APM 2.5 Board not working!!!

prateek13 · November 24, 2013, 03:09:16 PM

My APM 2.5 board has stopped working! Now when I connect it to my usb cable it only powers up the yellow Led and there is no output!
Has anyone experienced this problem? Please help!

Rahulvyas · November 24, 2013, 03:32:15 PM

does it connect with the mission planner?

vineet · November 24, 2013, 03:37:42 PM

try updating it from arudino ,not with MP , download older version of apm ie 2.9 or 2.8 first ,hope this helps

prateek13 · November 26, 2013, 02:01:21 PM

I uploaded the tricopter firmware to the board successfully!
But when I try to run the cli it only shows this:

Init ArduCopter V3.0.1

Free RAM: 2165
FW Ver: 120
------------------------------------------

load_all took 1336us

That's all it displays! I cannot enter the cli menu!
Even the ABC Leds are not working.
Any help?

vineet · November 26, 2013, 05:38:12 PM

i do not know how you are doing this , when the same problem came to me , i disconnected gps ,telemtry , then i used Arudino software with old firmware hex file and WOELA' is started working again .

Rahulvyas · November 26, 2013, 09:59:17 PM

the problem with my quad is that is that it drifts to a particular direction during the take off..
even after all the sticks are centered and ESC calibration is performed.

what do you think the cause of the problem is?

aniket210696 · November 26, 2013, 10:40:07 PM

rahul is your board flat? and are your gyro's calibrated? sometimes an error can be because of the silliest things...

atulrajguru9 · November 27, 2013, 10:19:04 AM

Quote from: Rahulvyas on November 26, 2013, 09:59:17 PM
the problem with my quad is that is that it drifts to a particular direction during the take off..
even after all the sticks are centered and ESC calibration is performed.

what do you think the cause of the problem is?

I think you should check the CG

prateek13 · November 27, 2013, 11:16:14 AM

I tried with rduino IDE.... it still doesn't work!
Is it possible if I can send the board to you @ vineet?

Rahulvyas · November 27, 2013, 02:41:24 PM

okay.
Yes the board is flat, gyros are calibrated!
CG i dont know, looks fine though.

spitfire · November 27, 2013, 04:24:18 PM

@prateek13

Are power led and RxTx leds working when you power up board? Are . Try disconnecting all connection from board and then try uploading firmware.
Once I faced such issue with APM2.6 but in my case board was dead.

spitfire · November 27, 2013, 04:25:34 PM

Quote from: Rahulvyas on November 26, 2013, 09:59:17 PM
the problem with my quad is that is that it drifts to a particular direction during the take off..
even after all the sticks are centered and ESC calibration is performed.

what do you think the cause of the problem is?

It is really not a good idea to hack someone else's thread. You should start your won thread unless you are facing similar problem.

Which firmware are using using? Magnetic calibration is very important if you are using AC 2.9 onwards

Rahulvyas · November 27, 2013, 04:38:04 PM

okay, sorry for using your thread. i will start another one.
I am using 3.0.1

prateek13 · November 27, 2013, 05:25:04 PM

My TX RX and Alive leds work, the ABC leds work for a fraction of a second when I power it up!
I really need to debug and diagnose its problems.

spitfire · November 27, 2013, 06:12:41 PM

If your rxtx leds are working then board should be able to connect to mission planner.
Make sure you have latest version of mission planner. Do not press connect button at right top of screen while installing firmware but make sure you select correct com port and baud rate. Try to flash with latest stable firmware and see it if works.

spitfire · November 27, 2013, 06:14:38 PM

Try to post as much details as possible so that I can help more precisely.

prateek13 · December 12, 2013, 06:28:24 PM

The mission planner does not connect to the board!

SideWinder · February 18, 2014, 10:24:59 AM

Prateek did you get the issue sorted?

prateek13 · February 18, 2014, 10:34:41 AM

Nope... The board is still in a non working state. I tried a simple blink program using arduino Ide and it worked but could not get it to work after loading the apm program.
Any arduino enthusiast around here who can help?

girishsarwal · February 18, 2014, 11:03:35 AM

The symptoms indicate a stalled firmware; an illegal or an incompatible instruction... Have you tried using any other version of the Ardu on this board besides the tricopter, ArduPlane or some other

SideWinder · February 18, 2014, 11:05:03 AM

I found something similar to your problem. Its a case of missing/corrupted bootloader. Will point you to a couple of threads

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1815649
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24584242&postcount=2498

SideWinder · February 18, 2014, 11:11:19 AM

@Girish just had a doubt what is the difference between usbavr and usbasp programmer?

http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500054#tc:description
vs
http://www.ebay.in/itm/ATmega-ATtiny-51-AVR-ISP-USBASP-USB-Programmer-Downloader-/181313521252?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item2a3720c664

I am facing a similar problem as Prateek but I can connect to MP, however cannot update firmware on APM.

girishsarwal · February 18, 2014, 11:28:09 AM

QuoteIts a case of missing/corrupted bootloader

Could be a corrupt bootloader... but Prateek programmed the LED Flash and Tricopter fw from Arduino IDE!

@SideWinder, afaik, mkII is AVR's official programmer with JTAG support. USBASP is open hardware design done by fisch. They both use SPI protocol for programming (MISO, MOSI, SCK) but have different firmwares on the programmer's chip

SideWinder · February 18, 2014, 12:59:07 PM

Quote from: girishsarwal on February 18, 2014, 11:28:09 AM
but Prateek programmed the LED Flash and Tricopter fw from Arduino IDE!

While people were facing similar problem as not being able to connect to pc they did not try what Prateek did, however some of these people have recovered there FC's after flashing bootloaders. And I have no idea how all these stuffs work, just came across it so pointed it out. Its worth a shot since the board is lying idle.

Quote from: girishsarwal on February 18, 2014, 11:28:09 AM
@SideWinder, afaik, mkII is AVR's official programmer with JTAG support. USBASP is open hardware design done by fisch. They both use SPI protocol for programming (MISO, MOSI, SCK) but have different firmwares on the programmer's chip

You have any idea if I can make the USBASP compatible with Atmel Studio 6.1, because I tried but it doesnt work.
Or point me to get mk2 or clone programmer locally in India compatible with Atmel Studio.

I have started a new thread to avoid any thread hijacking issues.
http://www.rcindia.org/servos-gyros-and-all-electronics/apm-2-5-firmware-update-issue/

@Prateek one more "mother of all" threads I forgot to mention earlier, if you didnt stumble on it yet

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2053670

Mridul · March 02, 2014, 09:43:12 PM

I am facing same problem with my apm 2.0 it is not connecting with the mission planner when i try connecting with my pc only power supply led goes solid and yelow led ie. B blinks for a second and red led ie.A blinks at a faster rate and rx/tx led's are not blinking at all
can any one help what to do ??
i am in real bad condition