New FC: RadioLink Mini Pix

lol… and drats… I was preferring the F411 due to the smaller form factor… didn’t realise it was iNAV/BF though… Thanks!

Hi everybody

The power module it was burned.

Can i use a normal power module from Pixhawk/APM ??

Thanks
Fendrich

Answer to myself

Yes.

Making a connector respecting the pinout of the minipix and the APM

APM Power Module
https://gr33nonline.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/apm-3dr-power-module-pinout1.jpg?w=660

Minipix Power Module
https://ardupilot.org/copter/_images/minipix_periphs.jpg

Hi, I loaded the firmware from the official website

http://www.radiolink.com.cn/firmware/Plane/stable/del_mtd/

But now the PC does not detect the mini pix when I connect it, neither does the bell ring or turn on the status light. try to load the other firmware

http://www.radiolink.com.cn/firmware/Plane/stable/

the board turns on, with the status light and the doorbell rings, but it doesn’t save the information when the board restarts, what can I do?

Contact RadioLink and explain to them that working with the Open Source
community (us) may lead to better customer satisfaction outcomes, and thus
repeat sales and word-of-mouth advertising.

We can’t help you with the firmare they are offering on their servers;
to my knowledge they have not released the source code for it, and they
are certainly running custom patches.

Just to be clear here, 'though - does your MiniPix have a “II” in grey
next to the “V1.0”?

In release II of the MiniPix they appear to have removed the RAMTRON
chip (its expensive), and probably storing parameters in flash.

Yes, my mini pix has (V1.0 II), I’ve been talking to you by mail, but it takes a long time to respond

Could someone send a link with the modified firmware they compiled, for the mini pix V1.0 II, in the arduplane version?

I don’t think there is one.

I encountered a similar issue with my Mini Pix not being recognized or responding, and I thought I might have bricked it. Here’s what I did:

  1. Open up Device Manager, and open up Ports.
  2. Plug in the MiniPix and make note of the USB driver.
  3. The MiniPix will appear in Ports briefly before disappearing. RadioLink’s version of MissionPlanner installs “minipix” driver. If this shows up, quickly right click and remove/uninstall driver. If it disappears, unplug/plug it in and select&delete the driver before it disconnects.
  4. Download and install QualityGroundControl.
  5. Plug MiniPix back in. Check Device Manager to confirm that PX4 BL FMU (COM#) appears briefly. (Windows 10 installed this automatically for me)
  6. Open up QualityGroundControl, and select Vehicle Setup / Firmware.
  7. Unplug MiniPix, and plug it back in. QGC will now keep the bootloader active! It should show that it is connected to the bootloader.
  8. Open up RadioLink’s version of MissionPlanner (Other versions will NOT work) Flash firmware, and it should flash this time around.

Just a sequence that I stumbled through which might help if you get stuck.

Could you upload the modified firmware again?

Hello Renato I had the same problem and after using a new shorter usb cable my problem was solft I hoop yours to.

I’ve been using the Turbopix from Radio Link. Same as mini Pix but in an alum case.

I’ve had numerous issues with the firmware just being lost from the board. Ver3.5.3
Radiolink have updated to 3.5.8 but they are unable to tell me if this will prevent a firmware loss.

Needless to say this problem has been very costly to my business.

Has anyone got any info why firmware would be lost from a board such that it has to be reflashed?
Thx
Gary

I don’t have any Radiolink hardware but some history as I understand it with Arducopter (I know you are using RadioLink specific firmware not official Arducopter). There is official Arducopter firmware for the origanal minipixes, then Radiolink at some point removed the Fram chip from the boards (cost cutting I suppose) which broke the AC firmware as it was configured. But if you follow this thread you will find version compiled by @vierfuffzig that will work with those boards.

So, why don’t you try it if Radiolink support is so poor that they can’t give you an answer? Assuming you have one of these newer boards that is.

Nice fishing Drones BTW!!

I¢ve been using the Turbopix from Radio Link. Same as mini Pix but in an alum case.

Sorry, that’s not the case. The TurboPix is a significantly different
piece of hardware.

ArduPilot doesn’t have support for the TurboPix ATM.

I¢ve had numerous issues with the firmware just being lost from the board. Ver3.5.3
Radiolink have updated to 3.5.8 but they are unable to tell me if this will prevent a firmware loss.

Sorry, we really can’t help you with that. We could speculate, but here’s
many ways this could happen. The reason we can’t help you with that is
that RadioLink are violating the license under which we distribute
ArduPilot - with the consequence that we don’t have access to the source
code to see what they’ve… changed.

Also, 3.5.8 is ancient history. That’s not even our old stable release
at this point :slight_smile:

Needless to say this problem has been very costly to my business.

Trying to word this nicely… but you might spend a little more and get
some nice hardware - plenty of our partners make excellent gear and offer
awesome support.

Gary

Yours,

Hi Gary, it’s just worth a try if you haven’t done so already. Update your firmware to the latest open-source firmware from Radiolink find here https://radiolink.com/newsinfo/397274.html?templateId=114801 by using Radiolink Mission Planner. I didn’t have the same issue so can’t say it will work or not! I’m running the Radiolink Mini Pix v1.0ii and it runs prefect on the open-source v4.0.3, I have also installed Mission Planner 1.3.72 just to get the latest settings. you can find the latest Mission Planner here https://firmware.ardupilot.org/Tools/MissionPlanner/ but don’t use it to upgrade the firmware. Hope that this can help you!

Unfortunately latest open-source version will soft-brick mini-pix controller without fram chip installed! it needs to be patched first! patch provided earlier in this thread.

What do you mean by soft-brick? I have just flashed my mini pix with the latest firmware from radiolink with no errors and modifications.

good time of a day
i am talking about genuine open source ardupilot firmware originated from ardupilot.org that needs to accomodate latest hardware revisions or at least there must be warning about the problem somewhere
(and by the way i don’t think that this discuss it correct place for any other piece of software)

Thank for the info. Was not my intention to discuss other software, was just trying to help the guy with his problem… :sweat_smile:

Hi.
We moved to Holybro, Pixhawk 4. Sure better quality and at more than double the price.

I do have a small issue still.
Here is a log
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TGZERXCdkzMaGyKQYBSn5iVDKw0YDoov/view?usp=sharing

Drone leans left on first forward flight, but then seems to self learn and correct it self.

But problem comes back after each reboot.

My FC might be about 3 degree left if that could be problem.
Thanks

Gary