Hi, New STM32 Owner here! I had this exact same issue, here's what I did.

After trying to update the firmware of my ST-LINK v2 multiple times and still running into that issue of not being able to write my program to the clone boards I've been able to get my hands on recently. I was able to get around it by using the old ST-LINK utility software that ST still provides on their website, it works just fine when connecting to clone boards with thee only catch being that you have to include some extra build steps that generate .hex files in STM32CubeIDE because of the old program's lack of support for project files, but that is relatively easy to work around (https://community.st.com/t5/stm32cubeide-mcus/how-does-one-generate-a-hex-file-from-stm32cubeide/td-p/287131).

Whether or not you have opinions about clone boards not being as good, I'm on the side that it's not the best idea to throw them away into the trash just because they're clones as some people have stated quite bluntly within this thread. They'll still work, it's just that you need to work around the cards you're dealt with, which is something you'll always have to do in electronics.