Technical Support: Sudden Loss of Control and Connectivity - VOXL 2

DronAlan

I am reporting a critical connectivity failure with my VOXL 2 drone (Starling model).

While operating the drone, it suddenly stopped responding to all commands. Currently, the device appears to be powered on as all status LEDs are active and showing their normal patterns, but there is a complete lack of data communication.

Problem Details:

No ADB detection: The device is not detected by adb devices, sometimes yes, but avergane no, i dont understand. I have tested several verified data cables and different USB ports on my workstation.

SSH unreachable: The drone does not connect to the network and is not reachable via SSH.

Suspected Issue:
Since the status LEDs indicate the board is receiving power and attempting to run, but there is zero data throughput via USB or Wi-Fi, I suspect a factory defect or a hardware failure in the communication bus (USB/Wi-Fi controller). The device seems to have "locked up" internally regarding its external interfaces.

DronAlan

Dear ModalAI Support Team,

I am writing to report a critical failure of my VOXL 2 Starling drone and to express my deep dissatisfaction with the product.

Incident Description:
While operating the drone in-flight, the system suffered a total collapse. The aircraft suddenly stopped responding to any commands, including all manual RC controller inputs. It was as if the CPU had completely frozen. As a direct result of this hardware/software failure, the drone crashed.

I am extremely disappointed with the build quality, as several plastic components shattered upon impact—an impact that was caused entirely by the drone’s own internal failure.

Current Technical Status:
Since the crash, the drone has become impossible to use. While the status LEDs appear normal, the communication bus automatically shuts down approximately 30 seconds after boot-up. This appears to be a critical hardware issue, possibly related to overheating or a sensor failure.

I managed to capture the following dmesg output during one of the brief 30-second connection windows before the system disables the interfaces:

starling (D0005):~$ dmesg | tail -n 50
[    7.787640] Started adbd. 
[    7.831722] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[    7.834130] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[    7.835626] QTI:Netlink Query to Kernel Success
[    7.845433] QTI:Netlink Query to Kernel Success
[    7.860899] QCMAP:Start DHCP server
[    7.871965] CAM_ERR: CAM-ISP: cam_ife_hw_mgr_print_acquire_info: 710 Successfully acquire single IFE[5 -1] with [0 pix] [0 pd] [1 rdi] ports for ctx:1
[    7.873469] CAM_INFO: CAM-CSIPHY: cam_csiphy_core_cfg: 1137 START_DEV: CSIPHY_IDX: 3, Device_slot: 0, Datarate: 384000000, Settletime: 2800000000
[    7.881706] CAM_INFO: CAM-ISP: cam_vfe_bus_ver3_init_hw: 3659 Overriding clock gating at bus input
[    7.881709] CAM_INFO: CAM-ISP: cam_vfe_top_ver3_init_hw: 246 Disable clock gating at IFE top
[    7.881717] CAM_ERR: CAM-ISP: cam_ife_mgr_start_hw: 4510 ->Config HW, 00000000931b72ed
[    7.882024] CAM_INFO: CAM-SENSOR: cam_sensor_driver_cmd: 1089 CAM_START_DEV Success, sensor_id:0x7750,sensor_slave_addr:0xe2
[    7.899348] QCMAP:DHCP server started
[    8.018042] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): bond0: link is not ready
[    8.079637] QCMAP:GSB disabled
[    8.098746] QCMAP:Init Complete
[    8.102721] QTI:Netlink Query to Kernel Success
[    8.833992] msm_vidc:   err : ffffffff: .....: DBLP Set: status 0
[   12.338705] i2c_geni 988000.i2c: i2c error :-107
[   12.367696] i2c_geni 988000.i2c: i2c error :-107
[   12.614463] RTW: wlan0- hw port(0) mac_addr =00:c0:ca:b3:a3:c7
[   12.659978] RTW: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0)  fw_state=0x00000008
[   12.825582] RTW: start auth
[   12.826322] RTW: auth success, start assoc
[   12.827464] RTW: assoc success
[   12.830723] RTW: ============ STA [f0:09:0d:da:f4:f4]  ===================
[   12.830725] RTW: mac_id : 0
[   12.830727] RTW: wireless_mode : 0x44
[   12.830729] RTW: mimo_type : 0
[   12.830730] RTW: static smps : N
[   12.830733] RTW: bw_mode : 80MHz, ra_bw_mode : 80MHz
[   12.830735] RTW: rate_id : 10
[   12.830737] RTW: rssi : -1 (%), rssi_level : 0
[   12.830739] RTW: is_support_sgi : Y, is_vht_enable : Y
[   12.830740] RTW: disable_ra : N, disable_pt : N
[   12.830742] RTW: is_noisy : N
[   12.830743] RTW: txrx_state : 0
[   12.830746] RTW: curr_tx_rate : CCK_1M (L)
[   12.830748] RTW: curr_tx_bw : 20MHz
[   12.830750] RTW: curr_retry_ratio : 0
[   12.830751] RTW: ra_mask : 0x00000000003ffff0
[   12.840829] RTW: recv eapol packet 1/4
[   12.841329] RTW: send eapol packet 2/4
[   12.843888] RTW: recv eapol packet 3/4
[   12.844194] RTW: send eapol packet 4/4
[   12.849264] RTW: set pairwise key camid:0, addr:f0:09:0d:da:f4:f4, kid:0, type:AES
[   12.853095] RTW: set group key camid:1, addr:f0:09:0d:da:f4:f4, kid:1, type:AES
[   33.760144] usb30_prim_gdsc: disabling
[   33.762015] vdd_tof: disabling
[   33.762018] vdd_hap_boost: disabling

I think the most important lines are:

starling (D0005):~$ dmesg | tail -n 50
[    7.787640] Started adbd. 
[    7.831722] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[    7.834130] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
...
[   12.338705] i2c_geni 988000.i2c: i2c error :-107
[   12.367696] i2c_geni 988000.i2c: i2c error :-107
...
[   33.760144] usb30_prim_gdsc: disabling
[   33.762015] vdd_tof: disabling
[   33.762018] vdd_hap_boost: disabling

Analysis:
The log shows multiple I2C errors (-107) followed by the system disabling critical power rails (usb30_prim_gdsc and vdd_tof) at the 33-second mark. This confirms a hardware-level failure that likely originated during flight, causing the total loss of control.

Request:
In light of this situation, I would truly appreciate your guidance on how to proceed. Since the drone is currently unresponsive and shows these internal errors, I would like to know if it would be possible to send the unit back to your facilities for a professional inspection.

I am very interested in a repair or a full revision of the board and the damaged plastic parts, as I would love to have the drone back in working order. Could you please let me know what options are available for this case and what the next steps would be to initiate a check-up?

Thank you very much for your time and for any help you can provide. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Alan

DronAlan

@DronAlan