1 Man, 1 Solo, 2 remotes, and they all need help.

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I'm trying to get Solo to pair with a receiver and I'd really appreciate help from you guys.
I have some experience with building UAV's, not much but I have managed to build a few flying and functioning Pixhawk based aircraft over the past several months but this is my first company built pseudo-complete vehicle.

Here's my story, full disclosure (unless I forgot something)

1. I bought my Solo on Fri 6/28/17 on Ebay and it was listed "parts only" and described as a Best Buy return. I know that "parts only" means it probably isn't fully functional but I figured it was worth throwing $100 at, if nothing else, I can reuse the shell. I'd rather get it working though. Looking for a battery and charger for the remote, I came across a second remote complete with battery and charger. $35ish, cool. Bought that too

2. Solo arrived on Mon 6/31/17. Solo Smart battery and propellers were not included, but everything else was. Cool.

3. Connected Solo to non-solo 4S lipo, just to see if there's any life in it. Lights come on, all 4 fade through just about every color of the spectrum, occasionally lighting solid green one by one counterclockwise, starting with the right rear motor. Lights are on, it's chirping a little tune, I must be good to go, right?

4. Tried to bind the controller to Solo, push the bind button nothing happens on the controller end. Tried that a few more times and nothing.

5. Tried to connect to solo wifi but nothing, my tablet only shows my home WIFI router. That's weird. Hey, maybe Solo uses a super secret wifi thingy and you have to have the app installed to find it. Yeah, that must be it!

6. Download the Solo app from Google play, it downloads the update but won't send it to remote or solo because (duh) no Solo wifi, no bind.

7. It's now about 2AM, and I'm feeling a bit dejected, but I press on and give the remote exterior a better visual inspection. When I get to the top, I look at where the HDMI-out port should be, I realize that I am staring into an abyss. Where is the HDMI port? I pull the remote apart to find that someone (presumably the individual who purchased and returned the Solo originally) has removed the entire assembly that contains the HDMI, Wifi card and other information exchanging gadgets. Great, I found my problem! I also just so happen to have a second remote already enroute- problem solved, problem staying solved?

8. Remote #2 arrives at my office, Solo is at home but I test the transmitter,
wifi signal- GO
connect device-GO
Solo simulator app-GO
Problem solved, problem staying solved? NO-GO

9. Get home Solo still won't bind. Try and try as I might, "waitin for Solo". FML

10. Factory reset UAV and transmitter, now Solo seems to start up as expected. LEDs cycle CCW green, multicolor, red back bluish white front and it stays like that. Hallelujah!

11. Grab the radio and lets bind! Press the button on solo, nothing. The transmitter is stuck on stupid preflight update stupid screen. Hey, I've got a great idea......

11. Swap the backs out on the 2 controllers, now the original one that came with Solo has the radio/wifi/hdmi/ parts from receiver #2. Let's bind this thing! "Waitin for Solo"... Really?


*Oh yeah* After the LEDs on Solo have cycled up to the red rear whitish front, they stay that way for a few minutes and then go back to the multicolor fading thing with the chirps. I don't know how to type out what the chirp tune sounds like so click this link: Dropbox - KVID0169.mp4


I think I covered everything but I'm probably wrong. If anyone can tell me what my next step should be, that would be great.

Thanks
 
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I'd guess a corrupted pixhawk or pixhawk firmware file. Also, it seems SOLO isn't putting out any signal on WiFi. Check the antenna connections. Also, check the SDCard in case it needs reseating.
 
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I'd guess a corrupted pixhawk or pixhawk firmware file. Also, it seems SOLO isn't putting out any signal on WiFi. Check the antenna connections. Also, check the SDCard in case it needs reseating.

I've checked the connections and the SD card looks like it was gorilla glued into place, pretty sure it's not coming out without a grinder. I was leaning towards the Solo not transmitting thing so I ordered a couple of wifi cards today. Is there any way to verify weather or not the solo itself is sending out a signal? Aside from the controller that is.
Also. Can I connect to the micro USB port on the pixhawk to see if it's good?
 
You could try wireshark.

As for the SD card glue - well, I've 'fixed' a couple by breaking that glue with a razor and reseating the card. Seems that Chinese factory might not have had the top-o-the-line QC team....

Check the orange LED in the pairing hole. If it's solid then Solo ain't transmittin'

And yes, you could connect to the pixhawk thru it's micro USB port. But it isn't recommended.
 
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You could try wireshark.

As for the SD card glue - well, I've 'fixed' a couple by breaking that glue with a razor and reseating the card. Seems that Chinese factory might not have had the top-o-the-line QC team....

Check the orange LED in the pairing hole. If it's solid then Solo ain't transmittin'

And yes, you could connect to the pixhawk thru it's micro USB port. But it isn't recommended.

The orange light nearest the reset button is blinking about 1x per second, maybe a bit faster. There is a solid green light just beside it.

There is a second much faster orange light at the rim of the pixhawk, where it meets the motherboard.
 
I'd guess a corrupted pixhawk or pixhawk firmware file. Also, it seems SOLO isn't putting out any signal on WiFi. Check the antenna connections. Also, check the SDCard in case it needs reseating.

If it is a firmware file, would installing the update fix that? If not, How?
 
Possibly the update could fix it. If that doesn't work, you'd need a direct connection to the pixhawk and your choice of flashing tools.

It also occurs to me there might be a clue in the /firmware directory on the companion computer. Look for an .failed file. But that's a bit of a shot in the dark.
 
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