This here is my second thread on the forum. I’m still working with the same problem as described in this thread: "Inverted Crash During First Autotune Cycle, APM 2.8"http://ardupilot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=14111
But I’m going to take it one step at a time here.
Since the crash I can not get the APM to acknowledge any input on the throttle channel during radio calibration. And being as such I am also unable to arm the system. I have determined that it is not a radio transmitter problem, nor a receiver problem by troubleshooting with other quads/receivers. All other channels respond correctly, and each ESC has been successfully calibrated one by one.
I am wondering if a sudden loss of the throttle channel is what brought the craft down in the original crash. Has anyone else experienced this?
There are numerous threads on throttle responsiveness, often as it pertains to properly setting up ESC’s. But has anyone ever had the APM simply not even acknowledge the throttle channel’s input?
In trying to work through this I have recalibrated the entire APM from scratch twice now, to include the attached GPS. And it has not changed it’s ability to read the throttle channel’s input.
My next attempt was going to be to fully do a factory reset on the APM but I’ve ran into a roadblock there.
I am using a Mac, so with APM 2.0, as opposed to Mission Planner. It is my understanding that this version of APM 2.0 does not support CLI and I am never able to run the commands for a full reset, rather the box that one would normally type the commands into only ever displays illegible characters.
So it’s as if I’m stuck.
Unless someone has a trick to get the APM to recognize the throttle inputs does ANYONE have a proper solution to fully reset this APM 2.8 system to factory using APM 2.0?
Perhaps one method would be to install Mission Planner onto one of my PC’s, and use that temporarily during this reset process.
If that would be workable could someone help me find the proper version of whichever APM 2.0 or Mission Planner that would enable the CLI in order to do the factory reset?
I’ve looked through the download pages and there only ever seems to be the most current versions available. Perhaps someone has the proper one stored somewhere else.
Just to round out the conversation I’ve had with myself on these two threads, and to close them outright…
In the end I just ended up getting a used APM 2.5 Hobby King version from a local guy.
I concluded that somehow there was a fault with that specific 2.8 clone board. Whether it was the cause of the crash in the first place, or whether it was a result of the impact I’ll never know.
I’m happy to report that my 2.5 board is working flawlessly and I’m very much looking forward to fine tuning it! Never again will I attempt an auto tune cycle however.