Help with Arduplane
Hi guys!
I've got a bit of a problem with my Arduplane Mega chipset…
Background:
- I've got a MacBook running Lion and also 64-bit Windows 7 on a separate partition.
- I've installed the latest Arduino build on both WIndows and Lion.
- I believe that I have installed the FTDI drivers correctly on both Windows and Lion.
- I've been following every word of the Arduplane manual.
- I have the latest APM mission planner installed on Windows.
No matter what operating system or program i use, I cannot get the Arduplane chipset to respond. I can successfully monitor some garbled information from the serial port monitor function in the Arduino program. I can compile the code and get to the stage where I can upload the code. When I click upload…
- Arduino informs me that the code is being uploaded.
- The RX light flashes furiously.
- The upload never stops.
- The TX light does not flash at all.
Using the console application in mac I get the following information…
AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed
FTDIUSBSerialDriver: 0 4036001 start - ok
Using the APM mission planner software, I am informed that '…can't determine the APM…check the cabling'. I have indeed used a different cable to no avail.
Some extra info:
- The switch is furthest away from the RC connectors.
- The amber 'B' status light is always on.
- When I press either of the buttons on the chip nothing changes - all lights stay on and unaffected.
- After I decide to give up after waiting for 30 mins to upload code and quit Arduino, the RX light continues to flash furiously, even though no application is accessing the port.
- My mac firewall is off.
- I have not made any modifications or connections to the chip.
- I do have an xtremeBee PRO telemetry set ready to go if there is somehow a wireless solution to this problem?
- I have attempted an EEPROM_clear - however this produces the same results as previously mentioned.
- I have the latest Arduplane firmware, the latest mac and windows updates, the latest APM mission planner, the most recent Arduino build and the most up to date FTDI drivers
- I purchased the chipset, pre soldered and coded from UDrones and have not progressed past the current state.
I'm horrendously stuck and can't find a solution at all. Could someone please give me a mental hug and a solution to my problem :)
Tags: APM, Problem, help, issue, troubleshooting
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by 3D Robotics Tech Support on -
Hi Ben,
I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you are having. When you open the serial monitor in Arduino and see the garbled information, what position is the slide switch in? Can you please post a screenshot of the serial monitor with the garbled information in Arduino? Also, have you selected the correct board in the "tools" menu before trying to upload the firmware?
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Richardson on
-
Thanks for helping me out :)
- Slide switch is furthest from the RC pins (SW2=1)
- Correct Board has been selected, Arduino MEGA 2560
- Serial port is /dev/tty.usbserial-A8006zR1
As soon as I click the serial monitor button, the RX light flickers furiously and I am presented with and endless generation of weird code…
-
Permalink Reply by 3D Robotics Tech Support on
-
Hi Ben,
Thank you for posting the screen shot. Have you tried 115200baud? This might help with the garbled text in the serial monitor and connecting to the boards in the Mission Planner. Please be aware that the Mission Planner is currently only compatible with Windows. I'm unable to reproduce the error about the cabling in the Mission Planner, but it sounds like it might have to do with an incorrect COM port, or even a problem with the 2560 chip on the APM board. Are you still unable to load any new codes onto the boards?
Regarding the XBee's, unfortunately, they cannot be used to program the APM board remotely.
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Richardson on
-
When I try 115200baud - there doesn't seem to be a change…
Still can't load new codes. I'm currently wiping the windows partition for a fresh install to double check your port theory but I'm fairly certain that it is not the problem.
Are there any ways to do a factory reset? Is there any reason why there is visual response to pressing the reset button?
I am using the USB cable supplied with the chip by Udrones. It is a USB to USB-mini cable - should I be using something different?
-
DeveloperPermalink Reply by Doug Weibel on -
The output in your screenshots does not look like mavlink packets. They are not human readable, but I have seen enough to recognize them. Plus there is always some stuff in clear text included near startup.
Keep trying other baud rates to see if you can get any output that has anything appearing readable. That would help determine what the current state of your board is.
-
Permalink Reply by Justin on -
What Lion FTDI driver are you using?
I have no issue on Lion, either with ArduPilotMega or with a vanilla Arduino
The driver I have is ProlificUsbSerial.kext as it appears in /System/Library/Extensions
and it creates a device
/dev/tty.usbserial-A400CZEV
and I can reach the Mega in CLI mode by doing
screen /dev/tty.usbserial-A400CZEV 115200
at which point (the point of connection) it reboots, and starts.
If I do this outside CLI mode, I see mavlink binary and some ascii boot messages but mostly binary
If you can't at least do this, there is no point running the IDE and mucking around with upload or terminal or anything.
I believe that I updated the FTDI driver from Prolific website, there current one explicitly mentions Lion.
There is also an opensource one called osx-pl2303.kext but there are a few versions of this, one of them is patched for Lion but since the Prolific one works I don't see the need to experiment beyond it.
-
Permalink Reply by lee nagle on -
I think it's a problem with the 2650 chip as I am having the same thing happen where I can't upload new code all I get is garble in arduino or the check cable message in mission planner. I've tried different pc's also different cables, ftdi bob, avr prog, etc. checked the soldering and still nothing. I'm now waiting on a new board. Also apm2.0
Social Networking
Top Content
Contests
Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.A list of all T3 contests is here.
Groups
-
ArduCopter User Group
1276 members
-
ArduRover User Group
183 members
-
Moderators
24 members
-
Telemetry over cellular …
246 members
-
ArduCopter (traditional …
179 members
Advertisement
© 2013 Created by Chris Anderson.
Powered by
