Stuck in preflight update

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Hi. I am very new to 3DR gear having flown a number of different systems commercially in the UK over the last 3 years. I have received a 3DR Solo for a training client and they have asked me to set it up, but I am having a very frustrating time. I have searched the forum and found similar things but not identical so apologies if it is already on here somewhere and please point me in the right direction if that is the case.

I am using the Android version of the APP on a Nexus 7. It communicates fine with the Tx and Solo and allowed me to rename the network as suggested.

However, when I try to do the pre flight update I am having issues so I am wondering if I'm doing something wrong?

It downloaded the update. I clicked "begin" to update. A green bar extended across showing it going to the Tx but there was no indication at all on the Tx that anything was happening. It has now been on the Tx to solo indication with the indicator showing it is going to the solo for about 45 minutes.

The Tx is still showing "preflight update required before first flight Use 3DR Solo App to update" The aircraft has the solid white and red lights but is showing no indication at all that it is receiving the update. So it seems to have stalled at this point.

Any ideas gratefully received.
Thanks
Elliott
 
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I am having a similar issue. I powered up a Solo for the first time today and got hung trying to update it as well.

In the Android App the download appeared to go fine, green bar all the way across.
Then it went to downloading the app to the controller and the drone, the one that shows comms between the App, the Control, and the Drone. That also appeared to complete.
Then the App stated that it would be disconnected while the drone was updated. It stayed on that screen for a half an hour before I gave up and restarted everything. During the entire process the small screen on the controller never changed.
When I restarted the controller it stated that it was updating the drone then said it was complete and to reconnect the App and press the "A" button. When I did that the small screen on the display went back to wanting an update before first flight.

I tried the process several times with the same results, I even cleared the stored data on the App so that it would re-download the update.
 
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Then the App stated that it would be disconnected while the drone was updated. It stayed on that screen for a half an hour before I gave up and restarted everything. During the entire process the small screen on the controller never changed.
When I restarted the controller it stated that it was updating the drone then said it was complete and to reconnect the App and press the "A" button. When I did that the small screen on the display went back to wanting an update before first flight.

That is EXACTLY what is happening with me. Exactly the same. Hopefully someone can advise.
 
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I had the same problem i did this:

Factory Reset | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology

Everything worked after these procedures.

Hi, I tried that, it looked promising briefly but then went to exactly the same place again. Stuck on preflight update screen. It is definitely paired, is accepting setting changes and giving some telemetry. It also allowed me to set the A and B button in the app and responds to mode changes in the telemetry. It just won't do the pre-flight update. What am I missing!? Very frustrating!
 
You reset both Controller & Solo & then re-pair?
That is the definitive way of fixing the problem.
Call 3DR, they may walk you thur the same or different procedures?
 
You reset both Controller & Solo & then re-pair?
That is the definitive way of fixing the problem.
Call 3DR, they may walk you thur the same or different procedures?

Yes, I followed it exactly, the WiFi Ssid reverted to the original, and then I repaired the Tx and Solo but afterwards it had the same problem and trying to update gave the same result. I am now in communication with customer services.
 
I am having identical problems here. Have done the hard reset once and attempted the update from different Android devices. Still stuck. Glad to hear I'm not alone.
 
I have had the same issues, performed the reset, etc. and was stuck.

The way I 'fixed' it was to use my tablet to perform the software update and everything worked. For some reason my LG G3 phone would not update the Controller/Solo properly. Maybe a bad update download?
 
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I have had the same issues, performed the reset, etc. and was stuck.

The way I 'fixed' it was to use my tablet to perform the software update and everything worked. For some reason my LG G3 phone would not update the Controller/Solo properly. Maybe a bad update download?

I did wonder about that, but I have no alternative tablet. The app won't run on my phone.
 
I am having the same problem. This is my second Solo. The first was bought in July and everything went smooth. I returned it because the gimbal did not get released in time for our vacation and I had a lot of BB rewards that needed to be used.


This one not so much fun. I uninstalled the Android App, then did a factory reset several times. Nothing is working. It gets stuck on "This app will disconnect from Solo WiFi during the update" but proceeds no further. The controller stays on the 'preflight update' screen.

I also tried using a Droid Turbo after the Samsung Pro tablet wouldn't do it; same thing.

3DR responded quickly, but doing the factory reset did not help. This is frustrating because I've had this GP4 Black for 4 months and decided to give it a go again. Amazon had $200 off, and BB matched it, plus my good wife applied for a BB CC and got another 10% off in gift cards.

The only other solution is to do the process manually using Python (not a Mac user) and spending half the day figuring it out......been years since messing with this stuff. It feels like Groundhog Day.
 
I am having the same problem. This is my second Solo. The first was bought in July and everything went smooth. I returned it because the gimbal did not get released in time for our vacation and I had a lot of BB rewards that needed to be used.


This one not so much fun. I uninstalled the Android App, then did a factory reset several times. Nothing is working. It gets stuck on "This app will disconnect from Solo WiFi during the update" but proceeds no further. The controller stays on the 'preflight update' screen.

I also tried using a Droid Turbo after the Samsung Pro tablet wouldn't do it; same thing.

3DR responded quickly, but doing the factory reset did not help. This is frustrating because I've had this GP4 Black for 4 months and decided to give it a go again. Amazon had $200 off, and BB matched it, plus my good wife applied for a BB CC and got another 10% off in gift cards.

The only other solution is to do the process manually using Python (not a Mac user) and spending half the day figuring it out......been years since messing with this stuff. It feels like Groundhog Day.
Your saying 3DR isn't offering anymore help with your problem?
 
I'm pretty sure the folks at 3DR are discussing the problem, so no, I'm not saying they aren't offering more help. Inside the controller the red, green and orange lights are working properly.
The controller/Solo pair up properly. I'm stumped.

I don't find it coincidental that mine and all here appear to be newly purchased Solo's. It may be a coding issue with the updater?

I wonder if everyone having this issue is using an Android
 
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The way I 'fixed' it was to use my tablet to perform the software update and everything worked. For some reason my LG G3 phone would not update the Controller/Solo properly. Maybe a bad update download?
I thought of that, This is a friends Solo so I tried using my Samsung S6 that I used when I first updated mine and had the same results. SteveReno has described the problem best I think.

The only differences between this time and when I successfully updated mine is that:
  • I purchased directly from 3DR and he bought his at Best Buy
  • The Android App update rolled out this weekend.
 
I just got off the phone with 3DR. Apparently there is a new release coming out by the end of the day today that should fix this problem and give us better control of the camera.
 
This bug is killing me. I was foolish enough to attempt the factory reset and now am stuck in the preflight update prison.

I was promised a call back from 3dr on this by c.o.b, but I'm not optimistic.
I see how to update firmware on the pixhawk from the github releases. Anyone have info on how to manually get firmware on the controller using scp? I made commitments to fly tomorrow and need to get up in the air.
 
I made commitments to fly today, so took the day off work.....spent half of it trying to get the Solo to update but ran into this issue. I have other copters, but no gimbal with GP. The rest are RunCam/Mobious for FPV and one has a 27x zoom Vertigo not designed for taking good video.

Info for doing it manually is here:
Solo cli
"solo" Command Line Tool | 3DR Solo Development Guide

How to install Python on Windows
http://docs.python-guide.org/en/late...g/install/win/

Mac's are easier I'm told, but I don't own one. I really don't care to devote that much time until Winter sets in and we hibernate :)
 
I had this issue back in August and let 3DR know how to fix it. They blamed it on LG's Wifi. You'll need to use a separate device to update. Also get ready for constant disconnects at random while flying causing the Solo to RTL on it's own. This was such a safety issue I ended up returning it.
 

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