Phantom 3 Advanced ESC Status Error and firmware update shows old version with a + instead of new

[mattias_swe]

Hi,

I just bought a second hand Phantom 3. It had firmware V01.11.0020 and when trying to start the engines it gives the ESC Status Error and they don't start.

The old owner thought a firmware upgrade would fix the problem. I got the P3S_FW_V01.11.0030 from DJI Support and installed it but it didn't help. When I checked the firmware version in the DJI Go app it says 01.11.0020+ instead of 01.11.0030.

I have understood that the plus sign is an indicator that not all subsystems were successfully updated. ??

Then I used the debug trick for downgrading back to 01.11.0020. It then went back to showing version 01.11.0020.

I tried downgrading again to 01.11.0010 but again the plus sign showed up. It now says version 01.10.0090+ instead of 01.11.0010.

I was thinking to do one more downgrading to 01.10.0090 but I´m afraid to do so because the previous downgrading didn't complete.

I hope this question hasn't been posted too many times, I've tried searching.


Thankful for any help!

 

[quaddamage]

You've described the situation correctly.

So I assume the question is "What to do to diagnose/fix?"

From hidden update log (so called LOG_AB, search the forum for details), you can check which module failed the update/downgrade. You will likely find out it's one of m120x modules.

If that turns out to be the case, your ESC Center board is most likely damaged. Though it is also likely that you may fix it by just re-soldering everything around the problematic ESC, especially connection between the ESC uC and FC daughterboard.

 

[mattias_swe]

Thanks a lot! I will have a look at that file.

 

[brigerdrones]

Are you sure you downloaded 01.10.0090 bin file for the Advanced and not the Professional? I had two Phantom's Professional with ESC error and I fixed by downgrading to 01.10.0090 but again this was for my Professionals.

 

[mattias_swe]

Are you sure you downloaded 01.10.0090 bin file for the Advanced and not the Professional? I had two Phantom's Professional with ESC error and I fixed by downgrading to 01.10.0090 but again this was for my Professionals.

Thanks brigerdrones for your reply!

Yes, I´m pretty sure I have downloaded the right files. Put I have actually not tried to downgrade to 01.10.0090 yet. I tried downgrading to 01.11.0010 but because the + sign showed up I stopped there.

I will have a look at that log-file now that quaddamage told me about...

 

[mattias_swe]

You've described the situation correctly.

So I assume the question is "What to do to diagnose/fix?"

From hidden update log (so called LOG_AB, search the forum for details), you can check which module failed the update/downgrade. You will likely find out it's one of m120x modules.

If that turns out to be the case, your ESC Center board is most likely damaged. Though it is also likely that you may fix it by just re-soldering everything around the problematic ESC, especially connection between the ESC uC and FC daughterboard.

Now I have checked the LOG_AB file. It seems like all the different modules are updated OK. Looks like this:
"
[00019724]Firmware upgrading[2]...
[00019976][01 01] Firmware upgrade start...
[00050392][01 01] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00050504][12 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00110873][12 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00110978][12 01] Firmware upgrade start...
[00171321][12 01] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00171430][12 02] Firmware upgrade start...
[00234084][12 02] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00234190][12 03] Firmware upgrade start...
[00292868][12 03] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00292985][17 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00375226][17 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00375326][17 01] Firmware upgrade start...
[00440565][17 01] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00440664][11 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00487879][11 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00487986][03 05] Firmware upgrade start...
[00553981][03 05] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00554438][03 06] Firmware upgrade start...
[00895107][03 06] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00895200][15 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00931968][15 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00936905][19 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[01101404][19 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[01101524][09 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[01153832][09 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[01154075][04 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[01213716][04 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[01213797]Done."

Strange?

I will try retrieving the DAT logs next...

 

[quaddamage]

Strange?

Yes, that is a bit unexpected.

And what about "version checking" which shows version of each module? Did that changed properly after the update?
Since you've seen the "+" in fw package version, I still suspect one of the modules wasn't updated. Maybe it just did not reported that.

 

[brigerdrones]

This is shared by a youtuber Papatita, here are the bins to downgrade your Advanced or Professional drones, make sure you choose the correct version of your drone. PHANTOM FIRMWARE - Google Drive I believe this is the debug file for the Advanced P3S_FW_DEBUG as for the professional would be P3X_FW_DEBUG.

 

[mattias_swe]

This is shared by a youtuber Papatita, here are the bins to downgrade your Advanced or Professional drones, make sure you choose the correct version of your drone. PHANTOM FIRMWARE - Google Drive I believe this is the debug file for the Advanced P3S_FW_DEBUG as for the professional would be P3X_FW_DEBUG.

Yes indeed I have been using a file with that filename to be able to do the downgrade! : )

 

[mattias_swe]

Yes, that is a bit unexpected.

And what about "version checking" which shows version of each module? Did that changed properly after the update?
Since you've seen the "+" in fw package version, I still suspect one of the modules wasn't updated. Maybe it just did not reported that.

Yes the version checking shows that something is odd. In all the version checkings I get these same lines:

[00013279][11 00][00] v1.8.0.0 -> v1.8.0.0 need upgrade.
[00013420][11 01][00] v1.8.0.0 -> v2.0.0.33, firmware v1.8.0.0 not support.
[00013480][11 01][00] v1.8.0.0 -> v2.0.0.33

I would guess that maybe this module named 11 01 has the version 1.8.0.0. But that version is not a valid starting point for the update or downgrade I´m trying to do. The updates sometimes only work only work incremental one after another.

Maybe the module 11 01 it failed an update somewhere down the line and is now out of sync with the rest of the modules.

If I keep downgrading until I reach the version after 1.8.0.0 for module 11 01 it will catch up. How does that sound?

 

[mattias_swe]

Now I checked that Wiki that you referred me to. I don't understand a lot... But modle 11 01 seems to be used by the battery? Firmware m1101

 

[quaddamage]

But modle 11 01 seems to be used by the battery?

Yeah, that's just a battery. Maybe you're using 3rd party one, maybe you used a different one when updating firmware and only that one got updated.

Since battery FW doesn't really contain anything groundberaking, and I don't think the interface it uses ever changes, this is unrelated to the ESC issue you're facing.

The FW update seem to have been a full success, then. You should look at DAT log to figure out which ESC is misbehaving.

 

[mattias_swe]

Yeah, that's just a battery. Maybe you're using 3rd party one, maybe you used a different one when updating firmware and only that one got updated.

Since battery FW doesn't really contain anything groundberaking, and I don't think the interface it uses ever changes, this is unrelated to the ESC issue you're facing.

The FW update seem to have been a full success, then. You should look at DAT log to figure out which ESC is misbehaving.

Yea, that what was I was thinking to. The battery firmware is not really the problem. I will try downgrading to 01.10.0090 and to have a look at the DAT log.

 

[mattias_swe]

The firmware downgrade to 01.10.0090 went smoothly but the AC still refuses to start it's propellers.

And I'm not able to mount it to the computer with an USB-cable. It doesn't show up in the Windows explorer.

I have Windows 10 and I followed the advice in this thread: Entering flight data mode windows 10 - Did the "disable driver signature verification" thing.

I'm using the right USB-port on the Phantom and the cables I have tried should be OK because they came with a phone and a camera respectively.

The AC starts beeping a few seconds after "entering flight data mode". Is this common?

I'm beginning to give up...

 

[RDW]

Did you get your propellers started?
I also just bought a second-hand Phantom 3 Advance. I'm starting to feel like I bought a paperweight with flashing lights. It sounds like we both are having similar problems.
I've read and read with no luck.

 

[mattias_swe]

No. The propellers never start. My next move is to try connecting it to an older computer to try to read the logs.

 

[RDW]

I have the DJI GO app on an older iPad 4 mini. All I can do is move the gimble. Can't connect to the camera, start the motors, or read the files.

 

[albo752004]

Dji is a horrible shameless company whose executives and code writers should be hung by their short hairs!