Need help binding Taranis X9D+ to G-RX8

[jdalbeck]

OK guys, I really tried, but I am tearing out what little hair I have left over this and I need some help. I just bought two brand new G-RX8 receivers from Aloft. No matter what I do, the receivers won't bind. I have done my fair share of binding and firmware flashing over the years, but I am not an expert, and there may be something obvious that I am missing. I will say that I didn't have this problem with my last G-RX8 or any of my other FrSky receivers. My TX still works with those, so I don't think it is a TX hardware issue.

I start the binding process from the transmitter (D16 mode, Ch1-8 Telem ON), power on the receiver with the F/S button depressed (I feel and hear the "Click" and then plug in battery), the red and green lights come on but do NOT blink (according to most videos at least the red LED should start to blink...). Then I take the TX out of bind mode and power cycle the RX, and the red light just blinks slowly (which I think is indicative that it is not bound). No green or blue lights, no servo activity. Here are some variations on what I've tried:

• Out of the box binding (no jumpers, using the firmware it came with the RX, on the 2.2 firmware that my Taranis already had)
• Tried same process with my Jumper T-Lite
• Used jumpers across pins 1-2 while binding (supposedly changes back and forth between SBUS and PWM modes)
• Upgraded the RX firmware using the G-RX8_ACCST_2.1.2_FCC.frk firmware (which was the latest one I could find, dated 2020-07-14), thinking maybe it came with the ACCESS firmware?
• Upgraded the TX firmware to opentx-x9d+ version 2.3.14, thinking maybe the latest ACCST RX firmware had some sort of compatibility issue with opentx 2.2?
• Tried again using Jumper T-Lite and jumpers across pins 1-2

Thanks in advance

 

[Flyyy1]

Hello Sorry I don't have the answers > I too having same problem and had wished I had read the info on the rx sale page at the bottom it says --> Important: In 2019 FrSky discovered a bug in ACCST V1 and V2.X was introduced to fix this issue. If you update to ACCST V2.X, you will need to update all transmitters and receivers to be able to talk to one another. For example, a Ver. 1 receiver will not bind to a Ver. 2 transmitter. They must be on the same version. PLEASE tell us what version your would like on your receiver in the oder notes and we will burn that version to the receiver for FREE.
Not that that is it ..

I contacted aloft for replace or trade and chris sent me this
Hi Ron,
Have you done the RF Firmware update on the radio? It is a separate update, NOT the OpenTx firmware. If not, you will need to update the receivers firmware with an older version. I will attach the appropriate file for you to update the receiver with.
Thanks,

Chris
He had sent me the file this morning and haven't heard from since . I Do not even now what or how to go about RF update Or which one to do radio or receiver . He sent me a file for receiver and have know idea how to proceed ..G-rx6_FCC_181025.frk . I I update radio or receivers will my older receivers work with one or both updates ..
All very confusing and sad .. I don.t want to bad mouth frsky .But we need more support for us less brainy geeky guys like me .
I have my two receivers up and working well the older 2 years old g-rx8 and the oem .x8d .. my radio is x9d+ and have 2.3.14 firm on ..
My 2cents ..And interest in answers you get ! Wish I had red the info that they could have sent me the receiver I needed !

 

[jdalbeck]

@Flyyy1 Thank you! This might explain it. I probably wouldn't mind updating the RF firmware across my older receivers if needed, but I think it sounds much easier to just "downgrade" the firmware on my new G-RX8's. It sounds like you may need some help with this? It is pretty easy, but you need a special connector cable to plug into the back of your Taranis X9D+ (if that's what you have). Let me know and I can help you out with that.

 

[Flyyy1]

yeah I think its the same one, the micro usb that i updated radio with ? question my new g rx6 is likely newer update I think i need to roll it back . Or Is updating rx and tx both the way to go in the future . In case I want to buy a new rx .. so it will work . If I do as Chris suggested I will have to always roll back rx update on new purchase ? If they don't offer it ?
May have to live with that one .

 

[Flyyy1]

Btw I don't know if its even possible to update radio to work with old and new x receivers with out matching .

 

[Flyyy1]

you have any luck getting yours to work ?

 

[jdalbeck]

Yeah it sounds like all "new" receivers will come with ACCST v2, so your options are either A) Update your TX and all of your existing RX's to ACCST v2 or B) Downgrade any of your "new" receivers to ACCST v1 (and this would need to be done going forward for any new receiver). For me personally, I am probably not going to be getting that many "new" receivers anytime soon, so I'll probably end up just downgrading my new ones. Maybe upgrade sometime in the future if there is a compelling reason.

I'm going to work on it now. Will let you know if it works and give you more detail about how to do it.

 

[jdalbeck]

Yay! It worked! I'll write up some quick instructions for you and anyone else who might stumble across this.

 

[Flyyy1]

I to after thinking about it want to do the same . But I don't want to screw up the rx or tx because u need a special jumper I guess from rx to to tx that goes from sbus port to rx ? I read if not done right can fry one or both . can't find a line by line or vid on how to do it .

 

[Flyyy1]

Do I have that correct ?

 

[jdalbeck]

Yeah, you need to take the SBUS to 3-pin servo cable that came with your G-RX8, and swap the black and red wires on the servo connector part. I'll see if I can find a video or something to explain it, and if not I will take a few pictures to show you.

 

[jdalbeck]

OK, so here are some instructions in case it helps you or anyone else out:

1. First you need to download the downgraded firmware for ACCST v1 to your computer (FW-G-RX8-ACCST_v191115).
2. Extract the ZIP file to a folder. There should be two files in the extracted folder, one that has "FCC" in the name and one that has "LBT" in the name. The FCC one is for the United States.
3. Now you need to get the firmware into the "FIRMWARE" folder on your Taranis SD card. You can either do this by taking the SD card out of your Taranis and put it into an SD card reader on your computer (if you have one), or you can simply turn on the Taranis and plug in a Mini USB cable into the back USB port on the Taranis and connect it to your computer. It may pop up a message on the Taranis asking you if you want to use it with a Simulator, or for USB Storage (SD). Choose the latter and long-press the Enter button. Either way you do it, just drag and drop the appropriate version of the firmware file (G-RX8_FCC_ACCST_191115.frk) from your computer to the SD card "FIRMWARE" folder.
4. Now you can unplug the USB cable (or put the SD card back into the Taranis).
5. Here's the part where you need to modify the cable that came with the G-RX8. I will attach some pictures for that below
6. ...once you modify the cable and connect it to your Taranis/G-RX8, then you can turn on the Taranis and long-press the "MENU" button. Press the PAGE button until you see "SD CARD" at the top. Go down to the FIRMWARE folder and press ENTER, then locate the firmware file and long-press enter, then select "Flash external module" and wait for it to finish. You should see the green and red lights flashing while that happens.

 

[jdalbeck]

I just added some instructions above but it is awaiting mod approval (probably since I included a link to the G-RX8 firmware file). Here it is again without the link:

1. First you need to download the downgraded firmware for ACCST v1 to your computer.
2. Extract the ZIP file to a folder. There should be two files in the extracted folder, one that has "FCC" in the name and one that has "LBT" in the name. The FCC one is for the United States.
3. Now you need to get the firmware into the "FIRMWARE" folder on your Taranis SD card. You can either do this by taking the SD card out of your Taranis and put it into an SD card reader on your computer (if you have one), or you can simply turn on the Taranis and plug in a Mini USB cable into the back USB port on the Taranis and connect it to your computer. It may pop up a message on the Taranis asking you if you want to use it with a Simulator, or for USB Storage (SD). Choose the latter and long-press the Enter button. Either way you do it, just drag and drop the appropriate version of the firmware file (G-RX8_FCC_ACCST_191115.frk) from your computer to the SD card "FIRMWARE" folder.
4. Now you can unplug the USB cable (or put the SD card back into the Taranis).
5. Here's the part where you need to modify the cable that came with the G-RX8. I will attach some pictures for that below
6. ...once you modify the cable and connect it to your Taranis/G-RX8, then you can turn on the Taranis and long-press the "MENU" button. Press the PAGE button until you see "SD CARD" at the top. Go down to the FIRMWARE folder and press ENTER, then locate the firmware file and long-press enter, then select "Flash external module" and wait for it to finish. You should see the green and red lights flashing while that happens.

 

[jdalbeck]

Here are some pictures of the cable modification: https://imgur.com/a/gZXRld1

 

[Flyyy1]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this . I am nervous to do this as I had a freeze up just doing a radio firmware waited 15 min. nothing ... had to unplug and lost half my voice files and who know what ...I am trying to ask and get a receiver replacement because I just bought it here,and get one that matches my radio . They should do that . The right thing to do ,as I would be willing to pay some extra just to b done with it . To many countless hours learning radio . Great Radio if you have the time ...Not intuitive . If for some crazy reason they won't ...At least you have the info here I can try later if needed and probably countless others will use !

 

[Konrad]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS INTUITIVE PROGRAMING!!! Please take the time to systematically address the issues.

Please don't use S-Bus this is a serial servo protocol. You want to use the S-Port (Smart Port).
The OS (OpenTX) is not a concern as to binding.

Are you aware that there are multiple µprocessor on the TX?

To get the TX and RX to bind they must both be on the same protocol! For safety reasons you must upgrade the XJT (TX RF module) the ACCST v2.1.x. You must also upgrade the protocol that the RX is using to ACCST 2.1.x. both of these are downloaded from the FrSky web site under the equipment tab for your equipment (See downloads). Unfortunately you can not interrogate the RX. The only way to "KNOW" what is in your RX is to download the Firmware on to the RX.

If you like videos as a way to learn I like Painless 360's

 

[Flyyy1]

Thanks Jdalbeck for posting ! Good vids .

 

[jdalbeck]

Please don't use S-Bus this is a serial servo protocol. You want to use the S-Port (Smart Port).

You are right, I think I said SBUS in a previous comment and it should be the S-Port where you make the connection for the firmware flashing.

For safety reasons you must upgrade the XJT (TX RF module) the ACCST v2.1.x.

Why? Why can't we just downgrade to ACCST v1? (I have 10 airplanes with ACCST v1 and the receivers are very hard to access, I don't want to have to flash all of them). Even Oscar Liang says "I have been flying with the original ACCST D16 firmware since 2013, and never had any issues with the mentioned bug. And if you only use D8, then this update does nothing for you at all. For me the downsides totally outweigh the benefits (which is nothing IMO), so I probably won’t bother with updating ACCST 2.0."

 

[jdalbeck]

 

[Konrad]

D-8 can have the bad packet pass through, but I don't think it has been seen in the field or reproduced on the bench. So if using the dated and limited D-8 protocol then the upgraded ACCST v2.1x is not needed (besides the upgrade is for D-16). Also some of the old RX can't be upgraded (long over due to dump those).

But if using the more modern FrSky RX on the D-16 ACCST Please Please upgrade to the much safer ACCST v2.1.0. I've been flying FrSky since 2014 and know with 95% confidence that I've had one bad packet pass through that lasted the full 900 milliseconds. I'm 80% confident that I've had 4 other bad packet pass throughs. Whatever your failure rate the fact that the flaw it known and can be reproduced makes this a critical safety issue.

The 5 minutes to upgrade is well worth it to save your model and keep you from killing any bystanders. I can't see any argument to not perform the safety critical upgrade!