I just got this drone and it will bye my first drone ever. It is the 3DR number S110A with the Go-Pro 4. There is no manual with it and i need a manual as well as need to know what software to download to fly it. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 so i am curious if that will work or not. Any help or advice is much appreciated as i am extremely new to this whole drone stuff.
Just received a 3DR Solo for free from a friend and need some help
- Thread starter MrRags
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Hi MrRags, Pretty much everything you initially need is on this site. Check out the recent posts over the past couple of months - several mirror your exact situation.
The manual is online - "3DR Solo" ... search it out, bookmark it!!
Depending on your Solo's history, if not new-in-box, will determine how much work is involved to update the firmware. If NIB, it requires a firmware upgrade, not a trivial job but very doable. It's possible that it's updated - power up the controller, then the SOLO. IF the controller screen is stuck on "Waiting For Solo" after 2 minutes or so, maybe pairing is required..., so:
Get the manual, and go to the "Pairing" section to link the controller and drone. After they are paired, tell us what the screen says after they pair. This will indicate what has to be done.
IF you are on Facebook, there is a group to check out..."JB's 3DR Solo Owners Group".
All the help you need is out there and here - ask questions, but sift thru all the posts on this site.
___
Power them up after checking the manual - we need to know what the screen says after power up, following the Waiting For Solo screen.
Don't be a stranger & GL!
The manual is online - "3DR Solo" ... search it out, bookmark it!!
Depending on your Solo's history, if not new-in-box, will determine how much work is involved to update the firmware. If NIB, it requires a firmware upgrade, not a trivial job but very doable. It's possible that it's updated - power up the controller, then the SOLO. IF the controller screen is stuck on "Waiting For Solo" after 2 minutes or so, maybe pairing is required..., so:
Get the manual, and go to the "Pairing" section to link the controller and drone. After they are paired, tell us what the screen says after they pair. This will indicate what has to be done.
IF you are on Facebook, there is a group to check out..."JB's 3DR Solo Owners Group".
All the help you need is out there and here - ask questions, but sift thru all the posts on this site.
___
Power them up after checking the manual - we need to know what the screen says after power up, following the Waiting For Solo screen.
Don't be a stranger & GL!
Thank you very much for the info. I will look around. Just kinda got excited as this is my first drone so I am super what to play. I’m not on Facebook and I have been trying to find an alternative app to use as the solo app is gone and the soles app is only android and I have an iPhone 
Of course you want to play, and so you will, but not today! Please take the time to get your head around all the information.Thank you very much for the info. I will look around. Just kinda got excited as this is my first drone so I am super what to play. I’m not on Facebook and I have been trying to find an alternative app to use as the solo app is gone and the soles app is only android and I have an iPhone
As indicated before, what initially appears on the screen is necessary to chose the correct path.
Was your Solo brand new, or did it come via another pilot or Ebay, or whatever? Need to know.
Keep us posted.
I should add that you will be able to fly Solo just fine without an app initially...we'll worry about apps later...
In rereading your post, someone gave it to you- good friend! If you can, find out when he/she last flew it and is it updated to "OpenSolo 4". Thanks...
It was by brother in-laws son. He has a ton of money and never used it much. Last time he flew it was 1 year ago. Came with 4 batteries so that’s pretty sweet. Basically it looks brand new as he said he didn’t fly it much. He doesn’t know about any updates so it’s probably not updated. Any advice though helps. Oh and I’ll take my time as I can’t afford a new one LOL
Plus I have never really been on forums much so I’m not all that good at finding what I need on them but I shall give it a shot so I can update the firmware if needed.
OK, if he didn't know about any updates it's probably stock.
Couple quick questions: Do you have a PC? If so and you're comfortable with it there are several apps that will be helpful for doing the upgrade.
Are you comfortable working on small electromechanical devices? Opening the Solo is fairly trivial and may be necessary - maybe.
----
Batteries: Here's the deal - they are ALL end of life due to the chemistry...they might look good and charge up to all lights, but really can fail at any time. You're going to need to address the battery situation at some point, after getting her updated. Not trying to scare you, but you need to be aware - please read this:
A quick tutorial on Solo battery maintenance.pdf
drive.google.com
You will get thru this, one way or another as there are options as you probably know by now.
There is so much info out there it can get overwhelming...
But let's leave it at that for right now - knowing what the screen says right now, in it's present state,
is absolutely required.
Almost all the Solo history from Day 0 (I think that was 2015) is in Solo threads here, you can search on keywords, like "Solo Battery" or "OpenSolo", etc.
Since you are now a forum guy (!?) you can also check out :
diydrones and tab to GROUPS then SOLO. Inactive now, but the history lesson is worth reading.
The Solo is a great bird, despite 3DR's corporate issues. You'll be hooked.
Man I sure hope you’re right. I will check out the battery info link you sent. I have a laptop and good to go on pc stuff as well as taking small things apart. The battery thing sucks as I thought I hit pay dirt with 4 of them . I will check out that link you sent soon. I did find something about open solo 4 soft launch so I guess I will research that also. Sounds like I probably won’t be flying anytime real soon and that sucks but hey atleast I have one right. You have been awesome so far so please don’t be a stranger as well.
. I will check out that link you sent soon. I did find something about open solo 4 soft launch so I guess I will research that also. Sounds like I probably won’t be flying anytime real soon and that sucks but hey atleast I have one right. You have been awesome so far so please don’t be a stranger as well.I will let you know tomorrow what the controller says when I boot both of them up but man I am half scared to do that right now since I don’t understand it all. I’m afraid it’s just gonna take off and leave me LOL
No worries, I, like many as you'll find out, are serious about keeping these birds up...I'm retired and have almost limitless free time in the Vermont winter.Man I sure hope you’re right. I will check out the battery info link you sent. I have a laptop and good to go on pc stuff as well as taking small things apart. The battery thing sucks as I thought I hit pay dirt with 4 of them
If you do open the Solo, it's painless. Seven screws, trey out, one more screw, bingo.
Good on the PC thing, makes it much easier up-front as there is an app you'll use a lot post-flights,
for reviewing logs, tweaking performance, etc.
Yup, the battery thing reeks and sucks but it's straight physical chemistry, not reversable.
Hitting the rack, CU tomorrow.
John (aka PuppaJoe)
TAKE THE PROPS OFF! They screw off per the marking on the props. CU tomorrow, John
Thanks for all the help and I’m in eastern Oregon so I know a lot about the frigid times we are living in right now. I so appreciate the help and wish to apologize now because I already know I will have a lot more questions for you coming soon. Sleep tight 
I have a stupid question for you. When the guy that gave me the 3DR last flew it, he said everything worked fine. Besides not having the Solo app anymore, why is it necessary to upgrade all this stuff like firmware, etc if it was working right in the first place. I am sure the firmware gives you extra cool features but honestly all i want to do is fly it around and take pictures and videos so i do not really care about other stunt type features or speeding it up at all. I did read the battery page and that sucks. I wish i had one of those testers but unfortunately i don't. My Samsung is way to big to fit in the holder and it appears that the Solex app is only to be used on the Androids and I only have an Iphone that will fit in the holder. Man it was a nice gesture on his part but i now know why he just freely gave it to me LOL.
Nevermind my last statement as i was doing some searching and came across another thread just like mine where "You" actually send the person some more info and downloads. Hopefully those downloads are still up to date ones. If not please let me know soon. See below your comments at that time.
None of the original 3DR support sites exist today, an issue as your new Solo is going to try and update as soon as you power up. It will stall there.
I'm not a SOLEX user. I've brought four Solos back to life by reflashing both the SD cards (controller has one as well as the companion computer in the bird) to OpenSolo 4.01. It's not painful, but extracting the cards and cleaning off the hot glue is a bit tedious. After flashing you can fly after doing the magnetometer and compass calibrations.
The existing cards can be remotely updated using a PC and "WinSCP" - the files are linked below.
Also, be very careful with the old batteries - they may appear good and show all the lights, but they are getting ancient for LiPOs. An old battery can go from 40% to 10% or less in 30 seconds. See link below on that subject.
Get her flying! Best luck!
SD Files For Direct Flash: Open Solo 4 SD Card Images
Battery Info!! : A quick tutorial on Solo battery maintenance.pdf
Solo Parts, start here: JB Mod Parts | Home
WINSCP: WinSCP
None of the original 3DR support sites exist today, an issue as your new Solo is going to try and update as soon as you power up. It will stall there.
I'm not a SOLEX user. I've brought four Solos back to life by reflashing both the SD cards (controller has one as well as the companion computer in the bird) to OpenSolo 4.01. It's not painful, but extracting the cards and cleaning off the hot glue is a bit tedious. After flashing you can fly after doing the magnetometer and compass calibrations.
The existing cards can be remotely updated using a PC and "WinSCP" - the files are linked below.
Also, be very careful with the old batteries - they may appear good and show all the lights, but they are getting ancient for LiPOs. An old battery can go from 40% to 10% or less in 30 seconds. See link below on that subject.
Get her flying! Best luck!
SD Files For Direct Flash: Open Solo 4 SD Card Images
Battery Info!! : A quick tutorial on Solo battery maintenance.pdf
Solo Parts, start here: JB Mod Parts | Home
WINSCP: WinSCP
GM! The short version is that 3DR dropped the Solo and essentially all support. This froze the firmware at that point, but there were existing problems regarding an electrical issue that made flying somewhat risky. Plus, the 3DR firmware was not the mainline Arducopter code - the Solo had it's own branch of now unsupported code. A team of volunteers put together OpenSolo to allow the Solo to be upgraded.
Your problem is that the old firmware cannot be updated - it would fly Solo, but with the original scheme one could not advance the arming process due to the firmware thinking it was time for an upgrade.
Once OpenSolo gets installed you will be able to fly around and take video, etc, if you desire.
SO, what is the screen telling you? Were you able to determine if the bird and controller are paired? John
I'm at work right now but get off in a half hour so i will head home and test it out then update you on what the screen says. So how exactly do you install the opensolo? Will i need to download a certain software to connect to it to update the firmware? This is the part i'm confused on how to do. I do have the 3 files downloaded onto a usb drive that i found on your other post.
OpenSolo can be installed three ways - one of which is via an app, SOLEX, which doesn't apply here.
See the attached link - you can do it via a PC using WINSCP (free, good PC app), that allows one to modify the Linux file system on Solo & controller.
I use method two, which involves removing the SD cards from the companion computers in both SOLO and controller. They are secured with a blob of hot glue, which is very carefully scraped and picked away with an Xacto knife and/or tweezers. The two cards are reflashed using Balena Etcher, another PC free, good app to have. Two of the three files are used there. Finally, the autopilot Cube
is flashed from the PC via USB - (the Cube has a USB port).
Following that, with the SD cards updated and reinserted, and everything put back together it will
do its thing and be ready for calibration and flight.
So it boils down to what one is most comfortable doing.
Read This: Install via SSH
WINSCP: WinSCP
Balena Etcher: balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives
Mission Planner - Installing Mission Planner — Mission Planner documentation
(Mission Planner is needed to flash the Cube, and is the app that allows flight logs to be analyzed and performance tuning, etc. You definitely want this app!
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