When trying to bind a new FrSKY R-XSR receiver to my Taranis X7 Transmitter, the receiver would have all three LEDs illuminated instead of the usual flashing red LED that indicates a successful bind. After a bit of reading and a ton of trial and error I managed to finally bind to the new receiver, and in this post I’ll break down what I did to get things working.
Essentially the binding issues were caused by a firmware mismatch between my transmitter and my new receiver, and all I had to do was update all my relevant firmwares to newer, and more importantly, matching versions.
Updating OpenTX
A good starting point is making sure your transmitter’s OS (OpenTX) is up to date. So first head over to http://www.open-tx.org/downloads and choose your build (I would recommend going with the newest stable build, definitely do not download the nightly). Then scroll down and download the accompanying “OpenTX Companion” software for your computer’s OS.
On your computer, boot up the companion software you just downloaded. And turn on your transmitter to bootloader mode, which for the X7 the process is simple, just hold both of the lower trim switches toward the center of the transmitter as you press the power button:
If you have a different transmitter the process may be the same, but it never hurts to search online for your particular model and be sure!
Once in bootloader mode you can plug your transmitter into your computer and the OpenTX companion will be able to communicate with it. A good first step is to back up your current configurations just in case something goes wrong.
Go ahead and hit all three of the menu buttons shown above to back up your current transmitter information (Models & Settings, EEPROM, and Firmware). Save these somewhere you will remember with useful file names, because you might have to come back to them a long time after creating them, and knowing which is which would be crucial.
After backing up your settings, we then need to customize the firmware we want to flash onto the transmitter. Start this by hitting the settings button up at the top of the Companion window:
Set up your firmware with the settings you’d like, or if you’re not sure then following my config is a safe bet:
Once your settings are finished, hit the “Download” button at the top of the companion window to download your new firmware:
Where you’ll then be prompted with the following window:
You’ll want to download the firmware, and the SD contents. The SD contents button will bring you to a list of files, that will more than likely be the correct list and you’ll just want to grab the highest version listed. But you may want to go up one directory and check. For example my transmitter, the X7, has an older ACCST version and a newer ACCESS version, which you can tell what you have by looking at the bottom near your screen:
I have the older ACCST version so I had to make sure I was in the correct directory, which I was:
Clear out your old SD card content and copy over the new file structure, saving any custom images or sounds you may have had on your card.
Finally, hit the write firmware button on the side of the companion window to flash your new firmware onto your transmitter:
Updating Transmitter RF Module Firmware
Along with updating your transmitter’s OS, you’ll want to update the firmware for the RF Module. On the page on the FrSKY website for your transmitter model you’ll find the link to download the newest firmware. The process will be similar for other models, but I’ll be going through the exact steps for the Taranis X7 transmitter.
First, head to the downloads section for your transmitter and download the firmware for the “XJT RF Module”. Take note of the version number you are downloading (2.1.0 at time of writing) because this is one of the things you’ll need to match when selecting your receiver firmware later. Once you have it downloaded, extract the .zip and move the new extracted folder to the “FIRMWARE” folder on your transmitter’s SD card.
With the firmware now on your transmitter’s SD card, start up your transmitter and hold the menu button until you are brought into the transmitter settings menu. The first page in my menu is the “TOOLS” Page:
but depending on your OpenTX version the page order may be a little different. Either way, just hit the “PAGE” button on your transmitter until you reach the SD Card page (“SD-HC CARD”):
Use the dial to move over to the FIRMWARE folder and press the dial (ENTER) to go into the folder. Use the dial again to highlight and enter the XJT firmware folder you just moved onto the SD card. Finally, highlight the version of the firmware you’d like to install (probably a choice between xxx_FCC and xxx_LBT, which like your version number you will have to have this match throughout your firmwares, so remember your choice) and hold down the dial until you are given some options on what to do:
For the Internal RF module you’ll want to choose “Flash int. module” and let the process complete.
And that’s it! With your OpenTX update and your RF module update your transmitter is now all up to date. Now time to get your receiver firmware updated to match the changes you just made.
Updating FrSKY R-XSR Receiver Firmware
The process for updating your receiver firmware is similar to the RF module update, but with one major difference toward the end: Connecting the receiver to the transmitter to transmit the data. Which I’ll go through the steps toward the bottom of this section.
But first, as always head over to the download page for your receiver and download the appropriate firmware. Make sure you choose correctly between ACCST or ACCESS based on your transmitter version! It’s shown here on your transmitter:
Once you have downloaded a firmware, extract the .zip and move the new folder to the “FIRMWARE” directory on your transmitter’s SD card.
In order to have the transmitter communicate with the receiver and update it’s firmware you’ll need to connect them, this is done through a set of exposed headers on the back of your transmitter, behind the center panel:
Having standard headers like this is nice, as you can easily make your own custom connectors for different receivers, or even just get a typical Servo Extension Wire. Though if you do use a servo extension wire, notice that the 5V and Ground wires are flipped on the X7 headers! So you’ll need to either grab a pair of tweezers and flip the red and black wires on the servo connector, or mentally note that your red and black are flipped from the typical red = power, black = ground standard.
Your R-XSR should have come with a pre-made servo connector wire, which is also pre-crimped on the other end for the receiver connection:
If you use this cable you 100% have to flip the red and the black wires on the servo connector side, which I have done on my connector pictured above. If your receiver did come with this wire, go ahead and connect it to your receiver and transmitter after you have flipped the red and black wires.
But if you don’t have this wire and need to connect it manually, here’s the receiver pinout:
Where you’ll need to connect your transmitter’s 5V pin to the 5V pin on the receiver, the ground pin to the receiver ground, and the transmitter “data” pin to the receiver’s S.Port pin. Once you have your transmitter and your receiver properly connected, the rest of the process is done through your transmitter interface:
With the firmware now on your transmitter’s SD card, like the RF Module update, start up your transmitter and hold the menu button until you are brought into the transmitter settings menu. The first page in my menu is the “TOOLS” Page:
but depending on your OpenTX version the page order may be a little different. Either way, just hit the “PAGE” button on your transmitter until you reach the SD Card page (“SD-HC CARD”):
Use the dial to move over to the FIRMWARE folder and press the dial (ENTER) to go into the folder. Use the dial again to highlight and enter the firmware folder you just moved onto the SD card. Finally, highlight the version of the firmware you’d like to install (probably a choice between xxx_FCC and xxx_LBT, which like your version number you will have to have this match throughout your firmwares, so remember your choice) and hold down the dial until you are given some options on what to do:
For boards you’ve connected externally with those rear headers, you’ll want to choose “Flash ext. module” and let the process complete.
Updating FrSKY XM+ Receiver Firmware
The process for updating your receiver firmware is similar to the RF module update, but with one major difference toward the end: Connecting the receiver to the transmitter to transmit the data. Which I’ll go through the steps toward the bottom of this section.
But first, as always head over to the download page for your receiver and download the appropriate firmware. Make sure you choose correctly between ACCST or ACCESS based on your transmitter version! It’s shown here on your transmitter:
Once you have downloaded a firmware, extract the .zip and move the new folder to the “FIRMWARE” directory on your transmitter’s SD card.
In order to have the transmitter communicate with the receiver and update it’s firmware you’ll need to connect them, this is done through a set of exposed headers on the back of your transmitter, behind the center panel:
Having standard headers like this is nice, as you can easily make your own custom connectors for different receivers, or even just get a typical Servo Extension Wire. Though if you do use a servo extension wire, notice that the 5V and Ground wires are flipped on the X7 headers! So you’ll need to either grab a pair of tweezers and flip the red and black wires on the servo connector, or mentally note that your red and black are flipped from the typical red = power, black = ground standard.
My XM+ Didn’t come with any pre-made wires so I took a set of male and female headers, trimmed them down to be 3 pins long, and soldered on my own wires:
The female headers went right onto the transmitter pins, and the male headers made soldering all three connections at once easier on the receiver side. For the XM+ here is the pretty simple pinout:
Where you’ll need to connect your transmitter’s 5V pin to the 5V pin on the receiver, the ground pin to the receiver ground, and the transmitter “data” pin to the receiver’s SBUS pin. Once you have your transmitter and your receiver properly connected, the rest of the process is done through your transmitter interface:
With the firmware now on your transmitter’s SD card, like the RF Module update, start up your transmitter and hold the menu button until you are brought into the transmitter settings menu. The first page in my menu is the “TOOLS” Page:
but depending on your OpenTX version the page order may be a little different. Either way, just hit the “PAGE” button on your transmitter until you reach the SD Card page (“SD-HC CARD”):
Use the dial to move over to the FIRMWARE folder and press the dial (ENTER) to go into the folder. Use the dial again to highlight and enter the firmware folder you just moved onto the SD card. Finally, highlight the version of the firmware you’d like to install (probably a choice between xxx_FCC and xxx_LBT, which like your version number you will have to have this match throughout your firmwares, so remember your choice) and hold down the dial until you are given some options on what to do:
For boards you’ve connected externally with those rear headers, you’ll want to choose “Flash ext. module” and let the process complete.
