[thedeadlink]

Hi everybody,

I´m new here and I´m building my first quadro copter. Since the drone crashed while the first test flight in the garden it didn´t start anymore. One motor didn´t spin up anymore.

I decided to buy everything new to have spare parts. (the CC3D flight controller, the ESCs and the motors).

But now I have issues with configuring the new CC3D (I still do not know if the first one has a defect - I´m still figuring out what could be wrong).

I tried to use the wizard to configure the new CC3D - when I try to save the configuration it hangs.
Even when I try to configure everything by hand it doesn´t let me save the setting.

I checked the armed state in the systems tab in "flight status" - it says "Disarmed".

Is there anything I can do?

[TheOtherCliff]

CC3D firmware version must match GCS version.  You must Upgrade and Erase.  Did you do that to start with?

https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LPDOC/pages/5669026/Firmware+Tab

Once you have the same version running in both places and you have done Erase, a simple test is to change one setting, save it (did that work with no error?), power CC3D off and on, and check the setting to see if it is still what you changed it to.

[thedeadlink]

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. I didn´t had the chance to look after this issue until now.

Yes. I first did an "upgrade & erase" and it worked fine.

Then I also tried to change just one setting and then saved it - but it did not work.

I recorded a short video about this issue:
(cliff changed this to youtube.com so it would display here in forum)

[TheOtherCliff]

Be aware that the fast LED blinking is gyro init (bias) and 16.09 and higher will automatically wait for the CC3D to be completely motionless (in a rotation sense) before the init will complete.

Two things come to mind.  I am not an expert on CC3D, but these at least won't hurt:
- You may need to update the bootloader.  Be aware that after updating the bootloader by using a bu* file you must reflash the firmware (Upgrade and Erase) starting by using Manual method.
https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LPDOC/pages/5669026/Firmware+Tab

- It may be that setting the arming is not allowed until you have other things set up correctly.  For instance, there is no throttle channel defined, so it can't do "low throttle and pitch up" for arming.  Setting the arming is the last thing you do in setup.  Try some simple changes on the Hardware page.

[f5soh]

Looks like the board have a issue with external flash memory, the flash erase process after a Upgrade&Erase will take more time with blinking led one time per second. This Erase/Formatting step seems not done in your case.
When you save a setting, the save button shows a red cross so at this time GCS already report a problem while saving setting.

Take a magnifier and look if you can see a bad solder join around the chip (8 pins) located between Main and FlexiPort.

[f5soh]

Try flashing the firmware attached :
- Rescue button
- Connect board
- Load firmware attached
- Flash
- Disconnect board

After reconnecting the board, you will see a blink sequence (one per second) for around 20s.
If this sequence is done, try again after updating the firmware using the GCS and Upgrade button, as usual.

[TheOtherCliff]

Is there a problem with 16.09 "Erase Settings" that maybe Rescue -> EraseSettings -> WaitFor30Seconds does not fix?

Just CC3D?  Or other FC's too?  Is it related to "Wait until the board Is steady"?  Watchdog?

[michalrok]

There seems to be an issue there.

My CC3D has been originally used with 15.09 then upgraded to 16.09. I had some issues then (which were due to the PC side), and tried erasing and downgrading back to 15.09. The downgrade didn't work at all, so I switched to 16.09 again.

Now my CC3D is not able to save it's config in many key areas. Simple repro for my board:
1) Update&Erase (clean 16.09)
2) Go to Configuration -> Hardware
3) Switch Receiver Port to Disabled+OneShot
4) Save -> red "X" shows and change does not persist on reboot

Attached is my settings file - can be uploaded to CC3D but many key attributes are lost on reboot.


Michal

[TheOtherCliff]

"CC3D worked OK in 15.xx but not in 16.09" is often a Bootloader version issue.

What is your Bootloader version?

https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LPDOC/pages/5669026/Firmware+Tab#FirmwareTab-Updatebootloader

If not Bootloader, did saving work with 15.09?  Is it possible that it is crash damage? 

[michalrok]

The 15 vs 16 thing was the other way around. First 15.09 worked flawlessly, then I tried 16.09 and downgraded to 15.09. Upon downgrade, 15.09 didn't even start (one LED on, the other off). So I tried 16.09 once more - and since then, I can no longer save my config (or at least key parts of it).

My BL is now v3 but I v4 was no different.

Oh, and the CC3D is brand new, never crashed


Michał

[TheOtherCliff]

Could it be a USB cable or a bad PC?  Try others for a test.

Some PCs have weak USB power.  Some can't produce enough voltage.  Does it work better when powered from USB or from flight power though ESC/BEC?  Measure the voltage at the FC to make sure it is close to 5V.  When flashing, try connecting fligth power to make sure it has enough voltage.  Generally, all 4 ESC/BEC should be left unmodified so that they can all power the FC.  Don't cut the red servo wire on any of them.  Don't disconnect the black servo wire on any of them.

You need v4 bootloader for everything to work in 16.09.  After flashing bootloader, you MUST reflash firmware since bootloader updater (bu) overwrites firmware.  Flash bootloader v4 then 16.09 firmware.  Does that all complete successfully?

Has it been rewired and maybe something is wrong?  Have you tried unplugging all accessories like OSD, GPS, aux mag, RC receiver from the FC and see if it runs then?

Are you sure this is a CC3D?

No crash damage?  No wrong voltage plugged in at some time?

Have you tried flashing the firmware posted by @f5soh a few posts above this?  After flashing, reboot FC it and run it for 30 seconds and then reflash normal firmware.

Was this a ready to fly quad?  When it worked, were you running the firmware it came with?  Unlikely, but it could be that the mfg made a special version of firmware for it.

[michalrok]

Got a fresh CC3D from the same supplier and loaded the same config file. No issues this time - every change was committed successfully. Same PC, same cable etc.

The faulty CC3D has basically no history at all - never really flown before the issues started. The alarms page lights up on SYS/BOOT indicating that it has found some issues with configuration data. I'm looking for a way to really-really factory clean it. I tried the @f5soh firmware file with no results. Followed the process except this didn't happen:

> After reconnecting the board, you will see a blink sequence (one per second) for around 20s.
> If this sequence is done, try again after updating the firmware using the GCS and Upgrade button, as usual.

There was only one steady LED for a few minutes, so I gave up and flashed normal BL/firmware.

If it's a big issue to fix this I'm OK with throwing the faulty CC3D out (it's $15 anyway), but was hoping there could be a nicer solution.


Michal

[TheOtherCliff]

First 15.09 worked flawlessly, then I tried 16.09 and downgraded to 15.09. Upon downgrade, 15.09 didn't even start (one LED on, the other off). So I tried 16.09 once more - and since then, I can no longer save my config (or at least key parts of it).

So it worked OK in 15.09 to start with, but now nothing works.

Suggestions:
- take the board out of the quad.  Did you use metal mounting hardware or was it mounted touching metal or carbon fiber?
- it may be just the external memory chip.  CleanFlight / BetaFlight only use this for flight logs?  LibrePilot requires it because LP uses it for settings storage.  You might be able to use CF/BF/etc with this board.

[michalrok]

My CC3D is in plastic casing and I never opened it. The moment things stopped working was exactly upon downgrading 16.09 to 15.09 so I doubt if there was any electrical/mechanical event that could have caused damage.

Thanks for the BF/CF tip!


Michal

[albertferraz]

Hello Michal!
I had the same problems that you reported and I managed to normalize this way:
1 - Download Firmware Cleanflight V 1.10.
2 - Install the drivers indicated for your card
3 - Connect with Cleanflight
4 - At the command line of the CF Type "flash_erase"
5 - Return to LibrePilot and do the normal process of installing the firmware

With me it worked
Good luck!

Albert