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Help with Arduplane

Posted by Ben Richardson on November 21, 2011 at 5:46am

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 :)

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Tags: apm, problem, help, issue, troubleshooting
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Replies

  • lee nagle December 8, 2011 at 5:41pm
    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
  • lee nagle December 8, 2011 at 5:32pm
    I have the exact same problem
  • Justin December 6, 2011 at 4:30pm

    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.

  • 2k2f7mpmgd5j7 November 22, 2011 at 10:26am

    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?

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