Undervoltage
Hello, just updated to latest firmware, configurator and TelemFFB and ran into a problem in DCS. I've been flying the A-10C II on a longer mp mission, when I got soem error beeps and the stick went dead in my hand. This happened to me twice, about an hour apart. It happened in fairly low-stress situations, too, which makes it all the more weird! Turning off the unit with the red button and turning it on again a second later worked (and I was able to stay in the air and keep flying), but this is obviously quite the hiccup!
Oddly, I tried provoking it after by doing a couple of instant-action dogfights in the F-14 and got nothing, It just worked.
The debug tab on the Configurator did mention FAULT_UNDERVOLTAGE. Screenshots for reference. I haven't touched any config options since I updated and I never had this issue before the latest update. Could be a coincidence, but I thought I would mention.
Does anyone have any ideas?
24 Replies
The undervoltage faults are strange. The motors themselves enter this status.This probably is not due to the firmware update.
This could be due to a failing PSU or capacitors of the PSU.
Can you pull on the spring force at max forces and check the Vbus voltage fluctuations. What other effects do you have enabled (effects tab)?
Will get you a screenshot as soon as I am able, but I have spring forces (100% y, 40% x), damper, inertia and friction, going by memory. Sorry I can't be more precise right this moment. I will get back to you on it.
Here's a screenshot of my settings. I just turned the unit on now after updating to the b4 firmware
Can you pull on the spring force at max forces and check the Vbus voltage fluctuationsI tried enabilng only spring forces, as requested, and maxing out both X and Y axis (vs the 100/40 I usually run with) and tried giving it a few good yanks in every direction a la wipeout. Now, tried just holding the stick steady at max deflection in each direction. Vbus idles at 18.90'ish V and bottoms out at 16.5-16.7'ish V on the X axis and 16.85-17'ish on the Y axis. Adding in the 25% damper and 15% inertia, I'm seeing roughly the same results.
Just playing a session and I had this issue happen again. Fresh screenshots:
I had the damping forced turned up, because this happened while I came across the other issue I mentioned separately. That is, I had no ffb and nothing on the trim functionality. So, I was flying the Apache in DCS, feeling vibrations and "dead stick forces" basic damping and inertia from VP Configurator, but pressing the trimmer didn't set a center at all.
This happened in multiplayer after I checked that I had forces and trimming worked, in the Huey free flight instant mission (usually, it's a good sign if I have ffb there; if I don't, I restart DCS and I usually have forces back).
That is to say that there were minimal forces on the stick at the time the fault above happened.
@walmis is it possible to revert to an earlier firmware? It would help figure out if my issue is hardware or software related.
If it is hardware-related and we think it's the PSU, is it possible to source a replacement?
Are you flying with telemFFB? Try lowering the Damper LPF a bit, 15-20Hz or try turning off inertia. I think it picks up some kind of resonance.
As for the undervoltage errors - is the DC plug firmly in place, maybe due to vibrations it has intermittent connection?
I am flying with TelemFFB, yes.
I have tried removing inertia. Which part is Damper LPF?
Low Pass Filters section
This value?
Yep
Okay - lowered that to 15 Hz and removed inertia and friction from my settings.
All hardware plugs appear fine, both joystick-side and PSU-side.
I'll have a session tonight and report back if these changes did anything
Thank you
Okay, had a 2 hour 30 session with the abovementioned changes and the problem did not manifest. Looking at the Debug tab, I saw a single entry of undervoltage fault, but I think the time code coincided with me powering down the device.
Obviously, a sample of 1 is not a guarantee, but seems good so far. I will continue having sessions as close to daily as I can for the rest of the week and report back how it goes.
Settings screenshots for reference:
@walmis today's session was going well for two hours (same settings as last night, screenshotted above), until the motors just quit out of nowhere. Just went offline mid-flight (mi-24, DCS) as if I had hit the red button (I didn't). No low voltage faults. Reading full 19.30V on the Vbus.
Turned it off and on again, stick re-centered and the motors appear to be running again... I can't keep going like this, with the motors quitting on me randomly every 1-2 hours...
Any news on that? Same problem for me for weeks now since I got the Rhino.
Walmis and I tried a few things, including upgrading firmware on the motors themselves, but the problem persists. Last i heard, he was working on a new revision of the Rhino fw that would put the issue to rest, but that was before Christmas and nothing yet.
I'm still struggling with the problem, though to a lesser extent since the motor fw upgrade.
Worth noting that I have also tuned down my damper frequency setting from the default 25Hz to something like 12, if memory serves. The issue appears to be related to damping and/or inertia settings. Dialing those filter frequencies down helps.
I reduced it from 25 to 12Hz, lowered the max power supply and motor amps to 20/6 and it still drops out occasionally.
Btw., the undervoltage comes from hitting the emergency stop. The actual problem is right before with the "Motor X/Y timeout" Or am I wrong? just discovered the row of occurance.
Getting way less (yesterday only 1) to none (today) timeouts after changing Suspend to off
I also Reset Motors once in the Debug Tab.
Sorry for hijacking your report here. I hope it can help others aswell.
Yes/no/maybe? I have had the undervoltage line show up for just the one motor that disconnected whne it wasn't both. Before I hit the e-stop. That was with a different fw, though (early 1.17)
By all means, go for it! If you make inroads, that's helpful to me, too! =)
Had several shutdowns again in the past hours. It's less but not eliminated. 🤔