X4R-SB won't bind-Help pls

[Two-Six]

Hi,
I am trying to get my new Taranis plus to bind with my X4R-SB so I can hook it up to the MSH Brain in my helicopter via sbus.

I bought the RX with the TX about 3 weeks ago from T9.  I have changed the firmware in the TX to opentx-taranis-plus-2.0.17.  it was opentx-x9dp-v2.0.9.2-eu out the box.

I really don';t understand why it won';t bind, or the finer points of these versions of firmware.  The stock one is FRSky firmware and has nothing to do with the other one does it?

What do I need to do to make it work?

I am reluctant to try to change the firmware in the RX right now, it looks a bit scary/difficult/a right PITA.

I also don';t know what version of what I should put where and why.

Should I try to go back to the stock firmware in the TX, I have it backed up. 

I have read threads here going back to April 2015 but so far what I have read hasn';t helped me find the solution so far.

Cheers!

[quadfather]

If you bought both from T9 three weeks ago they should be both on EU firmwares.  If course it';s possible that, by accident, you were given a mix of firmwares.  T9 doesn';t offer non-EU products, but perhaps he was given international receivers by accident.  They are indistinguishable from the outside.

Just to confirm the bind procedure, to rule out that there are no mistakes on that part.  Start with powering off the RX, and make sure that you keep at least two feet distance between the RX and the Taranis for the procedure below.

1. Turn on the Taranis, once it';s booted up short-press MENU.

2. Select the model you want the receiver bound to.  If it';s not the current model, use the +/- buttons to highlight it, then long-press ENT until you get a pop-up with further options.  From there activate the model.

3. Short-press PAGE once.

4. Use the +/- buttons to scroll to the receiver section.  You should only see D16-EU (or something like that) as the type.

5. Go to BIND in the receiver section and short-press ENT.  The Taranis should tweet repeatedly indicating bind mode.

6. Press and hold the failsafe button on the RX while you power it up.

7. The LED on the RX should blink when binding is successful.  Binding shouldn';t take more than a second or two, it';s usually instant.

8. Press ENT on the Taranis to exit bind mode.

9. Power-cycle the RX and check that you have a solid green light, indicating that it';s talking to the Taranis.  The Taranis should also give you some telemetry from the RX, such as RSSI and RX voltage.

I';ve written this from memory.  Some of the wording may not be accurate, but the steps are in the right order.

Let us know how you get on.

[Two-Six]

Thanks for the reply QF,

Well, I have since put the TX back to the original firmware (opentx-x9dp-v2.0.9.2-eu) and tried to bind again and this time it worked fine 

I have got the TX to move all the axes in the MSH Brain OK and managed to set the travels in the TX to show to +/-100% in the Brain using the servo menu (where you do the sub-trim, centring, travel adjust and stuff)

Dunno if that';s right but it seems to work. 

I needed to reverse the channels that were going the wrong way.  Again dunno if that';s right but I will check over at heli freak about that later.

I have managed to program the TX for Accurc sim helis with idle ups hold and DR';s, I am not sure how I managed it but I think I can do it again :-)

However back to my question about firmware versions....I still don';t understand what';s going on exactly with the various versions or this and that.

Why exactly won';t the new Open TX work with those EU receivers?

From what I have read so far, if I want to use the new version of Open TX I will need to do stuff to the RX AND the transmitty module in the TX  AND the TX firmware or something?   

Sounds daunting.

The trouble is have no idea what version of what needs to go where.

Is there anyway you could paint me a picture of what is actually going on with all this firmware stuff so a-hard-of-thinking person like me like me can understand?

Don';t forget that this is for my heli but I am going to want to be able to use another X4R-SB on my new quad. 

I don';t know how this will affect the choices I make now with regards to going with this stock firmware and then later trying to use another EU X4R-SB on the quad.

I do want to be using the new Open TX really with these new receivers..I THINK....OR DO I??????

[quadfather]

...

However back to my question about firmware versions....I still don';t understand what';s going on exactly with the various versions or this and that.

Why exactly won';t the new Open TX work with those EU receivers?

From what I have read so far, if I want to use the new version of Open TX I will need to do stuff to the RX AND the transmitty module in the TX  AND the TX firmware or something?   

Sounds daunting.

The trouble is have no idea what version of what needs to go where.

Is there anyway you could paint me a picture of what is actually going on with all this firmware stuff so-a-hard-of-thinking person like me like me can understand?

It';s not exactly transparent.  I think the confusion stems from the fact that there are two firmwares for the Taranis, both are ambiguously referred to as radio firmwares on t';Internet, and the poorly communicated firmware roll-outs.  I shall try to explain the what and why.  If you still have questions after that, fire away and I';ll do my best to answer them.

First is the operating system, that';s OpenTX.  FrSky ships the Taranis with a stripped down version of OpenTX, but you can install the full monty from www.open-tx.org.  It has nothing to do with this year';s EU demands.

Second is the firmware for the RF module (XJT) inside the Taranis.  The XJT module handles the radio communication between the Taranis and the receivers.  This is the one that has been subjected to the EU regulations, and causes all the pain with old and new receivers.

These two firmwares are independent of each other and flashing one doesn';t touch the other.  If you can bind your RX with the stock operating system, then you can bind it with OpenTX as well.

The XJT firmware has been changed in 2015 to conform to ETSI v1.8.1.  All Taranis radios and external XJT modules (for other radios) sold on the European market from January 2015 onwards have this firmware on them.  As a consequence of this compliance, support of D8 and LR12 modes has been dropped from the XJT module (I don';t know the technical reason).  This means a stock Taranis bought this year won';t work with the coveted D4R-II receiver.

For someone who already has a number of D8 mode receivers (those starting with V or D), it means they can';t use them.  It also applies to the L9R receiver (LR12 mode), but it doesn';t seem to be that popular as I haven';t seen anyone complain.  The solution is to flash a non-EU firmware to the internal XJT module, or get an external DJT module (which is not subject to the new legislation) to carry on using them.

If you do flash a non-EU firmware to the XJT module to be backwards compatible, none of the D16 mode receivers (those starting with X) bought in 2015 will work anymore.  Because of the way the XJT firmware was changed in 2015 all the X-range receivers had to be changed, too.  That means, if you run a non-EU firmware on your XJT module any new X-range receivers (for example the one you may have had bundled with the Taranis) will need their firmware changed to the non-EU version, too.  I bought a X4R in 2015 and flashed it to work with my pre-2015 Taranis.

I';m sure by now you can see why people are confused or complain.  This wasn';t helped by FrSky';s less than stellar attempts to roll out the new firmwares.  The first compliant XJT version came out in January, this one still had D8 and LR12 modes on them, but required the X-range receiver firmware updates.  Then they released an operating system update which simply removed the ability to select D8 and LR12 type receivers.  If you flashed the full OpenTX at this point you could still select them.  Then they released another XJT firmware in April, this one dropped D8 and LR12 support on the module level.  That is where we are now.

FrSky has not been entirely ignorant of these problems and they have recently released a beta firmware that adds CPPM output to both X4R receivers.  I think they understand the popularity of the D4R-II and are trying to accommodate new customers with this update.  Many people have flight controllers that don';t support SBUS directly, such as the Naze, and this is a very welcome update, IMO.

Hope that clears it up a bit.

[Two-Six]

Thanks for the detailed explanation QF.  Sorry for not replying sooner but I have been trying to digest the information so I can ask some proper questions. 

I still need to read up about those protocols (D8 +LR12) so I can understand what your telling me properly.

I still don';t understand all this.

I did try to read the  ETSI v1.8.1. document...That was "fun" but gave up after about page 10 when they were still setting out the terms and abbreviations they use....

Moving on...I will try to have a big think about what you are saying and come back with some more specific questions.

As of now, I have read your post about 10 times, eaten fish for tea twice, I am still pretty confused :-)

[Tim2100]

Did you get this sorted? 

I had the same problem with a x4r sb from t9 a couple of weeks ago.  I could not get it to bind with the Taranis.  In the end I upgraded the firmware to also give cppm and it bound first time.

[kilby]

I suspect certain firmware versions are not as good as they should be on functions that you don';t carry out every day.

In my case it took hours to get the no output failsafe working in the 27mS firmware on the D4R-II (yet the older one had no issues)

[Two-Six]

I did get it working in the end with Quadfather';s help.  We had to upgrade the bootloader and firmware to 2.1.0 for companion to go and find and install the EU version of OpenTX for Taranis Plus.  Its works fine now with the new EU RX';x

I just posted a bit about what had to be done to get it all working in reply to Propstoyou';s question about upgrading.

It was a bit of a mission...