Radio and model duplication help!

[3rdidvet]

I have a Taranis -Plus that is all set up and working great.

What I need to do is to DUPLICATE the entire radio, all settings, as well as the models and copy them into another radio so each one is identical. Can someone please walk me through a step-by-step to accomplish this??

[rdeanchurch]

You can not duplicate all settings if you include Calibration as a 'setting'.
It is not possible for 1 transmitter(tx) to be a duplicate of another in that the RF modules, which are not part of OpenTx, have distinct ids that make them unique.
So to switch from one tx to control a model the other tx requires re-binding the receiver.

But model setup and settings are quite easy, although a little finicky about exactly how you do it.

Do you use Companion?
If so I can write a bit down to help with the process.

Describe your environment...
Mac, Linux or PC?
Version of OpenTx.

[3rdidvet]

I do use companion. Essentially, I am building multiple of the same model. I want each to be assigned to a model and to be a duplicate format of settings and such, of course each calibrated for each aircraft. And thanks in advance for your help! Env: PC OpenTX v2.2.2, July 28, 2018

[rdeanchurch]

The first thing to get in your mind is that the transmitters calibration data is stored in the .otx file that contains all the models on each transmitter. So you cannot just read the models form one tx into Companion and write it out to a second transmitter and have a working second tx.

I'll assume that both txs have been calibrated.

So assuming you have txA setup with a bunch of models and you want those models all on txB, here we go.
In Companion.
1. Turn txA on using the 3 finger salute to get into Bootloader mode.
2. Plug in a good USB cord to the tx and to the pc.
3. wait until the SD card and Taranis show up as 'devices'.
4. Read in the models to Companion. (Being a suspenders and belt guy I save this to the PC disk with a label like
.. txA-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-In1.otx...)
5. Eject the SD card 'device' and Taranis 'device' for txA.
6. unplug txA from the USB.

7. Turn on txB on using the 3 finger salute to get into Bootloader mode.
8. wait until the SD card and Taranis show up as 'devices'.
9. Read in the models to Companion. (Save as txB-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-In1.otx)
.... then
10. drag new/changed models from txA-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-In1.otx Companion window one at a time
.. to txB-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-In1.otx Companion window.
.. Be sure to put them in the exact same model number slot they came from in txA
11. save txB-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-Out2.otx to pc disk.
12. write out txB-10Dec2018-V2_2_2-Out2.otx to txB
13. Eject the SD card 'device' and Taranis 'device' for txB.
14. unplug USB from txB

Remember, you have to re-Bind to fly with a different tx .
..unless you use an external RF module that you could switch between transmitters.
But that leaves you with a single point of failure...which may defeat you whole purpose for 2 'almost' identical txs.

or
There are others way to do this but are harder for me to explain, using two profiles for the the 2 txs.
and, to me, seem even messier to do and hard to keep from making mistakes.

Hopefully someone else will write how to do it with 2 profiles

From memory by an 82 year old, Use caution!

[3rdidvet]

Sorry I haven't responded. Been on airplanes for the last couple days! I'll give this a run when I return home and see what I get. I'll also update here. Thanks!

[rdeanchurch]

Oh, and of course your SD cards have to be duplicates of each other, of course. (Contents wise, not size wise.)

Good luck!

[3rdidvet]

Ok. I keep seeing an EEPROM error and the model isn't copying over. I'm sure I'm either missing a step, or doing the step incorrectly. Sorry to be a pain, but I'm trying to train myself.

[Kilrah]

You said you were using companion 2.2 on the computer, but never mentioned what firmware was on the radios.

[3rdidvet]

It's Version 2.1.6 Date: 2015-12-29 EEPR: 217

[3rdidvet]

I DID get a custom splash screen on it.

[Kilrah]

If you have firmware 2.1 you need to use companion 2.1 to write data to it.

[3rdidvet]

Sooo.... how do you upgrade the firmware? I'm not quite clear on that, yet.

[rdeanchurch]

First you do not have to upgrade if both transmitters are on the same firmware. Companion for 2.1.x is available at
https://www.open-tx.org/2016/09/15/opentx-2.1.9

But if one tx is old and one is new, they may not be on the same firmware.
You must confirm that they are both at the same level of firmware to proceed.

Do you use the bootloader when you use Companion?
...or are you using the power off method?

There are several ways to upgrade. I only use the transmitter to upgrade itself.

But 2.1.6 firmware may be the original from FrSky and not the firmware from the OpenTX developers.
FrSKy's firmware is seldom defined as to exactly what it does. I only trust firmware and software from
open-tx.org.

If you have extensive telemetry setup for your models, upgrading to 2.2.y is harder.

[3rdidvet]

I'd like to go 2.2.x as I am using FlightDeck. I have been using the bootloader. What would be the process for upgrading the radio in a standalone mode? Do you have a link so that you don't have to spell it all out for my slow moving butt?? Thanks again for all the help!!

[rdeanchurch]

OK by standalone I assume you mean on the transmitter.
I do not know what FlightDeck is, have you got a link? just curious.

I would start here
http://open-txu.org/home/undergraduate- ... t-loaders/

then go on to
A brief look, I did find a tutorial for updating...
I did not read it all the way thru, but it seems start out and end correctly
https://oscarliang.com/flash-opentx-firmware-taranis/
it also has a link to updating the booloader

Updating to openTx firmware updates to 2.2., but updating the bootloader is also desirable. Try
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpHb2_RXbk

and of course you need the SD card contents to be the same on both txs. and be v0018