Drone will not initialize

[jeffbrown1475]

My H plus responds to one push of the power button with the fan running and a glow from an internal led (blue). No other led's are working and I can only turn it off by pulling out the battery.
It was working fine until I connected it to my desktop and was attempting to tryout qgroundcontrol. I noticed that when the usb cable was plugged in, the drone fan started.
When I disconnected the usb cable, the fan kept running and the power button would not turn it off. I pulled the battery to stop it. After screwing with qgroundcontrol for a couple of days
without being able to connect I gave up on that endeavor. That's when I discovered It wouldn't initialize. Anyone know of a solution short of sending it to Kuneec?

 

[WTFDproject]

First, please confirm the fan you mention is the one on the real sense module.
Also, you only mention ONE internal blue LED. There should be six blue LEDs (solid), one flashing orange, a green glow showing from an LED on the underside of the board, and the white on/off button. Have you pulled the top shell to get a good look at the LEDs? Especially if the blue LED you see is NOT one of the normal six.
Sorry about the picture quality, but this is what you should see. The "green glow" will be visible just in front of the orange light , or through the battery opening.


I am not very familiar with QGroundcontrol. But I do use it once in a while to extract data files. The first time I used it, I had a similar experience. My H plus did not like being connected to the USB when the flight battery was installed. I don't know why. Others have mentioned it works either way for them. And mine works either way now, but it would not do so at first. It would not connect to QGroundcontrol, and it gave me the same problem of having to pull the battery to shut it down. For me, the issue was resolved by removing the camera and battery, plugging in the USB, then starting QGroundcontrol. It then connected to QGroundcontrol, and has worked every time since. I don't remember if I had to close QGroundcontrol first, but when the USB was unplugged, the drone shut off, and the next restart via the flight battery was normal.

The USB cable has to be a "DATA Capable" USB, of course. Normal "charging only" USB cables will not work. The short one that came with the HPlus is the correct type.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

Yes the fan is the rs module and there are in fact at least 5 blue, the green glow and the white on/off led's. In addition I have a flashing green led, but could see no orange. I will be pulling the top shell to get a better look. I tried to make the qgroundcontrol connection again using the procedure you suggested. The only result was a steady green led high within the battery compartment and no fan. I've looked at files on my st16s with the usb cable i'm using. I appreciate your suggestions and help.
I forgot to mention that my camera is still working but the gimbal doesn't respond to inputs from the st16s. It does align the camera straight ahead and keeps it there. The camera led turns green after several seconds of red when the drone is powered up (as much as it does).

 

[WTFDproject]

I have a flashing green led, but could see no orange.
I tried to make the qgroundcontrol connection again using the procedure you suggested. The only result was a steady green led high within the battery compartment and no fan.
I forgot to mention that my camera is still working but the gimbal doesn't respond to inputs from the st16s. It does align the camera straight ahead and keeps it there. The camera led turns green after several seconds of red when the drone is powered up (as much as it does).

"I have a flashing green led, but could see no orange."
The flashing green might be interesting. Unless it's on the RF module at the rear. In at least one earlier model, Yuneec semi-randomly used different colored LEDs on the RF module.

"I forgot to mention that my camera is still working but the gimbal doesn't respond to inputs from the st16s. It does align the camera straight ahead and keeps it there. The camera led turns green after several seconds of red when the drone is powered up (as much as it does)."
All that is as expected for the circumstances.

"I tried to make the qgroundcontrol connection again using the procedure you suggested. The only result was a steady green led high within the battery compartment and no fan."
The steady green high in the battery compartment and no fan is exactly what I get. The next time you try to run QGroundControl, please do a quick check to see if you have any connection at all. Again remove camera and battery, plug in the USB, then start QGroundControl. When the screen comes up;
1.) Select the Search Icon near the upper left corner.
2.) Select the "Refresh" button near the upper right corner.
3.) See if the search page populates with a bunch of data files.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

"I have a flashing green led, but could see no orange."
The flashing green might be interesting. Unless it's on the RF module at the rear. In at least one earlier model, Yuneec semi-randomly used different colored LEDs on the RF module.

"I forgot to mention that my camera is still working but the gimbal doesn't respond to inputs from the st16s. It does align the camera straight ahead and keeps it there. The camera led turns green after several seconds of red when the drone is powered up (as much as it does)."
All that is as expected for the circumstances.

"I tried to make the qgroundcontrol connection again using the procedure you suggested. The only result was a steady green led high within the battery compartment and no fan."
The steady green high in the battery compartment and no fan is exactly what I get. The next time you try to run QGroundControl, please do a quick check to see if you have any connection at all. Again remove camera and battery, plug in the USB, then start QGroundControl. When the screen comes up;
1.) Select the Search Icon near the upper left corner.
2.) Select the "Refresh" button near the upper right corner.
3.) See if the search page populates with a bunch of data files.
View attachment 22900

Tried it again under the circumstances you described and got the "you have to be connected" response. Every time I connect the usb a message appears "usb not recognised". I have tried to get the drivers to work to no avail.

 

[WTFDproject]

That's worrisome. @DoomMeister or one of the other tech savvy guys might be able to help with that. I had hoped it would show us something about the degree of life still in the drone mainboard.
I am wondering if the drone firmware got deleted. There is a way to restore it, but going "Bull in a China shop" right now is not advisable. @Steve Carr might be on a later this evening. He may be able to recognize symptoms and make a better comment on whether or not the symptoms are related to damaged drone firmware.

 

[WTFDproject]

Every time I connect the usb a message appears "usb not recognised".

Do you get that message even when the drone is not connected?

 

[jeffbrown1475]

Do you get that message even when the drone is not connected?

No...only when the drone is connected.

 

[Steve Carr]

Are you connecting to a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0?
My first thought is to reinstall the autopilot, but if the aircraft won't start then this may not be possible. Still, it might be worth a shot.
Copy the autopilot file to a blank sd card, install in the camera and power it on. Wait several minutes to see if it will install.
Power it off, remove the card and look at the file name on your computer. See if the file name changed.

Use this link to download the autopilot.yuneec and versioninfo.json. Copy those two files to the sd card.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[johnnyb57]

Do you get that message even when the drone is not connected?

Somewhat like my problem you helped me resolve, no ? Also whats this Q control you, and him refer to ?

 

[jeffbrown1475]

Are you connecting to a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0?
My first thought is to reinstall the autopilot, but it the aircraft won't start then this may not be possible. Still, it might be worth a shot.
Copy the autopilot file to a blank sd card, install in the camera and power it on. Wait several minutes to see if it will install.
Power it off, remove the card and look at the file name on your computer. See if the file name changed.

Use this link to download the autopilot.yuneec and versioninfo.json. Copy those two files to the sd card.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Steve,
Thanks for responding...I've tried usb2 and usb3 to no avail. Are you suggesting the Autopilot file as a fix for the loss of control to the camera gimbal from the st16s? The drone doesn't initialize with or without the camera attached so i'm thinking that my initialization problem is not camera related. I'm wondering if my main problem (no initialization) is being caused by hardware (fuse?) or software (corruption?). I'm going to examine the main board today and look for a fuse (and software corruption..LOL). A surface mount fuse is a possibility.

 

[WTFDproject]

The loss of gimbal manual control is due to failure of the drone to initialize. The camera and its gimbal are built as one unit for convenience, but they are two different things, with two unrelated control systems. To increase the confusion, the gimbal control itself is also divided into two parts. The automatic part of the gimbal control is internal to the camera/gimbal assembly. Manual gimbal control comes through the drone, after initialization. The firmware (software) Steve suggested is part of the drone initialization. Once you resolve the drone initialization, the camera will be fine.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

Steve,
Thanks for responding...I've tried usb2 and usb3 to no avail. Are you suggesting the Autopilot file as a fix for the loss of control to the camera gimbal from the st16s? The drone doesn't initialize with or without the camera attached so i'm thinking that my initialization problem is not camera related. I'm wondering if my main problem (no initialization) is being caused by hardware (fuse?) or software (corruption?). I'm going to examine the main board today and look for a fuse (and software corruption..LOL). A surface mount fuse is a possibility.

It appears I took the top shell off prematurely. I loaded the 2 files into the camera and turned it on and the fan came on with assorted led's on the mainboard. I had waited for a minute or so and decided to count the led's on the mainboard. I was trying to see where the blinking green led was coming from when all h*** broke lose. IM BACK!!! Light's everywhere! It feels like Christmas! Thanks guys for your assistance. Jeff
BTW...should I still look to see if the file name changed? Doesn't seem to make any difference now.

 

[Steve Carr]

Are you suggesting the Autopilot file as a fix

The autopilot is the firmware in the Flight Controller. Unfortunately, the only method we have of loading the firmware to the FC is through the camera. So, at this point, it is the best and easiest approach.

When dealing with this issue in the past I tried multiple methods of getting the the FC to boot by various length of presses on the start button. Eventually, it always seemed to start working on it's own.

The battery should be removed before using QGroundControl.

 

[Steve Carr]

should I still look to see if the file name changed?

It would be good to know if the file name now reads "updated". If so, that means the file was installed.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

It would be good to know if the file name now reads "updated". If so, that means the file was installed.

I already looked...curiosity got the better of me. It reads updated and I have it back together and everything seems fine. Thanks again.

 

[WTFDproject]

One last thing needs to be checked. Since you only refreshed the Autopilot, we need to ensure all of your system is on the same firmware build. The screenshot below is from a system fully updated to Build 822. Please verify the revision numbers and file dates on your firmware page, and ensure the items marked in red on the picture match yours. If not, you can upload a screenshot of your page and we can help determine IF you need to update anything else. Most version conflicts don't cause much issue, but at least one combination does. It can cause intermittent loss of control signal while in flight.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

One last thing needs to be checked. Since you only refreshed the Autopilot, we need to ensure all of your system is on the same firmware build. The screenshot below is from a system fully updated to Build 822. Please verify the revision numbers and file dates on your firmware page, and ensure the items marked in red on the picture match yours. If not, you can upload a screenshot of your page and we can help determine IF you need to update anything else. Most version conflicts don't cause much issue, but at least one combination does. It can cause intermittent loss of control signal while in flight.
View attachment 22914

All are the same as your screenshot except the rem.cont. app: APP_1.1.02_20181122

 

[WTFDproject]

Sounds as if you may have already had a mismatch. Your controller is on Build 784. Your camera and drone are on Build 822. The file you just loaded would have upgraded only the drone to Build 822, which causes me to think the camera (and probably the drone) were already on Build 822. The only performance problems linked to Build 822 were related to the camera, and the camera is already on 822.
Upgrading the controller to build 822 will block access to the controllers "secret menu", but there is nothing of value in that menu that is not still available elsewhere in the controller.
You can use Attachment 29 (SD Card Upgrade/Downgrade H Plus Firmware) of "Way To Fix Drones project" to bring the controller version up to match the drone. That way there is no question about any mismatch conditions.

As a side note, your controller Version 784 is a bit of a mystery in regards to the intermittent loss of control. The issue is the drone, at Build 822 has it, and creates the intermittent loss of control when the controller does not. When Yuneec issued Build 777, it listed the "Redundant Control" as a new feature. But when Build 784 was released, Redundant Control was NOT mentioned. It was "announced" again when Build 822 was released. That leaves a question of whether or not you have a potential "intermittent loss of signal". You have a mix of 822 and 784. If 784 has redundant control, you are fine. But I don't know if it has it or not.

 

[jeffbrown1475]

Sounds as if you may have already had a mismatch. Your controller is on Build 784. Your camera and drone are on Build 822. The file you just loaded would have upgraded only the drone to Build 822, which causes me to think the camera (and probably the drone) were already on Build 822. The only performance problems linked to Build 822 were related to the camera, and the camera is already on 822.
Upgrading the controller to build 822 will block access to the controllers "secret menu", but there is nothing of value in that menu that is not still available elsewhere in the controller.
You can use Attachment 29 (SD Card Upgrade/Downgrade H Plus Firmware) of "Way To Fix Drones project" to bring the controller version up to match the drone. That way there is no question about any mismatch conditions.

As a side note, your controller Version 784 is a bit of a mystery in regards to the intermittent loss of control. The issue is the drone, at Build 822 has it, and creates the intermittent loss of control when the controller does not. When Yuneec issued Build 777, it listed the "Redundant Control" as a new feature. But when Build 784 was released, Redundant Control was NOT mentioned. It was "announced" again when Build 822 was released. That leaves a question of whether or not you have a potential "intermittent loss of signal". You have a mix of 822 and 784. If 784 has redundant control, you are fine. But I don't know if it has it or not.

How do I access he "secret menu"? I have to know what I'm giving up.