Gimble not found

[MitchG123]

Brand new drone, I installed the gimbal and ran the suggested updates upon unboxing the drone and it appears to be working correctly as the green light is flashing on the back. Video feed and everything works smoothly to the phone however I cannot adjust the preset angles for the gimbal. I took the gimbal off and made sure the wires were not interfering but when I got it reassembled it it still shows gimbal not found. Any sugguestions?! Thanks

 

[Maddog]

Welcome Mitch, can you move the gimbal up & down with the paddle on the upper left corner of the controller?
Sometimes you need to "double-click" the angle preset buttons to get the gimbal to move.

Your post is a little confusing.

Are you on IOS or Android?

Sometimes it helps to start the controller and Solo 1st. After The controller recognizes Solo, start your phone and connect to Solo wi-fi, then fire up the Solo app.

 

[MitchG123]

no I cannot move it up and down with that upper left paddle. and I'm using IOS. I feel as though i've tried to double click and many other things however nothing really happens. I hold in the button to lock in the angle but have no way of changing the pre set angle so both 1 and 2 are pre set to 90 degrees

 

[Maddog]

Ok, now I'm with ya. If the paddle doesn't work Solo isn't recognizing the gimbal at all and the preset switches won't work either.

You might try uninstalling and reinstalling the Solo app on your phone.

Here's a thread that might help:
Waiting for Solo

Or you might need to do a stick calibration. Sometimes it fixes some really weird issues. You will need to download a program called "putty" to your computer. Then connect Solo wifi to your computer by turning on the Solo controller. Then find the Solo wifi on tour computer and connect.
Here are detailed instructions from there:
http://thepaperfile.com/public/3dr/calibration.sticks.windows.pdf

 

[h8id]

I installed a gimbal on a Solo I use for mapping and had the green "breathing" gimbal light, erratic gimbal response to movement, and "Solo gimbal not found" on tbe controller display. The I remembered setting the gimbal selection to "None" in Mission Planner. Connected to Mission Planner and selected "3DR Solo Gimbal" ... Problem solved... In my case a self created problem, but I find it possible that many people who resolve this with Factory Resets might just need to look at Mission Planner. Worth checking into if you have this issue

 

[Elmeromero]

Hi Guys,
I am needing some help getting gimbal to be recognized. The controller says gimbal not recognized and there I have no control over the gimbal. The gimbal has the breathing green light on, and stabilizes itself if moved in a different position. SO the gimbal does work, just isn’t recognized, nor does the app show a firmware version for the gimbal. Seems like a software issue since the gimbal does stabilize. Any help would be great. The Drone has the latest updates. I am using a Gopro 3+Black, which video has colored lines that come in. Never a clear feed, unless camer is switched to photo out of video.


Any help would be great, thank you

 

[jimloss]

Hi Guys,
I am needing some help getting gimbal to be recognized. The controller says gimbal not recognized and there I have no control over the gimbal. The gimbal has the breathing green light on, and stabilizes itself if moved in a different position. SO the gimbal does work, just isn’t recognized, nor does the app show a firmware version for the gimbal. Seems like a software issue since the gimbal does stabilize. Any help would be great. The Drone has the latest updates. I am using a Gopro 3+Black, which video has colored lines that come in. Never a clear feed, unless camer is switched to photo out of video.


Any help would be great, thank you

Regarding gimbal problem - try this startup order and launch from a paved surface (not grass):
1) Controller
2) Gopro - DO NOT touch the GoPro or gimbal after the Solo is powered on
3) Solo - DO NOT move the Solo after powering it on
4) After Controller connects with Solo, connect your phone/tablet and app.

Regarding video problem: try setting the GoPro video to a lower resolution and frame rate - try 1080 and 30. Some phone/tablets have problems with higher settings. You'll have to experiment.

 

[Elmeromero]

Thank you for the reply. I the video quality was at 1080, i followed the steps and still the gimble has green breathing light, if i touch it stabilizes, so i know it works. Yet remote still says no gimbal found, and app has no firmware number for it. This is bugging me, I have power, the gimbal works because it adjusts with every moment of the drone, just cant use the gimbal controls on remote. Any other ideas? 3DR is no help since, I have emailed and no response.

 

[AcE Krystal]

Thank you for the reply. I the video quality was at 1080, i followed the steps and still the gimble has green breathing light, if i touch it stabilizes, so i know it works. Yet remote still says no gimbal found, and app has no firmware number for it. This is bugging me, I have power, the gimbal works because it adjusts with every moment of the drone, just cant use the gimbal controls on remote. Any other ideas? 3DR is no help since, I have emailed and no response.

Solved mine!

I had this problem too! Gimbal starts up normal as usual, green breathing light and all. But :
- Can't control the GoPro at all from the mobile phone,
- Can't control the GoPro (start stop record) from the remote
- Can't rotate the GoPro (gimbal) up or down.
= Together means, Gibal (and attached GoPro) are taking zero external commands while internal commands (stabilizing) works fine.
= Also the Gimbal can't talk back as the remote correctly states "no gimbal found".

I switched to a 2nd gimbal, and still same symptoms, so that means it is a problem in the drone somewhere...
Starting from the connectors I worked my way up, expecting a lose wire at the pcb or something.

Turned out it was not a lose wire, but really really bad soldering!
The place where the gimbal data wires meet the solo-main pcb had a soldering bridge between 2 wires (luckily 1 data and 1 gnd, so no real harm done most likely).
Here some footages :

This is interesting* as the older Solo has much nicer (not great, but ok) soldering. See here my older Solo :

On my new Solo you can clearly see the soldering bridge error made by using to much solder, and/or not enough heat, and/or not enough flux. This can be fixed pretty easy by using a soldering iron and some flux or solder removal tools. Afterwards my gimbal is 100% functional!

May it help many more people =^.^=

*PS. Kinda interesting as I started speculating why the quality was so different, got lots of idea's including assembly dates after 3DR gave up on Solo X3.

 

[Maddog]

Solved mine!

I had this problem too! Gimbal starts up normal as usual, green breathing light and all. But :
- Can't control the GoPro at all from the mobile phone,
- Can't control the GoPro (start stop record) from the remote
- Can't rotate the GoPro (gimbal) up or down.
= Together means, Gibal (and attached GoPro) are taking zero external commands while internal commands (stabilizing) works fine.
= Also the Gimbal can't talk back as the remote correctly states "no gimbal found".

I switched to a 2nd gimbal, and still same symptoms, so that means it is a problem in the drone somewhere...
Starting from the connectors I worked my way up, expecting a lose wire at the pcb or something.

Turned out it was not a lose wire, but really really bad soldering!
The place where the gimbal data wires meet the solo-main pcb had a soldering bridge between 2 wires (luckily 1 data and 1 gnd, so no real harm done most likely).
Here some footages :

This is interesting* as the older Solo has much nicer (not great, but ok) soldering. See here my older Solo :

On my new Solo you can clearly see the soldering bridge error made by using to much solder, and/or not enough heat, and/or not enough flux. This can be fixed pretty easy by using a soldering iron and some flux or solder removal tools. Afterwards my gimbal is 100% functional!

May it help many more people =^.^=

*PS. Kinda interesting as I started speculating why the quality was so different, got lots of idea's including assembly dates after 3DR gave up on Solo X3.

Thanks- you probably gave hope to many hopeless owners!
Are you referring to the 2 big silver blobs?

I know from experience that cold solder joints can cause intermittent problems that are nearly impossible to find.

And we have found out that the soldering on most of Solo is total crap.

 

[RichWest]

On my new Solo you can clearly see the soldering bridge error made by using to much solder, and/or not enough heat, and/or not enough flux. This can be fixed pretty easy by using a soldering iron and some flux or solder removal tools. Afterwards my gimbal is 100% functional!

May it help many more people =^.^=

*PS. Kinda interesting as I started speculating why the quality was so different, got lots of idea's including assembly dates after 3DR gave up on Solo X3.

Very interesting, thanks for the photos and info. It seems there have been issues with components that were hand soldered. I blame it on experience and lead-free solder, but sure it seems more prevalent with end of production units. Your example implies basic testing was random rather than 100% as it should have been. Live and learn...glad you were able to trouble shoot and resolve.

Since your iron is hot, may want to check the power leads on the motor pods....

 

[Maddog]

I too was thinking it might be the lead-free solder. Sounds like it's harder to work with.

 

[RichWest]

I'm unsure how anyone works with it, it has such a narrow working temp. I've seen it done, but they were pros that do it all day...

 

[just_bruce]

It really depends on the percentages in the solder. Usage of the wrong lead-free solder will indeed make it exceptionally difficult to work with. As will using the wrong or insufficient flux.

I use a Tin/Silver/Copper/Antimony solder and a no clean flux designed for it. It's hella expensive so I often use leaded solder if I don't have to sell it.