Ultimate7e tutorial: Processor upgrade

i hadn't tried connecting it to the stlink when i bridged the non Vdd side of the boot0 jumper to ground, i only tried getting it to boot up and/or show the dfu device on the usb device list. tbh i wasn't sure if connecting something that was somehow connected to Vdd and then bridged to ground to my pc's usb was a good idea as losing a £40 tx due to my own ineptitude is bad enough to swallow, never mind a £200 motherboard lol.

but you peaked my curiosity so i just did hook it up to to the stlink while bridged to ground (on the old laptop lol) and yes stlink can still connect to the device, erase, and program it too :/

i'm UK based but i don't mind paying the shipping and something for your time if you want a look? as i'm curious too, plus i've my new one to do, and 2 friends from the club want theirs done too so i want to know what happened to be sure i can avoid it.

here's a pic of how i've hooked it up to be sure i'm doing what's being asked


and the mcu itself

i just checked and there is good connectivity, there is ~0.1ohms resistance from the boot0 pin on the mcu to the mcu side of the small resistor that's second on the left from the non Vdd side jumper pin, and about 3.7Kohm from the mcu boot0 to the actual non Vdd boot0 jumper.

one last thing, as i was having a bedtime snifter I remembered that i'd read on this forum somewhere that when flashing a bootloader to a bare chip you first flashed it to 0x08000000 then without erasing flash it again at 0x08003000, is this worth trying? or am I remembering wrong? (can't seem to find the post i'm referring to atm)

I saw that post about 0x08003000 also. It is here , but I never needed to do it.

Could you check your readings again for the resistance values of the 2 resistors next to the BOOT0 jumper pin? They should both be 10K resistors so you should get 10K from the mcu pin to the jumper pin and 10K from the jumper pin to ground.

This next suggestion may sound dumb, but it has happened to me before. Can you look between the pcb and the lcd? I noticed that you soldered the wires in from the top. If the ends are too long, and the angle is just right, you could have the wire touching underneath (out of sight).

I'm running out of ideas without looking at the board physically. I'd be happy to take a look also, but I'm in Singapore (so it could be just as troublesome). PB has already offered and he's definitely more experienced than I am.

thanks again pb

thanks for the link ss, yeah that was the post. i'm pretty sure though my meter isn't a fancy calibrated one so i'd not hold much faith in the numbers, only that there was continuity and resistance lol. unfortunately there's no wires touching or solder bridges on the underside of the board, that's something I checked every time, I even wondered if i'd desoldered something or bridged some of the vias on the other side of the mcu when using the heat gun to remove it, but no such luck for an easy solution, and although it's a tough angle to see right under the lcd to the opposite side of the mcu I'm quite sure none of those vias have bridged either. thanks also for the offer of help but i've already accepted pb's offer of assistance. tbh i'm not too fussed if it doesn't get fixed but i've gotten to the point to where i really want to know what has happened to it as it seems what's happening to it shouldn't be possible lol

wait one thing has just popped into my mind, are there different main board revisions? mine is marked 'walkera devo 6f 2.0'

[edit]
tried flashing to 0x08000000 and then 0x8003000 without erasing and it made no difference at all just as pb said. so that's it for old faithfull, the rf module is coming off (in case i botch the diode mod on the replacement lol) and it's getting wrapped up for shipping.

pb will I remove the test leads and boot0 jumper before shipping or will i just leave them be?

damn I just realised I have no backups of my models :/
[/edit]

roll up roll up we have a new contender entering the ring! he's pretty much the same as the last contender but the interface buttons are a dark grey metallic instead of silver, updated 7e or just new buttons?

anyway starting with this


then this


a bit of this


get's us to this


and a bit of a bob and weave later and we have this


a deviated, range modded, new mcu'd 7e


since it's a new tx i've ordered new 3way switches for it, as well as a couple of pots, so when they arrive i'll decide if i'm going to use my 3 separate modules or if i'll use the 3in1. once complete there will be one more ultimate7e in the wild, and another 2 more to come over the weekend!

just want to take the time to say thanks to PB for blazing the trail for the ult7e, slipstream for the nice howto, and my mum and dad!

Way to go!!!
I hope you ordered extra 3 way switches and some pots. I've got the 7e running with four 3-way switches + two 2-way switches + 2 pots now. Writing up the tutorials and cleaning up the code now (it all works).

thanks , i'm so glad this one went without a hitch, and i've still no idea what's up with the first one as my process was identical :/

i have 3 3ways on order and 2 pots, though hobbyking is suddenly out of stock for the pots and my order has changed to 'back order' for them so i'm going to have to find another source, anyone know of any suitable pots? but i was just goint to go with the usual 2x3way, 2x2way and the pots, but if you have the code worked out and the connection points then my plans have changed and i think i'll put the pots in the inner holes next to the original switches, then 3 ways next to them, then a 3way on the right shoulder and a 2 way on the left shoulder (hold switch) that will give me the ultime 7e i've always craved for, and i may even start using it to fly the bigger stuff!

Well done! Will we get this ultimate 7e supported, with new nightlies?

I am wondering, PB added 2 pots direct to the mcu pins, also we solder the third external rf module csn to an unused pin of the mcu, without need for the multimo, so can we possibly connect more switches pots direct to mcu, for a true ultimate to the max 7e? Are there more free pins?

off topic;
BTW I find that the aluminium sticks, are bit too fat compared to the stock plastic ones, this limits the throw on the sticks touching the edges of the tx.. Therefore I still use the tiny stock plastic stick ends.

HappyHarry wrote: ...anyone know of any suitable pots? ...but if you have the code worked out and the connection points...

Switch tutorial is here .

I bought these pots on aliexpress, as well as these switches.

The pots will not fit on the front panel where the switches are supposed to be unless you start cutting up the plastic from inside, as the 'plastic frame' around the switch is too small for the pots. I ended up installing my pots on the shoulders. The nice part about the 7e's size is that I can use the pots like sliders in that position.

Fernandez wrote: Well done! Will we get this ultimate 7e supported, with new nightlies?

I am wondering, PB added 2 pots direct to the mcu pins, also we solder the third external rf module csn to an unused pin of the mcu, without need for the multimo, so can we possibly connect more switches pots direct to mcu, for a true ultimate to the max 7e? Are there more free pins?

off topic;
BTW I find that the aluminium sticks, are bit too fat compared to the stock plastic ones, this limits the throw on the sticks touching the edges of the tx.. Therefore I still use the tiny stock plastic stick ends.

Pots work. They do need to be directly soldered to the processor and I'm writing a new tutorial for it. I now have a total of 6 switches on my 7e (four 3-way and two 2-way). I wanted to simplify the 6 switch mod, so the extra switches are tied to the button matrix and do not need direct processor soldering.

But yes there are still a few available digital pins left even after using one for the 3rd module.

I noticed the fatter aluminium sticks also, but have been happy to fly with them. Plastic feels flimsy somehow.

Good work man, I follow with interest, if all is solid and we get this supported with nightly builds, I will definitively do this to my 7e!


If modding to a truly ultimate 7e, any need also to update the memory as done here?
www.deviationtx.com/forum/6-general-disc...de-the-devo-7e#38278

Fernandez wrote: If modding to a truly ultimate 7e, any need also to update the memory as done here?

I did do the replacement, but it's not really necessary. All it does is give you 4mb instead of 2mb for your file system. I don't see how we are going to store that much stuff there, especially since we do not have modular protocols in the u7e anymore. You would need to have many many icons and models to fill that space up.

Although I have the upgraded flash chip, I didn't bother to change the code to support it, so only use 2mb right now. But if you've got the transmitter on the operating table, there's no harm in swapping it. It's a cheap component and much easier to solder than the processor. Who knows... one day... maybe...

Fernandez wrote: Well done! Will we get this ultimate 7e supported, with new nightlies?

not at the minute as there is no real need due to the number of people with the modifications being so low, but if there is a need i'll easily start up my 7e builds thread again and post a weekly update of the files for the ult7e, but with the work PB has done with the docker setup there's no reason not to build your own

Fernandez wrote: BTW I find that the aluminium sticks, are bit too fat compared to the stock plastic ones, this limits the throw on the sticks touching the edges of the tx.. Therefore I still use the tiny stock plastic stick ends.

i use these sticks from hobbyking, they are listed for futaba iirc, M3 thread, and as they have a champher on the bottom part the stick gets full range of travel no problem






i didn't mind using the plastic sticks too much, as they were fine when i was flying 'thumbs' but they were just a bit short for when i was flying 'pinch' so they had to go

silpstream wrote: I bought these pots on aliexpress, as well as these switches.

The pots will not fit on the front panel where the switches are supposed to be unless you start cutting up the plastic from inside, as the 'plastic frame' around the switch is too small for the pots. I ended up installing my pots on the shoulders. The nice part about the 7e's size is that I can use the pots like sliders in that position.

thanks for the links bud, the switches i have already ordered from banggood it was the pots and some other stuff from HK, mostly stuff for my 55" edge. yeah i like your setup, similar to what i was planning bar the pot position, and i'll easily mod the inner shell to mount them there, i was even considering using these 'slider' pots like i have on my JR dsm9x on the actual side of the shoulder



though i may have to cut a hole and 3d print a mount for them, they would be handy for a movable fpv cam you know i think because of these strides forward in 7e modding soon we will see a clamouring for the last stock of the 7e!

btw i noticed you used kynar for hooking the pots to the mcu, do you think it would carry enough current for the 3ways as well? as it would save a lot of space using that small a wire!

Dayam, those things are so tall! Don't think that I could fly with so much throw from stop to stop!

You must fly pinch style, and not with thumbs. EDIT: D'oh! Guess I should have read the entire thread.

heh they aren't that bad really, I think the perspective in that photos makes them look worse. also I'm a bit weird in that I fly both ways, thumbs (even with these long sticks lol) for planes and pinch for heli's

but for the thumbs only guys these style of sticks are available in a short version, and even the thumbs specific version looks to have a chamfered bottom that should allow full stick throw on the 7e

I just swapped the CPU on one of mine. After programming, I get the normal "program update" screen in DFU mode. However, the PC sees no connection over USB, dfuse detects no device. Any idea?
The fact that the update screen appears seems to mean that it was successful, hardware-wise?