir hints from west list.
6. Symlinks (or copies, on Windows) activate.{sh,ps1} + tools/ from the bootstrap repo.

For VSCode instead of CLion: swap clion for vscode in the --ide / -Ide argument.

Build, flash, monitor

After bootstrap:

Linux / macOS

cd ~/projects/rv_display-workspace
source activate.sh
west build rv_display          # uses west config defaults below
west flash                     # via openocd
tools/serial-monitor.sh        # ST-Link VCP, /dev/ttyACM1 @ 115200

Windows (PowerShell)

cd C:\dev\rv_display-workspace
. .\activate.ps1
west build rv_display          # uses west config defaults below
west flash                     # via openocd
.\tools\serial-monitor.ps1     # default COM3; override with $env:PORT='COM4'

The project's IDE init script (run by the bootstrap when --ide is passed) pins these west config values for the workspace:

• build.board=nucleo_h753zi
• build.dir-fmt=build/{app_src}
• build.cmake-args=-DBOARD_FLASH_RUNNER=openocd -DBOARD_DEBUG_RUNNER=openocd

Build artifacts land at build/rv_display/. If you bootstrapped without --ide, you'll need to set those west config values yourself (or pass -b nucleo_h753zi on every west build).

Heads-up on pip: if the bootstrap used uv (the default when uv is on PATH), the workspace's .venv doesn't include pip — use uv pip install <pkg> instead of pip install <pkg>. Nothing in west or Zephyr itself calls pip at runtime, so this only matters if a tutorial tells you to. See the zephyr-bootstrap note on pip vs uv for details.

Updating the workspace

Pull updates into an existing workspace via zephyr-bootstrap's update-workspace script — git pull both this repo and the tools repo, west update to refresh Zephyr + modules to current manifest pins, refresh Python deps, and re-arm the pre-commit hook.

Linux / macOS

~/projects/zephyr-bootstrap/update-workspace.sh ~/projects/rv_display-workspace

Windows (PowerShell)

~\projects\zephyr-bootstrap\update-workspace.ps1 C:\dev\rv_display-workspace

What it does not re-run: the project's IDE init script (scripts/ide-setup/<ide>-init.{sh,ps1}). If this project bumps its west config defaults or .idea/runConfigurations/ contents, re-run new-workspace.{sh,ps1} against the same workspace dir with --ide <name> instead — every other step skips, only IDE init re-runs. See the zephyr-bootstrap update section for details.

Linting / pre-commit

.pre-commit-config.yaml runs clang-format (Zephyr style via the in-tree .clang-format) on changed C/C++ files. The bootstrap installs the pre-commit package and runs pre-commit install automatically, so the hook is already armed after a fresh new-workspace.{sh,ps1} run — no manual setup. Run the checks manually any time with:

pre-commit run --all-files

If you really must skip the hook on a single commit, git commit --no-verify works — but the Lint GitHub Actions workflow runs the same hook on every push/PR, so anything that slips through locally will fail in CI.

Bumping the pinned clang-format version:

pre-commit autoupdate

Opening in CLion

Open <workspace>/rv_display/ as the CLion project (not the workspace root) — that's where CMakePresets.json and .idea/runConfigurations/ live. CLion will detect the presets automatically; pick nucleo_h753zi.

The bootstrap's CLion init prints suggested "Attach Directory to Project" targets at the end of its output — they're the dirs that sit one level up from the project root and aren't auto-visible in CLion's Project pane. For this project they are:

Path	Why
<workspace>/zephyr	Zephyr kernel, drivers, headers, samples
<workspace>/modules/hal/stm32	STM32Cube HAL/LL — peripheral source
<workspace>/modules/hal/cmsis	older Arm CMSIS (still referenced)
<workspace>/modules/hal/cmsis_6	current Arm CMSIS Core/DSP
<workspace>/modules/lib/gui/lvgl	LVGL widget library
<workspace>/modules/crypto/mbedtls	mbedTLS (TLS, hashing, RNG)
<workspace>/modules/debug/segger	SEGGER RTT/SystemView

To attach: in the Project pane, right-click the project root → Attach Directory to Project → pick the dir. Or use File → Attach Directory to Project. CLion stores attached dirs in .idea/workspace.xml, which is per-user and gitignored, so do this once per machine. Zephyr is the most useful one to attach first — it puts the entire RTOS source one ctrl-click away.

VSCode users get this for free: the bootstrap default vscode-init writes a multi-root .code-workspace with each module as its own top-level folder, so no manual attach step is needed.

Project layout

rv_display/
├── west.yml                       manifest (Zephyr main + allowlisted modules)
├── CMakeLists.txt
├── CMakePresets.json              nucleo_h753zi (default), nucleo_h753zi-debug
├── prj.conf                       CONFIG_DISPLAY / MIPI_DBI / SPI / LOG
├── .clang-format                  snapshot of zephyr/.clang-format (Zephyr style)
├── .pre-commit-config.yaml        clang-format on changed C/C++ files
├── src/main.c                     white / split / black test pattern
├── boards/nucleo_h753zi.overlay   SPI1 + e-paper pin mapping
├── scripts/ide-setup/             project's CLion + VSCode init (sets west config, then delegates)
├── .idea/runConfigurations/       Flash, OpenOCD GDB Server, Serial Monitor
└── .github/workflows/lint.yml     CI mirror of the pre-commit hook