Ground Agent troubleshooting

Start with the agent’s own checks: ados diag link for the radio verdict and ados diag video for the per-hop video verdict. The systemd journal is the log of record: journalctl -u <unit>.

Mesh problems (relays not pairing, batman-adv not coming up, partitions, gateway choice) are on Mesh troubleshooting.

No video from the drone

Symptom: the ground station runs and your client is connected, but the video is black.

Possible cause	How to check	Fix
Drone not paired	OLED third line reads `link: idle`; the LCD shows Pair drone	Pair the air link. See Pair the air link.
Drone off or out of range	`ados diag link` reports `deaf` or `searching`	Power the drone or move closer.
Radio keys do not match	`ados diag link` reports `mis_keyed`	Pair again. See WFB-ng pairing.
Adapter missing	`lsusb` shows no RTL8812 device	Plug in the adapter.
Driver not built	`dmesg \| grep 8812` shows errors	Install the kernel headers and re-run the installer with `--upgrade`.
Video service down	`systemctl status ados-mediamtx-gs` (it runs `ados-groundlink --ground-video`, which supervises the media server)	`journalctl -u ados-mediamtx-gs -n 50`. The media server is restarted 3 seconds after any exit, and also when it stops taking in video while the radio is still delivering.

ados diag video
journalctl -u ados-wfb-rx -n 30

Access point not broadcasting

Symptom: a phone or laptop cannot find ADOS-GS-<id>.

Possible cause	How to check	Fix
Not a ground station	`ados profile show`	`sudo ados profile set ground_station`.
Access point disabled	`GET /api/v1/ground-station/network`	Re-enable it with `PUT /api/v1/ground-station/network/ap` and `{"enabled": true}`, or from Mission Control (node panel, Network).
Single radio busy as a Wi-Fi client	The node joined a Wi-Fi network	Expected: the access point stands down while the only radio carries a client uplink. See Uplink matrix.
`hostapd` failed	`systemctl status ados-hostapd`; `journalctl -u ados-uplink-router \| grep ap_start` shows `ap_start_incomplete_retrying_next_tick` on each failed retry	`journalctl -u ados-hostapd -n 50`. The uplink router retries the start every 15 seconds while the access point is enabled.

Laptop cannot reach the node over Wi-Fi

Symptom: you joined the access point but http://192.168.4.1:8080 does not load.

Check your address

Your laptop needs a 192.168.4.x address. A 169.254.x.x address means DHCP is not answering:

# On the ground station
systemctl status ados-dnsmasq-gs

Check the agent

ping 192.168.4.1
curl http://192.168.4.1:8080/api/version

Use the right address

Nothing on the ground station listens on port 4000. The node’s own surfaces are http://192.168.4.1:8080/ and http://192.168.4.1:8080/cockpit/. Mission Control runs on your laptop or a server. During first-time setup only, http://192.168.4.1/ (port 80) also redirects to the setup wizard.

USB tether not working

Symptom: no new network interface appears on the laptop.

Possible cause	How to check	Fix
Power-only cable	Try a known data cable	Use a cable rated for data.
USB device controller off	`journalctl -u ados-uplink-router \| grep usb_gadget`	Add `dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=peripheral` to `/boot/firmware/config.txt` and reboot.
Board without USB tether	Cubie A7Z	Use the access point or Ethernet.
Old Windows 10 build	Yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager	Bind Microsoft’s “Remote NDIS Compatible Device” driver.
Laptop power too weak	Drops under load	Power the board separately.

OLED stays dark

Symptom: the ground station runs but the OLED shows nothing.

Possible cause	How to check	Fix
No `/dev/i2c-1` yet	`ls /dev/i2c-1`	Reboot once after the install; the installer enables I2C.
Wiring	`sudo i2cdetect -y 1` shows nothing	Check SDA, SCL, VCC (3.3 V) and GND.
Unusual address	`i2cdetect` shows the panel at another address	Set `ADOS_OLED_ADDR=0x3D` (or the address shown) in `/etc/ados/env`, then `sudo systemctl restart ados-oled-i2c`.
SH1106 or 128x32 panel	Garbled output	Set `ADOS_OLED_CONTROLLER=sh1106` or `ADOS_OLED_HEIGHT=32` in `/etc/ados/env`.
Service	`systemctl status ados-oled-i2c`	`journalctl -u ados-oled-i2c -n 20`.

Wrong profile

Symptom: the node runs as a drone, or the other way round. The installer does not detect the profile from hardware; it uses --profile, then the recorded profile, then drone. Check what the node resolved:

ados profile show
cat /etc/ados/profile.conf

To see what the hardware fingerprint would suggest, without writing anything:

sudo /opt/ados/venv/bin/python -m ados.bootstrap.profile_detect

Set the profile:

sudo ados profile set ground_station

The command restarts the affected services itself.

Android shows “No internet”

After setup, the ground station does not answer Android’s connectivity check, so Android flags the network.

Choose “Stay connected” on the notification.
In the network’s settings, turn off automatic switching to mobile data.

See Android client.

High video latency

Possible cause	Fix
Many clients on the access point	Fewer video viewers, or switch to USB tether.
2.4 GHz interference	Move the access point to a quieter channel.
Ground station CPU load	Check the dashboard’s system view; lower the stream resolution.
No hardware decode in the browser	In Chrome, check `chrome://gpu` for hardware video decode.
Radio packet loss	Check FEC lost on the LCD Link stats tab or the cockpit Link screen; reposition the antennas.

HDMI kiosk shows nothing

Possible cause	Fix
Kiosk turned off	Check `ground_station.kiosk.enabled` is `true` and `ground_station.display.type` is not `lcd` or `none`.
Service problem	`journalctl -u ados-kiosk -n 50`.
Browser or compositor missing	`sudo apt install cage chromium`, then `sudo systemctl restart ados-kiosk`.
Wrong resolution	Set `ground_station.kiosk.resolution` to `720p` from Mission Control (node panel, Display).

Factory reset

Factory reset runs on the box only, with a confirmation token. See Re-run setup and reset.

Get help

ados status --json captures setup, network, MAVLink, video and remote access state.
ados support-bundle writes one redacted archive locally for a support request.
See Support.

Get started

Connect your devices

At the ground station

Mesh and distributed receive

Network and fleet

Diagnose

No video from the drone

Access point not broadcasting

Laptop cannot reach the node over Wi-Fi

USB tether not working

OLED stays dark

Wrong profile

Android shows “No internet”

High video latency

HDMI kiosk shows nothing

Factory reset

Get help

Next steps

Mesh troubleshooting

Troubleshooting by area

​No video from the drone

​Access point not broadcasting

​Laptop cannot reach the node over Wi-Fi

​USB tether not working

​OLED stays dark

​Wrong profile

​Android shows “No internet”

​High video latency

​HDMI kiosk shows nothing

​Factory reset

​Get help

​Next steps

Mesh troubleshooting

Troubleshooting by area

No video from the drone

Access point not broadcasting

Laptop cannot reach the node over Wi-Fi

USB tether not working

OLED stays dark

Wrong profile

Android shows “No internet”

High video latency

HDMI kiosk shows nothing

Factory reset

Get help

Next steps