new blue A7105 installed in new 7e, cant bind

Hello folks, first off I'm new to DEVO and programmable Tx's in general (and pretty new to RC as well) but I'm not at all new to computers, FW / HW mods and micro's of all types. I got my final parts today, I've been doing research for the last 2 weeks while my 7E was on order and read all I could. Today I quickly breezed threw the install and range mod (I am a electrical engineer by trade and literally do SMD hot air reflow soldering as part of my every day work load, I consider myself an excellent solderer and knocked the physical labor out in a couple minutes time). I completed the FW flashing, modded the tx file as needed to enable to A7105 module with PA on A14 (I also modded the 7E to use a real antenna I hooked straight to the A7105 module while I was in there).


I loaded up model config files for both models I was hoping to have flying with the devo, my V911 and my proto-X. I went in and set the fixed ID to none on both of them yet I just can not get it to even bind, let alone control anything.

I've been troubleshooting a few hours now and I cant go any further, I just dont know enough. I've poured threw the manual cover to cover but it seems to assume you have a working knowledge of programmable tx's which I just do not have. I dont even know what the normal bind procedure is, which is really why I set the ID to zero hoping to just be able to switch it on and have it bind. The "Bind button" talk I dont understand at all what is this "bind button"?!
I have verified the module is getting 3.3v and GND, however I'm wondering if this new blue board could be a different pin order than the pictured green board here making my data wiring backwards?
www.hacksmods.com/tag/devo-7e/

Can someone instruct me the most basic bind procedures? Should I go ahead and set the Fixed ID to some number (if so what?) and then do some sort of stick commands or button presses or something to try and make it bind (again please be specific, I dont know what I'm doing here)? Also when I am in the model setup menu and I go to the Re-Init button, should that be an option I can choose? Cause I definitely cant select that... (sorry for such general questions, this should be easy for me but I've literally been messing with it for hours now)


Do I need to try and source another A7105 module, either the green one pictured or the new style or should this blue one work? Sorry I dont have pictures of the blue board tonight, if they're needed I can post them in the morning.

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I'm new also, but I think the "bind button" that you're referring to is in the menus. The following is based on how the menus work with a Nano Qx model... I'm not 100% sure it's the same for all models.

- Power on 7E
- Press Ent button (top button on the right) 4 times
- Press DN- button (bottom button on the left) to select the model
- Press Ent button
- Press DN- button 6 time - should bring you to the protocol
- Press R+ or L- button (2 lower buttons on right) to select protocol - I think you want Hubsan4
- Press DN- button - to get to Bind
- Press Ent button (7E should attempt to bind)

Thanks for the quick reply, unfortunately that's not quite the process for the FlySky (v911) or the Hubsan4 (proto-x) protocols, there is no bind option, with those 2 protocols (plus some others I saw) what is the bind button that you mention changes to "Re-Init" and doesnt seem to be clickable.


Under section 9.8 of the user manual we find this
"the Flysky protocol supports up to 8 channels, and both auto-binding and manual-
binding. If Fixed ID is set to ‘None’ the transmitter will attempt to auto-bind with the
receiver every time it is powered on. If a value is set for Fixed ID, the receiver must be
bound manually one-time using the ‘Bind’ button, after which it should stay bound"

What "bind" button is that referring to?


edit I've tried both FlySky and HiSky on the v911

Welcome! Always glad to have more hardware hacks here. You should be able to help with development of the all-in-one module.

First thing - tell us which version you're running! That's pretty much always useful. That's on the about page. There are at least three reasonable possibilities:

1. 4.0.1. That's the last release.
2. PBR Nightlies, from last august.
3. Team deviationTx nightlies, from the last night.

That's the preferred order, and you should only move down if there's something in the later ones you have to have. The nightlies don't distinguish themselves except by the revision checksum. If you're running one of those, you probably got the files on the Tx edited wrong, as the instructions are hard to find.

Now, for your problem. The bind procedure for deviationTx is always the same: select the bind (or re-init, if you don't have a fixed id) button as described. If it's not selectable, then something is wrong elsewhere. For instance, not having enabled the module properly in the tx.ini or hardware.ini (nightlies) files. Or the module not being found - which should generate a warning. Is there an * in front of the protocol names?

What you have to do to your aircraft varies depending on the aircraft.

The V911 uses the FlySky protocol. Leave the fixed ID at none, as the v911 ignores it, and having the tx try and bind on power on is convenient. The procedure is to turn on the V911, then hit bind/re-init with the throttle all the way down. It's very finicky - if you hit re-init to early or to late, it won't bind, and you'll have to pull the battery and try again.

The Proto X uses the hubsan protocol. Turn on the Tx first, make sure the throttle is all the way down, then turn on the quad. It should go blinking then solid as it binds. If it doesn't bind, try hitting re-init/bind. I haven't tried the Proto X with deviationTx yet - I just got mine, and need to find an A7105 due to a comedy of errors. Try it both with and without a fixed id. If you haven't looked through the thread on it in the forums, do so - there may be detailed instructions there. I'll be checking it late tonight, I hope.

Hi MWM, thanks for the assistance! Sounds like you may be onto something. I've taken the 7E back apart to swap in another known good [blue] A7105 module, I've also verified the pinout is the same between blue and green modules. I'm freaking exhausted and left it apart after finishing up soldering and also shut my computer down for the night. I'll be back at it in the morning...

I'm using Deviation 4.0.1

So first thing is yes, there was a * next to the flysky name! So that's telling me it can't use the module? I definitely got those lines un-commented right, I'm not new to code, but there was one line dorectly above those that I have uncommented but I wasn't sure about- I thought it came that way but maybe I accidentally did it? Where else do I need to check the code for issues?


Thanks again for the rest of the info too. Hopefully I can get this going in the morning. If I cant, would you suggest going to an older deviation version or one of the other two noghtlies first?

BTW here's a few pic's


Blue A7105 module


Installed



Antenna (excuse the cluttery desk)

If I'm not wrong, you have installed your A7105 module at TMS point, not TCK, so you need to config your hardware.ini pointing to A13, not A14.

Correct, the * means the module for that protocol is configured, but not found.

Based on what you've said, the problem is that you've set enable-a7105=A14, and it needs to be A13. You should use A13 if you wired CSN on the module to TMS. A14 is used if you wired it to TCK.

Also, did you follow the instructions here: bitbucket.org/PhracturedBlue/deviation/wiki/ModuleInstallation

There are some older ones floating around that are no longer correct. That one is.

If you know the module has a PA, then also set has_pa-a7105=1. Based on the picture, it doesn't, so only uncomment the enable-a7105 line.

Ok, I can't figure out how you decided that the Blue module was compatible with another one you had, so maybe you can help me out.

I've got a CC-958TG, about which the only thing I can find is an assertion on rcgroups that it's compatible with the WLToys A7105 modules. But I can't tell how you'd determine that.

I can tell that it's got an A7105 chip, and an on-board antenna like the XL7105-SY, but the same pin count and crystal (on the otherwise blank back) as the WLToys modules. Any chance you can tell me whether or not it's compatible with the WLToys pins?

BTW, you might want to take a look at the single-board universal module thread . PBR is working on PCB to replace the CYRF module that would SMD A7105, CYRF, NRF24L01 and CC2500 modules.

It's still very much experimental, though.

This is the pic I looked at to determine it had the PA installed (the extra parts on top), is that not the PA?

http://www.hacksmods.com/2013/04/walkera-devo-7e-transmitter-deviationx-flysky-hubsan-mod/hacksmods_devo7e_flysky_v929_v949_v959_hubsan_x4_deviationx_module_mod/#lightbox[1388]/0/

(Direct image may not work but link should be clickable)

mwm wrote: Ok, I can't figure out how you decided that the Blue module was compatible with another one you had, so maybe you can help me out.

I've got a CC-958TG, about which the only thing I can find is an assertion on rcgroups that it's compatible with the WLToys A7105 modules. But I can't tell how you'd determine that.

I can tell that it's got an A7105 chip, and an on-board antenna like the XL7105-SY, but the same pin count and crystal (on the otherwise blank back) as the WLToys modules. Any chance you can tell me whether or not it's compatible with the WLToys pins?

I can definitely help you out with this now that I'm to my computer for the day but I need a better pic, the glare from the slight angle hides the traces. If you can get a perfectly straight on pic of the front and back (preferable with the header down in both pic's) I can tell you the pinout!

I don't know - I'm a software guy, with just enough hardware skills to let out the magic smoke. However, PBR's module list implies that the XL7105-D03 is the only one with a power amp.

I don't believe there's any harm in turning it on if you have don't one, or not turning it on if you do. However, indicating you have one enables the power options in the model config, and we don't want people using that when it doesn't actually do anything.

So you should be able to find out for sure by enabling it and range testing the different power levels. If you do, let us know what you find out.

BTW, that link answered my questions about the CC-958TG module. Thank you!

Well guy's bad news, I did already have the module on A13 , heresa copy/paste of the module section


; enable-cyrf6936 = B12
has_pa-cyrf6936 = 0
enable-a7105 = A13
has_pa-a7105 = 1
; enable-cc2500 = A14
; has_pa-cc2500 = 1
; enable-nrf24l01 = A14
; has_pa-nrf24l01 = 1



Notice how the line for the cyrf6936 PA is uncommented, it came like that when I first opened it, is that ok or do I need to comment it out?

Ok here's a few pic's of the settings, I'm messing with the proto-x this morning, it seems from your initial post it should be a little easier to bind.

So here's the 3 screens worth of info-



heres hubsan4 selected with the star in front (same with FlySky) and the Re-Init button selectable but not clickable, when you push ENT with it selected NOTHING happens.





edited to add; I have no tried commenting out the A7105 PA line as well as the PA line above that, still got nothing. I'm starting to thing the module isnt the same as the green one or the big one, I confirmed it was working in the stock v911 Tx last night before putting it back in the 7E...

Comment out the has_pa-cyrf6936 line. It shouldn't make any difference to the A7105 protocols. However the best case is that it'll be ignored because the corresponding enable- line is commented out, but if not, it could seriously reduce the range for your CYRF6936 protocols.

Also try setting has_pa-A7105 to 0. I don't expect that to make any difference, but it's worth a shot. Until the * goes away, you aren't going to be able to bind things.

Have you double checked your connections against PBR's docI that I referenced earlier? In particular, make sure you've got TMS connected properly.

If so, then you might try installing the latest team nightlies . Make sure you update the file system as well (everything but the models file and tx.ini). You'll need to edit hardware.ini instead of tx.ini, but it has the same values in it. This will at least tell you the module is missing at startup.

Cereal_Killer wrote: edited to add; I have no tried commenting out the A7105 PA line as well as the PA line above that, still got nothing. I'm starting to thing the module isnt the same as the green one or the big one, I confirmed it was working in the stock v911 Tx last night before putting it back in the 7E...

PBR's module list includes the three different modules that are known to work. He's wrote the code for all this, so that's the definitive list.`

The asterisk in front of the protocol name indicates the module required for the protocol is not available. That issue has to be fixed first.

Do you get a warning message about the missing module when you turn the power-on? It's possible that module has a different pinout from the earlier version, though it would be unusual.

Now all I need to do is find a green one or one of the big PA ones from a US vendor, it's the middle of the new years holiday over in CN so I dont want to order from there, a package wouldn't even get dispatched for another week and a half...

The one thing I see that's left to do now it moving it so it is connected at A14, maybe A13 is burned out or otherwise bad, maybe also try an older build but it's looking more like this blue module is different. I should mention (to help others) that these blue modules came out of new "V911-pro" transmitters (but those transmitters work perfectly with both my V911 pro and my regular V911)


Thanks for the help so far, I'm also currently reading threw the universal module thread, it's closed for posts tho, I was gona offer my soldering service as a alternative, I can probably build 10-12 of them a day with my current reflow setup (an arduino controlled oven but all parts placed by hand really slows me down)

hexfet wrote: The asterisk in front of the protocol name indicates the module required for the protocol is not available. That issue has to be fixed first.

Do you get a warning message about the missing module when you turn the power-on? It's possible that module has a different pinout from the earlier version, though it would be unusual.

No sir, no warning messages at all (other than when the stick is up)

Tho I've never had one in hand I've now compared the blue module to the older green one and the traces are exactly the same, as is the header pins to the v911's Tx board so I've came to the conclusion the pinout is correct, either something in the chip is different (or maybe even fake) or something is wrong with my brand new 7E.I'll be trying it on A14 in a few minutes, just waiting on my soldering equipment to warm up (ok that's a lie, it takes 30 seconds for my iron to reach temp, I'm being lazy right now lol, I'll try ASAP tho)