The naze32, flip32 flight controller does not connect to CleanFlight? Installing drivers and updating firmware

One of the most common problems beginners have when starting out with naze32, flip32 controllers is difficulty with the initial connection to the CleanFlight setup program.

Installing the driver for the controller

Before you start working with the controller and the CleanFlight program, you must install the CP210x serial converter drivers if you do not already have them installed. It is very easy to check if the drivers need to be installed. In the CleanFlight program at the top of the COM port selection drop-down list there should be a virtual COM port, which is created when the controller is connected to USB, and in the list of installed devices in Windows there should be such a device installed:

If an uninstalled device is present in the list when connecting, you need to install the drivers.
The driver can be downloaded from the official website of the manufacturer of the CP210x serial port converter chip:
For Windows: here
For other platforms: here

After the driver is installed, the port on which the controller is connected should appear in the drop-down list of the CleanFlight program. You can try pressing the "Connect" button, but most likely you will get this error in the log when trying to connect:
2015-09-12 @ 18:44:50 -- Serial port successfully opened with ID: 3
2015-09-12 @ 18:45:00 -- No configuration received within 10 seconds, communication failed
2015-09-12 @ 18:45:00 -- Serial port successfully closed

The point is that new versions of Cleanflight Configurator are not always compatible with old, outdated firmware, which can be filled in by the manufacturer during board production. And that is why the program does not connect to your controller and connection timeout occurs.

To avoid this problem, it is necessary to update the controller firmware to the latest available version.

How to update CleanFlight firmware

1. First of all, select the port to which the controller is connected at the top of the program (usually it is selected automatically by the program).
   
   If there is no port, check if the device is connected, if the power LEDs are lit and most importantly if the CP210x serial converter driver is installed.
2. Go to the "Firmware Flasher" tab
3. In the firmware version drop-down list, select the latest available version for your controller. For example for naze32, flip32 this would be version "1.x.x NAZE release date". The checkboxes can be left unchecked.
4. Next, click on the "Load Firmware [Online]" button at the bottom.
   
   A message will be displayed that the firmware has been loaded online on your computer. (Loaded Online Firmware: (xxxxxx bytes))
   
5. Now you can start flashing the controller. Click on the "Flash Firmware" button, it will start loading into the controller and checking the firmware.
   
   After that you should get a message about successful loading.
   

The firmware has been successfully updated and now you can safely try to connect to the controller via the "Connect" button.

Share: