ArduSub Updating Firmware through browser - no internet

Ive setup this system for a friend who owns this ROV.

Last time he was here another guy had worked on it and they had made the SD card etc.

What I did was reinstall Qgroundcontrol and updated ArduSub - we got it to work as far as being able to use the control with success.

He took the system home and have been tinkering with it after it all of a sudden lost power.
Cant this interrupt some files or provoke file errors of some sort?

It was in this order :
1 - While he was sliding up an down with the motors in qgroundcontrol center it lost power
2 - He charged the batteri again and when he started it all up there was no connection
3- So he went into Firmware - choose Ardusub and opened Advanced settings right under and chose “Beta” and then “Ok”
4 - It updated succesfully but still no connection.

Then he came with it to me and I did the following :
1 - Reinstalled Qgroundcontrol center
2 - Opened the Ardusub companion through the browser and got it connected to Wifi
3 - But I cant get it to connect to the internet and so I cant get the ArduSub firmware file.

Where we are stuck is that we need to put Ardusub into Qgroundcontrol

The connection are as following :
Pixhawk connection to surface pc with usb
Rasberripie (Companion) connected to surface pc with a ethernet cabel

I hope you are able to see the problem and I guess I could fix it if I just had the Firmware file for the new ardusub.

Thx in advance!

Jimmi & Mikael

Hello Jimmi,

The companion has a firmware available offline for issues like yours.

Use the “Restore Default Firmware” in http://192.168.2.2:2770/system

Companion 0.0.17 bundles Ardusub 3.5.4

Thx for the fast reply.

Tried the restore but I get an error where it cant “catch bootloader”

It looks like this :
Attempting upload from file /home/pi/companion/fw/ardusub-v2.px4
Stopping mavproxy
Flashing Pishawk…
Loaded firmware for 9.0 size: 830240 bytes, waiting for bootloader…
Timed out trying to catch bootloader!
Please try again
Waiting to restart maxproxy…
Restarting mavproxy
Complete!

Im so sad :frowning:

This happens sometimes, try restarting everything.
How are the Pixhawk lights?
Is the Pixhawk listed under “serial devices” in http://192.168.2.2:2770/system?
I if is not there, you may have a physical connection issue.

Tried Restart and comes out with the same result

Pixhawk Lights
Constant light:
FMU -PWR (Green)
IO - PWR (Green)

Flashing light:
IO Side : B/E(Orange) & ACT(Blue)

When under …/system I have the following windows

Companion Computer Status - Here it seems oki - can see cpu load etc working
Active Services - Empty
Detected Devices - All 3 None
Companion Software Status - 0.0.17
Pixhawk firmware update - Ardusub version None found

What I notice from the last time he brought it is that the big light on the bottom on the Pix doesnt light up no more - last time I think it first lighted up green and then went to blue

The connection is as follows

Pixhawk to Surface pc via USB
Companion connected to PC via Ethernet cable

PS : The Pixhawk is not detected under serial devices*

Connected the pixhawk directly via USB to the companion “raspberry” and now it shows up under service devices

When using the Companion, the Pixhawk should be plugged to the Raspberry Pi’s USB and the firmware upgrade should be done through the system page.

If you took the Pixhawk out of the enclosure and connected to your PC, You can’t change the firmware with the Companion.

But you can do it through QGC.:

  • Open QGC
  • Go to the firmware update page
  • Unplug and plug the Pixhawk
  • Choose Ardusub 3.5.4

In case that doesn’t work, I also advise you try formatting the SD card on Pixhawk (Not the one on the raspberry) as a Fat volume.

1 Like

Ive tried that previous and the problem there is that when the Pixhawk is connected to QGC under firmware I have the options on my right for the update:

Here I can only select ArduPilot Flight Stack & PX4 Flight Stack - moreover the dropdown menu has no selections in it. It seems QDC dont have the Ardusub files ?

Connected Pixhawk directly with USB to surface pc (SP)
Made a internet on the SP and went under firmware - on the right there is still the 2 same options as mentioned previous but now I can find various firmware in the dropdown menu - chose Nuttx - Ardusub 3.5.4.

The thing is that last I did this I was able to select ArduSub in the top and the use the dropdown menu to find the right firmware but now I as mentioned only have the following options:
ArduPilot Flight Stack
PX4 Flight Stack

Hope this info is usefull :slight_smile:

Im afraid I dont have any more time today but I will take a look at it again tomorrow evening around 20:00 gmt+1

Thx alot for your time so far!!

Best Regards

It seems to work fine here with QGroundControl 3.5.2.

Note that QGC also needs to be online to fetch the firmware files.

Oki the I have the update done cause that was exactly what I did, twice now, and it updated succesfully.

Connection after the update:
1 - pix to the ras
2 - rasp to the pc via ethernet

I start QGC I can only see under “Vehicle Setup” two tabs labelled “Summary” and “Firmware”
Last time I had all the various tabs controlling motors etc.

The Pixhawk last time also said connected and the big light in the bottom center on it lit a blue light. Now its just turned off all the time.

Is Ardusub version detected by companion?
Have you tried formatting the sd card?

Hi,
Sry for the very late respons - finally have a little time for this project again.

The situation atm. is as following :
updated firmware on pixhawk v2 with newest stable ardusub and it wont connect. if i update with any of the other firmware for rover, plane etc. it works with no prob and i can start the calibration.

after the above steps i tried uninstalling gqc and formatted, fat32, the 8gb sdcard in the pixhawk and repeated the above but with the same result - no connection with the pixhawk. the main led doesnt blink at all with ardusub but behaves normal, blue constant, with the other firmware available.

read another thread with a person with same symptons but that thread died out before any real conclusion, hope you guys can help. thx in advance.