What is the latest "bug less" version of Arduplane for the APM ?

Your RTFM-like answer is missing the point.

When Microsoft proposes new updates for Windows 8, there is nothing in it for Windows XP...

We all know that the APM is full. So there is no need for an APM owner to overload it with pixhawk stuff.

Plus recent firmwares do fix old bugs (well some of them) but also create new bugs. That is the way it has been for my 35 years in the IT industry.

I have been messing around the APM for a year now for one quad, one hexacopter and 2 planes. For each of those, I had new bugs coming in.

At some stage 3DR should say "now that is it for the APM, newer firmwares are for the ¨Pixhawk exclusively"

So what I need now is someone with a Penguin-alike plane telling me "I am using that firmware and that MP version and everything is fine".

I posted in your other thread what you wanted to know. I fly a Penguin and run the latest firmware, 3.0.0. I'm running an APM 2.5 and it's just fine starting with the defaults. 3.0.2 just came out this weekend and I haven't upgraded yet to that because I didn't know it was out until just now.

The comparison of Windows 8 to XP isn't quite right as they are still continuing to fix bugs they find in the APM code whereas XP support has been dropped by MS now. You just won't get new features to the APM that are exclusive to the 32-bit Pixhawk. If they weren't developing anything and fixing code for APM 2.5/2.6, they would definitely say so and make sure it was solid before moving on completely. While it's true they may introduce new bugs that could be quite problematic, that's only true when they add NEW features. Incremental releases will take care of old bugs in existing features and the chance of new bugs popping up in that same feature because of the fix are relatively low while you may get bugs in the new stuff. It's the same in the software world.

Why you wouldn't run the newest (up to 3.0.0 so far for me because I don't have 3.0.2) is a matter of preference but in my mind, why run with code you KNOW has small bugs that were fixed in a newer firmware? The APM 2.5 doesn't even support the newest features for Pixhawk but you still get the bug fixes for everything else that make it more stable.

2.74 was a good firmware and I ran that without issue for a while on my Penguin. You can fly that but do you want to fly it with these issues fixed in later firmware?

Changes in 2.75:

"several scheduling improvements which greatly improve performance on both APM2 and PX4

fixed GUIDED mode change of altitude downwards"

Changes in 2.76 just a week later:

"The primary motivations for this release was two serious bugs:

the airspeed autocal feature introduced in 2.75 was broken

a long standing serious DCM attitude estimation bug was found"

Changes in 2.77:

"There have been a few fixes related to airspeed handling. One is to handle the case where airspeed reading too low due to the ARSPD_RATIO being too low. The airspeed autocal code didn't fix this as it only ran when airspeed was above the minimum airspeed. We now run the airspeed autocal code if either GPS groundspeed or airspeed is above the minimum airspeed.
A second airspeed related but was to fix a scaling factor for true airspeed in the pitch controller"

Changes in 2.78:

Changes to RSSI_RANGE and GPS health status messages in MavLink to correct them.

Those are fairly significant enough that I know I wouldn't want to risk having a problem because of the bugs in the old code. If you're working on getting your Penguin certified by the French Authorities like you state on your other aircraft, I'm pretty sure most authorities are going to want you to run the best stuff where previous issues were fixed instead of running on older firmware that have KNOWN issues. In the IT world, if you run a system with known security issues when there are updates that fix them, you should have a great reason for running buggy software when asked. Why do the same with a plane unless you want to take the chance?

I have to say I'm quite impressed that your other plane turned out just fine without any porpoising in the tuning process for it. I hope you can get things figured out with your Penguin with whatever firmware you decide to use.

2.74 was good to me but I've moved on as I don't want some of those issues they've found. For myself, I went through the whole manual step-by-step and it took me a long time but I didn't take any shortcuts and came out with a nice flying plane. It's what worked for me and that's why I suggest it. I didn't have some issues others have because of it and because I haven't had them, I can't help with some things but I can and will state what did work for me, hence my suggestions about the manual. If you don't like it, that's fine and you can always ignore but you asked and that's all the advice I have about it.

I've had other issues but they weren't covered and I asked questions about it and got some good answers from people. I'm sure you'll get the same from others as well as those other issues come up.

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T3

healthyfatboy May 11, 2014 at 5:08am

AC 2.9.1 is a Copter firmware. They're up to 3.0.X for ArduPlane now. If you want bug free, there isn't one but the most recent firmware is always going to fixing bugs from previous firmware.

Some of the fancy new stuff isn't supported on APM 2.5 but you can still load the newest firmware. It just won't have the features that are specific to Pixhawk.

I would just load the newest firmware, set all params to default, then start at the beginning of the manual for setup and tuning. As long as you make sure your radio calibration and other things are done properly, you shouldn't have any major issue.
- Drone-University.com > healthyfatboy May 11, 2014 at 7:50am
  
  Your RTFM-like answer is missing the point.
  
  When Microsoft proposes new updates for Windows 8, there is nothing in it for Windows XP...
  
  We all know that the APM is full. So there is no need for an APM owner to overload it with pixhawk stuff.
  
  Plus recent firmwares do fix old bugs (well some of them) but also create new bugs. That is the way it has been for my 35 years in the IT industry.
  
  I have been messing around the APM for a year now for one quad, one hexacopter and 2 planes. For each of those, I had new bugs coming in.
  
  At some stage 3DR should say "now that is it for the APM, newer firmwares are for the ¨Pixhawk exclusively"
  
  So what I need now is someone with a Penguin-alike plane telling me "I am using that firmware and that MP version and everything is fine".
- T3
  
  healthyfatboy > Drone-University.com May 11, 2014 at 7:13pm
  
  I posted in your other thread what you wanted to know. I fly a Penguin and run the latest firmware, 3.0.0. I'm running an APM 2.5 and it's just fine starting with the defaults. 3.0.2 just came out this weekend and I haven't upgraded yet to that because I didn't know it was out until just now.
  
  The comparison of Windows 8 to XP isn't quite right as they are still continuing to fix bugs they find in the APM code whereas XP support has been dropped by MS now. You just won't get new features to the APM that are exclusive to the 32-bit Pixhawk. If they weren't developing anything and fixing code for APM 2.5/2.6, they would definitely say so and make sure it was solid before moving on completely. While it's true they may introduce new bugs that could be quite problematic, that's only true when they add NEW features. Incremental releases will take care of old bugs in existing features and the chance of new bugs popping up in that same feature because of the fix are relatively low while you may get bugs in the new stuff. It's the same in the software world.
  
  Why you wouldn't run the newest (up to 3.0.0 so far for me because I don't have 3.0.2) is a matter of preference but in my mind, why run with code you KNOW has small bugs that were fixed in a newer firmware? The APM 2.5 doesn't even support the newest features for Pixhawk but you still get the bug fixes for everything else that make it more stable.
  
  2.74 was a good firmware and I ran that without issue for a while on my Penguin. You can fly that but do you want to fly it with these issues fixed in later firmware?
  
  Changes in 2.75:
  
  "several scheduling improvements which greatly improve performance on both APM2 and PX4
  
  fixed GUIDED mode change of altitude downwards"
  
  Changes in 2.76 just a week later:
  
  "The primary motivations for this release was two serious bugs:
  
  the airspeed autocal feature introduced in 2.75 was broken
  
  a long standing serious DCM attitude estimation bug was found"
  
  Changes in 2.77:
  
  "There have been a few fixes related to airspeed handling. One is to handle the case where airspeed reading too low due to the ARSPD_RATIO being too low. The airspeed autocal code didn't fix this as it only ran when airspeed was above the minimum airspeed. We now run the airspeed autocal code if either GPS groundspeed or airspeed is above the minimum airspeed.
  A second airspeed related but was to fix a scaling factor for true airspeed in the pitch controller"
  
  Changes in 2.78:
  
  Changes to RSSI_RANGE and GPS health status messages in MavLink to correct them.
  
  Those are fairly significant enough that I know I wouldn't want to risk having a problem because of the bugs in the old code. If you're working on getting your Penguin certified by the French Authorities like you state on your other aircraft, I'm pretty sure most authorities are going to want you to run the best stuff where previous issues were fixed instead of running on older firmware that have KNOWN issues. In the IT world, if you run a system with known security issues when there are updates that fix them, you should have a great reason for running buggy software when asked. Why do the same with a plane unless you want to take the chance?
  
  I have to say I'm quite impressed that your other plane turned out just fine without any porpoising in the tuning process for it. I hope you can get things figured out with your Penguin with whatever firmware you decide to use.
  
  2.74 was good to me but I've moved on as I don't want some of those issues they've found. For myself, I went through the whole manual step-by-step and it took me a long time but I didn't take any shortcuts and came out with a nice flying plane. It's what worked for me and that's why I suggest it. I didn't have some issues others have because of it and because I haven't had them, I can't help with some things but I can and will state what did work for me, hence my suggestions about the manual. If you don't like it, that's fine and you can always ignore but you asked and that's all the advice I have about it.
  
  I've had other issues but they weren't covered and I asked questions about it and got some good answers from people. I'm sure you'll get the same from others as well as those other issues come up.
- 100KM
  
  Trung Nguyen > Drone-University.com May 11, 2014 at 7:04pm
  
  I understand what you're saying. Each new revision fixes old bugs, but adds new features. Some of those features create new bugs. I think the only way you'll get what you're asking is when they stop adding features to APM firmware - just fixes.
  
  Chris mentioned a "final" rock solid APM firmware version is in the works. After that, future firmware will be Pixhawk specific.
  
  http://diydrones.com/xn/detail/705844%3ATopic%3A1655491

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