FC not recognized by PC

[flitenewbie]

Hi,

after several days of unsuccessful attempts I decided to reach out to this forum, asking for help.

I'm building a mini FPV drone based on the MATEKSYS F405-CTR flight controller - link.

After some reading, I decided to flash BetaFlight firmware on the FC.

My computer is running Windows 10 64-bit, updated to build 17763.529.
MB: Asrock AB350M Pro4
CPU: Ryzen 5 1600
RAM: 16 GB


There's an issue with connecting it to my computer, it seems the system doesn't recognize it at all after plugging the FC in a USB port.
I don't even hear the "USB device connected" sound in Windows, and nothing happens in the Device Manager after connecting it.

LED lights when connected

• When connected as it is, one red LED stays lit all the time, while a blue one keeps flashing.
• When connected while holding a button on the FC (which I presume forces it to connect in bootloader mode), the red LED stays lit, and another small red LED turns on. No blue LED.

This is how my Device manager looks like, FC connected.

The COM1 port was already there before connecting FC - that's not the FC.

On some other forums I've seen people recommending to download the STM32 Virtual COM Port Driver VCP drivers - since this one is using VCP, not CP2012.
After downloading and installing the STM driver - specifically its Windows 8 version, since there were only Win7 and Win8 versions to choose from and I'm running Win10, the installation finished successfully, telling me the drivers are installed.

However, nothing changed. FC still doesn't get recognized at all. No changes in the Device manager either.

In a Youtube video, some guy used ZADIG software to update the drivers. However, when I tried and followed his steps, I don't have a STM32 BOOTLOADER option in ZADIG's list of devices.

So, I tried to google STM32 bootloader drivers, and after some digging, I downloaded basically the same VCP driver I was installing earlier. So, again, I install them, the message about successful installation appears, and boom. Nothing changed, no progress.


I noticed some people having similar issues were recommended to open Device Manager, find USB Serial Converter , go into Properties and -somewhere- tick the VCP option, to make virtual COM ports appear. Well, as you can see in the image above, I don't have USB Serial Converter.

After searching for a solution, I tried installing VSPD software - Virtual Serial Port Drive by Eltima.
There, I created a pair of virtual COM ports (COM2, COM3). They did appear in Device Manager next to the COM1 port.
However, since it didn't change anything either, I then deleted the pair in VSPD again and uninstalled that software.


Another thing which I tried was going into Device Manager - highlighting Ports (COM and LPT) section - Action - Add Legacy Hardware - manual selection - Ports (COM and LPT) - STMicroelectronics. - STMicroelectronics Virtual COM Port Version 1.4.0.0.
And, it results in a "This device cannot start" Code 10 error. Which is, apparently, a generic and non-descriptive error, coming from a damaged or corrupt driver and designed to ruin my mood for weeks.

Then I found about Impulse RC Driver Fixer software, which should basically find any connected FCs, download their drivers and install them automatically.
Tried it, but it gets stuck on "Searching for Flight Controllers...".. so yeah, that would be too easy, wouldn't it..

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


So, I tried the following:

• Installing the latest CP210x Drivers, rebooting - nothing changed
• Installing the latest STM USB VCP Drivers, rebooting - nothing changed
• Installing ZADIG - no STM32 BOOTLOADER option, or any other relevant option in the list
• Uninstalling every single USB driver in Device Manager, reinstalling them again - nothing changed
• Several driver updating software (Intel driver updater, avast driver updater etc) - they keep telling me my drivers are up to date
• Installing STM32 Virtual COM Port Driver - installation successful, nothing changed though
• Device Manager - Display - Show hidden devices - uninstall every single greyed out device, reboot PC - nothing changed
• Impulse RC Driver Fixer - doesn't even see the FC
• Updating Windows 10 and BIOS, nothing changed

Not sure if related, but...

• I think the issue might lie somewhere in my computer's USB drivers. I'm also unable to use an Arduino UNO board (knock-off, not an original arduino), where all of my attempts to make it work result in the same Code 10 driver error.

Thing is, I really don't know what's wrong. I reinstalled every single USB driver in the Dev.Manager, I made sure my chipset drivers are up to date.. I'm just clueless at this point.

Any help or tip is greatly appreciated.

 

[FDS]

Did you double check that your USB lead is a DATA cable not just a charging cable? Simple but easily overlooked.

 

[flitenewbie]

How could this happen to me.. Swapped the cable for a different one and now the STM32 bootloader shows up. Installed the driver in ZADIG, in BetaFlight DFU connection shows up, so I just flashed the firmware...

So this just happened.. I feel kinda vulnerable.. Thanks for your help though, this might be the fastest solution ever.. haha

 

[FDS]

Lucky for you I understand sweet FA about fixing drivers but do understand that if your cable doesn’t join two things it can’t carry data! So glad a simple analogue solution fixed your problem, made my day.
Happy flying!

 

[sprzout]

Did you double check that your USB lead is a DATA cable not just a charging cable? Simple but easily overlooked.

This very issue happened to me last week - I had wanted to tweak my Acrobee's Betaflight settings and thought I had brought a data cable with me on my trip. Turns out that the cord I had was a simple USB power cable that was for charging my Kindle, and wouldn't allow me to connect to the FC.

Luckily, my wife had brought an extra cable for her Fitbit charger that was a USB charging cable, and THAT turned out to be a data cable! Same

 

[Hondo76251]

Nice when its the simplest solution!

We've all been there!

 

[PsyBorg]

Yeah gonna throw a flag on the play here.....

I dont advise anyone to use auto driver updaters for anything. You cant trust 3rd parties to do things without adding something special to your computer. You may just reboot your computer to find a blue screen message with a Bitcoin wallet addy to send your payments to.

What we need drivers for are easily found and fixed when the need arisies.. no need to jeopardize your entire computer on 3rd party updaters.

 

[copyrightbreaker]

Something similar happened to me. But unfortunately not as easy. My drone is the GEPRC thinking p16 and was able to connect fine to my computer at the start but then accidentally flashed the wrong target to it and now it won't come up in Betaflight, Zadig, ImpulseRC, or Device Manager. I've tried multiple cables and computers. But the thing that gets me is that it was working perfectly fine and now its not.

 

[JasonK]

Something similar happened to me. But unfortunately not as easy. My drone is the GEPRC thinking p16 and was able to connect fine to my computer at the start but then accidentally flashed the wrong target to it and now it won't come up in Betaflight, Zadig, ImpulseRC, or Device Manager. I've tried multiple cables and computers. But the thing that gets me is that it was working perfectly fine and now its not.

you might need to hold down (or jumper) the boot loader button while powering it up, so you can reflash the firmware.

 

[copyrightbreaker]

you might need to hold down (or jumper) the boot loader button while powering it up, so you can reflash the firmware.

Yes, I've held down the boot button and still nothing. I was told somewhere that these things can't be bricked but It sure does feel like it.

 

[PsyBorg]

Yes, I've held down the boot button and still nothing. I was told somewhere that these things can't be bricked but It sure does feel like it.

You haven't by chance changed cables and are using a charge only one maybe? You can brick the read / write ability but you cant brick the connection unless you fried the usb port.

 

[copyrightbreaker]

You haven't by chance changed cables and are using a charge only one maybe? You can brick the read / write ability but you cant brick the connection unless you fried the usb port.

Yes, I just tested it with another device and the cable works fine. Now I'm a noob when it comes to this. I bought the drone pre made and maybe its because I'm not pushing the right button down. There are two buttons on two of the boards which I've tried both but the board that connects directly to the usb as far as I can tell doesn't have one. Interestingly this drone instantly worked with my googles and I didn't have to set anything up but just now I looked and the signal is extremely faint. and only works if its touching the antennas on the googles. Although thats probably all separate and has to do with the camera system.

 

[PsyBorg]

Win 7 and win 10 both have a problem with losing or resetting drivers to what Microsoft thinks they should use. If you do not get the "ding" when plugging in the usb then I would start by uninstalling all the drivers for hobby usb. then doing a cold restart (shut the computer off to clean out residual memory windows keeps so it doesn't immediately reload bad drivers on just a restart.

Then plug the fc in and run Immersionrc driver fixer tool and it should spring back to life. As for the video thing it has just lost track of the channel and they no longer match between the VTX and goggles. when you over wrote the old .hex you probably took out the VTX tables with it.

 

[sakapfet514]

How could this happen to me.. Swapped the cable for a different one and now the STM32 bootloader shows up. Installed the driver in ZADIG, in BetaFlight DFU connection shows up, so I just flashed the firmware...

So this just happened.. I feel kinda vulnerable.. Thanks for your help though, this might be the fastest solution ever.. haha

The same thing happened to me to me. It's been 3 days I try to figure out what the problem and I just change the cable and it work know. THANK YOU GUYS!