Phantom 3 Pro - esc beeping and no telemetry

[petr22]

Hi, does anyone experience with following problem, please?

- Phantom 3 Pro after a crash (broken camera gimbal)
- replaced gimbal including camera (3 different cameras, same problem)
- no visible damage to PCB or other parts

- when turned on, all 4 engines beeping like alarm
- no led lights
- LED on camera normal
- gimbal level the camera like normal
- picture from camera displayed on phone and HDMI out
- no "abnormal" error in DJI Go status
- drone links to any remote

but:
- desoldered and checked all motors, error is not caused by bad motor
- no telemetry data
- IMU does not work and cannot be checked
- no battery voltage displayed
- it is not possible to take a picture or record video
- some DJI Go menus are not there, for example there is no "switch to data mode" under MC settings to retrieve logs

It is possible to upgrade or downgrade firmware, I tried to go down each version
down to 1.1.8 and back up to 1.8.80.

Every firmware update ends with red light, beep and following error, look like some modules were
not detected at all. I was not able to find information which module number is which device, but some of them are detected when updating my other Phantom Pro/Adv drones.

[00014231]Packet [C:\P3X_FW_V01.08.0080.bin] resumed, card sn [0x171c3e26].
[00014293]Packet vlink 01.08.0080 <-> 01.07.0060.
[00014347]Version checking[2]...
[00026966][03 05][00] device not detected.
[00039515][03 06][00] device not detected.
[00039572][04 00][00] v1.41.0.0 -> v1.44.0.0 need upgrade.
[00052118][11 00][00] device not detected.
[00064665][12 00][00] device not detected.
[00077214][12 01][00] device not detected.
[00089759][12 02][00] device not detected.
[00102303][12 03][00] device not detected.
[00114849][15 00][00] device not detected.
[00127394][17 00][00] device not detected.
[00139943][17 01][00] device not detected.
[00140015][19 00][00] v1.0.8.96 -> v1.0.8.96 need upgrade.
[00140057][01 00][05] v1.30.5036 -> v1.30.5036 need upgrade
[00140102][01 01][00] v1.29.4920 -> v1.30.5036 need upgrade
[00152657][08 00][00] device not detected.
[00152716][09 00][00] v2.13.0.0 -> v3.0.0.10 need upgrade.
[00152764]Done.

[00152813]Firmware upgrading[2]...
[00152968][01 01] Firmware upgrade start...
[00183243][01 01] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00186188][19 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00196562][19 00] stop streaming timeout, continue upgrade.
[00344891][19 00] start streaming timeout, continue upgrade.
[00374938][19 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00375003][09 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00427264][09 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00427337][04 00] Firmware upgrade start...
[00485598][04 00] Firmware upgrade finished successfully.
[00485645]Done.

[00485690]Version checking[3]...
[00498237][03 05][00] device not detected.
[00510786][03 06][00] device not detected.
[00510840][04 00][05] v1.44.0.0 -> v1.44.0.0 need upgrade.
[00523389][11 00][00] device not detected.
[00535935][12 00][00] device not detected.
[00548485][12 01][00] device not detected.
[00561032][12 02][00] device not detected.
[00573577][12 03][00] device not detected.
[00586122][15 00][00] device not detected.
[00598670][17 00][00] device not detected.
[00611219][17 01][00] device not detected.
[00611277][19 00][05] v1.0.8.96 -> v1.0.8.96 need upgrade.
[00611421][01 00][05] v1.30.5036 -> v1.30.5036 need upgrade
[00611469][01 01][05] v1.30.5036 -> v1.30.5036 need upgrade
[00624017][08 00][00] device not detected.
[00624095][09 00][05] v3.0.0.10 -> v3.0.0.10 need upgrade.
[00624143]Packet upgrade failed at version checking.

Sending Phantom to repair shop does not make sense, as repair shop only replace whole control board, which I can do myself. Prefered solution is to fix this board, if possible. Look like part of the board is not powered.

 

[quaddamage]

- when turned on, all 4 engines beeping like alarm

ESCs wait for Flight Controller to ask them whether everything is ok, what firmware they have etc. But the FC never asks for that. So the ESCs are waiting there, lonely. After some time, they start beeping out of loneliness (or because they were programmed for timeout, if you prefer proper explanation).

- no led lights

LEDs on arms are controlled by FC. hmm..

- LED on camera normal
- gimbal level the camera like normal
- picture from camera displayed on phone and HDMI out

Yeah, camera only needs 12V from the ESC Center Board to be happy.

- no "abnormal" error in DJI Go status
- drone links to any remote

Well this is interesting. I never seen how OFDM behaves without a working FC, but I would assume it will enter some kind of error state when no FC is present.

Sending Phantom to repair shop does not make sense, as repair shop only replace whole control board, which I can do myself. Prefered solution is to fix this board, if possible. Look like part of the board is not powered.

Agreed. There are 3 big switching regulators on the board:
- 12V - it is working, since it powers the gimbal
- 5V - it is working, since it powers OFDM
- 3.6V - it powers FC. Since your FC doesn't respond, this may be the cause

Check whether you have 3.6V line. If you do - there are linear regulators on the FC board, so it still may be due to no power, but the easiest fix is to replace the whole FC board, unless you are really precise at soldering.

If there is no 3.6V, I would solve it by buying a cheapest pre-made switching regulator from china (last time I bought these for less than 1$) and solder it to the board, bypassing the damaged circuit. I would remove the coil and solder output of the regulator there, as cols have quite big pads.

It is possible to fix the regulator, replace the chip and check all capacitors etc. But buying that specific chip will cost you 10x more, and the work will additionally consume 10x the time of just soldering a small premade board.

If unsure, look here:
dji-hardware-schematics/phantom_3_pro_esc_center_board.pdf at master · mefistotelis/dji-hardware-schematics · GitHub

 

[petr22]

Hi, thanks for help. Could you please tell me which IC on main board is 3.6 V regulator?

My board is covered by some sort of black protective paint and it is hard to read description on IC without
scrapping off that black paint. I was able to locate two similar regulators with description TPS54340,
but there are TPS54531 in scematics.

 

[quaddamage]

Could you please tell me which IC on main board is 3.6 V regulator?

There is a coil near each regulator. One of the coils has the 3.6V on its output, and there is also a service pad "3V6" connected to the output. So just set your multimeter into resistance measurement, diode mode, and check which coil is shorted to the 3V6 service pad.

I was able to locate two similar regulators with description TPS54340,
but there are TPS54531 in scematics.

Looking at the markings, I doubt there is much difference between these two chip types. You probably just have a board from different production batch.

 

[petr22]

There is 3,64 V between GND and 3V6 service pad.

Looks like it is necessary to try another FC board. Is it possible to use FC board from Phantom 3 Standard version or they are different?

 

[quaddamage]

Ph3 Std has identical FC board with identical programming.

You can to confirm what happened to the FC by connecting the drone to Windows PC via its front USB.

- If the FC is starting, this will cause Windows to install drivers, and then you'll be able to use terminal to connect to the new serial port and get live view into what the FC is doing (you need to install Dji Assistant app for the driver to be present)
- If the FC is powered but fried, you will likely get USB device with ID 0000 - windows will not install drivers as this means its initial communitacion to the USB port (so-called handshake) has failed
- If FC is not powered (one of the linear regulators on its board is fried), Windows will not find any device

 

[petr22]

I found the main problem - I am blind and as I didnt see the cause - it was visible all the time.

IMU unit was tilted, but as tilt was similar to motor axis to the back of drone, I thought it was OK
- by comparing to another now dismantled Pro drone, it is definitelly not OK.

Problem is in FC board of course - whole FC board is not in level with main board and on one side, it is below
the surface of main board and soldered joints, looking OK when drone is not dismantled, are clearly
cracked when IMU unit is removed. Look like someone was already tried to repair the drone without
proper tools (and common sense) or open IMU unit using force only.

Now I desolder FC board and try to solder it where it should be.

 

[petr22]

Firmware update still not finish sucessfully, but log looks much better now:

[01232563]Version checking[3]...
[01232673][03 05][05] v34.2.0.9 -> v34.2.0.9 need upgrade.
[01232773][03 06][05] v2.4.13.0 -> v2.4.13.0 need upgrade.
[01232830][04 00][05] v1.41.0.0 -> v1.41.0.0 need upgrade.
[01232958][11 00][05] v1.7.15.1 -> v1.7.15.1 need upgrade.
[01233058][12 00][05] v1.10.0.0 -> v1.10.0.0 need upgrade.
[01233158][12 01][05] v1.10.0.0 -> v1.10.0.0 need upgrade.
[01233260][12 02][05] v1.10.0.0 -> v1.10.0.0 need upgrade.
[01233358][12 03][05] v1.10.0.0 -> v1.10.0.0 need upgrade.
[01245907][15 00][00] device not detected.
[01246002][17 00][05] v1.1.1.7 -> v1.1.1.7 need upgrade.
[01246183][17 01][05] v1.0.2.7 -> v1.0.2.7 need upgrade.
[01246273][19 00][05] v1.0.8.96 -> v1.0.8.96 need upgrade.
[01246347][01 00][05] v1.29.4920 -> v1.29.4920 need upgrade
[01246397][01 01][05] v1.29.4920 -> v1.29.4920 need upgrade
[01258952][08 00][00] device not detected.
[01259008][09 00][05] v2.13.0.0 -> v2.13.0.0 need upgrade.
[01259059]Packet upgrade failed at version checking.

 

[quaddamage]

Well, that is the problem I described just 20 minutes ago here:
No live feed after gimbal repair, everything else works

You probably no longer have live feed on your mobile, right?

 

[petr22]

There is something wrong here - DJI force user to perform firmware upgrade, which fry poorly cooled overheating PCB.
Great, repairing it will be more fun than soldering that FC board off and on again.

Will try to start drone again with camera from Advanced, there is no cooler, it should not overheat when sitting on the table.

Look like problem now is only camera, which was working before on another drone. One problem solved, another created

 

[Oso]

There is something wrong here - DJI force user to perform firmware upgrade

Updates are optional. Many people, myself included, choose to not update. I am running 1.4 on my P3P and 1.6 on my P3A.

which fry poorly cooled overheating PCB.

Yes, I agree. The overheating has been a problem since the P3 was released. We have recommended often over the last 2+ years that people use some sort of cooling.
A few of us have said that the fan on a P3P gimbal top board is mostly decorative.

The need for some sort of cooling during updates is also noted in the most often referenced P3 update guide.
Updating remote firmware using micro USB

 

[petr22]

There is some progress.

Video feed does not work.

But that thing really fly now - all systems working (except video, of course).

Just dont understand how was possible that FC board was pushed few milimeters bellow main board level, breaking all joints. Top cover including GPS is intact, but it look like someone tried to open IMU unit.

 

[quaddamage]

dont understand how was possible that FC board was pushed few milimeters bellow main board level, breaking all joints.

In all the boards I've seen, the hole for FC boards had narrow "stands" from two sides, so I never seen FC to go lower as well. But I've seen these stands causing main board to split - after all it is glued multilayer FR4 board. I've seen that on a crashed drone - gimbal was broken as well.

 

[petr22]

Yes, that was the scary part - on one side, this narrow stand is ripped off and bend - but looking from the side, it look like it is only material, not conductive paths here.

Now it look much better.

PC140001

• petr22
• Dec 15, 2017