rs_dfu

A high-performance DFU (Device Firmware Update) implementation for flashing STM32 devices in DFU mode. Built in Rust with C++ interoperability, rs_dfu is specifically designed for flashing EdgeTX radios and supports both traditional raw binaries and modern UF2 firmware files.

Features

• Multiple Firmware Formats:
  • Raw binary files
  • UF2 (USB Flashing Format) firmware files
• EdgeTX Radio Support: Optimized for EdgeTX radio hardware, including new platforms with external FLASH
• Dual Interface:
  • Command-line tool (rdfu) for direct device flashing
  • C++ library for embedding in custom applications
• Cross-Platform: Support for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Supported Platforms

Platform	Architecture	CLI Tool	Library
Windows	x86_64	✅	✅
Windows	ARM64	✅	✅
macOS	x86_64 (Intel)	✅	✅
macOS	ARM64 (Apple Silicon)	✅	✅
Linux	x86_64	✅	✅
Linux	ARM64	✅	✅

Installation

Pre-built Releases

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page:

• Command-line tool: rdfu-{os-arch}
• C++ library: rs_dfu-{target-triple}.tar.gz containing static library and header

Please note:

On macOS, you will probably need to "unflag" the binary before use:

xattr -c rdfu-macos-arm64

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/EdgeTX/rs-dfu.git
cd rs-dfu
cargo build --all --release

Command Line Usage

Basic Operations

List all DFU devices:

rdfu list

Write firmware to device (auto-detects UF2 vs raw binary):

rdfu write firmware.uf2
rdfu write firmware.bin

Read firmware from device:

rdfu read firmware.bin

Device Selection

Filter devices by vendor/product ID:

# List only STM32 DFU devices
rdfu list --vendor 0483 --product df11

# Write to specific device
rdfu write --vendor 0483 --product df11 firmware.bin

Advanced Options

Write raw binary to custom address:

rdfu write --start-address 0x08000000 firmware.bin

Read raw binary from custom address with custom length:

rdfu read --start-address 0x08001000 --length 51640 firmware.bin

Reboot EdgeTX radio into DFU bootloader:

# Reboot with tag address
rdfu reboot 0x08000000

# Reboot specific device 
rdfu reboot --vendor 0483 --product df11 0x08000000

Inspect UF2 file contents:

rdfu uf2 firmware.uf2

C++ Library Usage

CMake Integration

Extract the library archive and use CMake's find_package:

# Extract rs_dfu-{target}.tar.gz to your project
find_package(rs_dfu REQUIRED)

target_link_libraries(your_app rs_dfu::rs_dfu)

Code Example

#include "rs_dfu.h"
#include <stdio.h>

using ::rust::Vec;

void print_devices(const Vec<DfuDevice> &devices)
{
    for (const auto &device : devices) {
        auto dev_info = device.device_info();
        printf("%04x:%04x: %s (0x%08x)\n",
               dev_info.vendor_id,
               dev_info.product_id,
               dev_info.product_string.c_str(),
               device.default_start_address());
    }
}

int main() {
    try {
        // Find DFU devices
        auto device_filter = DfuDeviceFilter::empty_filter();
        auto devices = device_filter->find_devices();
        
        if (devices.empty()) {
            printf("No DFU devices found\n");
            return 1;
        }

        print_devices(devices);
        
    } catch (const std::exception& e) {
        printf("Error: %s\n", e.what());
        return 1;
    }
    
    return 0;
}

For a complete example including UF2 handling, error management, and progress reporting, see examples/cpp/main.cpp.

Development

Building the Library

The project uses cxx for C++ interoperability:

# Build Rust library
cargo build --all --release

# Generate distribution package
./package.sh

This creates a distribution archive containing:

• Static and dynamic libraries
• C++ header files
• CMake configuration files

Running Tests

cargo test

Troubleshooting

Device is not listed or does not reconnect

On Windows, if your DFU device is not listed or cannot be connected, it is most certainly because DFU devices on Windows always need a driver.

You can either:

• use the vendor's driver (if existing),
• use the generic WinUSB driver (see here)
• or use Zadig

On macOS, you might experience the annoying user confirmation dialog when connecting a device the first, or maybe even every time. This behaviour can be configured in System Settings (see here).

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built for the EdgeTX community
• Inspired by the DFU specification and existing DFU tools
• Uses the USB DFU protocol as defined by the USB Implementers Forum

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check the EdgeTX community forums for radio-specific questions