In this tutorial I will show you how to update EdgeTX in your radio step-by-step (flashing new version of EdgeTX or migrate from OpenTX). This guide should apply to most if not all OpenTX and EdgeTX radios, including the TX16S, T16, Zorro, Boxer, T-Lite, T-Pro and Taranis.
Wondering if OpenTX or EdgeTX is better? Check out this comparison between the two popular systems: https://oscarliang.com/edgetx-vs-opentx/
Table of Contents
What is EdgeTX?
EdgeTX is an open-source firmware that runs on a variety of radios used in the FPV and RC communities. Whether you’re using a radio with a simple monochrome display or a high-end model with a large color touchscreen, EdgeTX brings a consistent experience across devices.
Supported Radios
Here’s a list of radios that support EdgeTX.
Black & White LCD Screen
- BETAFPV LiteRadio 3 Pro
- FrSky QX7 / QX7S / QX7 ACCESS / QX7 ACCESS
- FrSky X9 Lite / X9 Lite S
- FrSky X-Lite / X-Lite S / X-Lite Pro
- FrSky X9D / X9D+ / X9D+ SE
- FrSky X9D+ 2019 / X9D+ SE 2019
- Frsky X9E / Frsky X9E Hall
- iFlight Commando8
- Jumper T12 / T12 Plus / T12 Pro Hall
- Jumper T-Lite
- Jumper T-Pro
- RadioMaster Boxer
- RadioMaster T8 / T8 Pro
- RadioMaster TX12 / TX12 Mark II
- RadioMaster Zorro
Color LCD Screen
- Flysky NV14 / EL18
- FrSky X10 / X10S / X10 Express / X10S Express
- FrSky X12S / X12S-IRSM
- Jumper T16 / T16 Plus / T16 Pro Hall
- Jumper T18 / T18 Lite / T18 Pro
- RadioMaster/Eachine TX16S / RadioMaster TX16S MAX / RadioMaster TX16S Mark II
Check Your Current Firmware Version
Before updating your radio, you need to check what firmware version is currently installed. This will tell you if you need to update to the latest version.
- Long Press the “SYS” button
- Scroll to the VERSION tab (7th tab) by pressing the Page button
- The version number is after “VERS”
Once you know your current version, you can proceed to the update process if it’s outdated.
How to Update EdgeTX
If your radio is running OpenTX, go here for instructions how to migrate to EdgeTX.
If your radio is running EdgeTX and you wish to update it, continue reading.
Backup Radio
By making a backup of the radio, we can revert to where we started in case of any issue.
Notes: you WILL NOT lose any models after the upgrade, so don’t worry. All models should be there after flashing. The backup is just a safety measure.
Backup Radio
Follow instructions here to backup and restore your radio SD Card Content: https://oscarliang.com/backup-restore-models-radio-settings-edgetx/
For EdgeTX 2.5 or newer
There is nothing else you need to backup, you can move on to the next step.
With EdgeTX 2.5 or newer, all the config are saved in the SD card. That means backing up is as simple as copying your SD card content to somewhere on your computer. More specifically, the models and radio settings are saved in the MODELS and RADIO folders. But I recommend backing up the whole SD card content (basically all the folders and files) so you won’t lose any sound pack, image files and scripts.
For EdgeTX 2.4 or older
If your EdgeTX version is 2.4 or older, you still have to backup models and radio settings.
Before EdgeTX 2.5, some config is saved to a piece of memory in the radio called EEPROM. The only way to backup and restore information saved in this memory is using the EdgeTX Companion. Ever since EdgeTX 2.5, they switched to saving all the config in the SD card instead of using EEPROM (EEPROM is not used anymore).
So, if you have EdgeTX 2.4 or older, you can only backup models and radio settings by using either the Companion or manually saving EEPROM to the SD card.
Once you updated to the latest EdgeTX you can forget about all this mess :)
To use Companion to backup, you should use the same version EdgeTX Companion as your radio to avoid compatibility issues, new versions are not always backward compatible.
Connect USB cable to the radio, choose USB Storage (SD) when prompted.
In OpenTX/EdgeTX Companion, select “Read Model and Settings from Radio”. You will see a list of your models. Click File, Save as, and save the file somewhere on your computer. The file contains all your models and radio settings.
When you want to restore, simply flash your radio to the old firmware, and copy the backed up SD card content to the radio (delete everything first then paste). In Companion, open the backed up model and settings file, and write them to your radio.
If you don’t want to use Companion to back up, you could also manually copy EEPROM to the SD card. Go to System->Hardware->EEPROM Backup. Remember to back up your SD card content again after this. To restore, go to Bootloader mode, and select Restore EEPROM.
Flash Methods
There are 3 ways to flash EdgeTX to your radio, I recommend using the EdgeTX Buddy Online Flasher because it’s the easiest method. Note that it only supports Chrome based browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera.
EdgeTX Buddy Online Flasher: https://buddy.edgetx.org/#/flash
If you are unable to use EdgeTX Buddy, you can download and install the EdgeTX Flasher.
If you can’t flash on your computer, try the third option, which is manually transferring the firmware files to the radio’s SD card and flash from inside the transmitter. I explained this method here (it’s written for migrating from OpenTX to EdgeTX, but you can also do the same for updating EdgeTX).
Connect Radio
Make sure your radio is turned off, then plug in the USB cable.
You should see “STM32 BOOTLOADER” appear under “Universal Serial Bus Devices” in Device Manager on your computer. If you have never done this before, Windows should automatically install the driver for you.
If there’s a yellow warning sign in the icon, running the ImpulseRC Driver Fixer (download here) should fix that.
Open EdgeTX Buddy
Open Google Chrome, and go to https://buddy.edgetx.org/#/flash
Select the latest stable EdgeTX version and your Radio Model.
You have two options, “Download .bin” or “Flash via USB”.
Click “Flash via USB” button as it’s the easier option. If that doesn’t work for any weird reason, you can download the bin file, put that file in the FIRMWARE folder in the SD card and flash it inside your radio as explained here.
Select Your Radio
In the new window, click on “Add new device”, select “STM32 BOOTLOADER” and click “Connect”.
Under Available devices, click “STM32 BOOTLOADER” to highlight it and then click “Next”.
Start Flashing
Click “Start flashing”.
Flashing should only take a couple of minutes.
If you get any errors or it doesn’t work, make sure the radio was switched off when you connect the USB cable, and you selected the correct device in the previous steps. Try reinstalling the right DFU driver using the ImpulseRC Driver Fixer tool and restart your computer.
Setup SD Card Content
Click on the link “setup your SD Card”, or go to https://buddy.edgetx.org/#/sdcard.
Disconnect your radio from computer (unplugging USB cable).
Turn on your radio, then connect it to your computer again (plug in USB cable). Select “USB Storage (SD)” when you are prompted in the radio.
You should have two new external drives appear on your computer, find the one with lots of folders in it, like “FIRMWARE”, “MODELS”, and “RADIO” folders, this is the drive for your SD card content. Remember the letter of this drive.
Click on “Select SD Card” and select the drive for your SD card content. If prompted, click on “Let site view files”, then “Save changes”.
In Firmware version, select the version you just installed on the radio.
In Radio model, select your radio make.
On the right, select your preferred language (sound pack), default is English.
Click on “Apply changes”, it will take a minute to download the required content, and a few more minutes to write them to your SD card.
That’s it! You have updated EdgeTX to the latest version.
New UI in EdgeTX 2.8
If you have a monochrome screen (black and white), everything should feel familiar, and not much has been changed.
But for radios with a touch color screen (such as the TX16S), EdgeTX 2.8 had a complete overhaul in the UI as an attempt to make things easier. It might take a while to get used to for new users.
When you hold down the MDL button you will be greeted by a very different model select screen. EdgeTX 2.8 is all about labels.
You can create labels, then assign your models to them. It’s a bit like categories. The same model can be assigned multiple labels. You can also filter all your models by multiple labels. It just helps you to find models quickly if you have a lot of them. For example you can create labels like ExpressLRS, Crossfire, 4S, 6S, 3inch, 5inch etc.
For me it’s not very useful as I mostly fly multirotors and I use one model profiles for all my quads that share the same RC link. But I am sure some people would find it useful.
The keyboard is a really nice addition by the way, it makes entering names and labels super easy.
Other setting menu has also been much simplified too to make good use of the touch screen.
How to Migrate from OpenTX to EdgeTX
If your radio has OpenTX and you wish to flash EdgeTX, follow along.
Before we start
After flashing EdgeTX, all your model settings will stay the same. However… You will lose all the widgets and theme settings. You will have to to set them up again (on each model). Currently there is no way to back up widgets, but it only takes a few minutes to setup anyway, not that big of a deal, just make sure you take some shots of how it’s setup before flashing.
Backup
Before flashing, you should first backup your radio. If you don’t like EdgeTX, or if anything goes wrong you can roll back to your original OpenTX system.
Copy everything on the SD card to a folder on your computer. If you have an SD card reader, it’s faster to just take the SD card out of the radio and do that. If not just use a USB cable.
Check out my guide on how to backup your OpenTX radio.
Update SD Card Content
The EdgeTX SD card contents can be found here: https://github.com/EdgeTX/edgetx-sdcard/releases
The files are differentiated by screen resolution. The list below shows which .zip file to use for different radio types:
- c480x272.zip – TX16s, T16, Horus x10s,Horus x12s, Most colour screen radios…
- c320x480.zip – FlySky Nirvana NV14
- bw128x64.zip – Zorro, Boxer, T-Lite, QX7, X9 Lite, X-Lite, X-Lite Pro
- bw212x64.zip – Taranis X9D, X9D Plus, X9D Plus 2019
To access the SD card inside the radio, plug in USB cable, you will be prompted what you want to do, select “USB Storage”.
A new drive will appear on your computer, which is the SD card inside the radio. You can delete everything on the SD card (or right click on this drive and select Format, make sure it is set to fat32), then copy the new SD card content to this drive.
To import your models from OpenTX, simply copy the MODELS and RADIO folders from the backed up SD card content to your new EdgeTX SD Card. Now is also the time to copy over any custom sounds, model images, widgets or Lua scripts to their respective folders.
Note that the SD card content doesn’t include any sound files, you need to download the sound pack separately here: https://github.com/EdgeTX/edgetx-sdcard-sounds/releases
Available languages are: Chinese, Cecz, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Portuguese.
Download EdgeTX Firmware
Now download EdgeTX firmware here: https://github.com/EdgeTX/edgetx/releases/latest (the file is called “edgetx-firmware-vX.X.X.zip“)
Scroll all the way down on that page, you will find the link for “edgetx-firmware-vXXXX.zip“. Unzip the downloaded file and you will find a list of firmware files for all the radios EdgeTX supports.
Copy the firmware .bin file for your radio to the FIRMWARE folder on the SD card.
You may now unplug the USB cable, but before you do, make sure to select “Eject Storage” on your computer. If you don’t do this, your SD card could be corrupted.
Now when you reboot the radio, you will get an SD card warning, which is normal and to be expected. Just press any key to skip that.
Flash EdgeTX Bootloader
Power on your radio, long press the menu button will take you to the system menu, press the next page key and go to the SD card page.
Go into the FIRMWARE folder, and you will find the EdgeTX firmware bin file we put there earlier.
Press the ENT button and select “Flash bootloader“. When it’s done, just power down the radio.
Flash EdgeTX firmware in the radio
Now enter Bootloader mode.
The screen will look different – it should say “EdgeTX Bootloader” on the top, because we flashed it in the previous step.
Now select “Write Firmware”, and find the EdgeTX firmware bin file.
Long press the roller button to flash firmware. When it’s done, you can go back to the main menu and select “EXIT“.
Upon rebooting, you will get a storage warning, SD card conversion required. Just press the ENT button and the radio will do the rest for you.
Setup Radio After Flashing EdgeTX
If you haven’t done it already, the first thing is to copy all the custom images and scripts you had on previous OpenTX (just copy the IMAGE and SCRIPT folders to the SD card).
Make sure you selected the correct Internal Module in the system. To do this, hold down the SYS key, and go to the “Hardware” page. Scroll down to “Internal Module”, and choose the right module. For example, for 4in1 multi-protocol module, select “MULTI”. For ELRS, select “CRSF”. If you failed to do this, you are not going to get the right option in the “Internal RF” in Model Setup.
You need to re-calibrate the sticks and sliders. You also need to re-calibrate battery reading (against your multimeter would be a good idea, or plug the battery into a charger should also give you a relatively accurate reading).
Then choose a theme you like. You can find more themes here if you don’t wanna customize your own: https://giters.com/EdgeTX/themes#list-of-themes-available
Next is to setup the widgets.
Usually you want to display telemetry data like battery voltage, RSSI and Link quality etc, so first thing to do is to power up your quad, and discover telemetry sensors to get a list of available telemetry data. If you already have them, you can try deleting them and discover again, this ensure you get the most up to date list of data.
Customizing top bar widgets.
Selecting a telemetry data to place on top bar.
This is how I setup my widgets.
Setup the two knobs (rotary switches) to adjust backlight level and volume which is very handy. You can do this in Global Functions (radio settings).
You can also disable the touch screen if you don’t like it, or disable/enable it using a switch. Go to Global function, create a new function, assign a switch, select function “No touch”. It’s popular to use the arm switch to disable the touch screen, because we don’t normally use the touch screen when flying.
Update Internal Multi-Protocol Module
After flashing EdgeTX, you might get a “Module Update Recommended” message in the Internal RF Module Status, if your radio has an internal Multi-protocol module.
You should update it and it’s easy to do.
Download the firmware here: https://downloads.multi-module.org/?rmtx16s
There are two files you need to download:
- There are 3 “.bin” files, pick the one that matches your channel map order in your radio (you can find out in the Mixer page in your radio model setup). For example, AETR means Channel 1 = “Aileron” (roll), Ch2 = “Elevon” (pitch), Ch3 = “Throttle”, and Ch4 = “Rudder” (yaw).
- MultiLuaScripts.zip
Connect USB cable to the radio while it’s powered on, you will be prompted with 3 options, select “USB Storage (SD)”. Two external drive should appear on your computer, find the one with lots of folders, including a folder called “FIRMWARE”.
Copy the “.bin” file you just downloaded in the “FIRMWARE” folder.
The “MultiLuaScripts.zip” file contains LUA scripts you need to replace the old ones with on the Radio’s SD card. Simply unzip this file, and copy the “SCRIPT” folder, when prompted just select “overwrite everything”.
You can now disconnect the USB cable, and restart the radio.
Long press “SYS” key on your radio, scroll to the second page “SD-HC Card”. You should see the “FIRMWARE” folder there, click on that.
Look for the “.bin” file you just placed there. Click on it, and select the option “Flash internal multi”, and the update will start. It should only take a minute or so.
Once the update is complete, you can go to Model Setup, Internal RF, and check Module Status and see if the firmware version is the same as the one you just flashed, and the “Module Update Recommended” warning should be gone.
EdgeTX Companion
If you ever used OpenTX before, you should know OpenTX Companion. It’s a handy tool/software for
- reading the settings on the radio and let you modify it more easily using your mouse and keyboard
- compiling and flashing firmware to your radio
EdgeTX also has its own Companion software. Currently it looks identical to the OpenTX one. The only difference is that you can’t compile firmware with it (yet), but it’s still useful for backing up models and settings, and the rest of the functions. You can download it here: https://github.com/EdgeTX/edgetx/releases/
Scroll all the way down on that page, and find the link for “edgetx-cpn-XXXX-vXXXX.zip“.
Unbrick Radio
If your radio is not turning on by pressing the power button, chances are it’s bricked.
This can happen when you turn the radio off during a firmware update.
To recover a bricked radio:
- Download STM32 Cube Programmer: https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stm32cubeprog.html.
- Get a copy of the EdgeTX firmware for your radio (download from edgeTX github).
- Connect radio to your computer via USB cable, your computer should detect the radio
- Install and open STM32 Cube Programmer you just downloaded
- In the drop down next to the connect button, select USB, In Ports, if it says “no DFU, click the refresh button and select USB1 (and you should see a serial number under it, which means the programmer can see the radio), then connect
- Once connected, click on the 3 horizontal bars in the top left, click “Erasing & Programming”, then browser to the EdgeTX firmware .bin file
- Make sure “Verify Programming” is checked, then click Start Programming. This will flash a fresh copy of EdgeTX to the radio
- When it’s done, you can unplug USB cable, and the radio should power up when you press the power button
Conclusion
Keeping your EdgeTX radio firmware up-to-date is crucial for taking full advantage of new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. The process of updating is straightforward, especially with tools like EdgeTX Buddy that simplify the steps.
Make sure to regularly check for new firmware updates and follow this guide to keep your radio in top shape. Having the latest firmware ensures that you’re getting the most out of your radio, whether you’re flying FPV drones or RC planes. Happy flying!
Edit History
- Feb 2022 – tutorial created
- Feb 2023 – updated for EdgeTX 2.8
39 comments
I have just purchased a RM Tx16s. Successfully changed it to mode 1. Now tried flashing latest version of firmware (2.8.4) which it says has been successful, yet when I check the information it reports that the old version is installed (2.7.1). Repeated, same result. I’ve also updated the module firmware and the transmitter reports that the latest version is installed successfully as expected. Something is not right, but I don’t know what to do now.
This worked for me but I have a problem with Edgetx remembering the date and time. I set it, and then the TX16S forgets it. Is this normal? Anyway, thanks for the excellent tutorial on upgrading
There’s a button cell battery on the PCB, maybe it needs replacing: https://oscarliang.com/setup-tx16s-t16-radio/#Replacing-Internal-Button-Cell-Battery
I have the transmitter Frsky Taranis X9D Plus EU-LBT ACCST.
If I migrate my transmitter from OpenTX to EdgeTX, can I continue to use my EU-LBT receivers?
Or should I replace my receivers?
I have a radiomaster tx16s mk2 with ELRS internal module how do I update as I cannot find files etc. regards john pitfield
Outstanding content. Good god having such a hard time trying to get the right information and what to do when its not working. THANK YOU!!!
Hi, I would like to migrate my models from my TX12 radio with OpenTX 2.3.15 to my Zorro with EdgeTX, but I just realized, I do not have RADIO folder on my OpenTX radio. If I replace only the MODELS folder, the bin -> yml conversion is not working. Is it because of the missing RADIO folder? Should I try it on another way. Thank you in advance.
I am having the same issue. No RADIO folder from OpenTX transmitter and no yml conversion taking place in EdgeTX transmitter.
my radio is frsky taranis lite – should i reformat the sd card before updating with edgetx?
i updated my radio fw: edgetx-x9lites. I verified that the SOUNDS directory contains the hello.wav file – the EdgeTX splash screen is displayed but the power on audio does not happen – what can I do to enable this? Your web site is full of information, especially for a beginner like me. I used to fly motorized helicopters before i started to fly battery drones.
should i format the sd card before i start loading edgetx
If the card previous worked in your radio, then you shouldn’t have to format it, just delete all files on it and copy new SD content to the card.
Excellent instructions for TX16s
All the steps and links in one clear article,I was getting confused in my browsing to migrate to Edge TX.
It did not take long at all and I like the results
prior to loading EdgeTX on my Taranis Lite radio, should i delete the SDcard contents? I do not have any models that i need to save – this is like a new radio programming.
Great Tutorial. Much faster/better than watching a Youtube vid.
Please update the “Backup” section! I interpreted this as saying that copying the content of the SD card is sufficient for a full backup, and that “Check out my guide on how to backup your OpenTX radio.” was just a reference for more detailed instructions. So I didn’t use OpenTX companion to back up my models. I was GUTTED to then upgrade to EdgeTX and discover that I had LOST ALL OF MY MODELS :'(.
Please make it clear in the instructions here that you need to use Open TX Companion to back up models first.
Well, i put a link there for a reason, it goes into detail how to backup your OpenTX radio.
Hi Oscar. I bought a Tango2 a couple months ago and I thought there was an issue with my speaker because I was hearing a kind of static noise when it played any wav sounds or beeps. Like a distortion or buzz along with the sounds. I recently bought a Zorro and the sound was perfect… UNTIL I just updated the EdgeTX to the latest firmware 2.8.1 and now I get exactly the same buzzing sound I was getting on the Tango 2. I played the original wav files on my computer compared to the ones on the card from 2.8.1 and they sound identical. I also tried other languages but like I said it also happens when I scroll through menu items and plays beeps (always this buzzing static that starts just before the sound plays and continues until the sound is done playing. Any ideas? I don’t see anything with a google search. Thanks!!
Muchas gracias por el post, pude instalar sin problemas en mi tx16s, esta sin estrenar, aun estoy armando el avion objetivo
Very good.
I have an xlite pro running a elrs backpack. Will edge tx disable the power/rf meter that’s included in the lua ?
I just went to the EdgeTX sdcard link you added and I did not see horus.zip was not listed. Did edgetx change the name of the zip file? if so what is the new name?
looks like they have changed the naming of the files, they are now named after the screen size instead of radio models. Horus has been renamed to c480-272, which works for TX16S and T16 as well.
Thank you.
If u update sd card content the menu bar disappears. I wondered like 15min why I only have a tools tab until i realised there are more i only have to click a page to the left. That might help some people who are as brain afk as me.
Thank you for the information
Hi! Thanks for all the help I got edgetx on my X9D no problem your instructions made it very simple. Now i have bricked my t16 I erased bootloader and sdcard content and got confused and then I erased my computer so now im starting from scratch got my computer loaded up and running and now the t16 default bootloader and the sdcard content cause its bricked oh yeah i reseated all the ribon cables with the upgraded version ribons it was bricked before I did this can you help plz ty?
How to active MIXER SCRIPT option ?
Tank you
Is the USB-delayissue in OpenTX fixed yet? I can’t find anything specifically about this on Opentx website, but it’s a lot to go through and I may have missed it. Thank you for your guides by the way, very helpful!
Hi Oscar
I try to copy models from opentx to edgetx. when i turn on the Tx16 i cant se the copied models. Could You be of any help with this issue
I had to use my backups from OpenTx Companion to get my models. I would highly recommend using it to backup your models and settings prior to the switch.
Make sure to copy the radio folder (backup)also not just models folder
Just wondering where the Radio folder is? It is not in the SD card and the backup is a .bin file…
Holy cow , this needs to be more specific as of creating models and getting the sticks and switches to function….
I had a basic setup in opentx , now I am having trouble getting model to function
I have to agree. I just want over to edgetx on my Radiomaster t16s and its glitchy. I’m having issues calibrating the side slider and sticks. One slider is always way off center usually the right side slider. The sticks never read 100 to -100 its always 97 to -98 or less. Also noticed the middle 6 buttons are glitchy as well. I’ll switch from button 1 to 3 and it always bounces back and forth 2- 3 or 3-2 then it settles down. So I won’t be using those for flight modes like I did on opentx.
I think I’ll be flashing back to opentx 2.3.14 latest OPtx firmware since it’s way more stable. Edge definitely needs more work plus I am hoping they come up with a better user interface because everything seems hidden on edgetx and difficult to find certain settings.
Hi, Oscar
I find someone update 4in1 multiprotocol firmware when flashing. Is it necessary? Firmware concerned is available at downloads.multi-module.org/
Thanks.
Thank you for the guide, it made switching to EdgeTX pretty easy!
Need help! got it bricked,cube see the radio but got “Warning: Device is under Read Out Protection! if you want to disable RDP Please reconnect with Read unprotected disabled”
I found the check mark read unprotected MCU I flash it again but no booting from edge but with Opentx back in business gonna start again I might skipped a step!