This post is not much to find an solution but also to give a solution for those facing the same issue.
When trying to update the firmware of my quadcopter to v3.1.2 I could not get it working with Mission Planner (v1.2.97 build 1.1.5167.24804). It either get stuck in the "Detecting board version" or "Reading Hex File" steps. After a long time in some attempts it ended with an error message complaining about access to the COM port, although no other application is using it.
Some attempts to fix the issue without success:
- Start MP as administration (I'm on Win 7, 64bit, for instance);
- Reboot the laptop;
- Update Mission Planner;
Finally, to my surprise, I got it working with the APM Planner 2 - which is much faster in pretty much everything, as a side comment. With version 2.0.0 RC3 I could upload successfully the new firmware to the copter so if you are facing the same issue you can try version 2, even if only for uploading the firmware. Both versions can live together and, as far as I could see, there is no conflict between them.
Regards,
Arnie
Replies
After a long time searching for a solution I found this post:
http://diydrones.com/group/arducopterusergroup/forum/topics/ardupil...
In my laptop I have some COM ports for Bluetooth devices, as well as the APM. Disabling these ports, leaving only the APM COM port active is the solution. You can do this temporarily, only for uploading the firmware to the APM but everything else runs smoothly as well, the connect command and response when connected is significantly faster.
Cheers,
Arnie