Using Zadig to flash your flight controllers simply (STM32)

In this video I show the process to replace the driver on a PC if you're struggling to update Betaflight or iNavflight onto your flight controller using Zadig. This is a step that many struggle with and a recent experience with a friend of mine promoted this video!
Download Zadig from here - zadig.akeo.ie/
If you're worried about clicking on the wrong thing then the ImpulseRC driver fixer is a lot simpler (impulserc.com/pages/downloads) but not as widely referred to in build videos and posts - hence this video.
Check out my Quadcopter building for beginners playlists on the channel where I show all the steps I follow (i.e. • Quad Build for Beginne... )
You can see more R/C related videos on the channel - / painless360
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Be aware that any comments that are rude, disrespectful or use bullying or threatening language will be deleted. This channel is all about helping others and passing on advice and ideas.
You can follow me on social media too. Look for the 'Painless360' name - / painless360 and Instagram as well.
Thanks for watching, please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and Happy flying!

[@Painless360]

As no-one seems to be reading the video description I'll part pin of the text here ;) - 'If you're worried about clicking on the wrong thing then the ImpulseRC driver fixer is a lot simpler (impulserc.com/pages/downloads) but not as widely referred to in build videos and posts - hence this video.' Happy flying!

[@marccandelier6926]

Thank you you saved me. I've been struggling for 4 hours to flash my flight controller with INAV. Kind regards Marc/Bordeaux/France

[@marckart66]

This has saved me. My first quadcopers I built are so far out of date, getting driver has been painful. All good now!

[@mattynov]

You are the patron saint of lost RC newbies. Can't thank you enough for the wealth of information you've collected here.

[@hometimesuccess]

Thank for helping all the newbys out here. New people every day.

[@borg1874]

Thank you for the simple explanation. Normally I'm one of those drones that just get on KZbin and follow instructions mindlessly. This helped me understand why it works.

[@stillnotflyin]

once again thank you mr painless it is always a pleasure watching your videos and learning even though i am a seasoned builder eve i get stuck.

[@20twentycrew]

Lee.,... Thanks so much for this video. Never had a problem flashing n fc, - until tonight. After a lot of head scratching I came across your video and it helped me solve the problem- many thanks!

[@thinbluelinelife]

Just found this video and it helped me flash my matek f765. Thanks for doing this video man.

[@PhillipBarberVO]

Thanks so much. This really helped me. You make a complex topic simple and I'm very grateful!

[@undeze]

Thanks for this video. I had this issue with iNav and overcame it after watching this video. Cheers!

[@danmccall3616]

Love your videos!!!!! This worked awesome!!

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic app, Lee! Thanks a lot! 😊 As soon as I can I'm going to download it!

[@hookabunny5030]

This is real good for people to know it works very well and solved a few issues I had.. Thank You and Keep up thoughs awesome videos...

[@aaroncosta9761]

Thanks for the refresher!

[@TheFlagInspector]

Thank you, this worked after hours of trying other options.

[@BigAppleJeff]

Yeah it works ! I'm begginer and you learn me something today. Thank's from France ;)

[@omarm7936]

Thanks so much for this bit of gold your video provided...best!

[@jamesgodley2065]

Thankyou SOOOO much for this... I was really starting to lose the will to carry on!

[@tobiasluck6413]

that just helped me flashing iNav on my Matek 405 STD using Matek 405 firmware. Thank you!

[@bobcrouse13]

Thank you for your video, very helpful! 👍

[@OneTwo-wt8qv]

.. what a neat little utility .. cheers !!

[@DannyFPV04]

1000 % worked!!! you're my hero :) Thank you again😁

[@jowiel314]

Thank you! this was the only video i found that actually helped

[@Painless360]

Thank you - lots of videos like this on the channel.. Happy flying!

[@rizen3467]

Thanks, nice and fast tutorial!

[@vonSchwartzwolfe]

Thank you zadig was the tool a was missing. Thank you again.

[@NATGEOANDSTUFFPaulbrannan]

greayt video buddy.keep up the good work

[@xsnorrol8819]

the only video that helped me tysm

[@davehrcfpv]

Another useful guide Lee, thank you. Couldn't get my Matek H743 FC to flash iNav 5.0 - So as you advised I loaded Zadig Slight change here - it wasnt an STMxxxxx driver Zadig found but a DFUxxxxx driver Success!

[@jackdaniels7913]

I'll look for a vid in your list on how to update betaflight but what might be a grate help to so many new people is a bid on how to step by step update betaflight on a ARF or RTF model as so many are out there and it seems daunting to flash the board without messing something up .... thanks as always for everything your doing for the community!

[@Painless360]

Already done, see my links. Happy flying!

[@jackdaniels7913]

Will do thank you so much and happy fling to you to

[@danielzawerton7023]

Great video ! Thank you very much !

[@tubermick]

you don't know how much this helped me out to flash my matek 405, I was ready to jump on it and set it on fire (really) thanks mate. now I have to figure out how to set up inav 2.4 .

[@Painless360]

Check out my many INav builds... Happy flying

[@tonydorans1145]

Thank you so much for your help. My FC F405 wmn wouldnt flash and it was because the stm32 driver was missing which was loaded through zadig. Genious!

[@pinewaves_]

Thank you sooo much. You're a life saver

[@kenschulz5138]

Thank you so much for the video

[@vitoraniceto5278]

You saved me, thank you!

[@Asu01]

I had an Apple computer and as a noob back then, I didn't know anything about driver and stuff so I didn't use or install one. Getting into DFU mode is as plain as clicking the flash button and it automatically gets into DFU mode, no bootloader, nothing. Months ago, I had to use a Windows computer and getting my board to flash is a real pain in the butt though I managed it at the end. Just sharing my interesting experience..

[@SabareeshPambalath]

Thank you for the very clear explanation, I could resolve the issue I had with MatekF411 SE flight controller unable to flash iNav firmware

[@batterynerd8779]

Thanks man. No way i would have figured that out by myself

[@Paulchoppysoo]

Awsome, Thanks. My Maytek H743-wing board needed to have the boot button pressed while plugging in and Zadig showed "DFU in FS mode". it then added a driver and it now can be seen on Ardupilot mission planner .

[@mrwaseem574]

I like your all videos thanks from indiaa ❤

[@retrodudefpv]

As always; informative & broken down into easy to follow. I had terrible trouble when I first started with flight controllers etc., but after finding you and of course the ubiquitous Joshua Bardwell, things become clearer and clearer. Brilliant. I love the fact you don't forget the newcomers and the bewildering amount of knowledge they need to comprehend. Best wishes to you

[@Painless360]

And it's not just betaflight on here either ;)

[@xminecrafterx9859]

Thank you!!!

[@andreymelenchuk4341]

Oh my goodness thank you soooo much❤

[@DINSTAAR-FPV]

Thanks!

[@elsonab4283]

Sr, you are a blessing, I'm thankful I found your video. Please add STM32 help so we can find your video easier in the when we are using key words 😊😊😊

[@Painless360]

Done

[@andrewmcglynn9012]

Thank you!

[@jaytank31]

Thank you

[@AlexanderCerda-xr8tv]

thanks a Lot !

[@dcsmith5839]

Thank-you for all the good information. Once downloaded,is it automatic or is this done with every new FC?

[@Painless360]

I find that I have to do it on most these days..

[@IceCreams62]

You can use also the ImpulseRC Driver Fixer

[@AndrewHyams]

At some point last year, I seem to remember a Windows update fubar'd the CP210x driver, anyone know if that's been fixed yet? I would plug in a FC to find out but got neither a quad nor my laptop in reach atm :P

[@mdh2006]

second..Good morning Painless, great videos.

[@teddydelrue]

I tried this on my runner 250 (it's TF232R USB UART instead of STM32 Bootloader) now I have no more connexion to my pc. someone have a solution?

[@51im]

Is this the same as the impulseRC driver fixer.

[@yusufyusuf7919]

U SAVED ME OMG THANKS I WOULD HAVE DIED AND WASTED 150$

[@bertbeinaaf8314]

Do you have to use Zadig on a Apple to? I flashed some tiny whoop style FC’s in the past but I can’t remember that I installed Zadig first.

[@hb9dod]

You dont use zadig on an Apple. It recognize bootloadermode automatically

[@abimaputra]

please help. I had installed Ardupilot from Inav and then now I want goin back to Inav, but i face some difficulties how to DFU. since bootloader was in Ardupilot. how can I flash Inav Again Thanks

[@Painless360]

Use the DFU button on the FC when you power it.. Best of luck

[@GR33ZY.A1]

Quick question ⁉️ I have a Mobula8 Frsky and after crash drone does not beep at all but connects to osd and controller Normally. Just wont fly .. please help thanks

[@Painless360]

I'd suspect something got broken or damaged. I'd check for loose cables, unplugged connectors etc.. Best of luck!

[@user-otzlixr]

Thanks Lee.. So when I’m in boot loader mode, it says ‘kakute h7’ in zadig, which is my flight controller. It does not have stm32. I upgraded the drivers, same result, not able to flash my Kakute h7 wing with inav. I’m just trying to determine if the FC will connect to Inav, and after getting in the mail , but I’m a couple hours in to this. I don’t know ardupulot well , and that doesn’t connect either. I hate to send a FC back that works, but I have some serious doubts about the hardware.

[@Painless360]

That sounds like the driver isn't the right one already. I'd check that your board is in DFU mode (press the DFU button as you connect it). If it doesn't appear as shown in the video, I'd go into Device Manager and delete the USB driver that appears when you plug it in normally and start again.. The ImpulseRC driver Fixer is a less stressful tool to use too - impulserc.com/pages/downloads

[@user-otzlixr]

@@Painless360 Thank you!! Right after sent this, i tried one more thing, I tried a generic tool for stm32 , which actually opened the flight controller and allowed me to 'download' inav 7 firmware (created hex file in inav) to the FC. **stm32cubedeveloper** .. nice little tool, made me register twice, but worth it.

[@marcelosky8073]

Hi,i am figuring out how to flash my flight controller (Mamba F405) that now it has the Ardupilot firmware,but i wanna change the this firmware to the Betaflight

[@Painless360]

Best of luck with it. I've shown the BF setup on the channel a few times.. Best of luck!

[@christopherleveck1599]

Will this help me load APM on my Revo Mini? I've seen it done and I believe I've followed all the steps verbatim, still no luck. Can you use Zadig to load a raw hex file?

[@Painless360]

Zadig doesn't load anything onto the FC, only replaces the driver so the thing you're using to flash the firmware can 'see' it to do so...

[@christopherleveck1599]

@@Painless360 Got it. Is there any way to load a hex file directly to a flight controller? It seems like a lot of the problem has to do with connection issues or previous configurations.... I work with arduinos all the time. We have a couple different hex loaders that are particularly helpful when you are having code issues and can't compile something for a weird reason. The problem is finding hex files that will work. But there are LOTS of good hex files for all kinds of configurations a

[@oscarherreracastilla3264]

hello I need help on a zading thing I used it to connect my ps4 controller but it made my keyboard not write I have read several forums and the same thing happened to more people, do you know any solution?

[@Painless360]

I've only used it to allow DFU mode of flight controllers.. best of luck

[@michelemckeon3701]

I did this and the flight controller is detected in DFU mode - I am using Inav but when I click on flash it comes up with error failed to open USB. Do you know what causes this in windows 10. I tried 2 different computers all the same.

[@Painless360]

I'd delete the device from device manager and start again. Trying another USB cable can help too... Happy flying

[@stevenfollows1205]

Impulse rc driver is the best

[@ImpossibleRulesDeepakbeniya]

Actually i messed up with Zadig and installed wrong driver. As you said it can be fixed by impulse rc. But it's not solving my problem. My FC is not recognized by Betaflight configurator. Any solution for this🙏🙏🙏.

[@Painless360]

Install the drivers listed on the opening page of Betaflight is a start.. You don't mention if the issue is normal connections or DFU/Flashing - they use different drivers..

[@markgiles8527]

i can connect and in cli i can dump and I see: INAV/SPRACINGF3 2.2.1 Jul 3 2019 / 21:50:13 (a6d847482) Why am i able to connect but can't connect to flash to a new version? I have tried to install the latest version of inav but when I try to extract/install in chrome chrome tells me something is missing.

[@Painless360]

It is probably a driver issue as the drivers used to talk to the board are not the same as those used to flash it - covered in the video. Best of luck!

[@smf0294]

what else can be the problem? ive tried EVERYTHING!!! in Zadig it will show up as speedbee f405 wing if i Dont press the boot button. but if i do it like the video and press the boot button when i plug it in it comes up as "unknown usb device (device descriptor request failed)" instead of stm32. its been 2 dats of trying to fix this.....im going crazy!!!

[@Painless360]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWjGi2hojLV7oMU

[@vinceywinceyspider]

done zadig dfu is displayed at the top downloaded firmware but wont flash arghhhh

[@simoncorser8083]

Hi I've loaded all the drivers. Still cannot connect to my pc. I don't need to flash the FC, just connect. I've tried impulse RC, but this does not work either. Please could you help :)

[@Painless360]

It'll be a driver or cable issue. I'd try another cable to rule that out. What troubleshooting have you done?

[@simoncorser8083]

@@Painless360 I've tried zadig but thanks to your video I now know I don't need it as I don't need to flash. I have ordered a new cable the other day too. I have downloaded all the drivers on the betaflight website. I am running Windows 7, 64bit processor. Thanks so much for your help :)

[@drewgotit3569]

@@simoncorser8083 let me know if you ever figure this out. I have the same issue. I reinstalled all of the drivers, and tried impulse rcs too, and none of them will recognize my fc. And tried different cables. It was working fine, i changed a setting in betaflight. Then tried conecting to blheli32 and it wouldnt recognize it. Now its just invisible to everything. My other fcs still conect fine.

[@drewgotit3569]

@@Painless360 should i uninstall all drivers and reinstall them ? Even though my other fcs work fine. Im stumped and want to throw it at the wall at this point.

[@prithvigiridhar8022]

Anyone here received this message "no configuration received within 10 seconds, communication failed" and how were you able to resolve this. I'm using a naze 32 flight board.

[@Painless360]

Are you trying to flash the board, connect to it with Betaflight or something else?

[@planksimonproduktion9399]

My fc pnly shows up as a cp2102 usb to uart bridge controller. The imulserc software does not detect my fc either. I think i did something really bad. Does anyone have an idea on how to fix that?

[@Painless360]

Then the device driver replacement probably didn't work.. See the other comments for another driver replacement solution that may be better for you if Zadig is struggling.. Best of luck!

[@planksimonproduktion9399]

@@Painless360 i might have figured it out: the 3.3v regulator gets really hot, which could mean the cpu is dead, but not the usb to uart chip, which in turn explains why it only shows up as a uart bridge. Anyways, a new one is on the way, thanks for your respone anyways. And thanks for your videos, they make my life so much easyer!

[@nanonatronaviation6007]

how can I flash with an USB to TTL adapter, cause the usb port of th FC is brocken?

[@Painless360]

I've not had to do that for a long time. Back in the day you could connect to UART 1 (if MSP was enabled for it) and use it that way but I've not tried that for many years.. I'd search in the forums for the specific board you have in case another pilot has posted the trick. Best of luck with it..

[@nanonatronaviation6007]

@@Painless360 thanks... For normal use it's working but not for DFU mode... By the way I use the matek f405 wing FC

[@Painless360]

That's more likely than be a driver issue. Check out my Zadig video.. best of luck

[@BigAppleJeff]

Ok I have a new problem... The pitch is constantly moving in the "Setup" page when the card doesn't move, and I can't calibrate the accelerometer. Can anyone help me please ?

[@Painless360]

Older boards with older accelerometers and gyros suffered more with this. sounds like the IMU is drifting or you need to perform that calibration. Also check that the centre values for all the channels are at 1500.. See my setup videos...

[@BigAppleJeff]

@@Painless360 Ok, I'll try it

[@BigAppleJeff]

I solved the problem, I selected the 2nd gyro (ICM20602) with the CLI command and thanks to that I no longer have permanent pitch movement. However, I couldn't find where to calibrate the previous gyro, nor do I know where to find the values to look at, but for the moment it works. Thanks for your help !

[@mttzunayed6485]

Why Impulserc driver fixer cannot find my fc? It loads and loads but cannot find the fc. Please help me

[@Painless360]

I don't use that here. I use Zadig. Best of luck

[@mttzunayed6485]

I used Zadig also. After so much trying. I finally flashed my fc. But it doesn’t connect with cleanflight. It says- serial port successfully closed. What can I do now?

[@Painless360]

Find the port in the device manager on the computer and delete it. You've probably accidentality replaced that driver using Zadig too..

[@mttzunayed6485]

Done that also. But didn’t work. I didn’t find stm32 option in zadig software. I found cp2010x port. Usb to uart com connector. But stm32 didn’t appeared.

[@pavalige]

Use impulse RC driver fixer it's a one click solution

[@arovion]

No it's not working in some pc's 😞

[@tijsgrandia2658]

And yeah, by my pc you dont see STM32 Bootloader... I download it like 1000 times. Please help me out

[@Painless360]

What troubleshooting have you already done?

[@RCRich030]

i dont have st32 :///

[@smooth_ops2942]

For all the new people... Just use the impulse driver fixer much much easier to use and it does all the thinking for you. IMPULSERC.COM

[@Painless360]

Indeed - see video description ;)

[@DINSTAAR-FPV]

For anyone having this issue flashing your flight controller, this process to resolve the issue still works! I just fixed this issue while trying to flash FC on my Cinebot 30. Thank you so much @Painless360, I was up all night troubeshooting this issue.

[@Painless360]

Now you know there is no need to struggle. The answer will be on here somewhere. Happy flying

[@skypilot23]

Zadig has led.me down the garden path to misery many times- because I know just enough to be dangerous and replace the wrong driver. Since impulse driver fixer I dont go near zadig

[@passinthru4328]

I think I can relate :-( I'm still in misery. To be fair to Zadig, it's creator does warn against replacing drivers in certain situations. I of course ignore all that and POW!

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

Hate Zadig. Always have. Impulse RC driver fixer and be done.

[@quickf0x792]

First?