Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Cant get your radio to work? General Hardware issues?
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Jimmckeown
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Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

Taranis X9D/eeprom to motherboard damage
While upgrading the FW and Companion to a X9D this week I may have destroyed my Controller;
The X9D is a B series controller, the FW, Companion, and Bootloader are versions numbered 2.1.9 whereas the Eeprom is v 217. The write protect tab on the mirco SD Adaptor broke and the SD card disappeared into the lining of my jacket. The replacement was formatted and v2.1.9 software copied from my LT to the SD card. At that point the SD card was inserted into the X9D and during flashing there were warnings about missing directories, and the missing suffix file name for the DFU. The flashing copied over with the same information that was already on the SD. At that point the following problems were noted:
1) TX screen displayed a warning “invalid eeprom”, or something to that effect.
2) Throttle warning didn’t respond when the stick was moved to the off position.
3) Alarm warning for switches didn’t react either.
4) Switches SA to SH and the 6 trim switches did respond normally.
5) The 2nd menu step was the Calibration screen. The sticks, sliders and one Pot didn’t respond.
6) SD screen, in write Firmware/Restore EEPRPOM stated the firmware directory is missing.
7) Surprisingly the FW version number did change to version 2.1.9.
8) Noted again that the DFU suffix signature in the FW file was missing.
9) Open the controller and located what appears to be 3 scorch marks. See photograph.
From reading the archives, there are at least 2 things may have lead to this failure. The battery voltage at the time was 11.7 also the controller had been gathering dust for a couple years while I was tied up on other business. If it wasn’t for scorch marks on the mother and sister boards I would suspect the eeprom is contaminated. I noted that a lower voltage battery is sometimes recommended. I noticed tonight there is a replacement motherboard for an X9D plus advertised and I would rather buy one than solder. However, I have upgraded 2 9XRs and have the dead casings gathered around like tombstones as evidence however, with advice I could probably jump over the damaged areas and replace the voltage regulators. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to pay someone else to do these repairs.
I would really appreciate any advice offered. Thank you.
Anotate-3.jpg

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Kilrah
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Kilrah »

Did you repair the broken card slot and how?

Battery voltage is fine.

DFU suffix is irrelevant, will always say that, just ignore.

X9D+ board is very different and incompatible, would need replacing the back board and display as well.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

The Micro SD Adaptor holds a SD card. each SD card comes inside an adaptor. the tab on the new adaptor is labeled "lock" and possibly prevents prevents the wee card from accidental following out of the adaptor. I mistook it for a write protect tab. I hope this answers your question and thanks for the information on the X9D plus motherboard.
Daedalus66
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Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Daedalus66 »

On all of mine “Lock” is write protect. It does not prevent the micro card from falling out, as can be tested by pulling on it.

Or do you have a new type of adapter?
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Kilrah
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Kilrah »

Lock is write protect indeed.

I was misled by your "SD card fell out" as falling out from a broken radio slot and possibly causing the burn damage, but it's actually nothing like it.

Seems you're confused about the card. Firmware is NOT on the card, there is no need to reflash firmware after replacing a card.

Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

See, Documentation for OpenTX 2.1 and Taranis by Martin Phillips June 2016
#4 How to flash the EU LBT Firmware, at the top of page 3
"Warning this method of flashing can only be undertaken if your transmitter uses the standard battery. If you have replaced the standard NiMH battery with a LiPo battery, this can damage the receiver." "And it may have"

re: low and behold the misplaced SD has materialized, all I had to do was ask the little wify.

Actually I should have figured that out as there isn't a [FIRMWARE] directory on the sd card. Thank you for the reminder.

Now how to repair the damage done so far, I'll start by removing the sister boards.
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Kilrah
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Kilrah »

That doc you refer to is to flash the firmware of a receiver or smart port telemetry sensor, nothing to do with the radio itself.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

thank you Kilrah
you clearly have a better handle on the subject than myself, I'm going to remove the bits that have been scorched and solder jumper wires to reconnect the burnt out trace wires. I'll test and if necessary replace the wee bits where the voltage is stepped down. Could someone direct me to schematic or wiring diagram. And some advice would be appreciated. I know, be careful don't make sparks.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

Finished an inspection of my X9D transmitter with a magnifying glass and to my dismay found nothing really wrong notwithstanding the bits already noted. There were 2 locations were the shine on the solder was missing at the points where the pin ends pass through the board. In the same vein at a few the surface of the shellac had lost its shine perhaps caused by somewhat higher temperature. All in all it looked good I didn't check the voltages across the transistors as I'm holding off until can see a schematic. From experience I found that a little spark can result in magic smoke. I'm going to do some more reading and review the Companion software. Perhaps I can upgrade the FW without using the usb cable for something completely new in my case. Thank you for reading this and Any thoughts would of course be appreciated.
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Kilrah
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Kilrah »

You already did flash successfully as per what you mentioned earlier, your USB port seems to be working fine. You can use the SD card if you want too, but I don't know why you're mentioning that still, there shouldn't be any firmware-related issue here.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

Thank for all the help.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

Thank you. upon inspection,I couldn't see any damage other than the scorch marks. With Martin Phillips article on OpenTX Version 2.1.9 I reloaded the firmware and a new simple model to the SD card and I was able to regain control of my X9D. After calibration I bound the tx to a D8R-II plus and now I'm ready to learn how to fly. Thanks again for the interest shown.
Daedalus66
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Daedalus66 »

Good to hear of your success. Good luck with your flight training.
Jimmckeown
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Re: Taranis X9D Scorched Motherboard

Post by Jimmckeown »

Thank you for your interest

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