APM 2.6: Initial setup problems

Archive
1

As part of an Aeromapper X5 I bought a preconfigured APM 2.6. After some initial, pretty successful tests, I had to make some inquiries about RC setup. Two days later, I tried to reconnect the APM in order to do a proper radio calibration.

However, since then the APM performs very strange. I did an EEPROM reset, which didn’t help. I reinstalled the newest firmware, 2.74b but the problems seem to persist. The APM is now running standalone (no other devices attached), connected and powered to the PC through USB.

What I’m trying to do:

  1. Connecting the Mission Planner (1.2.84) to the APM through MAVLINK.
    Works. Upon connection, the parameters are successfully uploaded (“Got param …” dialog).
  2. In Mission Planner I’m now switching to “Flight Modes” tab and
    change Flight Model 1 from “RTL” to “Manual”
  3. Now I press “Save Modes”, after a timeout of about 5 seconds I get a popup
    message “Failed to set Flight modes”.
  4. Same happens if I try to modify any other parameter and then try to write the param to the APM.

What is wrong, do I miss something very basic?
What can I do to further investigate the problem?

PS: Switching to terminal mode and connecting to the APM works, I get the following prompt:

[code]Opened com port

Init ArduPlane V2.74b

Free RAM: 2335
load?Compass initialisation failed!

Press ENTER 3 times to start interactive setup

ArduPlane V2.74b]
ArduPlane V2.74b]
ArduPlane V2.74b]
ArduPlane V2.74b] ?
Commands:
logs
setup
test
reboot
help
ArduPlane V2.74b] [/code]

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For what it is worth, this sounds exactly like the same issue I am having.

I recently purchased an APM 2.5 + as well as a 3DR radio from the 3DRobotics store. With my initial start-up, the USB communicated flawlessly, and the 3DR radio also worked perfectly. I then updated my Mission Planner, and am now not able to calibrate.

So, at this time, I have reinstalled ArduPlane V2/74b with a USB cable. Using COM 4, 115200 baud rate.
After installing the firmware, the USB MavLink appears to be working fine. (See the Flight Data screenshot below)

This is where the story parallels. I then go to enable the compass under the “mandatory hardware” menu, and get this error “Set MAG_ENABLE Failed” [attachment=2]Set MAG_ENABLE Failed.png[/attachment](Image Set MAG_ENABLE Failed)

Which is then shortly followed by this after I click “OK” [attachment=1]Set MAG_ENABLE Failed 2.png[/attachment]

Next, I go to the “Accel/Calib” menu. When I click on the top “Calibrate Accel” button, no dialog box comes up, which is different and not what it did the first few times. Again, the first several times this all worked perfectly prior to updating the MP software. When I try to “Calibrate Level” I get the following error “Failed to Level ac2 2.0.37+ is required.”[attachment=0]Failed to Level ac2 2.0.37+ is required.png[/attachment]

So now I’m wondering if all is really right with the world. I have read the wiki, read posts on troubleshooting the APM setup, and I am puzzled. I have looked at the link status to make sure that’s really working, and I don’t think it is as I’m not downloading any packets (apparently). Seems like there should be a two way conversation happening, and it’s not…see the “Link stats” image below. This and subsequent images will be in the following post (there must be a size limit per post).

Also, the Flight Data screen does not respond to either movement of the APM and the GPS (which does have the steady blue status light “on”) does not give a location even when I’m outside and have waited for 20 minutes or so (the length it has taken me to write this). A screen shot of the Flight Data screen is shown below (Flight Data Screen). The good news is that the “Bad GPS Health” status disappears after about 20 seconds. Still shows a red “No GPS” status, though.

In the next post there is an image showing my current parameters for the SR0 and SR3 settings from the Full Parameter List.

Are these the default parameters? I have tried the “reset” sequence twice, and reloading the ArduPlane V2.74b firmware.

Just for completeness sake, I tried to connect with the 3DR radio using the PM and a fully charged SkyLipo 2200 mAh 3 cell battery. Disconnected the USB connection, since they use the same port. It times out, and then gives me an error stating “No Heartbeat Packets Received” the details of which I will attempt to post below.
The details of which are

So I’ve tried to check things out using the terminal. When it first fires up after connecting, I get a compass error message “load_Compass initialization failed!” Terminal does confirm ArduPlane V2.74b, free RAM 2355.

When I check the status of the compass using test mode on terminal, it returns a “disabled” despite it showing Enabled on the initial setup dialogs - but admittedly after also getting the “Set MAG_ENABLE” errors.

I’ve Googled, wiki’d, read, and I am well and truly stumped. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

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Images to accompany above post

4

@hover,
Since the APM2.6 requires an external compass and you have the APM running by itself, the APM hardware initialization routine will fail because it is not detecting a compass. Once that happens the APM cannot recover. You need to have at least the external compass attached to the APM for the hardware initialization routine to complete successfully.
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer

5

I have the internal compass- APM 2.5. I understand APM 2.6 does not have the internal compass- does this mean my compass is not working?

Also, I realized I forgot to upload the link stats image referred to in my 1st post above. [attachment=0]Links Stats.png[/attachment]

Thanks-

HS

6

I also referred above to the details of the “No Heartbeat Packets” error. Here it is. [attachment=0]No Heartbeat Packets Received_Details.png[/attachment]

7

@HeartSailor,
I have found that some PC and laptop USB ports cannot source enough current for an AMP with all of its accessories and therefore the voltage supplied to the APM falls down to around 4.5 vdc which can cause communication problems.
You might try a powered USB HUB. That is what I use and I have had no communication issues with either of my two APM2.6s or my APM2.5s.
Regards,
TCIII Developer

8

Thanks for all the hints.

I re-attached the compass/GPS and powered the APM through an output port (5V from a power supply), but the strange symptoms don’t go away.

However, I have a new terminal output, which looks even stranger. maybe someone can comment on that:

[code]Init ArduPlane V2.74b

Free RAM: 2335
load_Compass initialisation failed!

Press ENTER 3 times to start interactive setup

3Demo Servos!n++3Warming up ADC…X?3Demo Servos!fyoN++?3Demo Servos!C_,++o?3
Beginning INS calibration; do not move planeNMa++>?3
Initialising APM…*E2"++8Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
++Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
?++GFailed to boot MPU6000 5 times
Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
R++?Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times
PANIC: failed to boot MPU6000 5 times[/code]

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Does anybody know about specific test/diagnostic routines I could run in order to find out whether my hardware is faulty or what I can do to recover the APM?

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I did some addn. tests but it seems to be hopeless.

Although I attached the GPS/Compass, the compass remains disabled and I can do nothing to enable it. Every change is refused by the APM. Resetting doesn’t seem to work properly either, I often get the “Failed to boot MPU6000” messages and that’s it.

No idea what else I could try?

Is there anything to clearly determine whether the compass/GPS module or the APM controller itself is defect? I cannot understand why there should be no way to perform some very basic diagnostics on a standalone APM, without any compass or other device attached.

There seem to be many similarities between this issue and what HeartSailor reports.

11

[quote=“TCIII”]@hover,
Since the APM2.6 requires an external compass and you have the APM running by itself, the APM hardware initialization routine will fail because it is not detecting a compass. Once that happens the APM cannot recover. You need to have at least the external compass attached to the APM for the hardware initialization routine to complete successfully.
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer[/quote]
The compass/GPS is attached, I can see a red LED at the front of the unit. However, whatever I do, I always get a “Compass initialisation failed” message. If I understan you right, this will cause the APM to not complete its hardware init routine.

Is there a way of (re-)setting up the compass in terminal mode or is this a clear indication that the compass is broken?

12

@hover,
You either have a defective compass or possibly the cable from the compass to the APM is defective. The red led on the bottom of the module indicates the module is receiving power.
I am assuming that you are using a 3DR GPS/Compass module. If you are and you just purchased it recently, I would send 3DR an email (help@3DRobotics.com) asking for an RMA number to return a defective product.
Regards,
TCIII Developer

13

I just received a new APM from the vendor, Aeromao. I stll believe that something is wrong with the APM itself. Too many strange errors messages “failed to boot”, etc…

Whatsoever, I can now at least clearly determine which component (controller or GPS/compass) is defective. I will report these findings here to hopfeully conclude this thread soon.

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Subscribed

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@henkvdw,
What is the meaning of “subscribed”? If it means that you have registered as a member fine. You will have to make another additional post to be able to post without approval. Otherwise “subscribed” is meaningless and I will delete this post.
Regards,
TCIII Developer

16

@hover,
Are you sure that your supplier is sending you genuine 3DR APMs? There are outfits in China who are still producing and making clone APMs with 3DR markings.
AFAICT 3DR tests each APM prior to leaving their factory so an APM without the boot loader installed sounds more like some of the clone board issues that I have read about.
Regards,
TCIII Developer

17

Today I received a new APM, thanks to Mauricio’s (Aeromao) excellent after-sales support. The new controller works fine, which means that the original APM was definitively faulty.

18

I am also getting the “Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times” message. Yesterday I began setting up a 2.6 (bought from 3DR directly and using the 3DR external compass/GPS). It has the 2.78 firmware on it. I went into MP and selected external compass, and changed the declination, and that was the only change I made.
I got a message about new firmware, so I uploaded that onto the 2.6. Now it won’t connect to the MP. First it got stuck at RC 8 during the USB Mavlink connect.
Went back to the 2.78b firmware, and it gets stopped at the RC 10 and locks up.

Went into CLI and did an erase and a reset. Now I am getting the same compass initialization failed message that Hover had, and the Failed to boot MPU6000 5 times.
Also, after a second erase and reset cycle, in the CLI under “test”, compass initialization fails.

I don’t understand how it would connect to MP, then after a FW update, the compass is bad now? Red light is on the GPS module, and it blinks blue as if it has a lock.

Any ideas? I really don’t want to have to RMA this thing.

19

Hello TCIII,

I also have a problem to write in the NPP “FCS-H500” firmware 1.2 H500 tali.

I can not write the settings in FCS-500 from MP since:
1 / From Consol / setup, I executed the command “erasse all” then "reboot"
2 / I reinstalled the firmware.

Y there a problem with flash data?
y there a system reset?

thank you in advance.

20

[quote=“hover”]I just received a new APM from the vendor, Aeromao. I stll believe that something is wrong with the APM itself. Too many strange errors messages “failed to boot”, etc…

Whatsoever, I can now at least clearly determine which component (controller or GPS/compass) is defective. I will report these findings here to hopfeully conclude this thread soon.[/quote]

Did you ever resolve this, I have a similar problem?