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Betaflight connecting
#31
Thanks Unseen, tried a different cable. Still no luck! Any more ideas?

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#32
Sad

You did everything in the correct order. The fact that only the blue power LED is lit shows that the board is in bootloader mode. So it should be good to flash.

If you just plug the flight controller in without jumping the boot pins and try to connect, what happens?
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#33
(19-Aug-2017, 08:04 AM)unseen Wrote: Sad

You did everything in the correct order. The fact that only the blue power LED is lit shows that the board is in bootloader mode. So it should be good to flash.

If you just plug the flight controller in without jumping the boot pins and try to connect, what happens?

Strange isn't it! If I just try to plug it in and connect it opens a port then times out. Or sometimes I get failed to open port. Very inconsistent, perhaps suggesting the board is broken. As I mentioned, I'm waiting on a new one in the post. Do you have any advice for an 'out of the box' setup so that I don't break this one? Been working on this for a while now and I'm still not flying, very frustrating but thanks for all your help.
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#34
So even when you got it from new, you could not connect to the flight controller with the configurator?

If that's the case, you either have a broken flight controller, or the USB cable you are using is no good.

If you connect your phone to the computer with the USB cable, can you access the phone OK and read and write files on the phone's storage? That's always a good way to test if the cable is good for data. Some cables are charge only and don't actually support data. You wouldn't be the first one to get caught out by that.

When you get your new flight controller, the first thing to do is try to connect to it with the configurator. If you click where it says 'show log', just under the connect button, it will show you what firmware is currently flashed and what type of board you have. 99.9% of flight controllers are pre-flashed with something, probably an old version of Cleanflight. Regardless, the Betaflight or Cleanflight configurators should be able to connect to the board without you having to do anything more than plugging the board in, making sure the correct port is selected and pressing 'connect'.

Once you have verified that you can connect, you can flash the board to the firmware that you want to use. Note that there is no reason at all to use the BOOT pins unless you have accidentally flashed the wrong firmware to the board. 'Wrong' meaning firmware for a different board like the F3 Evo when you have the SP Racing F3.

You should be able to flash new firmware without having to use the BOOT pins - they are only there as a last resort to recover from flashing the wrong firmware. If the board works, then the firmware flasher will be able to reboot the board into bootloader mode to flash it.
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#35
I could never connect out of the box new, no. But one thing I did do was build my quad (solder etc) before ever trying to connect, so maybe I broke it in that process, overheating possibly.

As for testing the USB, I did use this cable for my old samsung phone years ago, so it should be able to transfer data (i could do photos etc). Should I buy a cheap one from argos, try it, then take it back if it doesn't work?! Wink Tempting, but I think I may wait for the new FC, as I think this may be the problem.

A thought, if I have a newer version of cleanflight on my desktop configurator than what is flashed on the board, would that give me trouble?

Also, do I need to flash the newest firmware when I get my new board, or could I keep what I have? My PTSD from this is giving me worry already!
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#36
(19-Aug-2017, 10:56 AM)Adamski321 Wrote: I could never connect out of the box new, no. But one thing I did do was build my quad (solder etc) before ever trying to connect, so maybe I broke it in that process, overheating possibly.

Possibly, but unlikely unless you are very bad at soldering and used an iron that's much too powerful. If you post some clear, high resolution photographs of both sides of the flight controller I can tell you if there's anything obviously suspicious.

(19-Aug-2017, 10:56 AM)Adamski321 Wrote: As for testing the USB, I did use this cable for my old samsung phone years ago, so it should be able to transfer data (i could do photos etc). Should I buy a cheap one from argos, try it, then take it back if it doesn't work?! Wink Tempting, but I think I may wait for the new FC, as I think this may be the problem.

Some old USB cables included a voltage matching circuit in the plug that took the 5V USB signals from the computer and dropped them down to 3.3V. If your cable has such extra electronics in it, that may well cause problems.

You really need to make sure that you have a perfectly compatible USB data cable. It's almost impossible to diagnose a problem when there are unknown factors to deal with. Any modern USB data cable should be compatible.

(19-Aug-2017, 10:56 AM)Adamski321 Wrote: A thought, if I have a newer version of cleanflight on my desktop configurator than what is flashed on the board, would that give me trouble?

If you have the latest version of the Cleanflight or Betaflight configurator (V2.1.0 for Cleanflight and V3.2.1 for Betaflight) then you are good to go.

It's important to understand that there are two versions we are talking about here: the version of the firmware and the version of the configurator. The version of the configurator on your computer has nothing to do with the version of the firmware on the flight controller - they are two separate things. The only problems that you can get are when the configurator is older than the firmware and cannot understand the communication with the firmware properly due to changes in the firmware that it doesn't know about.

It will normally tell you that there is a problem if this is the case.

(19-Aug-2017, 10:56 AM)Adamski321 Wrote: Also, do I need to flash the newest firmware when I get my new board, or could I keep what I have? My PTSD from this is giving me worry already!

It all depends on what version and which firmware is installed. Normally, it is best to update to the latest firmware once you have confirmed that the flight controller is working. As you now know, you should always test a new flight controller before you start soldering things to it as you can't return a faulty one if you've already taken your soldering iron to it.
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#37
(19-Aug-2017, 11:17 AM)unseen Wrote: Possibly, but unlikely unless you are very bad at soldering and used an iron that's much too powerful. If you post some clear, high resolution photographs of both sides of the flight controller I can tell you if there's anything obviously suspicious.


Some old USB cables included a voltage matching circuit in the plug that took the 5V USB signals from the computer and dropped them down to 3.3V. If your cable has such extra electronics in it, that may well cause problems.

You really need to make sure that you have a perfectly compatible USB data cable. It's almost impossible to diagnose a problem when there are unknown factors to deal with. Any modern USB data cable should be compatible.


If you have the latest version of the Cleanflight or Betaflight configurator (V2.1.0 for Cleanflight and V3.2.1 for Betaflight) then you are good to go.

It's important to understand that there are two versions we are talking about here: the version of the firmware and the version of the configurator. The version of the configurator on your computer has nothing to do with the version of the firmware on the flight controller - they are two separate things. The only problems that you can get are when the configurator is older than the firmware and cannot understand the communication with the firmware properly due to changes in the firmware that it doesn't know about.

It will normally tell you that there is a problem if this is the case.


It all depends on what version and which firmware is installed. Normally, it is best to update to the latest firmware once you have confirmed that the flight controller is working. As you now know, you should always test a new flight controller before you start soldering things to it as you can't return a faulty one if you've already taken your soldering iron to it.
Pictures coming soon!
The USB I'm talking about is one from a Samsung Monte phone, which is extremely old! I think I need to buy a new, modern USB, as it would be good to have one for my new FC anyway as I'll use it quite a lot I imagine, how about this one: http://www.argos.co.uk/product/1064186?c...lUQAvD_BwE
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#38
That cable from Argos looks just fine.

I have so many USB cables it's silly! Just about every USB device comes with one and the first thing I do is check to see if they are data or charge only. The charge only ones get a bit of tape wrapped around the cable with "Charge Only!" written on it so that I don't end up banging my head against the wall wondering why I can't connect to my flight controller. Big Grin
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#39
(19-Aug-2017, 11:53 AM)unseen Wrote: That cable from Argos looks just fine.

I have so many USB cables it's silly! Just about every USB device comes with one and the first thing I do is check to see if they are data or charge only. The charge only ones get a bit of tape wrapped around the cable with "Charge Only!" written on it so that I don't end up banging my head against the wall wondering why I can't connect to my flight controller. Big Grin

Haha! Yeah thats a good idea, thanks! I'll let you know if the Argos one works when I try it this afternoon
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#40
It would be great if it fixes your problem. From what I could see, the status LED on the flight controller flashed like it should do when you powered up the flight controller without the BOOT pins connected, so there's a good chance that the flight controller works as it should.
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#41
(19-Aug-2017, 11:53 AM)unseen Wrote: That cable from Argos looks just fine.

I have so many USB cables it's silly! Just about every USB device comes with one and the first thing I do is check to see if they are data or charge only. The charge only ones get a bit of tape wrapped around the cable with "Charge Only!" written on it so that I don't end up banging my head against the wall wondering why I can't connect to my flight controller. Big Grin


Just read a mini not micro USB is needed. The Argos one is micro? What's the difference?

(19-Aug-2017, 02:34 PM)Adamski321 Wrote: Just read a mini not micro USB is needed. The Argos one is micro? What's the difference?

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/thrustworx....guide/amp/
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#42
(19-Aug-2017, 02:34 PM)Adamski321 Wrote: Just read a mini not micro USB is needed. The Argos one is micro? What's the difference?


https://www.google.co.uk/amp/thrustworx....guide/amp/

With the new cable, I just got 'flashing' for the first time ever!!!! But then it timed out. But I've seen that's common, now can't detect the COM port ? Keep going....
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#43
(19-Aug-2017, 01:43 PM)unseen Wrote: It would be great if it fixes your problem. From what I could see, the status LED on the flight controller flashed like it should do when you powered up the flight controller without the BOOT pins connected, so there's a good chance that the flight controller works as it should.


Hmmm. I now have no red LED. Very odd. Not detecting COM either. No red LGBT even with my older cable, could the LED be blown?
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#44
The SP Racing F3 flight controller uses a micro USB connector, just as the vast majority of flight controllers do.

I've no idea where you read that the connector is a mini USB, but that information is incorrect.

The article you linked to is about the obsolete CC3D flight controller which has nothing to do with the flight controller you are using.
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#45
(19-Aug-2017, 05:05 PM)unseen Wrote: The SP Racing F3 flight controller uses a micro USB connector, just as the vast majority of flight controllers do.

I've no idea where you read that the connector is a mini USB, but that information is incorrect.

The article you linked to is about the obsolete CC3D flight controller which has nothing to do with the flight controller you are using.

Ok thanks ? Now I have no RED LED
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