Pixhawk 1 (2.4.8) not calibrating and randomly disconnecting from MavLink leading to red glowing led on pixhawk and constant buzzer tone

ArduCopter Copter 4.3
1

I recently purchased a Pixhawk 1 (chinese clone 2.4.8) and fairly quickly ran in to problems with the setup…

When trying to install the firmware I often had difficulties keeping the Pixhawk connected to my PC, it would constantly disconnect and reconnect. Sometimes I would also get error messages, that my PC couldn’t recognize the USB device and it might be defect. I realized after some time, that letting the Pixhawk stand alone (I would say cool down), would fix the problem for a short time and my computer would suddenly recognize the Pixhawk as COM3 Legacy FMU.

Finally after tons of different tries, cables, and platform types, I managed to get FMV3 on it.
It also establishes a Mavlink connection. This all worked ONLY after I disconnected everything from the Pixhawk and connected it only via usb. It then was also recognized as COM4 ArduPilot

As soon as I wanted to connect the GPS, buzzer, button and receiver it would suddenly disconnect from mission planner at random or when I was trying to do a calibration. It then was also not recognizable in the device manager and the Pixhawks main LED was constant red with the buzzer staying at one tone constantly. My pixhawk would also get warm after being plugged in for just a few minutes. Thus me waiting a few minutes for it to start working properly again.

Is something fried or is something messed up software wise. I can’t imagine the setup of a Pixhawk to be this difficult normally. Could the bootloader maybe have a problem? I’m also not able to update the bootloader without it disconnecting from my PC…

2

Sounds like it’s toast to me regardless of the other problems you are having. You could replace it with a better, or at least known, quality of Flight Controller.

3

Hey Dave thank you for your response.
I hope it’s not fried though… Doesn’t the IMU warm itself to have more accurate readings? That would possibly explain the warmth.
Do you know of a cheap Pixhawk version or alternative which would arrive in under 2 weeks time in Europe?
I’m taking part in a Engineering contest in a month and am desperat to have something working by then…
Any ideas or help would be much appreciated.

*Im from Switzerland

4

No, those units don’t. Much higher end FC’s do (Cubes, others).

Pixhawk version no, those are the cheapest. Better options if available to you would be boards from Matek or Holybro. I’m partial to the Matek H743 boards, they come in 3 form factors. A H743-Wing board will fit if a Pixhawk does.

5

Thank you very much for your help! That sounds like a great alternative.