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MR60

Mission Planner Mavlink Won't Connect (No Heatbeat Packets Received)

Posted by Forrest Frantz on April 16, 2014 at 7:16pm

MP connected and downloaded firmware to the APM 2.5 without issue.  But when I click the upper right Connect to get the parameters:

o When the USB is plugged in, COM4 Adrino Mega 2560 (COM4) appears [device setting is 115200 as is the MP pulldown]

o When click Connect

   - MP sees the connection and it starts to connect

  -  APM blue light 3 times, red flashes twice, yellow light flashes, green is solid 

o Then countdown to "No Heatbeat Packets Received"

  - orange light stops

  - green stays solid

o Under details, the following is shown.

3691113690?profile=original

I might be just tired, but can anyone help?

I'm powering via the USB.  Nothing but the GPS/Mag and radio is powered by the APM (disconnected the receiver and ESCs).  I've tried adding battery power, reinstalling the firmware (does that part just fine), differnt USB ports, restarting my computer, ... 

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Replies

    • MR60
      Forrest Frantz > Ted Van Slyck April 22, 2014 at 7:54am

      Thanks Ted.  Yes, but the following is more background.

      It connected once fine with the GPS/Mag and radio connected.  Then I connected the receiver.  What I saw was the board appeared to brown out (a couple blinks and then off each time I tried).

      After that, it stopped communicating via Mavlink (reciever connected or not) but still communicated via MP firmware upload.  I tried connecting battery power to supplement power via the power module.  The behavior didn't change (lights went woud blink a few times and then go out if i connected the receiver and the added power didn't help Mavlink even when the radio wasn't connected).  The receiver power was connected via the receiver input +/- pins w/ red going to the middle pin, ground on the outside pin, and the channels to the inside pins (pin orientation upwards).

      Any other ideas, let me know as I'll get back to it when i build the "friend" copter.  

      I haven't tried communicating with it via radio.  Was going to but made the decision to fly the PixHawk instead.

      • Greg M > Forrest Frantz May 22, 2014 at 1:54pm
        Did you ever find a solution to this? Did you receive a replacement?
        Did reflashing the ppm encoder work? Doing this is my final test unless 3DRobotics responds with something else.

        Not sure I've ever troubleshooted a hardware connectivity issue more.

        Yours,Greg
        • MR60
          Forrest Frantz > Greg M May 25, 2014 at 1:46am

          worked with the techs.  they said to return it.  did so just prior to sailing the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic off the coast of spain.  will see if the replacement works when i get back in June.

          • Greg M > Forrest Frantz May 25, 2014 at 8:36am

            Yea, they are going to replace mine. Just shipped it back.

            I'm a little disappointed you would prefer sailing off the coast of Spain than fix your drone.  Where are your priorities?  ;) 

            Thanks,

            Greg

      • MR60
        Hugues > Forrest Frantz April 22, 2014 at 11:23am

        Good decision to fly pixhawk, you'll get all the benefits of the next release 3.2 and you will get redundancy: power, sensors, etc

      • T3
        Ted Van Slyck > Forrest Frantz April 22, 2014 at 10:20am
        I'm stumped. I'd try telemetry, but the situation does not sound good. Have you used the receiver on anything else since? Maybe it caused a short..
  • Henri April 19, 2014 at 1:37pm

    @Forrest Frantz

    it happens to me when:

    I connect using a usb cable with CLI and then after clicking the [disconnect] button in the CLI I try to reconnect with mavlink.

    Then I got the same problem. (Windows 7).

    My Solution:


    1) Disconnecting the USB plug from the APM and power if connected to a battery.

    2) Shutdown Mission planner on the PC.

    3) Re connect The USB cable between the PC and the APM

    4) Restart Mission planner software and connect 

    Then everything is ok again.

    Hope this helps

    Henri

    • MR60
      Forrest Frantz > Henri April 19, 2014 at 4:34pm

      Thanks Henri.

      Tried that.  Even restarted my computer ... resetting the APM ... independent power ...

      Sure is odd that I can upload the firmware with no problem in MP.  It also appears to connect in terminal mode but in CLI I don't get a response when I try to do a Log then Enable RAW.

      I might just scrap the board and try the PixHawk.

      • MR60
        Hugues > Forrest Frantz April 21, 2014 at 3:25am

        Hi Forrest,

        Before you dump the board, maybe try to reflash the ppm encoder that apparently also manages the USB connection:

        http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-ppm-encoder-apm2x-atmega32u2/

        Or you could also try to connect via radio telemetry?

        • VolksCopter > Hugues April 21, 2014 at 8:44pm

          Hi gents, APM newb Gustav here............., excuse the light intro and truly Sorry for barging in on this but the post by Forrest led me here.

          First APM 2.6 board I set up this weekend seems to be exhibiting the textbook  cooked  3.3v Regulator behavior.........my conclusion after 2 sleepless days.

          Overview of steps i.e. physically hooked up the GPS, went through the drill in Mission Planner,  downloaded the FW, got the Mavlink Heartbeat error or similar one in Forrest's description.

          CLI gives no joy like "no data flash inserted" + setup throws "failed to boot MPU6000 5 times"

          Post about this seems to be closed due to people getting jiggy with each other,  so if you are open to vocalising  some seasoned advise im looking for a seasoned opinion

          What I see is either send a team of nano-bots over to the board and swap the regulator or wait patiently for the reputable vendor to reply after clearing a likely backlog of email from after a  long weekend.

          Don't want to due any more possible damage but is there anyway to be sure that the only or root cause of issues is a blown regulator?

          Cheers

          Gustav

           

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