Betaflight / Cleanflight Flight Controller Won't Connect | FIXED

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If your Cleanflight or Betaflight flight controller won't connect to your computer, the most likely cause is that your drivers aren't installed correctly. I'll show you how to install them correctly. I'll also show you the most common ways that people mess them up, how to tell what's gone wrong, and how to fix it. The good news is, if you think you've bricked your flight controller, you probably haven't. It's nearly impossible to brick these devices simply by flashing them incorrectly.
The flight controller in the video is the Lumenier Lux v2. Same great layout and features as the Lux v1, but with the (superior!) 6000 gyro and an on-board SD card reader. This board was provided by GetFPV.

[@theschmidy]

Joshua! Thank you so much for your videos. I can't say it enough. You're the only reason I've been able to enjoy flying. I've referenced this video for several quads at this point. Much love and respect! Thanks again!

[@WaffleFPVofficial]

I thought I knew my way around the different drivers of different boards but damn! This really explains the mess that is stm32 drivers! Awesome video!

[@JoshuaBardwell]

It's only really a mess on windows with Chrome.

[@jamesordwayultralightpilot]

I've thought of buying a Macbook for FC Comfigurators. Ya think it's worth it?

[@peterlenswood2264]

Brilliant! This process is so confusing for a noob and even intermediates and until now I haven't found any other explanation as concise and helpful as this. Please keep up the quality work. Thanks Josh

[@mopuccino6025]

thank you joshua for being here doing what you re doing ,youtube wouldn t be the same without you!

[@KwadSkwad]

I don't know if it's been said, but since project blue falcon went AWOL you are the best consolidated knowledge base we have left. thank you for putting this together, as always, your content is on point. I would argue you are one of the reasons this community grows as fast as it can.

[@Hohmies86]

Kwad Skwad he's back and spittin out videos at a rapid rate

[@floorpizza8074]

Sadly, Project Blue Falcon was in a terrible motorcycle accident last week. He did not survive. :( Rest in Peace.

[@scubasteve3508]

floorpizza what really. How sad.

[@unmaskedpoet]

I have an xrotor f4 fc the one that plugs in to the 4 in 1 I was able to connect until I flashed the new betaflight 3.0. I can flash any version with out problem but now it won’t connect to let me in I have racked my brain any advice would be greatly appreciated

[@WackFPV]

Project Blue Falcon didn't go AWOL, he died. Show some respect bruh!

[@retal052]

Great vid explaining this stuff Josh. You are an asset to the hobby :D

[@JoshuaBardwell]

+Liam Lambkin thanks!

[@willd.8040]

I second that. I've been watching for a few months now and I've learned quite a bit from you Joshua. Thank you for the great videos.

[@slicedham7552]

3rd That, i have been watching your videos right from the start. Thank you!

[@thestig9699]

I'll fourth that, I just had to rewatch this video after 1 year to get my board up and running. Thanks again Josh.

[@gedgar2000]

A great asset. I learned to fly acro from Joshua on the sim. I went from not being able to get to a gate to flying my own quad semi- proficiently. This video was huge. I'm an electrical engineer and not a luddite, but I needed something like this bad. How would you find all this stuff without this video. Surely if this vanished, Betaflight wouldn't die...

[@jasonf8601]

Josh, thank you so much. So many challenges until the part with the Zadig installing the correct driver. I've watched you for a few years. You're the man

[@SurgicalTechTips]

I freaking love you man, I was racking my brain hardcore after my first build trying to get this to program. You sir, are awesome.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Glad it worked for you.

[@SyNFuLLj]

Wish I had this last week! Could have saved me hours of searching.

[@jimmychan4372]

I just watched this video to set up the Wizard and I'm lost I downloaded the drivers at connected the drone but nothing

[@Michael-lx7px]

Joshua, You've done it again! Thank you so much for the info on the drivers. I just went and deleted what drivers were installed because I've been having problems flashing and changing settings. This video was a great help! Now Betaflight works, no problems flashing new firmware and changing settings. Thanks again!!

[@tellmitchell8438]

Once again, you have stepped in and saved the day! Thank you for going step-by-step through the process. Really helpful!

[@ActivityPhoto]

This is great if you have a window computer. For those of use with MACS this doesn't apply beyond loading the CP210x Drivers. I'm still not able to communicate with my old Naze32 Rev 5 FC.

[@MrJRide2345]

Hey Joshua - what is your suggestion for downloading the STM32 Virtual COM Port Driver on a Mac? The file is a .exe on wont work on a Mac. Thanks!

[@IEROSI]

MrJRide2345 I want to know this too! I used to be able to connect with my mac no problem. After I flashed my FC with betaflight 3.1 it stopped working? Quad comes on and activates with trigger switch per Joshua's "CLI" settings. It just doesn't connect anymore???? NEED HELP JOSHUA

[@IEROSI]

Dylan Chislett connect battery to quad. then open betaflight. connect USB to quad and computer. then hit connect on betaflight. solved.

[@aarons7836]

just put it into bootloader and flash it

[@antai1275]

I use implus and a mac conveder from exe to mac file and it work 👍🏼

[@thomastt3805]

hi Raymond, can you explain this a bit in depth, I have the same issue as above and am a newbie in mac to exe convertors, thanks!

[@TeeDubb]

Found out exactly what I needed to know from this video. Thanks, Josh! You are an asset to the FPV community.

[@andreapizzocaro998]

thanks man, i've been checking so many videos around on how to do this, but youre actually the only one i could follow and get over with this nasty process. thanks a lot for your work!

[@jameskuhlman9835]

I had many instances between vcp vs bootloader failing to even be captured by USB. Days and hours trying to troubleshoot it, different USB ports, onboard vs add-in, etc. Driver install/reinstall/update. Came down to several of my usb cables that don't work for VCP OR bootloader even though the successfuly transfer data. Go figure. So, if you've done everything, install, remove, update, Zadig, etc with no joy. Try a different cable. Or try it first and save yourself some potential time and frustration. Arrrrrgggghhhh! (And that's being polite, lol)

[@ejj978_]

Fingers crossed here. I'm having what I suspect to be driver issues with a Kiss board. It will not enter dfu/bootloader mode and have tried on 3 separate PCs without pre-existing drivers. I know this video was for cleanflight, but I'm checking anything related to driver issues these days. Maybe it is the wire, because I cannot finding a conflicting driver and DFuse isn't recognizing anything.

[@Mikeonabikeride]

James Kuhlman thanks for the advice, I was going crazy with the same problem and tried another USB cable and of course it worked!

[@jameskuhlman9835]

Mike Pregler Glad I could help! Nice to know when all that cussin' was for a good cause. Lesson learned for me was that there IS a reason to have a couple of quality cables about.

[@ConditionalBeanSprout]

James Kuhlman this just saved me so much trouble. I had already spent 4 hours troubleshooting when really the USB cable wasn't working and I had to use another one. Thank you so much!!!!

[@jameskuhlman9835]

David Parks My pleasure! this was one of those rare times when I opened my mouth and did not come back with the tang of toe jam...

[@snaprollinpitts]

I may be some what of a geek, but you had my head swimming. this process needs to be slimmed down, it is just toooooo messy!!!!!!!!!

[@gankedfpv6381]

Such a great video Joshua, Even after being at this hobby for over 12 months, I must have had issues with this step a dozen times or more. Thanks for your work and support

[@taneliharkonen2463]

This is just such a great video time after time! I have to watch this every time I do installing on a new laptop. Thanks Josh!! :D

[@segpie]

Well it's about time someone explains this process. Very well done Joshua and much appreciated!!

[@lf5133]

Got it Joshua, Thanks for taking the time to reply on a Sunday. I didn't expect to here from you till Monday. Thanks for your dedication to the hobby.................

[@RtGFuSiOn]

Thank you so much for providing this free tutorial service! Your channel has helped me immeasurably while learning this hobby! All the best!

[@Jacobelrod]

YOU ARE MY HERO! 3 Years later you saved me from returning my first drone. I've spent days looking for this information. Do you know that you are the only one who shows where the boot loader button is?!?!

[@martinarial3691]

I've found the answer to my problem in this very video, 5 years later. Thanks a lot Joshua Bardwell. Keep them coming!

[@whosatube2008]

Cheers Joshua! This put me back on track! Loving ALL your videos! Great reference for us newbies!

[@thenewnormal1988]

Time and time again, you come to my rescue. Can't tell you how much I appreciate all your hard work. Thanks Joshua. ps great name

[@unitedelectrician4334]

Man I came back for this again... my diatone 2017 got an issue they send me a new FC now during my holiday break I change my FC watching your video again. You rock JB!!

[@softsmoken]

Thank you for that Little Zadig step... Worked right away. Wonderful. Headaches avoided!!

[@107329]

you are a godsend, sir. Thank you for putting together clear and consise (and also entertaining) content. It is greatly appreciated!

[@lukyadesagithadima6918]

I've been watching your videos for two months based on my friend suggestion, now i learned a lot from you. Thank you for your great videos, Josh. It was helping me a lot, sorry for my bad English.😙👍🏻

[@daffybustamante8876]

I swear this is one of the most helpful channels in the world love u bardwell!

[@jeremyride1]

You're the best man. I've been screwing with this board for 3 days (actually already have a replacement coming) and finally, thanks to you, it is connected and working fine. Thanks so much!

[@DJDevine]

Thank you for your shared passion, I have yet to see or hear such informative intuitive videos.

[@ghostriderhangtimefpv4318]

Thank you Joshua, this totally just saved me, I bought the omnibus f3 AIO on your recommondation and could not get it flashed but as usual Josh saves the day. Thank you for what you do!

[@atlanticwoodsman8347]

Josh I freakin love you! I am super proud to be a patreon supporter .You have no idea being new at this how much of a headache this was for me to fix this until I spoke with you .THANK-YOU

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Glad I could help you get it sorted out.

[@MrJKillarado]

Joshua Bardwell Thank you so much for this video! I had no problems flashing my SPRacingF3 board with my 1st 2 builds but with this 3rd build I have an Omnibus F4 Pro V3 and I couldn’t get it to flash at all. I ended up cleaning house and deleting all the drivers installed for BF and started from scratch. I then watched this video and followed step by step and I was finally able to flash the latest firmware on my FC. I’ve been fighting this issue for 2 days now, so thank you for the help Josh! I’m finally ready to start wiring my 3rd build! I’ll be flying this weekend finally!

[@johnnychimpo9583]

Thanks, Joshua! This is just what i needed! I'm referring to this video for everyone who has trouble flashing his board! 🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪

[@nathaneasley4452]

Thanks so much. You have walked me through a multitude of problems. I greatly appreciate you. Keep it up buddy

[@docbrown-en4pw]

Wanted to say thanks for your videos. Coming from a person that can take what someone says 3 different ways you make things understandable. I get what you say the first time without having to worry about , did he mean this way or this way. When I have trouble ( new to fpv) you are my go to person. I look for videos done by you first. Keep up the good work.

[@bohan9957]

Josh,Wanted to personally thank you for this instructional video. Even though it's a year old, you have saved me many evenings of headaches. I was finally able to flash my betaflight F4 controller. Your videos are an invaluable asset to this hobby. Subscribed!

[@FifthScaleRCLife]

thank you for posting this video it actually helped me understand some issues I had in the pass Iv gór revo F4 board witch wouldn't flash with latest firmware, looks like I missing some drivers

[@n-masood]

I did learn something today! Getting my firmware updated got rid of my receiver connection errors. Gave this video a thumbs up.

[@AJRobinson]

Thank you Joshua so much! I was hyper-frustrated trying to get my Lux to work!

[@davestufflebeam6774]

OCT 2022: This video gave me enough info to bring my new FC back to life. It was stuck half way between bootloader mode and who knows what... The steps regarding loading the right drivers at the right time is still relevant today. Thanks Joshua!

[@user-rx9em1kw5r]

I am also stuck in bootloader mode. The indicator is constantly on. Tell me how you managed to get out of this mode?

[@griff333]

Man. Thank you so much! I’m new to this, just built my first quad and was starting to just give up trying to flash this thing. Thanks again!

[@helicrashpro]

You do such a fantastic job of explaining this kind of stuff. By far the best at explaining this stuff. With that said, it's still hard to follow and still hit or miss. I think stuff like this is a part of this hobby and technology that still has a TON of room for improvement. I dread flashing a board. It seems like such a high percentage of times I have issues in one way or another. I just installed a Betaflight F4 and I can't get that to flash. It's kind of ridiculous that we have to jump through so many hoops to flash the latest version of BF onto a BF board! I thought I had this stuff figured out and have had no issues flashing the last several boards I have built with but again I find myself going to Joshua for guidance because even a person like myself that has been in the hobby for years still can't flash a flight controller with confidence LOL.

[@sashgorokhov]

By far the most helpful video i saw, you saved my FC!! Thanks!

[@2bskyhi868]

Jeez, I watched more than 50 videos & read too many hours trying to resolve my boot-loading issues. You Josh, saved the day & got directly to heart of my problem. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Wish I could pay you back somehow...

[@JoshuaBardwell]

If only there were a way...

[@geoffrayATLAN]

@@JoshuaBardwell love the sarcasm in here

[@MikikiFPV]

Wow, Joshua you helped me again! Thank you for sharing this knowledge. Today I learned something :)

[@lezedits]

Joshua, you're the freakin bee's knees man! Thank you! Every other video is just clunky, and hard to follow. This however, easy breezy! I think i might finally be flying after this!

[@SGWARPIG]

You are a boss, this has been defeating me for 2 weeks on my Babyhawk. Finally a resource that speaks simple English. You have another subscriber. Thank You Josh......now if I can just get settings to actually save.

[@willyburger]

This is probably the simplest and most logical driver explanation I've seen yet.

[@hawker05]

This is the most useful video on flashing a flight controller board. Thanks so much!

[@GaryCrowellJr]

Awesome! I got my first FC yesterday and was goofing around with it fine, but then wanted to update the CF version, and was stuck on this exact set of things. Thanks!

[@CGNKatana]

Great tutorial Joshua, worked like a charm for me!!

[@dronescanhelp]

Thank you for taking the time to explain this.........Happy FPV

[@chucklathan]

would like to personally ty for your time on this vid. im new to the quad hobby seen and the learning curve is tough. you successfully walked me thru in great detail on how to set up all the drivers and flash beta flight. very good job ty very much for this vid.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

+charles lathan thank you!

[@yarrula]

I know I'm super late to the party on this one, but this video solved my problems. Thanks for your hard work and insight.

[@trevorheidenreich1485]

Thank you for this video. Once I did the "Zadig thing" I was easily able to flash the firmware. I am a first time quad builder and this cleared things up for me a bit

[@ktrimberger]

Excellent explanations for the USB driver nightmare... I spent 10 hours yesterday screwing around trying to get my BeeBrain to talk with Windows 7. I finally got it to work. Looking at this video nicely summed up the issue with the drivers hell I went through. Thanks for taking the time to do this video. Much appreciated...

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Really sorry you had to go through that. There is no reason for this to be more than a 15 minute process. This is one of a few issues that I desperately wish Betaflight would do better. Maybe now that BF Configurator is an EXE file instead of a Chrome app we can move off of the winusb DFU driver.

[@kennymichaud5366]

It works!!!! Thankyou For the advice. Been stumped for at least a week with this darn thing. Im sure ill be asking more advice. Keep the videos comming

[@Snypr18]

Many thanks for this guide, I would have been totally lost without it.

[@niz76]

Dooooood! I just flashed my Omnibus F3 nano V2 using the Zadig driver you show in your video as it has VCP. I'm so proud of myself haha. I would've had NO IDEA how to solve this without this video. What would we do without you!? Thank you thank you thank you!

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Glad it was helpful.

[@blackmennewstyle]

You made a hell of a job with this video! So much informations all along

[@manski209]

JB, So happy i found this video, needed to update some FC's and this video helped me even though its 6 yrs old. Thank you.

[@frankblake38]

I don't know how you know everything but I feel like I can always count on you to get me where I need to be

[@Bill14886]

Thank you so much for the education, Dont know where Id be without your help in understanding all of this .

[@GKW25308]

Thanks soo much Joshua. The zadig step was what I needed to do. Thanks for explaining it in so much detail.

[@staticfpv881]

The best video of all fpv/quad on KZbin !! ***** 5stars !!!

[@NRMcCullough]

Wow, thanks Josh! I've been sitting on a "dead" f4 v3 for about 3 years now. Only kept it as a reminder to test what I buy... I think you just got it working! :)

[@michaelengelhardt6087]

it took my slow ass two days but got it done thanks to this video. Thank you Joshua.

[@w1nger3]

Thank you so much, it took me so long to find something like this

[@davidringler7131]

Great Vid as Always !!!, Now i know why i am having trouble ! Thank You for all your videos and not just showing the fix but why you need to do these things which to me is the most important!.

[@mark77woody]

I would've been screwed without this video. You got every man and his dog showing how to tune but not one video that I could find that explains this. Ta!

[@dirtriderz6881]

Honestly thank you so much, you don't know how helpful this is!

[@JoshuaBardwell]

My pleasure.

[@GaugedFreak10]

Thank you Joshua! This is exactly what I needed to flash Betaflight to my beecore. You're a life saver!

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Glad I could help.

[@stevebarrow3042]

Thank you for a brilliant and easy to follow video. It really helped me understand how to flash my Omnibusf4

[@tubbyboy210]

You sir are a god and have helped me with FPV racing drones countless time's Thank you

[@DeanChapmanFPV]

Thanks Joshua! You no your way round this better than any man

[@tammydeluca2291]

this video did help me thanks. After a long time i did figure it out.

[@sparkyfever808]

I was struggling to connect my quad to BetaFlight for so long and tried everything on here multiple times... then I tried a different microUSB cable... and it worked! Turns out, the ones that come with your GoPro are only good as charging cables xD Thanks JB... Joshua Bardwell for all the videos! I refer to them for nearly all of my FPV needs!

[@jeffharbidge6540]

omg after trying to find this out for 6+ hrs joshua thank you for this video!!! got my FC all updated!

[@caseyjensen5424]

Dude, you have saved me so many hours of frustration over the years

[@scooterpie1143]

Thank you, followed these instructions and was perfect.. Again thank you so much!

[@shawnpatrick344]

THANK YOU JB ITS A GRATE DAY WHEN THINGS COME TOGETHER YOUR THE MAN THANK YOU SHAWN

[@TheOddboy86]

Thank you for helping me troubleshoot the issue. Turned out I just needed the driver installing.

[@stevenhealey3170]

Only guy who says how it's done!! Thanks lots!!!!

[@frankwarner7279]

Any suggestions now that the new release of both beta and clean flight are rejecting the earlier version boards? Thanks in advacne

[@DEPIndFPV]

Thank you very much, you can't imagine how usefull was this video for me

[@justingoodman1]

Thank you so much for this Vid. You are the best. When I have an issue you always know how to fix it. Thank you

[@robertopaci9725]

Thanks Joshua! This video of yours was really useful and I avoided to throw in the garbage a Omnibus clone flight controller.

[@airgunningcolorado78]

Thanks again. yet another video that solved my problems!

[@erurrutia]

This video is old but still relevant. This helped me fix my Betaflight 4.1 flashing issues on Windows 10. Thanks!

[@StarLiteNL]

excellent video, I will probably link this to many many people from now on if they have trouble :)

[@gruffski]

Thank you Joshua! this video was very helpful.

[@upicks]

Man 2nd time watching this video on my 2nd quad and this has saved me yet again. Thanks a bunch JB! Great video don't know what I would do with it =)

[@Charles-fn9qy]

Joshua, you ROCK! thanks for the explanation, now it all makes sense

[@mithatsinansar3366]

WORKS! FINALLY! Thanks a lot. I was trying to do this lil process for 2 days...

[@ohp98]

I have been pulling my hair out over this, thanks so much great videos keep up the good work