Problem with Firmware Upload & Quickly Depleting Controller Battery

[SixStarsDrone]

Greetings and my apologies in advance for the long read.

I’m a new EVO II Pro V2 user as well as a new drone user. I’ve been getting familiar with the EVO II Pro, getting all of the batteries charged for the aircraft itself as well as the controller.

I downloaded the Autel Explorer app on my Samsung S10 Galaxy. I was able to connect to the controller and everything seemed fine. I made a few quick adjustments like switching to imperial. I scrolled through most of the options to become more familiar. I rotated the gimbal and the image displayed perfectly.

Before I used the EVO II for the first time I thought that it would be best to check for firmware updates. There was one so I successfully downloaded it. I proceeded to upload it to the aircraft and this is when all my problems started. I got multiple error messages.

The first was “failed to send firmware, reboot aircraft and try again “. I tried several times and the only thing that happened was more error messages.

The second was “check your charger connection”. This made no sense because I was able to get everything to work properly before attempting to upload the firmware to the aircraft. I disconnected everything, turned everything off, reconnected everything again, turned everything back on again and everything was connecting and looked fine until I once again tried to upload the update.

The third was “the firmware can’t be upgraded while the device is charging “. I didn’t have any charger plugged in to anything at any point.

I was able to get all of these errors to reproduce numerous times. The aircraft battery was fully charged, the controller was at 86% which was a bit odd as I just fully charged it the night before and powered it on for the first time. The S10 was at 95%. The sd card is the one that came with the kit.

What am I missing? I called Autel tech support several times and left them a message and started a live chat with no response.

My other issue is the controller charging my S10 and rapidly depleting the controller battery. I read several posts on this forum that mention that this is “normal” especially with Android devices. Are there any other fixes other than adding a 39 Ohm resistor to the ground wire of the USB cable? I saw mention of putting a Samsung into developer mode? I really don’t want to plug in an external battery pack.

I honestly can’t comprehend that Autel hasn’t somehow disabled the controller from charging the phone. I realize that this may be an Android issue but they should be able to provide a suitable solution.

I also have an iPhone 11. Would that have the same charging issue? I haven’t tried it yet.

Thank you in advance.

 

[BlairAir]

Actually this is an issue with DJI and other drone makes as well. The issue, as I understand it is USB-C requires a power line open to transfer data, and my experience has shown this to be true. Ridiculous, but true. With IOS versions of DJI, Autel and others, you get a charging toggle to turn it off. Android? No choice, other than charging. You mentioned soldering a 39 ohm resistor into the cable. I wasn't familiar with that hack but it's brilliant and I will research it further. That being the case, if it actually works, I am stunned that folks aren't selling pre-made "no-charging" cables on ebay, Amazon or Etsy. Perhaps they are but I haven't seen them yet.
How did you make out with your FW update? Autel isn't winning elegant software design awards any time soon, often as not you need to resort to flashing via micro sdcard with a .bin file on it, or exe for V2 aircraft. Not to mention they pit the same version number for all variants of fw updates, and each new release sees dozens of failures and calls to support. I swear they are their own worst enemy in support sometimes.

 

[SixStarsDrone]

I found the idea of modifying the USB cable on this forum.

Using Android phone with Evo, battery drainage.

I used the explorer app with my Evo. Problem is that the controller automatically starts charging the phone battery and as a result, the remote controller starts losing its charge quickly. I checked my phone and there is no way to turn this off. Anyone know of another fix?

autelpilots.com

I did find mention in another post that you could order a pre-modified cable for $40 plus shipping which seems a bit steep.

The worst part of the mod to me is cutting back the outer sheathing to access the individual wires without cutting the wires themselves. But…if it works it’s worth the risk.

I haven’t tried the developer mode that’s also mentioned in the above post.

Have you used the Autel Explorer app for iPhone?

As for the firmware update, I have not completed it yet. I was hoping to be able to upload it through Autel Explorer but I may have to go the SD card route.

Now I’m not even sure I want to update the firmware after hearing so many mention bugs.

Are all drones plagued with this many issues?

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

I found the idea of modifying the USB cable on this forum.

Using Android phone with Evo, battery drainage.

I used the explorer app with my Evo. Problem is that the controller automatically starts charging the phone battery and as a result, the remote controller starts losing its charge quickly. I checked my phone and there is no way to turn this off. Anyone know of another fix?

autelpilots.com

I did find mention in another post that you could order a pre-modified cable for $40 plus shipping which seems a bit steep.

The worst part of the mod to me is cutting back the outer sheathing to access the individual wires without cutting the wires themselves. But…if it works it’s worth the risk.

I haven’t tried the developer mode that’s also mentioned in the above post.

Have you used the Autel Explorer app for iPhone?

As for the firmware update, I have not completed it yet. I was hoping to be able to upload it through Autel Explorer but I may have to go the SD card route.

Now I’m not even sure I want to update the firmware after hearing so many mention bugs.

Are all drones plagued with this many issues?

Why doing this?
Just take an external battery, connect it to your Micro-USB from remote, use the USB from remote to connect the phone.
Your external batt will power both RC and phone as this.
I have a big Tripltek 8" that is eating power more than your phone does, but even so, without external battery, I have 50 minutes of continuous power in RC, 10 hours and more if i connect my external 50.000 mAh battery like I said.
Cheers.

 

[SixStarsDrone]

Why doing this?
Just take an external battery, connect it to your Micro-USB from remote, use the USB from remote to connect the phone.
Your external batt will power both RC and phone as this.
I have a big Tripltek 8" that is eating power more than your phone does, but even so, without external battery, I have 50 minutes of continuous power in RC, 10 hours and more if i connect my external 50.000 mAh battery like I said.
Cheers.

I was trying to keep things simple and didn’t want to have to use an external battery if I didn’t have to. If I eventually upgrade to a larger display, which I most likely will, I may have to go this route.

What type of external battery do you use? Any pictures of your RC/Tripletek set up?

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

I was trying to keep things simple and didn’t want to have to use an external battery if I didn’t have to. If I eventually upgrade to a larger display, which I most likely will, I may have to go this route.

What type of external battery do you use? Any pictures of your RC/Tripletek set up?

I use a Romoss like this:

Acumulator extern Romoss 60000 mAh, 18W, 3x USB, Type C, Lightning, QuickCarge 3.0, afisaj digital LED, Negru - eMAG.ro

Cumpara Acumulator extern Romoss 60000 mAh, 18W, 3x USB, Type C, Lightning, QuickCarge 3.0, afisaj digital LED, Negru de la eMAG! Ai libertatea sa platesti in rate, beneficiezi de promotiile zilei, deschiderea coletului la livrare, easybox, retur gratuit in 30 de zile si Instant Money Back.

www.emag.ro

But is heavy, is used only when I have to deal with a very heavy footage that will take 6-7 hours for mapping.

I recommend you a 20.000 mAh from Romoss if you can find there, or Trust...both have very good power, in rest a lot of chinese crap that lies about output power a lot.

The connection is simple:
- From battery to controller: USB (in battery) to Micro-USB (in controller)
- from Controller to phone/tablet: USB (in controller) to whatever needed (USB-C, Micro-USB, Lighting).

Cheers.

 

[RGDMED]

Actually this is an issue with DJI and other drone makes as well. The issue, as I understand it is USB-C requires a power line open to transfer data, and my experience has shown this to be true. Ridiculous, but true. With IOS versions of DJI, Autel and others, you get a charging toggle to turn it off. Android? No choice, other than charging. You mentioned soldering a 39 ohm resistor into the cable. I wasn't familiar with that hack but it's brilliant and I will research it further. That being the case, if it actually works, I am stunned that folks aren't selling pre-made "no-charging" cables on ebay, Amazon or Etsy. Perhaps they are but I haven't seen them yet.
How did you make out with your FW update? Autel isn't winning elegant software design awards any time soon, often as not you need to resort to flashing via micro sdcard with a .bin file on it, or exe for V2 aircraft. Not to mention they pit the same version number for all variants of fw updates, and each new release sees dozens of failures and calls to support. I swear they are their own worst enemy in support sometimes.

 

[RGDMED]

Greetings and my apologies in advance for the long read.

I’m a new EVO II Pro V2 user as well as a new drone user. I’ve been getting familiar with the EVO II Pro, getting all of the batteries charged for the aircraft itself as well as the controller.

I downloaded the Autel Explorer app on my Samsung S10 Galaxy. I was able to connect to the controller and everything seemed fine. I made a few quick adjustments like switching to imperial. I scrolled through most of the options to become more familiar. I rotated the gimbal and the image displayed perfectly.

Before I used the EVO II for the first time I thought that it would be best to check for firmware updates. There was one so I successfully downloaded it. I proceeded to upload it to the aircraft and this is when all my problems started. I got multiple error messages.

The first was “failed to send firmware, reboot aircraft and try again “. I tried several times and the only thing that happened was more error messages.

The second was “check your charger connection”. This made no sense because I was able to get everything to work properly before attempting to upload the firmware to the aircraft. I disconnected everything, turned everything off, reconnected everything again, turned everything back on again and everything was connecting and looked fine until I once again tried to upload the update.

The third was “the firmware can’t be upgraded while the device is charging “. I didn’t have any charger plugged in to anything at any point.

I was able to get all of these errors to reproduce numerous times. The aircraft battery was fully charged, the controller was at 86% which was a bit odd as I just fully charged it the night before and powered it on for the first time. The S10 was at 95%. The sd card is the one that came with the kit.

What am I missing? I called Autel tech support several times and left them a message and started a live chat with no response.

My other issue is the controller charging my S10 and rapidly depleting the controller battery. I read several posts on this forum that mention that this is “normal” especially with Android devices. Are there any other fixes other than adding a 39 Ohm resistor to the ground wire of the USB cable? I saw mention of putting a Samsung into developer mode? I really don’t want to plug in an external battery pack.

I honestly can’t comprehend that Autel hasn’t somehow disabled the controller from charging the phone. I realize that this may be an Android issue but they should be able to provide a suitable solution.

I also have an iPhone 11. Would that have the same charging issue? I haven’t tried it yet.

Thank you in advance.

I am trying to get the firmware updated on my new Evo II Pro 6k and it will not upload. I am using a usb a with iOS. Am I missing something

 

[SixStarsDrone]

I am trying to get the firmware updated on my new Evo II Pro 6k and it will not upload. I am using a usb a with iOS. Am I missing something

Same problem here. I’d like for one of the seasoned EVO II Pro owners to confirm that updating the firmware should be done by downloading to the micro SD card versus trying to download/upload through Autel Explorer app. This seems to be the preferred method or maybe the only method that works.

As I stated above I was able to download the firmware update using an Android phone and Explorer app but was unable to upload to the aircraft. I haven’t tried the micro SD card route yet.

Can someone confirm that this is the best way to update firmware?

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Same problem here. I’d like for one of the seasoned EVO II Pro owners to confirm that updating the firmware should be done by downloading to the micro SD card versus trying to download/upload through Autel Explorer app. This seems to be the preferred method or maybe the only method that works.

As I stated above I was able to download the firmware update using an Android phone and Explorer app but was unable to upload to the aircraft. I haven’t tried the micro SD card route yet.

Can someone confirm that this is the best way to update firmware?

Yes.
1. Charge the battery and controller.
2. Download on a SD-card (previously formatted in drone) the proper firmware...use a computer for this.... Be careful as if you move the mouse over firmware versions, the file is changing, so make sure you have the mouse on the proper firmware (for standard controller or Smart one, for V1 or V2).
3. Put the sd card in drone. Start the controller FIRST, wait to boot, than start the drone. In about 30 seconds to 1 minute you will see that it's starting the update.
4. Wait for about 40 minutes !!! DO NOT TOUCH the drone, the phone or the remote !!! You will know that is finished ONLY when on remote will give you a screen with all components that were upgraded with green. Also on remote will write: POWER DOWN and restart!.

Repeat for each battery you have.
REMEMBER TO HAVE THE GIMBAL COVER REMOVED WHEN YOU START THE DRONE !!

 

[RGDMED]

Yes.
1. Charge the battery and controller.
2. Download on a SD-card (previously formatted in drone) the proper firmware...use a computer for this.... Be careful as if you move the mouse over firmware versions, the file is changing, so make sure you have the mouse on the proper firmware (for standard controller or Smart one, for V1 or V2).
3. Put the sd card in drone. Start the controller FIRST, wait to boot, than start the drone. In about 30 seconds to 1 minute you will see that it's starting the update.
4. Wait for about 40 minutes !!! DO NOT TOUCH the drone, the phone or the remote !!! You will know that is finished ONLY when on remote will give you a screen with all components that were upgraded with green. Also on remote will write: POWER DOWN and restart!.

Repeat for each battery you have.
REMEMBER TO HAVE THE GIMBAL COVER REMOVED WHEN YOU START THE DRONE !!

Same problem here. I’d like for one of the seasoned EVO II Pro owners to confirm that updating the firmware should be done by downloading to the micro SD card versus trying to download/upload through Autel Explorer app. This seems to be the preferred method or maybe the only method that works.

As I stated above I was able to download the firmware update using an Android phone and Explorer app but was unable to upload to the aircraft. I haven’t tried the micro SD card route yet.

Can someone confirm that this is the best way to update firmware?

Where can I down load the file. There is nothing on the Autel Web site

 

[SixStarsDrone]

Where can I down load the file. There is nothing on the Autel Web site

They don’t make it very easy to find.

EVOIIProRelatedDownloads-AutelExplorer

www.autelrobotics.com

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

Where can I down load the file. There is nothing on the Autel Web site

Firmware is here:

EVOIIProRelatedDownloads-V1OfficialFirmware

www.autelrobotics.com

Autel Explorer is here:

EVOIIProRelatedDownloads-AutelExplorer

www.autelrobotics.com

Now ....be EXTRA careful what you download. check TWICE if you have your mouse over the proper Firmware (V1 or V2, Rc or SC) !!!!!!!!!

 

[SixStarsDrone]

Yes.
1. Charge the battery and controller.
2. Download on a SD-card (previously formatted in drone) the proper firmware...use a computer for this.... Be careful as if you move the mouse over firmware versions, the file is changing, so make sure you have the mouse on the proper firmware (for standard controller or Smart one, for V1 or V2).
3. Put the sd card in drone. Start the controller FIRST, wait to boot, than start the drone. In about 30 seconds to 1 minute you will see that it's starting the update.
4. Wait for about 40 minutes !!! DO NOT TOUCH the drone, the phone or the remote !!! You will know that is finished ONLY when on remote will give you a screen with all components that were upgraded with green. Also on remote will write: POWER DOWN and restart!.

Repeat for each battery you have.
REMEMBER TO HAVE THE GIMBAL COVER REMOVED WHEN YOU START THE DRONE !!

I’ve downloaded the correct firmware update.

It automatically downloads to the computer in the form of a .zip folder.

Do I just drag the entire zip folder into the SD card or do I drag over all three of the .bin files?

The same process needs to be completed for each battery? What’s the purpose of that?

 

[jimpiercejr]

This is the sorriest shi* I have ever seen. The controller says version 2.38 firmware update available. I tell it to download it, it downloads automatically without issue. It says start uploading, I do that and within a few seconds I hear a beep and then the controller and aircraft are disconnected, takes me multiple times of rebooting all three devices and eventually connecting again and the same thing happens over again. Then it says the message about can't' update with the battery charging. NOTHING IS CHARGING. to top it all off, you try to get a manual download of this mysterious 2.38 upgrade to try loading from the sd card and it is no where to be found. Then, today is May 7th and I see no one in here mentioning that version update and oddly the latest topic opened about the firmware was january 14, 22 and the last entry is april 28th 22. Did everyone die off or shoot themselves because of this on April 28. 9 days has went by since them and no other mention. This is driving me crazy. AND, STILL NO RESPONSE FROM SUPPORT SINCE APRIL 2nd and MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS. Boy did I pick a bad time to buy a drone from them. HELP!!!!!

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

I’ve downloaded the correct firmware update.

It automatically downloads to the computer in the form of a .zip folder.

Do I just drag the entire zip folder into the SD card or do I drag over all three of the .bin files?

The same process needs to be completed for each battery? What’s the purpose of that?

Yes, put the zip file on SD Card exactly as it is, DO NOT UNZIP IT !

This is the sorriest shi* I have ever seen. The controller says version 2.38 firmware update available. I tell it to download it, it downloads automatically without issue. It says start uploading, I do that and within a few seconds I hear a beep and then the controller and aircraft are disconnected, takes me multiple times of rebooting all three devices and eventually connecting again and the same thing happens over again. Then it says the message about can't' update with the battery charging. NOTHING IS CHARGING. to top it all off, you try to get a manual download of this mysterious 2.38 upgrade to try loading from the sd card and it is no where to be found. Then, today is May 7th and I see no one in here mentioning that version update and oddly the latest topic opened about the firmware was january 14, 22 and the last entry is april 28th 22. Did everyone die off or shoot themselves because of this on April 28. 9 days has went by since them and no other mention. This is driving me crazy. AND, STILL NO RESPONSE FROM SUPPORT SINCE APRIL 2nd and MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS. Boy did I pick a bad time to buy a drone from them. HELP!!!!!

What are you talking about? You have the firmware update for SDCARD (the link to it) in a post up...
Just follow the steps. Forget about Over the AIR-UPDATE, is a mess.
Just make sure you download the proper FW.

 

[SixStarsDrone]

Yes, put the zip file on SD Card exactly as it is, DO NOT UNZIP IT !



What are you talking about? You have the firmware update for SDCARD (the link to it) in a post up...
Just follow the steps. Forget about Over the AIR-UPDATE, is a mess.
Just make sure you download the proper FW.

I followed your instructions and the firmware updated successfully in about 10 minutes. The RC told me to reboot the RC and aircraft.

I added the firmware to the SD card again and changed to my second of three batteries. I got a list after the update and more than half of the firmware was not installed.

It told me to reboot the RC and aircraft to try again. It’s been at 99% for about 30 minutes now. The only thing I did different is that for the first battery I had my phone connected and for the second battery I don’t have it connected.

What do I do now? Continue to wait?

 

[SixStarsDrone]

I rebooted and tried again and this is what I’m getting now?

 

[SixStarsDrone]

Another try.

 

[SixStarsDrone]

How long should it be on this screen?

I had to leave the drone so I shut everything off and started the process all over again. On the first attempt it gave me a list of what had been updated similar to my posts from above with the pictures of my RC.

I rebooted the RC and aircraft as it instructed and it’s been stuck at 99% for 50 minutes now.

I don’t know what to do.