RTL8710 can be programmed by GCC or some commercial compiler as summarised by realtek. As same, binary upload can be done by two ways, SWD or JTAG.

Before jumping into making something by myself, I bought RTL-Ameba board based on RTL8195 in order to learn how it works. This board has on-board CMSIS-DAP and binary upload is done by SWD. Good point of this board is, already fully (mostly) Arduino IDE compatible and we can easily program including binary uploading. But in my viewpoint, DAP part is useless once program is completed. So I've decided to make DAP part only and through it tried to program processor inside RTL-00 and PADI IoT (RTL8710).

I have two modules both based on RTL8710AF and seems both are hardware compatible (same?). For these module programming I made a minimum CMSIS-DAP which runs Realtek released firmware.

I was very happy if this board with RTL8710 modules can work in Arduino IDE but "Ameba Writer" surely upload binary but modules does not work. This is due to difference between RTL8710 and RTL8195 and I guess we need to change some compiler option.

The information below is not latest one. Please see the project log

https://hackaday.io/project/19163-rtl8710-easy-programming-by-arduino-ide/log/147659-latest-information-for-arduino-ide-support

The information below is NOT LATEST one. Please see the project log above.

But actually yesterday I found a wonderful project regarding RTL8710 programming environment, Rtlduino!

This is very close to what I want to do, but it assumes Jlink (JTAG) programming. Changing binary uploading way is not difficult and finally I got "RTL8710 programming environment by Arduino IDE with CMSIS-DAP !"

Project Logs

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Simple but enough useful webradio by RTL8710
kodera2t • 06/09/2018 at 07:13 • 0 comments
As presented, my recent board has 3.5mm Audio jack but I've not explained yet....
YES it works as webradio!!
Indeed a few months before, one acquaintance already let me know the webradio by RTL8710 but till now I did not check the operation, but surely it works very well!
The program and also compiled binary (in build/bin directory) is uploaded by Russian great programmer, pvvx.
After writing the file "ram_all.bin" by command (in the case of OSX)
```
cp ram_all.bin /Volumes/MBED/;sync
```
Connect additional USB-UART to D6/D7 (in my board, I put characters "TXD" and "RXD") and
Connect speed of 38400bps-N-1 and push return to get command prompt, then write your SSID/password will start default web stream station. Other information (for example, station URL setting) is well described inthe above GitHub repository.
Actual operation can be found in the following movie... Have fun!
Latest information for Arduino IDE support
kodera2t • 06/08/2018 at 14:02 • 0 comments
In two years ago, adding Arduino IDE support for RTL8710 takes lots of step and effort. Nowadays, it is SUPER EASY!!

Realtek releases "genuine" Arduino IDE support, and it supports ".json" installing. So just inserting address in preference is almost finishing. Super easy!
```
https://github.com/Ameba8195/Arduino/raw/master/release/package_realtek.com_ameba_index.json
```
After inserting ".json" address, accessing "Boards Manager" and you will see,

Realtek Ameba Boards support! Just click "Install" and

You will find "Ameba RTL8710" in the board name!

I hope this is the all should be done, but unfortunately current Realtek GPIO assignment is wrong. (It is also crappy for Realtek's genuine board, so it is not my fault (meaning I did not make wrong circuit.)

Access my GitHub directory
```
https://github.com/kodera2t/RTL8710_ULTRA_supportfiles/tree/master/need_to_replace_this_file
```
and please get "variant.cpp"

The file position to be replaced is in "Library" directory,
```
/Users/<username>/Library/Arduino15/packages/realtek/hardware/ameba/2.0.4/variants/rtl8710
```
so please use "Go to Folder" or just use terminal csh.

Just drag and drop the downloaded "variant.cpp" and please check blink by on-board LED (D11)

That's all!! In addition to board support, required library can be installed by Arduino IDE built-in library manager,

Enjoy wonderful ARM Cortex M3 world by RTL8710 !!
Small fix for latest pvvx environment
kodera2t • 03/20/2017 at 11:52 • 0 comments

I got a report on youtube movie, which the latest pvvx environment does not work with my previous explanation. This is the way to fix.
open open board.txt in development/rtl87xx/boards.txt
and
modify
(original) rtlmodule_rtl8710.build.ldscript=linker_scripts/gcc/rtl8710-symbol-v03-img2_arduino_arduino.ld
to
(fix) rtlmodule_rtl8710.build.ldscript=linker_scripts/gcc/rtl8710-symbol-v04-img2_arduino_arduino.ld
This is enough to work it again!
Single module web radio
kodera2t • 01/16/2017 at 11:08 • 0 comments

I am very impressed to see the web radio by single RTL8710 without any decoder. Indeed the source code is a part of RTLduino distribution , which is written by Russian programmer and currently sound does not come fluently but really nice to see the potential of RTL8710!
Solar-powered sensor board based on RTL8710 done!
kodera2t • 01/16/2017 at 00:26 • 0 comments

When we think about sensor terminal working outside, battery replacement is a headache problem if we put it on the mountain top or roof top. Here I made a "self-powered board" contains RTL8710 module, BME280 I2C sensor, OLED display and LiPo charging circuit powered by Solar cell!!
So we don't need to care power source anymore and just put on somewhere as we wish and continue to work till LiPo's lifetime!!
Power consumption (current flow) of this board is,,,
OLED activation, not web server accessed: 30mA
OLED activated, web server accessed: 70mA ! (very short time, like spike)
OLED turns-off, not web server accessed: 17mA (continuous)
OED turns-off, web-accessed: 60mA (during access, very short time, spike current)
So for the 24/7 operation, considering night time length, just 300 mAh battery is well enough if not so frequent access (for example, just one time every hours). Indeed RTL8710 has a deep-sleep function and if we utilise it, we may be able to work with just 100mAh battery...
Actual operation can be found in the following movie. Have fun!
NOW RTL8710 board is eventually officially supported by Realtek in Arduino IDE
kodera2t • 01/14/2017 at 13:15 • 2 comments
Finally RTL8710 board (Ameba 8710 and my Ameba writer) is supported by Realtek!
Just adding in preference of Arduino IDE
```
https://github.com/Ameba8195/Arduino/raw/master/release/package_realtek.com_ameba_index.json
```
and we will see in board manager and install version 2.0.0 support and..
YES YES now the wonderful time is starting (officially)!!
We can see the "Ameba RTL8710" in the board selector and
All of my released RTL8710 board works with this new support!!
Quick demo of USD/JPY currency display
kodera2t • 01/08/2017 at 02:47 • 0 comments

During the preparation for tindie store, I quickly write a demo program, showing JPY/USD currency. This program is greatly based on the source released at this website (I would thank the author), which is written for ESP8266. The source for ESP8266 is almost compatible with RTL8710 and we can enjoy RTL8710, as same as ESP8266. My Arduino sketch is uploaded to github. and this all-in-one board is on sale at tindie!
All-in-one RTL8710 prototyping board is done!
kodera2t • 01/07/2017 at 03:22 • 0 comments

Now I made an all-in-one RTL8710 prototyping board.
RTL8710 has a 17-digital IO and all of them are accessible through Arduino IDE, after setting environment. Also it has I2C and SPI interface and together with WiFi capability, we can easily make "IoT thing".!! I quickly check "LED blink" and "OLED drive" and "WiFi access" by some demo program, which actual operation can be found in the following movie... Have fun!
My progress on RTL8710 module usage...
kodera2t • 01/03/2017 at 13:11 • 0 comments

By using my "Ameba writer",
https://www.tindie.com/products/microwavemont/ameba-rtl8710-programmer-for-arduino-ide/
we can program RTL8710 through very popular Arduino IDE. Now I made a quick demo of "clock", which data is taken from ntp server.
This type of demo is well-established on ESP8266 but we can do on RTL8710 as same!
The working code is uploaded to
https://github.com/kodera2t/Ameba_RTL8710_sample/blob/master/Ameba_ntp_clock.ino
Have fun!
OLED driving with WiFi is done!
kodera2t • 12/29/2016 at 11:26 • 0 comments

Now by using my tiny RTL8710 programmer, I succeed to drive OLED by RTL8710. Indeed this operation is purely written by Arduino code and we don't need any additional complex knowledge. Source code is uploaded ti github.
Actual operation can be found in the following movie... Have fun!