MultiWii

I just completed building a quad and am having all types of issues connecting to the board to set it up.

I've tried all combinations of arduino IDEs, MultiWii config GUIs, updated FTDI drivers, etc...

The board is the CRIUS SE, using their supplied FTDI basic breakout
The computer is a Mac, running Lion 10.7.3

When I plug the FTDI serial adapter into the USB port, I checked the console. There are 2 entries:
4/11/12 3:42:58.000 PM kernel: 0 0 AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed
4/11/12 3:42:59.000 PM kernel: FTDIUSBSerialDriver: 0 4036001 start - ok

I have installed the latest FTDI drivers and am able to see the usb serial drivers loaded in the /dev directory:

ls -l /dev/*usb*
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 18, 7 Apr 11 13:42 cu.usbserial-A1016LWY
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 18, 6 Apr 11 13:59 tty.usbserial-A1016LWY

Is there another test I can run to make sure the FTDI serial board is working correctly?

As soon as I plug the FTDI board on the controller board, the board powers up, the blue LED flashes then goes out. The red and orange LEDs stay lit.
Going back to the Console, I see these messages:
4/11/12 3:56:36.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13760.148 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfd120000)
4/11/12 3:56:39.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13763.149 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
4/11/12 3:56:40.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13763.991 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfd120000)
4/11/12 3:56:43.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13767.389 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
4/11/12 3:56:44.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13768.214 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfd120000)
4/11/12 3:56:45.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13769. 46 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily gave up enumerating a USB device after 10 retries. (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfd120000)
4/11/12 3:56:45.000 PM kernel: USBF: 13769. 46 [0xffffff800b9e0800] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.


I can start up the MultiWii GUI fine, and the comm port shows up in the list.
As soon as I connect it to the Crius board, the board powers up, then the GUI freezes.
When I go back to check the /dev directory, the FTDI adapter is no longer listed.

Checking in the Console, there are errors being written:
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: gnu.io.PortInUseException: serial madness
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at gnu.io.CommPortIdentifier.open(CommPortIdentifier.java:452)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.serial.Serial.<init>(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].--- last message repeated 1 time ---
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at MultiWiiConf_2_0.InitSerial(MultiWiiConf_2_0.java:842)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at MultiWiiConf_2_0.controlEvent(MultiWiiConf_2_0.java:740)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor3.invoke(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.ControlBroadcaster.invokeMethod(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.ControlBroadcaster.broadcast(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.ListBox.controlEvent(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.Controller.broadcast(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.Button.setValue(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.Button.mouseReleased(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.Controller.setMousePressed(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.ControllerGroup.setMousePressed(Unknown Source)
Apr 11 13:57:26: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at controlP5.ControlWindow.mouseEvent(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor8.invoke(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.core.PApplet$RegisteredMethods.handle(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.core.PApplet.handleMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.core.PApplet.dequeueMouseEvents(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.core.PApplet.handleDraw(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at processing.core.PApplet.run(Unknown Source)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:680)
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: ERROR. an error occured while forwarding a Controller value
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: to a method in your program. please check your code for any
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: possible errors that might occur in this method .
[0x0-0xa60a6].MultiWiiConf_2_0[742]: e.g. check for casting errors, possible nullpointers, array overflows ... .

the list of errors goes on.

When I start the Arduino IDE, the usb serial ports show up in the Tools > Serial Port menu. When trying to upload MultiWii_2_0 with the Crius SE board specified, it says the port is not found, and then it no longer appears in the options under Tools > Serial Port menu.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Update - I am able to connect to an Aruino uno board and upload the MultiWii_2_0 config to it. I am also able to connect the to the Config GUI using the arduino board going through the onboard USB connection on the arduino.

When I connect the USB cable to the arduino, the system messages in the console are:
4/11/12 4:30:49.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBCDCACMData: Version number - 4.1.15, Input buffers 8, Output buffers 16
4/11/12 4:30:49.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBCDC: Version number - 4.1.15

A lot different from what the FDTI board is getting back.

can you try
- another usb port on your computer?
- another ftdi adapter?

shaymus wrote:Is there another test I can run to make sure the FTDI serial board is working correctly?


Any ideas?

you should be able to use screen with the serial usb device ..



then send the 'M' char to mimic the gui , you should get some byte back

---

- verify that the ftdi voltage match the board voltage
- verfify that there enough ampere to power up your usb devices
- rmmod and try again

I tried a different FTDI cable and am now able to connect.

The FTDI basic connector that came with the Crius SE board does not work for me. I ordered a different board from Adafruit.com (FTDI Friend) and that did not work either.

I got the FTDI USB cable from Sparkfun.com and that worked. http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9718