In case anyone else missed this update like I did…

Bluejay v0.20 has been bumped back to pre-release, and the official release notes now say:

DO NOT USE - ATTENTION: v0.20.0 seems to be causing an increased amount of issues with blown ESCs - we highly recommend to downgrade to v0.19.2 for the time being. We are currently working on a bugfix release addressing those issues.

https://github.com/bird-sanctuary/bluejay/releases

Hi, thanks for the info!

That's not good news. The last few versions of Bluejay appear to have been a little buggy, but frying ESCs is on a different level.

Another question is did the devs ever fix the desync issues with the 0.17.x, 0.18.x, and 0.19.x versions that was mentioned in another thread HERE?

the desync issue doesnt come from a reputable source in my eyes.
i know that issue by default values on high pwm frequency.

i have some diying boards, with issues on startup by default, but i never had any desync issue at all.

Beware Flywoo AIOs may come preflashed with 0.20. Flew a Flywoo DC16 Nano 1S today (its fourth flight) and after a gentle tumble in soft grass, one of the motors would not spin up. After checking, the AIO comes preflashed with bj 0.20!!

After downgrading the firmware on the bad ESC, changing from 96khz down to 48khz, turning off dithering, and bumping up startup power, the damaged ESC seems to be able to spin up the motor again. Will have to see if the ESC will hold up in flight though.

I'm a beginner.

Can you please give instructions for how to check the bluejay version and how to flash up or down?  I can get the hex from github.

Thanks

(03-Sep-2023, 05:59 PM)segler999 Wrote: I'm a beginner.

Can you please give instructions for how to check the bluejay version and how to flash up or down?  I can get the hex from github.

Thanks

Go to esc-configurator.com
Connect your quad via usb, plug in a battery. Anytime you have a quad plugged in on the bench, make sure you have a fan blowing on it for cooling.
Connect.
Click on “Read settings”.

That’ll tell you what version is currently on your esc’s.
If you want or need to change it…
I’m going by memory here, but I believe you just need to click “flash all”, and then choose your version.

If you want to roll way back to a version that’s no longer available in the configurator, then you’ll have to download the file from GitHub and then point it to a local file.

Edit- make sure your transmitter is off during all of this, and close down any background programs that may try to steal a port- Cura, etc.

(02-Sep-2023, 03:46 AM)mstc Wrote: Beware Flywoo AIOs may come preflashed with 0.20. Flew a Flywoo DC16 Nano 1S today (its fourth flight) and after a gentle tumble in soft grass, one of the motors would not spin up. After checking, the AIO comes preflashed with bj 0.20!!

After downgrading the firmware on the bad ESC, changing from 96khz down to 48khz, turning off dithering, and bumping up startup power, the damaged ESC seems to be able to spin up the motor again. Will have to see if the ESC will hold up in flight though.

Unfortunately one of the mosfets was blown, it seems the motors were light enough that it was still able to spin the motor... but only sometimes and with less power.
Fortunately Flywoo support was great, they acknowledged the 0.20 issue and offered to replace the AIO. I am surprised there was no PSA on this so many thanks again @lemony for pointing this out.

But again if you have a Flywoo BNF/AIO, double-check your ESC firmware otherwise it is still a pain to wait for the replacement board to arrive and have to resolder on all those tiny wires...

(04-Sep-2023, 03:38 PM)mstc Wrote: I am surprised there was no PSA on this so many thanks again @lemony for pointing this out.

It was, but only if you actively monitor the ESC Configurator Discord Server channel and/or the GitHub releases/issues pages. Unfortunately with most open source software, constantly checking social media and the repo pages are usually the only real way to get any info. JB also mentioned it on one of his live streams but I don't remember which one.

• ESC Configurator Discord Server PSA (in the #announcements channel): https://discord.com/channels/82295271594...0312858734
  
  
  

• GitHub PSA (in the release notes): https://github.com/bird-sanctuary/blueja...ag/v0.20.0
  
  
  

Thanks, I was thinking manufacturers who actually flashed 0.20 to their sold products would send out some warnings to their customers as they have our emails. But I guess for them maybe it is less effort just to replace the boards as they blow and if the users complain versus making a mea culpa announcement.

(04-Sep-2023, 04:45 PM)mstc Wrote: Thanks, I was thinking manufacturers who actually flashed 0.20 to their sold products would send out some warnings to their customers as they have our emails. But I guess for them maybe it is less effort just to replace the boards as they blow and if the users complain versus making a mea culpa announcement.

I guess it's quite possible that FLYWOO didn't even know themselves if they haven't been actively monitoring the same channels. Maybe they have been scratching their heads as to why some of their ESCs have been failing. I agree though. Now that they know the root cause of the problem it would be in their own and their customers interest to send out emails to notify anyone who recently purchased an affected ESC board from them.

Some of these manufacturers aren't doing themselves any favours by shipping products with the very latest release of firmware on them before it has been fully proven. It was the same with the FC gyro bricking issue in some of the Betaflight 4.3.0 RC releases that manufacturers decided to ship their FCs with for some odd reason.

The only reason I became aware of it was because I went to go browse the release notes to find out which version of bluejay started turning off temperature protection by default (it was v0.20).

I’m a bit irked, because when we’re talking about the potential destruction of hardware, I feel like they should have made a bigger effort to get the word out. Like, I dunno, maybe had esc-configurator.com post a front page warning.

A simple announcement on discord and on GitHub isn’t really enough.

Its sadly quite usual for manufacturers to "duck" when issues emerge, not accusing Flywoo, but it would not be difficult for any maker/seller to flag an issue like this to their dealers. Maybe they didn't realise, but its their JOB to stay updated and aware! Its like the various manufacturers that do not place firmware in a support access, just shoddy incomplete work.

I have just checked my recently received  new "just in stock" Flywoo Firefly 1.6 FR and its on 0.19 Bluejay. Phew..............

I REALLY like this quad, its a 5" 4S hiding in a 1.6" 1S package, and has finally after a long love affair superseded my Tinyhawk Freestyle as favourite, but its iffy about arming at times, and other times just works straight off and always that session.  

Not bottomed it to any reason and this issue coming to light does make one twitchy!  

Yeah… I keep thinking I should try every new bit of firmware that comes out, because, yay, new things!

…but then I remember the BF 4.3 RC debacle, and think about this roll back of bluejay… and now I think Snow has the right idea of letting other folks try out things first, even when they’re official releases.

And yeah, there is a flaw there in that *someone* has to try that stuff out first and potentially destroy their gear- but dude, I’m on a budget. I can’t afford to be burning things out. Yeah, I can fix things- but only if I can identify and get ahold of a replacement bit. When it comes to mosfets, that’s a pretty big if. Dead gyro? Sure, I can replace that. Mosfets? Half of these boards have some obscure chip.

Regardless- there is a real big difference between me understanding the risks and choosing to use a release candidate vs a manufacturer shipping a board with a release candidate.

And in this case, you can’t even blame the manufacturer because v0.20 *was* an official release before they pulled it.

Back to v0.20, I’ve heard some folks say that it was primarily larger motors that were killing esc’s on bluejay v0.20- but I’ve personally had some 1s esc’s on v0.20 blow that shouldn’t have. Some were flying fine prior to updating to v0.20, and some were new aio’s that blew on the first flight or two.

I’m not an inexperienced builder. There are times where I may push my esc’s or motors- but I’m well aware of when I am, and I accept the risk.

This wasn’t the case, and I was running the official release of bluejay v0.20.0. I assumed it was crappy hardware, and I probably talked crap on some manufacturers for it, so my apologies to them.

I should probably go back through those boards- there’s a chance it just killed the esc mcu rather than the mosfets. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, because firmware shouldn’t kill an mcu, but, maybe. Firmware shouldn’t have killed a gyro either.

(04-Sep-2023, 05:53 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Like, I dunno, maybe had esc-configurator.com post a front page warning.

A simple announcement on discord and on GitHub isn’t really enough.