On this tutorial, I’ll information you thru the method of backing up your FPV drone’s Betaflight flight controller utilizing numerous strategies, together with the Presets tab, the CLI dump, screenshots and downloading processor flash. I may even present you easy methods to restore your drone from the backup information. Let’s dive in.
New to FPV? Take a look at my different Betaflight-related weblog posts: https://oscarliang.com/tag/betaflight/
When to Backup Betaflight
It’s necessary to again up your Betaflight configuration within the following conditions:
- Earlier than updating flight controller firmware, as this course of can erase your earlier settings.
- Earlier than making any important modifications, so you’ll be able to revert to the earlier configuration if wanted.
Making ready for the Backup
First, obtain and set up Betaflight Configurator. Join your drone to your pc through the USB cable.
You’ll understand it’s related when the lights on the drone begin flashing and a brand new COM port seems within the configurator’s high proper nook. Press the join button.
Utilizing the Presets Tab
The Presets tab is the simplest means of backing up and restoring your Betaflight settings. It’s principally the identical as getting into the “diff all” command in CLI and saving the lead to a textual content file your self.
Save Backup: Within the Presets tab, click on “Save backup.” This can save your configuration in a textual content file. The file identify consists of the mannequin identify and a date/time stamp. Open the textual content file to make sure it comprises information and isn’t empty to keep away from surprises.
Load Backup: To revive a backup, use the “Load backup” button.
Earlier than loading, guarantee your flight controller is on the identical Betaflight model because the backup file. Open the backup textual content file and verify the “Model.” If the variations don’t match, flash your flight controller to the identical model first to keep away from conflicts and incompatibilities. Tips on how to flash Betaflight: https://oscarliang.com/flash-update-betaflight/
Utilizing the CLI Tab
In the event you desire to again up Betaflight manually utilizing the CLI, comply with these steps:
Go to the CLI tab and kind dump. This command will show all of the settings in Betaflight. Press the “Save to file” button to save lots of the output in a textual content file.
Alternatively, use the command diff all to show solely the settings which have been altered from the default values. There are a lot fewer traces and extra manageable if you need to undergo it.
To revive settings through CLI, press the “Load from file” button and find the backup textual content file, sort save and hit Enter.
Taking Screenshots
Taking screenshots of sure configuration pages will be very helpful for reference, particularly the Ports tab. This ensures you recognize which port is assigned to every peripheral, which will be unclear from CLI traces alone.
Downloading Processor Flash
As a sophisticated technique, you’ll be able to clone the whole processor reminiscence, packaging the firmware and configurations right into a single file. This technique is useful as you received’t have to fret about firmware variations. Nonetheless, it requires extra software program like STM32CubeProgrammer.
Discover ways to do it right here: https://oscarliang.com/backup-fc-stm32cubeprogrammer/
I take advantage of this technique steadily, because it permits me to change between totally different Betaflight variations rapidly and even change between iNav and Betaflight for testing functions.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you’ll be able to guarantee your Betaflight configurations are safely backed up and simply restored, permitting you to experiment and replace with out worry of dropping your settings.
Edit Historical past
- Sep 2018 – Tutorial created
- Feb 2022 – Up to date for Betaflight 4.3
- Jun 2024 – Up to date for Betaflight 4.5