External compass doesn't get registered

I'm running a Pixhawk with 3.2 rc14 but cannot get my external compass to be registered/used. I tried two different compasses (one 3DR GPS combo v1.2 and one CSG M8N GPS combo) but neither of these get recognized where the GPS works fine. The Mission Planner shows External_compass = 0 and only the device ID for the internal compass shows. When I do a compass calibrate, I get two windows but only the left (internal compass) shows the axes with measurements. The right window stays black. I tried changing the I2C cable but to no avail. When I run the hmc5883 test in the CLI it tells me the driver is not running. When I try starting it it tells me it fails to start. I measured the Pixhawk I2C voltage output and it registers 5V. I'm at the point where I believe my Pixhawk I2C may be bad but don't know how to test for it. In my desperation, I bought an external LED from 3DR to see if that'll work but it won't arrive for a few more days.Have been trying to resolve this for many days now and got to the end of the Internet... Am getting desperate. Any suggestions anyone?

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  • Though I didn't get much response on my post, I thought I'd update with the resolution to my problem to go into the eternal Internet logs... :-)

    So I contacted 3DR for help. They asked me to send in the unit and replaced it with a new one. Everything works fine now so it seems my first unit had a defective I2C interface.

    Got great support from 3DR! Very responsive. Great service, specifically from a guy name Ludwing. Thanks so much!
  • Got my external LED from 3D-Robotics today. Doesn't work... :-(

    I think my I2C port on the PixHawk is defective. It seems to be the only remaining possibility, unless there would be something wrong with the I2C driver.

    I'm surprised nobody has any suggestions on how I can check the I2C driver is installed and running?
  • Flashed the Pixhawk board firmware today, together with the just released ArduCopter 3.2 as well as an update to the Mission Planner software. Unfortunately, my external compass still doesn't get detected.

    Does nobody have any ideas here? Really could use some help. As I'm waiting for the external LED to see if it'll work (if not I suspect it's an I2C HW issue), is there anything else I should try? Is there a way I can see the "health" of the I2C bus in the CLI?
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