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Issues with controller and drone

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Starling & Starling 2
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  • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

    @daniellee Are you using a joystick or an RC transmitter? What do you mean by "the joystick inputs will not read"?

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    daniellee
    Contributor
    wrote last edited by
    #4

    @Eric-Katzfey Eric let me clear some things up. I have a Starling 2 that has a new esc and a new cable that connects the ESC to the Voxl and I have another self made drone made using parts from a starling 2 (lets call this drone the personal drone). Right now the personal drone's ESC is working and is also connected to the Commando 8 controller BUT. this drone is not receiving inputs from the RC despite being connected. Q Ground Control IS still seeing the connection and seeing the switches on the Commando controller being moved. Please advise! Thank you.

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    • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

      @daniellee Are you using a joystick or an RC transmitter? What do you mean by "the joystick inputs will not read"?

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      daniellee
      Contributor
      wrote last edited by
      #5

      @Eric-Katzfey Hello again Eric! It seems the PX4s servers arent running.

      voxl2:/$ systemctl stop voxl-px4
      voxl2:/$ /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start


      AIRFRAME:
      GPS:
      RC:
      ESC:
      POWER MANAGER:
      AIRSPEED SENSOR:
      DISTANCE SENSOR:
      OSD:
      ARTIFACT_MODE:
      EXTRA STEPS:


      Running on M0054
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      Starting IMU driver with no rotation
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      Looking for qmc5883l magnetometer
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      Looking for ist8310 magnetometer
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      Looking for ist8308 magnetometer
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      Looking for ncp5623c RGB LED
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      No ESC type specified, not starting an ESC driver
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start: line 199: [: =: unary operator expected
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
      ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running

      Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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      • D daniellee

        @Eric-Katzfey Hello again Eric! It seems the PX4s servers arent running.

        voxl2:/$ systemctl stop voxl-px4
        voxl2:/$ /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start


        AIRFRAME:
        GPS:
        RC:
        ESC:
        POWER MANAGER:
        AIRSPEED SENSOR:
        DISTANCE SENSOR:
        OSD:
        ARTIFACT_MODE:
        EXTRA STEPS:


        Running on M0054
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        Starting IMU driver with no rotation
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        Looking for qmc5883l magnetometer
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        Looking for ist8310 magnetometer
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        Looking for ist8308 magnetometer
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        Looking for ncp5623c RGB LED
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        No ESC type specified, not starting an ESC driver
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start: line 199: [: =: unary operator expected
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running
        ERROR [px4] PX4 server not running

        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
        Eric Katzfey
        ModalAI Team
        wrote last edited by
        #6

        @daniellee Okay, there's a lot going on here. Let's try to focus on one thing at a time. Why did you issue systemctl stop voxl-px4? When you do that you need to wait a few seconds before trying to restart voxl-px4. Then use the command voxl-px4 -d, don't try to start it with /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start. Or systemctl start voxl-px4. But why were you doing that in the first place?

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        • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

          @daniellee Okay, there's a lot going on here. Let's try to focus on one thing at a time. Why did you issue systemctl stop voxl-px4? When you do that you need to wait a few seconds before trying to restart voxl-px4. Then use the command voxl-px4 -d, don't try to start it with /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start. Or systemctl start voxl-px4. But why were you doing that in the first place?

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          daniellee
          Contributor
          wrote last edited by
          #7

          @Eric-Katzfey Hello Eric! Thank you for replying, we were doing that because it was what chatgpt asked and recommended us to do to try to reboot the PX4 system.

          Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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          • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

            @daniellee Okay, there's a lot going on here. Let's try to focus on one thing at a time. Why did you issue systemctl stop voxl-px4? When you do that you need to wait a few seconds before trying to restart voxl-px4. Then use the command voxl-px4 -d, don't try to start it with /usr/bin/voxl-px4-start. Or systemctl start voxl-px4. But why were you doing that in the first place?

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            daniellee
            Contributor
            wrote last edited by
            #8

            @Eric-Katzfey The desicion to use systemctl start voxl-px4 was because from what i understand it is that the system boots and services necessary to flight should be enabled and running once a preflight has passed. Our preflight was showing pass but the systems never enabled even though the preset is enabled.
            d8044f49-75fa-487d-8fd9-3820a57388c9-image.png
            So I am trying to force it to start.

            When I force it to start I can run the following commands to verify that my preflight has failed in the px4.
            3bdc4d68-a8b6-4a01-921f-780173f8ab47-image.png

            Now the system is up and running
            f8a02025-ee4a-4f3a-a118-54bda0018d8b-image.png

            Now to check the preflight status:
            13a710c0-43da-45d5-a3d5-63828fea5bff-image.png

            Here the preflight has failed but in QGround Control its stating a pass and that we are ready to fly.
            d7122841-a4d3-403f-855d-9185188e5e59-image.png

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • D daniellee

              @Eric-Katzfey Hello Eric! Thank you for replying, we were doing that because it was what chatgpt asked and recommended us to do to try to reboot the PX4 system.

              Eric KatzfeyE Offline
              Eric KatzfeyE Offline
              Eric Katzfey
              ModalAI Team
              wrote last edited by
              #9

              @daniellee Okay, well I would have just recommended power cycling the drone. Let's look at your personal drone now. Seems that the RC is working fine since you can see it in QGC. Why do you say it is not receiving inputs from the RC? What are you doing that convinces you of that?

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              • Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                Eric Katzfey
                ModalAI Team
                wrote last edited by
                #10

                @daniellee said in Issues with controller and drone:

                Our preflight was showing pass but the systems never enabled even though the preset is enabled.

                What do you mean that the systems never enabled? What systems? How are you trying to enable them? What is the preset you are talking about? Looking at the QGC screen it looks like it is ready to arm. Can you arm it via QGC?

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                • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                  @daniellee Okay, well I would have just recommended power cycling the drone. Let's look at your personal drone now. Seems that the RC is working fine since you can see it in QGC. Why do you say it is not receiving inputs from the RC? What are you doing that convinces you of that?

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                  daniellee
                  Contributor
                  wrote last edited by
                  #11

                  @Eric-Katzfey That is the problem. Every time I power cycle the system, it does not keep the services necessary for flight enabled. I will power cycle the drone to show that it does not stay enabled. After power cycling I enabled the px4 service because it was not enable on start up so that I can view the vehicle status.
                  cd263341-263d-46a1-b4c7-75131d06148a-image.png
                  The preflight failed in the adb shell. But is passing in QGC.

                  I can see the radio RC transmitter moving the joysticks in QGC but the drone does NOT take off. So movement commands sent via the controller are being seen but not used by the drone. Screenshot from 2026-06-16 18-36-07.png Screenshot from 2026-06-16 18-36-45.png
                  This is what I mean by the joystick inputs not working. These photos show that the controller is connected and the inputs are being read. However, the drone is not using them.

                  Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • D daniellee

                    @Eric-Katzfey That is the problem. Every time I power cycle the system, it does not keep the services necessary for flight enabled. I will power cycle the drone to show that it does not stay enabled. After power cycling I enabled the px4 service because it was not enable on start up so that I can view the vehicle status.
                    cd263341-263d-46a1-b4c7-75131d06148a-image.png
                    The preflight failed in the adb shell. But is passing in QGC.

                    I can see the radio RC transmitter moving the joysticks in QGC but the drone does NOT take off. So movement commands sent via the controller are being seen but not used by the drone. Screenshot from 2026-06-16 18-36-07.png Screenshot from 2026-06-16 18-36-45.png
                    This is what I mean by the joystick inputs not working. These photos show that the controller is connected and the inputs are being read. However, the drone is not using them.

                    Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                    Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                    Eric Katzfey
                    ModalAI Team
                    wrote last edited by
                    #12

                    @daniellee So when you power cycle the drone and then adb in and do voxl-inspect-services which services are not enabled and running that you think should be? In your earlier screen shot voxl-px4, and voxl-mavlink-server were both enabled and running. What other services do you think you need for flight? That's all that should be required for manual flight mode.

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                    • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                      @daniellee So when you power cycle the drone and then adb in and do voxl-inspect-services which services are not enabled and running that you think should be? In your earlier screen shot voxl-px4, and voxl-mavlink-server were both enabled and running. What other services do you think you need for flight? That's all that should be required for manual flight mode.

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                      daniellee
                      Contributor
                      wrote last edited by
                      #13

                      @Eric-Katzfey I understand that but do you know why the controller inputs arent being received by the drone? We have no idea what is causing this.

                      Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • D daniellee

                        @Eric-Katzfey I understand that but do you know why the controller inputs arent being received by the drone? We have no idea what is causing this.

                        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                        Eric Katzfey
                        ModalAI Team
                        wrote last edited by
                        #14

                        @daniellee I don't know what that means. If you can see the RC sticks / switches at QGC then PX4 has to be seeing them. What happens when you try to arm the drone from QGC?

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                        • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                          @daniellee I don't know what that means. If you can see the RC sticks / switches at QGC then PX4 has to be seeing them. What happens when you try to arm the drone from QGC?

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                          daniellee
                          Contributor
                          wrote last edited by
                          #15

                          @Eric-Katzfey It gets armed but the drone does not fly/respond to the controller inputs.

                          Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • D daniellee

                            @Eric-Katzfey It gets armed but the drone does not fly/respond to the controller inputs.

                            Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                            Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                            Eric Katzfey
                            ModalAI Team
                            wrote last edited by
                            #16

                            @daniellee Ah, okay, now we're getting somewhere. If it is arming that means you see the propellers spinning? Can you send me the log file from px4? (Look in /data/px4/logs).

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                            • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                              @daniellee Ah, okay, now we're getting somewhere. If it is arming that means you see the propellers spinning? Can you send me the log file from px4? (Look in /data/px4/logs).

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                              daniellee
                              Contributor
                              wrote last edited by
                              #17

                              @Eric-Katzfey Hi Eric Im not at the computer right now and the px4 logs are the same as the ones above, the props arent spinning even when armed on QGroundControl.

                              Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • D daniellee

                                @Eric-Katzfey Hi Eric Im not at the computer right now and the px4 logs are the same as the ones above, the props arent spinning even when armed on QGroundControl.

                                Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                                Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                                Eric Katzfey
                                ModalAI Team
                                wrote last edited by
                                #18

                                @daniellee I don't see any log files attached in this thread.

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                                • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                                  @daniellee I don't see any log files attached in this thread.

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                                  D Offline
                                  daniellee
                                  Contributor
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #19

                                  @Eric-Katzfey I have the PX4 log files in a zipped folder but I do not see a way to upload them to the forum.

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                                  • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                                    @daniellee I don't see any log files attached in this thread.

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                                    daniellee
                                    Contributor
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #20

                                    @Eric-Katzfey Hello Eric I have downloaded the PX4 logs- I managed to get a link for one of the logs, the internal timestamp is messed up and I believe this is the most recent one. Here is the link : https://logs.px4.io/plot_app?log=db2c6cd3-f6c9-4bf8-b5bc-dc5ac185c752

                                    Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                                      @daniellee So when you power cycle the drone and then adb in and do voxl-inspect-services which services are not enabled and running that you think should be? In your earlier screen shot voxl-px4, and voxl-mavlink-server were both enabled and running. What other services do you think you need for flight? That's all that should be required for manual flight mode.

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                                      D Offline
                                      daniellee
                                      Contributor
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #21

                                      @Eric-Katzfey said in Issues with controller and drone:

                                      In your earlier screen shot voxl-px4, and voxl-mavlink-server were both enabled and running.

                                      Just to be clear, that image you are referencing was the second photo related to the voxl-inspect-services after I enabled and started the px4 service. The first photo shows it not enabled and not running.

                                      Upon power cycling, I have to enable it every time we attempt to fly.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • D daniellee

                                        @Eric-Katzfey Hello Eric I have downloaded the PX4 logs- I managed to get a link for one of the logs, the internal timestamp is messed up and I believe this is the most recent one. Here is the link : https://logs.px4.io/plot_app?log=db2c6cd3-f6c9-4bf8-b5bc-dc5ac185c752

                                        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                                        Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                                        Eric Katzfey
                                        ModalAI Team
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #22

                                        @daniellee This log shows a normal flight happening in altitude hold mode. RC inputs are coming in and motors are spinning. Was there some issue with the flight this log was captured from?

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