I am also getting the same issue. i am using the stm8s103 developement board and stlink v2 clone.
i have connected usb power connection for power and stlink to the board.
i had a working setup before but after windows format i am getting this issue. The following are the logs i am getting.
i tried the stvp flasher as well but still i could not flash the stm8s.

i have connected usb power connection for power and stlink to the board.
i had a working setup before but after windows format i am getting this issue. The following are the logs i am getting.
Code:
stm8flash -c stlinkv2 -p stm8s103f3 -w blink.ihx
Determine FLASH area
Due to its file extension (or lack thereof), "blink.ihx" is considered as INTEL HEX format!
455 bytes at 0x8000... Tries exceeded
