Failing to detect chip (stm32f303 target and 1173 cwlite)

1

Hi all, I’m trying to get started with the ChipWhisperer, however I keep getting the following whenever I run

%%bash
cd ../hardware/victims/firmware/simpleserial-base/
make PLATFORM=CWLITEARM CRYPTO_TARGET=NONE
fw = “../hardware/victims/firmware/simpleserial-base/simpleserial-base-CWLITEARM.hex”cw.program_target(scope, cw.programmers.STM32FProgrammer, fw)

Failed to detect chip. Check following: 1. Connections and device power. 2. Device has valid clock (or remove clock entirely for internal osc). 3. On Rev -02 CW308T-STM32Fx boards, BOOT0 is routed to PDIC.

I’m unsure what I’m currently doing wrong. I’m on windows and am using VirtualBox. The ChipWhisperer is also under the Universal Serial Box devices on device manager.

Thank you so much!

Screenshot 2026-01-22 224557
Screenshot 2026-01-22 224557909×1248 111 KB

2

A few questions:

  1. Did you purchase a 2-part CW Lite (aka with the target board separated as shown), or did you separate it from a 1-part CW Lite
  2. Have you tried using the Windows installer to connect to your ChipWhisperer directly from Windows? The USB connection from things like virtualbox can sometimes be a bit flaky.
  3. Are you running through a premade notebook? If so, which one, and have you run all of the preceeding steps in the notebook? If not, what code are you using to connect?

BTW, it’s probably best not to put devices like this onto surfaces that can generate a lot of static electricity, like bedding.