3DR cat & mouse play

Yesterday Mission Planner devs had fall back and removed bad otp check that prevent to upload firmware with homebrew boards.
This morning, the protection is back in their git.
WTF is happening in their head, don't they understand this completely deserve their purpose?

Anyway, this fake Open Source mind is tiring me.
I've forked Mission Planner on my github and will maintain a no otp version until they change their attitude on this.

Here is the fork: https://github.com/KipK/MissionPlanner

and up to date binaries will be maintained here http://mp.wedontneednasa.com/.

Please 3DR guys,open your mind, respect open source spirit, improve your communication & marketing skills. Bad buzz is always a no go in business.

Update non 3DR pixhawk using Mission Planner

Edit: Outdated, they've added a new check on MissionPlanner executable.
Grab the forked Mission Planner here:




After the tools posted yesterday, here is another trick.

I was looking in MP sources where's the otp restriction was hidden, in fact this is closed in a binary blob called pix4uploader.exe and source are not provided ( or have I missed'em? ).
I had to rollback to MP 1.2.74 to find one that works.

edit: outdated Download this pix4uploader-no_otp.zip here  and extract it in the Mission Planner directory.

Then you can use MP to update your clonehawk

Bypass new 3DR OTP "protection" on homebrew Pixhawk clone

Lot of flaming on forums those days about new 3DR OTP policy on mission planner.

To summarize the story, now you can't upgrade your pixhawk clone firmware from Mission Planner anymore. You will get an "OTP error" when trying to upload.
Only legit boards from 3DR works.

Considering this is an open source hardware & software, I don't get the move here.

Anyway, don't cry, there's an easy way to remove your pain.
You can upgrade your board using QUpgrade tool.

 Off course, for whatever reason, all qupgrade binaries have been removed from 3DR/PIX4 website.

You can still find the source from github here.
This compiles with QTeditor.
I've compiled a windows & mac binaries here: QUpgrade tool

With all the fuzz on this, I think they will change their position and make the things different quickly.

Usage:

In home screen select correct firmware and hit Flash Now button:

FIXED: The Flash Now button in home screen doesn't work,  links have changed on the website. I'll try to fix that. You need to  manually grab the latest firmware following this:


To manually download & flash other builds follow this:

scroll down to All APM Firmware Options

go to stable or latest for current dev branch

Choose correct firmware

Most clones are v2

With latest firmware you don't need to unplug your board, just let it going, board will reset itself.
If not unplug it click ok, plug again.