Running Windows 11 on a laptop. Followed wiki procedure to install firmware on board without ArduPilot software. Board is a Matek F405 TE. Downloaded Stable 4.5.1 Matek F405 TE arducopter_with_bl.hex .Flashing seemed to go OK. No issues, no error messages, got a message that said something (didn’t write it down and don’t remember) but as I recall it was a success message told me to reboot the board and connect to a Mission Planner. I unplug USB cable, wait a few seconds, plug cable back in to same spot and get nothing. Windows does not give me a tone indicating a connection, I check Device Manager, there are no Com ports showing and no device. I’ve disable Windows Firewall, tried different cables, plugged into different USB spots on the computer, nothing works. I’m no computer expert so I need simple suggestions. Thanks.
Reinstall Mission Planner and make sure to confirm the various driver install prompts.
Tried your suggestion. No difference. It’s like Windows doesn’t recognize there is a device there. Normally when you plug a USB device into a Windows computer, you get a tone and a popup asking what you want to do with the device. I get none of that. It’s like I didn’t plug anything in.
I tried flashing the board again. Using STM32CubeProgrammer, I can hold down the DFU button on the board and plug into the computer. CubeProgrammer sees the board and connects to it. I flashed the firmware again and got a successfull download message. I unplug the USB cable, plug it back in and the board is gone. When I look under Device Manager, if I’m connected in DFU mode it shows STM32 Bootloader under Universal Serial Bus Devices. I unplug, then plug back in, it disappears.
Just checked what driver is used for my similar Matek board, and it’s libwdi. Must have had the same issue at some point and installed libwdi via Zadig. Try plugging it in, then running Zadig and changing the driver to WinUSB.
As I stated earlier, I’m not a computer guy. I used Zadig, even read the users guide. My Matek board doesn’t appear in the drop down box, even when I select show all devices. I’m probably not doing something right, bug dang if I can figure out how to make it work.
Huh, that’s peculiar. I don’t pretend I really know how to proceed, but I would try an earlier firmware image just to start ruling out stuff. Also if you have access to another computer try connecting it there.
As you have stated that:
a) [DFU driver is OK] STM32CubeProgrammer can find the board, and downloaded arducopter_with_bl.hex with sucess.
b) [USB seiral dirver ???] This is dirver should work poperly, then MP can find the serial port.
ToDO:
a) Check if the firmware is correct
b) Check if a seiral port popup
It should be something to do with the usb serial driver, check Zadig and related driver document, here is a link FYI: Connect Mission Planner to AutoPilot — Copter documentation.
Give it some time to boot up. It’s a slow processor, and the device will probably not show up instantaneously.
It should show up as COMxx when ready.
I spent the rest of yesterday, and all day today trying different iterations. Still no answer. I rolled back to Stable 4.4.4. I loaded all four drivers available in Zadig. I went to my house computer running Windows 10. Same result every time. When in DFU mode, my computer “sees” the board, loads firmware, and drivers. As soon as I unplug the USB cable, then plug it back in, the board disappears. The closest I’ve come is lida2003’s suggestion. I load USB Serial (CDC) driver from Zadig and lo and behold, I get a COM port. The only problem is, it has a Code 45 which is probably a driver issue. Also, when I unplug then plug back in, the computer doesn’t see the board, as usual. I’m pretty sure this is a driver issue, but I don’t know how to resolve it.
Matek is offering this: https://www.mateksys.com/downloads/fc/STM32-VirtualCOM-Dvr-64bit.exe, maybe give it a shot.
Oli, I thank you and others for your input, but I admit defeat. I ran the .exe you sent me. It apparently installs the driver on my computer? It doesn’t do anything when I plug the board in. I don’t know how to get the driver on my board, or what else to do with it. Right now, it looks like I have an expensive desk model of a quadcopter.
Contact Matek. This is an unacceptable outcome and should be easily avoided. But it seems you’ve tried every route to success with no result.
OK. I now need computer help. Matek documentation tells me to run the driver exe that Oli sent me, then the virtual COM port should appear in device driver. It does not. I tried both their methods, board attached in DFU mode, board not attached.
That’s a good news. It seems MCU and usb D+/D-/VCC/GND is OK.
Hmm… I googled as below:
Code 45 “Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer... (Code 45)”
This error occurs if a device that was previously connected to the computer is no longer connected.
To resolve this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer.
Let’s re-think the issue and questions as belows:
a) Do you have other STM32 F405 FC, which works good? Just try to verify the driver issue.
b) Try other PCs with this “Stable 4.5.1 Matek F405 TE arducopter_with_bl.hex”
c) Did you see any unstable cases with this cable?
As STM32CubeProgrammer will validate flashed firmware after sucessfully flashing the target. So I think the cable should be good enough. If you do have problem with this cable, then replace a good one.
d) Are you 100% sure about flashed Stable 4.5.1 Matek F405 TE arducopter_with_bl.hex sucessfully, try again, make sure?
As you have stated:“No issues, no error messages, got a message that said something (didn’t write it down and don’t remember) but as I recall it was a success message told me to reboot”
e) Try other FC firmware, such as betaflight, maybe there is a surprise. Boot in DFU mode and flash
I’ve been doing a lot of reading. Turns out this is a fairly common problem. It’s a Windows issue. I’ve seen lots of posts with no solution. Lots of post with simple answers (cable plugged into wrong spot, etc). Solutions with complicated, in the weeds stuff that I can’t even begin to understand. Unless someone has a fairly simple solution, looks like I’m done.
Again, contact Matek. They should support their products.
I don’t think your issue is impossible to resolve, and I also don’t think the solution will be that complicated. It’s just annyoing to get there 
Daniel’s points are good, I’d suggest you work through them. And shooting Matek a quick email as proposed by Yuri is a good idea as well, maybe they’re aware of the problem and know an easy fix.
I would further suggest that you connect the FC to an USB port that’s not on the same controller as the ones you’ve tried so far, if possible. I.e. if it’s a desktop PC and you’ve had it plugged into the front ports, try the ports on the backside instead. Or if you’ve had it in the blue USB 3 ports, try a regular USB 2 port (or vice versa).
I need some computer help. Running Windows 11. Matek and several posts I’ve found mention typing commands in CLI. To me, CLI means command line interface, in other words Terminal in Windows Powershell. I know how to get there, but then what? Obviously Windows doesn’t understand the commands.
What commands exactly?