Tx and Solo are no longer friends

1tom2go · Sep 11, 2016

I flew today and had a great flight (see video below). I changed batteries and then drove up the river I was at and got Solo out for another flight. The Tx stayed in the Finding Solo but Solo seemed normal with all the normal sounds and colors when it was ready to fly. I restarted everything several times and unplugged batteries in everything. no luck. I submitted a ticket to 3DR support, then I came home.

In summary, no connection to Solo, no wifi on phone, Solo seems normal.

I searched this site and read several good threads. The orange light inside my transmitter is steady and not blinking, which I read means it's not transmitting (pics below). Is this true as far as you all know? I don't plan to hard-reset it unless I have no choice. After I give 3DR a few day, I may take a look to see if something is loose inside such as the wifi card or some SD card. Thanks it, thanks for reading. It's not a big deal and I plan to get it settled and be flying sometimes soon.

Some pics...

Todays first flight before losing link...

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Chadbobb · Sep 12, 2016

You and I had an identical day yesterday. Even your video looks similar to mine.

Solid orange light. I am requesting a replacement controller. I don't want to swap the vehicle out, it has been OK for the 5 flights I had. I hear the replacements are sometimes buggier than what people returned...

1tom2go · Sep 12, 2016

Chadbobb said:
You and I had an identical day yesterday. Even your video looks similar to mine.
Solid orange light. I am requesting a replacement controller. I don't want to swap the vehicle out, it has been OK for the 5 flights I had. I hear the replacements are sometimes buggier than what people returned...

It did great for about 14 flights. Have you talked to customer service yet?

Chadbobb · Sep 12, 2016

I think they are closed until tomorrow morning. I sent them an email yesterday after spending 4-5 hours doing factory reset a few times before it was finally successful. It had control again for a flight (i was in the house and didn't actually take off). It went through the exact same sequence a second time for me that it had earlier.

Ist time:
1. Wifi wouldn't turn off even when controller and vehicle were off.
2. Remove batteries after multiple power cycles.
3. Power back on and get solid "Waiting for solo"

2nd time:
1. Wifi wouldn't turn off even when controller and vehicle were off.
2. Look at back when controller is off and notice the red LED is still on solid. Yes, controller was off.
3. Remove batteries after multiple power cycles.
4. Power back on and get solid "Waiting for solo"

1tom2go · Sep 12, 2016

It looks like my light is off when the controller is off. What do you mean your wifi wouldn't turn off?

Chadbobb · Sep 12, 2016

It seems to only do that once in the transition from working to not working. Meaning, you can fly and everything runs correctly. At the end of that flight you turn it off thinking that you turned it off. The controller screen turns off - but the LED you can see through the back does not and neither does the wifi. Removing the battery finally turns the wifi off and the LED. On the next power cycle, no wifi. Each time I power off now, it turns off correctly and that includes turning off the internal red LED.

After finally getting a factory reset and firmware upgrade to work, it did once again on the next off power cycle. But now I am right back where I was - No wifi on phone, "waiting for Solo," and solid orange LED.

1tom2go · Sep 12, 2016

As I found in previous threads, it may be a hardware problem with something loose, so that may be why nothing helps that we have done. If I don't talk to 3DR customer service this week, I will probably open it up and see if something is loose. I should probably just do it now...

1tom2go · Sep 12, 2016

Here's another thread I read in case you haven't seen it:
Controller will not power off, no WiFi from Solo

1tom2go · Sep 12, 2016

i'm working with support now.

1tom2go · Sep 14, 2016

Solo customer service has been good and fast. They are going to replace my controller since it seems the microSD card won't stay in.

PdxSteve · Sep 15, 2016

If you have any hot melt glue, you can do what they are going to do and put a drop on the sd card and save yourself a lot of time without the solo/controller. Put card in, make sure solo boots, put on clue, close up and done.

1tom2go · Sep 16, 2016

PdxSteve said:
If you have any hot melt glue, you can do what they are going to do and put a drop on the sd card and save yourself a lot of time without the solo/controller. Put card in, make sure solo boots, put on clue, close up and done.

No luck, card wont stay in. when you push it in, even hard, the catch mechanism doesn't keep it in as normal. After a week of working with 3DR support, I think I am going with the path of least resistant...Amazon replacement and I'll have a new bird in a week. Should I fix the card as soon as I get the new one?