SP140: Lost controller display electrical data with ESC firmware update

Flight Controller
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Long story short: I wanted to adjust my ESC settings to a gradual shutoff instead of a hard shutoff. I updated controller and ESC firmware and now my controller shows “BATTERY ERROR” and displays zero for electric data but will still arm and turn the motor.

I just updated my SP140 controller firmware to 5.6 (SADM21). I plugged in the battery and it showed the correct firmware version and was able to run normally. I wish I just stopped there…

In a long battle with the ESC, I was finally able to connect to the APD configurator after having to update the ESC firmware to be able to run it. The ESC firmware in the configurator shows 2.0.5 (the latest) and I was able to adjust and save a few settings in the configurator. Specifically: gradual shutdown, timing advance auto (recommended by APD), PWM frequency auto (recommended by APD), and enabled feed-forward compensation. However, after plugging the battery in, the controller starts but now shows basically what the screen would show after a hard shutoff before turning off: “BATTERY ERROR” and zeros for all values. Weirdly, I can arm the motor and even run it. The timer will start counting up and everything, but all electrical data shows zeros (%, kW, V, kWH, A). How badly did I screw up here? Is there a way to go back?

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The APD ESC firmware version 2 changed the telemetry packet format and the controller isnt (yet) compatible with that. So the ESC firmware will have to be reverted to version 1 to get your controller to show data again.

I’ve downgraded back and forth from 2 to 1 before so it shouldnt be too much to do.

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Anyone have the APD ESC firmware version 1 .dfu handy? Earliest version available on their website and on the configurator is 2.0.0…

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Did you find it? I need one as well.

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Here is a video explaining the process. How to Update your Sp140 ESC firmware - YouTube

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Thx, is the FW listed in the link ok for batch 3? I have the new controller or you have a later one for that?

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Thanks @Pdwhite that was exactly what I needed! Problem solved.

@Allex I have a batch 3 (but with the older SAMD21 chip) and was able to revert back to the .dfu linked to in the OpenPPG Youtube video. Then I downloaded the older configurator (1.2) and was able to adjust ESC settings as needed.

For anyone thinking of tweaking ESC settings: use the old configurator (1.2) linked to in Paul’s video and don’t update the ESC firmware to 2.x.x. The new configurator only works with the new ESC firmware, but the new ESC firmware does not play nicely with the OpenPPG controller (yet).

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