Taranis Gimals in a 9X

[formontoya]

Another possibility is to read the EEPROM from the radio and also open your .eepe file, then drag and drop your models from the one to the other, then write it back.

Mike.

I tried this doing a drag-n-drop in both directions with no change...I am still at Model 01 and none of my models and setting transfer across.
1. I open my companion9x eepe in openTXcompanion.
2. Save that as a new openTXcompanion eepe (this has 435 free bytes).
3. Read models and settings from radio (this shows 1800 free bytes until I save it, then it shows 435 free bytes - odd to me, but maybe normal).
4. Write firmware 2.0.15 to radio (attached earlier). It goes through the "read/write/verify" stage and all is good to this point. I'm at model 01 which is what I expect.
5. At this point I've tried the quoted method in both directions and just about every iteration I can think of to get my models from the laptop to the Tx...as mentioned it goes through the read, but that's as far as it goes and I never get past model 01 unless I do it manually.
6. Fire up companion9x and revert back to R2940 and at this point I could do it in my sleep, it's that easy and done within 10 minutes of screwing around.

At this point I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the gimbals I get from Aloft Hobbies are the non amped version and all I have to do is cross a couple of wires.

[ReSt]

Just in case.

I know that Companion immediately converts EEprom data as soon as you have the option to edit them (you load them with "Read Models and Settings from the Radio" or open a saved file).
And I had a lot of problems with incompatibilities of EEProm data.

So you may try the following way:
In OpenTxCompanion don't read the radio's eeprom with the function "Read Models and Settings From Radio" and then the "File" "Save" selections but directly use the "Backup Radio to File" function
(or as an alternative, use eePe and use "Read EEPROM memory to file").
Then start eePe and do a "Write EEPROM memory from file".
If that loads your eeprom to the radio you may get the "BAD EEPROM Data" on startup of the radio, because of the incompatibility of old and new version of the eeprom. If it may work, CAREFULLY check EVERY settings.

eePe can read and write eprom data for openTx as long as you don't try to open them. You may have problems restoring old level eproms to a newer version of the firmware. But first of all they will be written to the radio. On startup of the radio it may claim "BAD EEPROM Data" if there is an incompatibility between old and new data format.
(I for myself have disabled the eeprom compatibility and version checking in the firmware because i very often had problems with BAD EEPROM Data).

Reinhard

[formontoya]

First off guys, thanks for the quick responses. OK, I will look at it when I get back to the house this evening. I've seen the backup function but have not tried anything with it yet. I did have to use the variables -V -D for some reason in the past, although I can't remember what they did. And when I started this a few days ago for some reason at first I had to use the variable -F as well (mentioned that in an error dialog box). In the past day or so I started removing variable but nothings changed as far as models and settings go...just stuck at model 01.

As mentioned I just ordered the gimbals so I might just get the non amped version and this is moot as I'm more than happy with R2940 out of companion9x. If they are amped then I might have to go to an earlier version of openTX that has the stickrev option in it.

At one point I did have an earlier release of openTXcompanion on, but at the time I did not like the model template setup as it did not have a "box" pick for 2 elevator servos and it had to be done manually...me being lazy and all I just switched back to companion.

[jhsa]

Never use the -F option. That option can brick your radio..

João

[formontoya]

Thank you very much...I will make a note now to check and remove if it still exists. Strange though that through one of the error messages it recommends to use the -F variable.

[Kilrah]

It informs you you can use -F if you want to force, BUT you do NOT want to force unless you know why.

[formontoya]

Thanks...on a side, I've tried to find a variable list but am having trouble finding one. I've used -V and -D in the past but do not remember why or what they were for and now I know NOT to use -F unless I am 100% sure I need to (which means I will not use it), but are there any others and if so, what are they or where could I find any list?

[ReSt]

Don't know if that will help you

AVRDude Options.zip

(10.95 KiB) Downloaded 237 times

Reinhard

[formontoya]

That's it...I was actually looking for the wrong thing.

[formontoya]

I do get the bad eprom data error when going between comp9x and openTX, but I've just "hit" enter and moved past it. As well this starts from another session of a good, working R2940 companion9x.

1. opened openTXcompanion and did "Backup Radio to File"

2. then did "Write Firmware to Radio"
a. I did get the "bad eprom data" error.
b. "clicked" enter.
c. All looks good.
d. at model 01.

3. Then did "Write Backup to Radio"
a. I received this first time error message (attached).

b. nothing else happens.
4. still at model 01
5. in 5 minutes I am now back to R2940...getting pretty fast at this now...

[ReSt]

That means, after step 3a when you click the Yes button, nothing happens?

Can you retry the same procedure but read and write everything with eePe ?

Reinhard

[formontoya]

That means, after step 3a when you click the Yes button, nothing happens?

Can you retry the same procedure but read and write everything with eePe ?

Reinhard

After step 3a I click yes and it goes through a couple of "are you sure" / yes...and then it beeps a couple of times...bad eprom message...click enter to move past that...back to model 01.

About the only thing I have NOT tried is pushing with eepe...I will hunt it down and see how it works. I've not used it before, is there anything special about it that I might not be able to readily find on the net?

never mind...it looks pretty easy.

[MikeB]

I've been trying to repeat what you are trying to do, but I'm not getting started!
I'm using my M64 9X.
I flashed the firmware (your r2940 file), and I wrote the EEPROM from your file "comp9x-2015-03-01.eepe", but when I start the radio I get an Invalid EEPROM error.

Mike.

[formontoya]

I to get a bad eprom data error when I go from R2940 to 2.0.15 as well. I also get another one when I go back to R2940. However, the models and setting push back to the Tx in companion9x R2940 but I only get a blank model 01 and nothing else with openTX 2.0.15.

on a side...I'm doing this on an old school Turnigy 9X

[MikeB]

Try the following, I think I got it to work:
Flash the 2.15 firmware.
Start openTx companion, go to settings and select OpenTx for 9 board.
Now set the other options exactly as the firmware is configured.
language - en
and tick ONLY DSM2 ppmca gvars sp22 imperial stickrev ppmus, making sure nothing else is ticked.

Save this, and try writing it to the radio EEPROM. When I did this, the radio then started WITHOUT an invalid EEPROM error.
I have some trouble as my USBASP only works once, then I have to unplug it from the USB and plug it in again. I saved the created file as .hex and used my AVRISP-II to write the hex file, although the AVRISP-II doesn't work from OpenTxCompanion.

If you radio starts OK, the open the saved file in openTxcompanion, and also open your 2940 .eepe file. Drag and drop you models from the 2940 window to the new window, then save the new window. Write this file to the radio. When I did this, I found your models were on the radio.
You will need to set the Radio settings and check all your models are correct, but this did work for me.

Mike.

[formontoya]

Alright, something must be happening. One thing I forgot to mention is that when I try to write eprom to Tx the top 2 check boxes were greyed out in openTXcompanion during all of this. While I still had the bad eprom data, for whatever reason going this route the top 2 boxes were available. As well I noticed I had general setting from the profile...but I'm still at model 01.

I know it has to be something simple, it just eludes me when I'm doing this before I'm set for bed. Maybe better to look at it during the weekend when I'm a bit fresher...

[formontoya]

First off I want to thank everyone that offered suggestions to help resolve my "flashing" issue, especially MikeB who pounded away at this to proof a working solution. However, as mentioned I'm more of a physical "see it in my hands" type person and getting it to work on my end eluded me. Fortunately my Taranis gimbals arrived and as expected after reviewing this and other threads further, they have the 80° non-amped pots...perfect. Since I do not require the stickrev option I will stay with companion9x/open9x R2940 as it's great for my requirements.

Looking through this and other threads it is either confusing to me or I just don't grasp the concept of what's being written, so I though I would do my own little post for clarity installing Taranis gimbals into a 9X radio (they all start the same). As well my 9X is installed with:
SmartieParts board 2.3
backlight mod
flashed with open9x R2940

Looking at the inside of the front half of the case, install both gimbals as shown with the pots toward the top and left side of the case. Note: gimbal "L" will install with no physical modification required. gimbal "R" requires that the face tab (as shown circled in red below) for the pot to be trimmed. (picture borrowed from volumax).

cut gimbal.jpg (21.13 KiB) Viewed 13711 times

As mentioned in an earlier post, the 2 original pots are wired differently which requires that the new pots be wired differently also.

Both top pots:
Taranis[tab=60]9X
Red[tab=80]Red
Orange[tab=60]White
Brown[tab=65]Black

Both side pots:
Taranis[tab=60]9X
Brown[tab=65]Red
Orange[tab=60]White
Red[tab=80]Black

Both sticks and trims work as they should without the stickrev option. So for me, I can enjoy flying again with R2940 and a good set of gimbals.

I fly mode 2 and on a side I was looking at my old gimbals and noticed something. My issue was the elevator stick would no longer hold center consistently and I just changed both gimbals. Looking at them I noticed the left gimbal had 2 pots that appeared to be from the same batch while the right gimbal had 2 different pots. The aileron appeared similar to the 2 in the left gimbal while the elevator (bad pot) appeared to be of a different batch, hmmm...

ail/ele

rud/thr

[andrewju]

Wow! What a nice looking radio!

Totally off-topic, but I couldn't resist to ask: Where did you get that LCD cover from (the transparent plastic that protects the screen)?
I have a couple of scratches on mine - they are not too bad, but still annoying sometimes. So I would be happy to get a new one.

[formontoya]

Thanks. It actually started from this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8
I joined the party on page 4 and then Scott advises me through the process. It did come out good and is a conversation piece for sure. Sorry to say that the lens is the original with a new sticker placed on it. However, you could probably find some thin Lexan or similar at Home Depot/Lowes and use the old one for a template and re-attach it. If you're slick you can get the old sticker off and reinstalled then no one will be the wiser...

[andrewju]

Thanks a lot for the advice!
Yeah, I thought of getting some lexan (or similar type of plastic) and try to cut it nicely. But the scratch I have is not so bad - so this thing still didn't get into my to-do list.

But your radio looks really great! Excellent job!

[bluem6]

Thank you very much for this forum/thread. I was able to replace my faulty gimbal. I end up cutting the metal ratchet tensioner to make it fit and did a throttle reverse and Mode to the first option and eveything work beautiful. Now all I need is to get use to the Taranis gimbals because it is so smooth compare to the old one...

[s3v0]

Hi Guys , today succesfully made the transplantation of 2 new taranis gimbals on FlySky th-9x radio , the idea was coz i had a problem with stock ones when i connect my flip32 board flashed with cleanflight 1.8.0 on the receiver tab the values were about 1475-1485 , using the transmitter menu limits i manage to set them right 1500 -+ 1 , but after a few swithc on and off and when i hook it up again on the PC the values are +- 25 low or above what i've set . So decided that it is a potentiometer issue and bought 2 new taranis gimbals and changed the stock ones . At first everything was perfect , but again after few on and off of the Tx and Rx , and the computer shows again different values ? So does anyone have an idea what might be the problem ? is it the module , i'm using the stock module and a ppm encoder . The radio is flashed with the latest er9x 8.04.15.

[JohanS]

Hi everyone and thanks to all that's been modding this transmitter!

One of my gimbals failed and I opted for the Taranis ones. Install was a breeze but I can't get proper stick movement, even after calibration.

Hardware mods: backlight, audio (the first version to surface), haptic feedback, the 7805 regulator mod and ground mod for horizontal trims.

Running a Smartieparts board rev 2.1 IIRC. Er9x latest version is installed. Mode 2 setup and pretty sure I've got the gimbals without the amps since I've switched the outer cables for Rudder/Aileron to avoid confusion if I ever forget how I installed the gimbals and I have movement. I initially installed them by the book but movement was inverted. I had the same issue with the wires connected as suggested by the forum.

The problem is that I can't get full throw on Throttle, Aileron and Rudder in all directions. Physically the gimbal moves to the end points but the indication on the screen and the analog output shows that even though the stick is fully to the right for instance the output is below 100. Can't remember the exact values right now and at the office so no radio with me.

I can make a movie if it'll be helpful.


Any input to this issue would be greatly appreciated!

[andrewju]

Hmm... Sounds like a calibration issue. Are you sure you calibrated your radio after you swapped the gimbals?

[JohanS]

Yup, done it several times. I'll make a video when I get home to show the entire process and results.

[MikeB]

s3v0: On the limits menu, when you have moved the highlight down to a particular channel, the pulse width, for that channel, being generated by the firmware is shown on the top line. The first check is to see if this is drifting over time.

JohanS: Try creating a new model, just in case you have some other settings, like limits, affecting the movement range.

Mike.

[JohanS]

Mike: I've actually loaded a fresh FW and not restored my models. I can of course create a new model and see what happens.

[JohanS]

I've installed OpenTX just to be sure it wasn't something in the firmware that was messing with the sticks. It's a boring video and my cheap Chinese cam doesn't handle indoor lightning very well so apologies for the poor quality. It does however show the problem quite well.

[BBvideo 425,350]http://youtu.be/ENTcfPFJaEw[/BBvideo]

[MikeB]

Go to the DIAG ANA screen, not sure what it is called on openTx, but it shows the raw values for the sticks.
For each stick, let us know the values when the stick is in the centre, and at each end. The values are 4 characters long in hexadecimal (base 16) so the values have either digits 0-9 or the letters A-F in them.

Mike.

[JohanS]

Center
A1: 00B2 0
A2: 00E4 -5
A3: 00D0 2
A4: 00E0 9

Up:
A2: 00210 73
A3: 0028E 81

Down:
A2: 0072 -95
A3: 0098 -41

Left:
A1: 0088 -47
A4: 0088 -27

Right:
A1: 02F8 81
A4: 00312 95

Hopefully I understood your request correctly Mike. All values varies ever so little but that may be expected?

Could it be the digital ground mod? Meaning I failed to do it properly? That mod was done at the same time as I installed the new gimbals.