Hoverfly Using older firmware

[SeismicCWave]

Hello,

I have a couple of HoverFly Pro flight controllers. I don't like the latest Firmware version 4.8. As soon as I changed over I crashed. I am not blaming the firmware but I like to go back to the old reliable. However my setup client is V4.8 and not compatible with the older firmware. I looked on the HoverFly Tech website and it is telling me I cannot download the older version of setup client.

What else can I do?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Bartman]

what kind of crash did you have?

 

[SeismicCWave]

Tumbling down from 100 feet. Front right motor dropped out. I managed to retrieve the machine. Didn't even break a prop. I put it on the bench and everything worked just fine. I didn't want to take a chance and clipped off all the 4mm bullet connectors. I soldered the wires between the motor and the ESC. I have been testing it for 4 flights since. It will not get rotated back into service until I have at least 10 solid flights on it.

 

[workshop]

Sorry to hear about your crash. So you're blaming the bullet connectors?

I always use a solid handmade harness so that the only connector in the whole system is the battery connector. As a general rule, connectors in any critical high current system are weak points. I am glad to hear that the board checks out ok and that you're back in the air.

Jeff

 

[SeismicCWave]

>>So you're blaming the bullet connectors?<<

I am not blaming the bullet connectors. However the only think I can visually see in the post crash investigation is some discoloration in the connectors. I fly in a fairly harsh environment around salt water and high humidity. My initial check on the phases of the motor connectors had some slightly elevated resistance readings for the right front motor. Subsequent tests showed the resistance are all normal.

>>I always use a solid handmade harness so that the only connector in the whole system is the battery connector.<<

I have 26 multi rotors with different flight controllers, speed controllers and motors. It is not exactly very practical to hardwire everything together. Unfortunately not all flight controllers spin all the motors the same direction. So hard wiring the motors to the speed controllers can be an issue.

>>As a general rule, connectors in any critical high current system are weak points.<<

I do know where the weak points in my system and I do check my connectors religiously.

>>I am glad to hear that the board checks out ok and that you're back in the air.<<

That's the reason for my post. I want to dial back the clock and try to use the old firmware again to see if that makes a difference. I have learned from flying HoverFly for many years that sometimes when they come out with new firmware the new firmware are worse than the old ones.

In the meantime I bought the board from you and the gyros are drifting all over the place within a flight. I can be having a perfect hover and the next thing I know is that I am holding full back stick to try and hover. So I also want to check and see if I can mitigate that issue by switching back the firmware.

 

[kloner]

I have a hoverfly firmware update client downloaded 10-2012 says v 1.0.0.29 , want it?

 

[workshop]

100% hand soldered wiring harnesses are a PITA to make buy the reliability is unquestionable. I confirm direction with alligator clips just before I solder an ESC to a motor.

Perhaps a re-calibration (temp and acc) might firm up the symptom you are seeing.

Jeff

 

[Bartman]

100% hand soldered wiring harnesses are a PITA to make buy the reliability is unquestionable. I confirm direction with alligator clips just before I solder an ESC to a motor.

Perhaps a re-calibration (temp and acc) might firm up the symptom you are seeing.

Jeff

I have to agree as I'm also doing my builds using soldered harnesses although I have given in to bullet connectors for the three ESC to motor connections.


Drifting gyros isn't a new problem. A fix has been to reflash the firmware and be sure to power down the board completely before doing the calibrations. Completely remove power from the board after each calibration process is complete and do the temp calibration so that the green progress bar moves slowly from start to finish. Only add enough heat to the area around the board so the ambient air can't cool the board. Don't add so much heat from a hair dryer or whatever so that you're adding more heat to the board other than the heat it's making itself.

If after doing all of this the board still loses stability during the flight then submit a ticket to Hoverfly.

Bart

 

[hoverben]

Hello,

I have a couple of HoverFly Pro flight controllers. I don't like the latest Firmware version 4.8. As soon as I changed over I crashed. I am not blaming the firmware but I like to go back to the old reliable. However my setup client is V4.8 and not compatible with the older firmware. I looked on the HoverFly Tech website and it is telling me I cannot download the older version of setup client.

First, to address the issue of the crash: what version did you upgrade from? If it was a 4.6 rev, then you're not going to be able to go back. The whole 4.6 series has been pulled due to a serious bug that was present in the firmware. This would also explain the odd behavior, since going from 4.6 to 4.8 changes the way gains are calculated - you would need to retest the system to determine the new gain values.

Second, if you still want to try going back to 4.3, the solution is to uninstall the Setup Client and then install the "older version" which is available on the website and labelled "for HoverflySPORT and older HoverflyPRO versions." The "current" version is only compatible with version 4.8 firmware, and for some reason the two versions conflict with one another when installed on the same computer. (I have addressed this with the software developer but the conflict is apparently not resolvable.)

 

[SeismicCWave]

I have a hoverfly firmware update client downloaded 10-2012 says v 1.0.0.29 , want it?

Thank you for your offer. I believe the firmware update client can be pretty much any version. I am looking for a setup client software that is compatible with the older controller firmware.

 

[SeismicCWave]

>>100% hand soldered wiring harnesses are a PITA to make buy the reliability is unquestionable. I confirm direction with alligator clips just before I solder an ESC to a motor.<<

I am more than willing to go with the process once I know I have a reliable controller.

>>Perhaps a re-calibration (temp and acc) might firm up the symptom you are seeing.<<

That was the first thought I had and I did the calibration 3 times. I even went as far as taking the controller board off the machine and holding it steady on a jig to eliminate any movement while calibrating the acc.

 

[SeismicCWave]

>>I have to agree as I'm also doing my builds using soldered harnesses although I have given in to bullet connectors for the three ESC to motor connections.<<

I do agree about the bullet connectors. That is the reason why I hard wire the speed controllers to the motors on the machine that I have my original pro board.

>>Drifting gyros isn't a new problem.<<

That is the kind of information I was hoping for. Not that I am looking for issues but if there is a drifting issue I can find ways to deal with it instead of banging my head against the wall.

>> A fix has been to reflash the firmware and be sure to power down the board completely before doing the calibrations. Completely remove power from the board after each calibration process is complete and do the temp calibration so that the green progress bar moves slowly from start to finish. Only add enough heat to the area around the board so the ambient air can't cool the board. Don't add so much heat from a hair dryer or whatever so that you're adding more heat to the board other than the heat it's making itself.<<

Thanks and I will do more calibration with varying heat.

>>If after doing all of this the board still loses stability during the flight then submit a ticket to Hoverfly.<<

Since I bought the board used from Jeff I am not sure Hoverfly tech will do anything about it. Besides they are not the best in customer support in board issue. They won't even look at my original board when I had an issue a while back. I am really a fool for keep on using Hoverfly boards when everything is against using one.

 

[SeismicCWave]

>>First, to address the issue of the crash: what version did you upgrade from? If it was a 4.6 rev, then you're not going to be able to go back. The whole 4.6 series has been pulled due to a serious bug that was present in the firmware. This would also explain the odd behavior, since going from 4.6 to 4.8 changes the way gains are calculated - you would need to retest the system to determine the new gain values.<<

Sorry but I cannot remember what version number that was. I just walked through the entire firmware update process on the computer by clicking what was available. It was the version right before 4.8 so it was very likely to be version 4.6. I have flown 4.6 for many flights and it was one of the more reliable version I have used. I remember there was one version before that where my quad will go into a random 180 degree yaw in flight but that was at least two versions back.

>>Second, if you still want to try going back to 4.3, the solution is to uninstall the Setup Client and then install the "older version" which is available on the website and labelled "for HoverflySPORT and older HoverflyPRO versions." The "current" version is only compatible with version 4.8 firmware, and for some reason the two versions conflict with one another when installed on the same computer. (I have addressed this with the software developer but the conflict is apparently not resolvable.)<<

I tried to download older version from your website but encountered an error while downloading.

 

[Bartman]

I am really a fool for keep on using Hoverfly boards when everything is against using one.

Hoverfly continues to be the best flying board available with the quickest and easiest set-up. Like any other board, the steps that are taken to get the board ready must be done correctly. Another possible snag that will prevent proper set-up is to click Connect or other steps before giving the board enough time to flash the purple LED. before each click make sure the board isn't cycling through a process and make sure the LED is flashing purple unless you're told otherwise in the directions.

Clicking Connect before you have a purple flashing LED will almost certainly result in a bad calibration and poor flying qualities.

 

[SeismicCWave]

>>Hoverfly continues to be the best flying board available with the quickest and easiest set-up.<<

I do like the way it flies when the board is working right. That is the reason why my original board is my default bread and butter board.

>> Like any other board, the steps that are taken to get the board ready must be done correctly. Another possible snag that will prevent proper set-up is to click Connect or other steps before giving the board enough time to flash the purple LED. before each click make sure the board isn't cycling through a process and make sure the LED is flashing purple unless you're told otherwise in the directions.

Clicking Connect before you have a purple flashing LED will almost certainly result in a bad calibration and poor flying qualities.<<

Yes I have done enough flashing and beeping to know the process.