# Getting old Motor tab instead of the new Actuator tab **URL:** \ **Category:** QGroundControl\ **Created:** [October 17, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419 "2022-10-17T01:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/u/MakeTech)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/1 "2022-10-17T01:16:26Z")
Hi I’m trying to set up a custom airframe as described in the Actuator Configutatioing and testing instructions located below, The issue is I can’t get the actuators tab, I only get the old motors tab. > **[Actuator Configuration and Testing | PX4 User Guide](https://docs.px4.io/main/en/config/actuators.html)** > > PX4 is the Professional Autopilot. Developed by world-class developers from industry and academia, and supported by an active world wide community, it powers all kinds of vehicles from racing and cargo drones through to ground vehicles and... In terms of debugging the issue, I have tried running a stable version and today’s daily build (2022-10-16) of QGCS. For hardware, I freshly flashed 1.13.1 on a cube orange and an omnibus F4 with the same results. I feel I am missing something simple but I’m really not sure how to proceed from here or get around the problem another way. Thanks for your assistance ![image](https://discuss.px4.io/uploads/default/original/2X/2/266b7585ba36c76e7d367cc3099c5d256bc71a2c.png) ![image](https://discuss.px4.io/uploads/default/original/2X/3/383c794ba04ac35562214626bc445f7d35256b99.png) ---
**Author:** ![Benja](https://discuss.px4.io/user_avatar/discuss.px4.io/benja/32/11872_2.png) [@Benja](https://discuss.px4.io/u/Benja)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/2 "2022-10-17T02:09:40Z")
In version 1.13.1 the new control allocation system is not active by default. You have to manually enable it setting `SYS_CTRL_ALLOC = 1 ` and reboot (you may have to reconfigure the airframe after that, I’m not sure. However, in the main branch the old mixing system has been removed so you need to reed the doc for version 1.13 to find this parameter ([Parameter Reference | PX4 User Guide](https://docs.px4.io/v1.13/en/advanced_config/parameter_reference.html)) ---
**Author:** ![MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/u/MakeTech)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/3 "2022-10-17T02:46:18Z")
That is really valuable information as I didn’t know this but unfortunately did not fix the issue even after testing on both boards. I can enable SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC but even after a full reboot and restart of QGCS I still don’t have an actuators tab. If I load an airframe (for example Generic Quadcopter or standard plane) it resets this parameter to 0 ( disabled) ![image](https://discuss.px4.io/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a4a11bf6d1e7b6970750f567b82e9611df8cdc28.png) ---
**Author:** ![Benja](https://discuss.px4.io/user_avatar/discuss.px4.io/benja/32/11872_2.png) [@Benja](https://discuss.px4.io/u/Benja)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/4 "2022-10-17T03:57:16Z")
Oh, I don’t know why it is not showing, sorry. Howerver, you can flash the developer build ([Loading Firmware | PX4 User Guide](https://docs.px4.io/main/en/config/firmware.html#installing-px4-master-beta-or-custom-firmware)) which has the control allocator enabled by default ---
**Author:** ![Vincentpoont2](https://discuss.px4.io/user_avatar/discuss.px4.io/vincentpoont2/32/6037_2.png) [@Vincentpoont2](https://discuss.px4.io/u/Vincentpoont2)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/5 "2022-10-18T03:33:21Z")
Does it have to do with the airframe you selected? ---
**Author:** ![MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/u/MakeTech)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 12:46pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/6 "2022-10-18T12:46:27Z")
I thought so too so I’ve tried generic quad, standard Plane and the BlueROV during my testing. In all cases the SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC was reset to 0 and after manually setting it to 1 there was no change in the motors tab so I don’t think it is related to the airframe selected. Now this is not an exhaustive test but if there is one that is known to work I will try that one. ---
**Author:** ![MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/u/MakeTech)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/7 "2022-10-18T13:07:48Z")
I tried the Beta and that loads firmware version 1.13.0 rc1 this one had SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC enabled by default and Developer and that loads 1.13.0beta but that doesn’t have a SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC parameter and none of them give me the actuator tab options at least on the orange cube. ---
**Author:** ![MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MakeTech](https://discuss.px4.io/u/MakeTech)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/8 "2022-10-20T13:44:02Z")
The plot thickens, updating QGCS to the new daily version this morning (October 20th) I was able to get the actuators tab to become available when SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC = 1 on the Orange Cube but not the Omnibus flight controller. The version from the 16th was not showing it for both. I did a back-to-back test where the only change was the version of QGCS. ---
**Author:** ![13levn](https://discuss.px4.io/user_avatar/discuss.px4.io/13levn/32/11444_2.png) [@13levn](https://discuss.px4.io/u/13levn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/9 "2022-10-22T19:40:43Z")
Hi, I had the same issue too. I use a Pixhawk 4 (FW 1.13.1) connected to a companion computer via serial connection, then over wifi with mavproxy to the gcs, running QGroundcontrol. And I use the generic quad airframe. I had to update mavproxy.py to the newest version and QGCS to the new daily (Oct 20th) version. And I had also set the parameter to SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC=1. Then it works for me. ---
**Author:** ![air1624](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@air1624](https://discuss.px4.io/u/air1624)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/10 "2022-11-21T14:54:55Z")
This really needs to be added to the current documentation (that you need to set SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC =1). I wasted a few hours trying to manage this. ---
**Author:** ![Zames\_Ng](https://discuss.px4.io/user_avatar/discuss.px4.io/zames_ng/32/13595_2.png) [@Zames\_Ng](https://discuss.px4.io/u/Zames_Ng)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 10:06am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/11 "2023-06-26T10:06:14Z")
I don’t know if it is to late to reply this topic. If you want the “actuators” tab shows up in fmu-v2 boards (like omnibus\_f4sd, diatone\_mamba-f405, flywoo\_gn-f405). Then you need to uncheck the ‘Contrained flash’ in boardconfig. It is also worth noting that unchecking the ‘Contrained flash’ will required extra flash. One has to remove unnecessary modules to meet the 1Mb flash limit of fmu-v2. ---
**Author:** ![cubesine](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@cubesine](https://discuss.px4.io/u/cubesine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/12 "2023-08-30T09:12:08Z")
I just installed Q Ground Control to set up my drone with PX4 on a Holybro PIX32. I don’t see the actuators tab mentioned in the PX4 User Guide , instead I get the old motors tab as mentioned above. Changing SYS\_CTRL\_ALLOC to 1 does not change anything and I still see the old motors tab. What am I doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![cubesine](https://discuss.px4.io/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@cubesine](https://discuss.px4.io/u/cubesine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://discuss.px4.io/t/getting-old-motor-tab-instead-of-the-new-actuator-tab/29419/13 "2023-08-30T15:36:40Z")
I am a bit further with diagnosing the issue. When I flash the stable release (v1.13.3) on the PIX32, I get the ‘Motors’ tab instead of ‘Actuators’. When I flash to 'Beta Testing (beta) or ‘Developer Build (master)’, I do see the Actuators tab. To find the beta and developer builds go here Q-icon\>Firmware. Do the USB cable unplug/replug in case your FMU is plugged in. On the right side a side bar will pop out. Here tick the ‘Advanced Settings’ box and in the dropdown box select build you want to install. As far as I understand, the developer build (master) is unflown so that could be highly risky. This is why I chose to continue with the beta version. QGroundControl says this is ‘PX4 Pro v1.14.0-rc1’