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Formerly working Pixhawk IO board problem / now bricked? Factory reset possible?

Posted by Piers C on March 3, 2014 at 4:11am

10 days ago recently bought a new Pixhawk intended for use with a flying wing, and a Futaba R7008 receiver.

When I first got it I loaded all the firmware onto it fine using Mission Planner  (on a mac in Parallels XP) and all seemed to work well.

I then tried to connect the receiver, a Futaba R7008, and had trouble seeing the transmitter in Mission Planner (in fact I couldn't at all). On reading threads in this forum and others I then found out that there were lots of people having problems with Futaba R7008 receivers with pixhawks and that it had only just become compatible in the latest code.

So I updated the pixhawk to newer firmware (Stable Version), this time in QGroundControl mac in PX4 mode, and managed to get it all working and calibrated the RC sticks and everything fine.

Then after working fine for a while, the next day the RC transmitter seemed to stop being recognized again, for no apparent reason. So I tried various firmware upgrades again, variously in Qgroundcontrol (Continuous Build, Beta Build, Stable Version again), then  in APM Planner 2.0rc5 (which crashes endlessly so i gave up) and then Mission Planner 1.2 on XP.  But now the pixhawk seems in pretty ill health and the IO side of it doesn't seem to function at all well.

Now when I boot up the Pixhawk (say after reflashing from QGroundControl), both green power lights come on, the FMU orange led flashes for a bit then stops, and that's it.  There are no lights on the IO side like there used to be apart from the green power LED. The orange and blue LED's no longer light up (as they used to a few days ago), and there is no LED light on on the safety switch anymore either.

When I do a clean flash with Stable firmware Version from QgroundControl in PX4 mode, the accelerometer works fine and I can connect and see tilt etc.. But it does't make the successful startup sound noise. If I then check the Boot.log file on the SD card it says "PX4IO board not found", even when I clear the SD card, delete all files, and do a fresh firmware upgrade, this  Boot.log file reappears and the "PX4IO board not found" message inside it.

What have I done with all my fiddling? Is there a way to reset the Pixhawk to factory settings? It is strange because this Pixhawk I have seen working in all it's glory, but for the moment it seems a bit bricked!

Thanks in advance for any ideas

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Tags: pixhawk, px4io
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Replies

  • Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 7:20am

    Start working a little bit.

    Try to install original 3.1.2  in Mission Planner.

    • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 7:37am

      ok, I just installed Arducopter 3.1.2 in APM Planner 2.0 for Mac. That installed successfully, but afterwards I'm still getting the same sounds on startup as before, (these sounds http://youtu.be/DBbwSXOg2VA). Except  the big central pixhawk LED by the orientation arrow doesn't light at all anymore during the startup process, not red, not blue, not anything.  a vexing problem!

      • Xian06 > Piers C March 3, 2014 at 9:07am

        Do you try update px4io-v2.bin from sdcard?

        • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 9:34am

          ok just tried that too. still no good.

          :(

        • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 9:28am

          Hi Xian,

          thanks for your continued support.

          I tried that yesterday but it didn't seem to do anything. I haven't tried it again today since posting here. Should I try that? I thought the SD Card method was outdated though

  • Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 4:56am

    Same problem was here. But my R7008SB not worked. I update compiled px4io to Pixhawk. After power on only leds blinking no startup tone. I download latest fmu px4 file. Press safety button and power on Pixhawk. And qcontrol can update this file in advanced mode.(config firmware and advanced checkbox)

    http://firmware.diydrones.com/Copter/2014-03/2014-03-02-22:03/

    Your frame type

    ArduCopter-v2.px4

    And use putty on Pixhawk serial port to enter terminal. cd setup,  erase ,  reset

    • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 5:49am

      Ok thanks very much Xian.  I have downloaded the ArduCopter-v2.px4 firmware (I got the quad version even though ultimately I intend to use it on a flying wing) and flashed that in to PX4 board 9 in advanced mode.

      I then restarted with safety switch down and there was some beeping, but it still seems to have an error. Examination of the APM/Boot.log files says "PX4IO board not found"

      I don't understand your other instructions very well though..."use putty on Pixhawk serial port to enter terminal. cd setup,  erase ,  reset" 

      what is putty? do I need a different serial cable or something? I'm on an Imac so not sure where it would fit in!

      Is there any way to do this just with the USB cable or SD card?

      thanks

      • Xian06 > Piers C March 3, 2014 at 6:03am

        In advanced mode, do you select px4fmu or board 9?

        You need px4fmu.

        First press and hold safety switch and power on Pixhawk.Release safety switch and start qcontrol and update px4fmu in advanced mode. Flashing time about 2-3 mins or more. After automatic restart Pixhawk play successfully flash update tone. After that restart Pixhawk and working normal.

        • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 6:57am

          Ok I was doing it to board 9 before (because that's what I saw it found when I upgraded it in Scan mode).

          This time therefore I quit QGroundControl, unplugged USB, held down safety switch, plugged in pixhawk USB, let it start, released safety switch, started QGC, prepared to flash ArduCopter-v2.px4 into px4fmu (not board 9) via usbmodem1 and pressed Flash.

          It seemed to work quickly, and within 30 secs or so it had done 90% and played the firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones.  Then 5 seconds later it again played firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones.  I waited 10 mins but it never moved beyond 90%, see screen shot attached.

          I then restarted pixhawk and still get the same firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones, as per video http://youtu.be/DBbwSXOg2VA.

          I don't think pixhawk is working as normal yet, because i dont get a successful startup tone and when I open APM/Boot.log the "PX4IO board not found" message has appeared again. (I keep deleting this file after inspecting to check when it appeared).

          So, I'm not sure I've solved it yet.

          Screen Shot 2014-03-03 at 14.30.17.png

        • Piers C > Xian06 March 3, 2014 at 6:51am

          Ok I was doing it to board 9 before (because that's what I saw it found when I upgraded it in non-advanced Scan mode).

          This time therefore I quit QGroundControl, unplugged USB, held down safety switch, plugged in pixhawk, let it start, released safety switch, started QGC, prepared to flash ArduCopter-v2.px4 into px4fmu (not board 9) and pressed Flash.

          It seemed to work quickly, and within 30 secs or so it had done 90% and played the firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones.  Then 5 seconds later it again played firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones.  I waited 10 mins but it never moved beyond 90%, see screen shot attached.

          I then restarted pixhawk and get the same firmware tone interrupted by two low pitched tones, as per video.

          I don't think pixhawk it is working as normal yet because when I open APM/Boot.log the "PX4IO board not found" message has appeared again. (I keep deleting this file after inspecting to check when it appeared).

          So, I'm not sure I've solved it yet.

          Screen Shot 2014-03-03 at 14.30.17.png

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