diff --git a/src/comm/LinkInterface.h b/src/comm/LinkInterface.h
index 0d093cfa6642335c01bf9afced6ef0f10581c180..b2b18d2e91f68b02f294b8effa0e55b8fa3bf160 100644
--- a/src/comm/LinkInterface.h
+++ b/src/comm/LinkInterface.h
@@ -131,10 +131,6 @@ public:
     /// set into the link when it is added to LinkManager
     uint8_t getMavlinkChannel(void) const { Q_ASSERT(_mavlinkChannelSet); return _mavlinkChannel; }
 
-    /// @return true: "sh /etc/init.d/rc.usb" must be sent on link to start mavlink
-    virtual bool requiresUSBMavlinkStart(void) const { return false; }
-
-
     // These are left unimplemented in order to cause linker errors which indicate incorrect usage of
     // connect/disconnect on link directly. All connect/disconnect calls should be made through LinkManager.
     bool connect(void);
diff --git a/src/comm/LinkManager.cc b/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
index 5f8bc4a291a2643bb570946a93aed866f2fbb414..a3a5b5d14e9101d5446c7529b1ab1e9d0443c481 100644
--- a/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
+++ b/src/comm/LinkManager.cc
@@ -189,8 +189,6 @@ void LinkManager::_addLink(LinkInterface* link)
 
     connect(link, &LinkInterface::communicationError,   _app,               &QGCApplication::criticalMessageBoxOnMainThread);
     connect(link, &LinkInterface::bytesReceived,        _mavlinkProtocol,   &MAVLinkProtocol::receiveBytes);
-    connect(link, &LinkInterface::connected,            _mavlinkProtocol,   &MAVLinkProtocol::linkConnected);
-    connect(link, &LinkInterface::disconnected,         _mavlinkProtocol,   &MAVLinkProtocol::linkDisconnected);
 
     _mavlinkProtocol->resetMetadataForLink(link);
 
diff --git a/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.cc b/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.cc
index 0ece393fa4a7bfba8e36a93b9dd9a960941df088..18f8602013dcb63e05ee44bd4aa6590870f44841 100644
--- a/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.cc
+++ b/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.cc
@@ -173,41 +173,6 @@ void MAVLinkProtocol::resetMetadataForLink(const LinkInterface *link)
     currLossCounter[channel] = 0;
 }
 
-void MAVLinkProtocol::linkConnected(void)
-{
-    LinkInterface* link = qobject_cast<LinkInterface*>(QObject::sender());
-    Q_ASSERT(link);
-    
-    _linkStatusChanged(link, true);
-}
-
-void MAVLinkProtocol::linkDisconnected(void)
-{
-    LinkInterface* link = qobject_cast<LinkInterface*>(QObject::sender());
-    Q_ASSERT(link);
-    
-    _linkStatusChanged(link, false);
-}
-
-void MAVLinkProtocol::_linkStatusChanged(LinkInterface* link, bool connected)
-{
-    qCDebug(MAVLinkProtocolLog) << "_linkStatusChanged" << QString("%1").arg((long)link, 0, 16) << connected;
-    Q_ASSERT(link);
-    
-    if (connected) {
-        if (link->requiresUSBMavlinkStart()) {
-            // Send command to start MAVLink
-            // XXX hacky but safe
-            // Start NSH
-            const char init[] = {0x0d, 0x0d, 0x0d, 0x0d};
-            link->writeBytes(init, sizeof(init));
-            const char* cmd = "sh /etc/init.d/rc.usb\n";
-            link->writeBytes(cmd, strlen(cmd));
-            link->writeBytes(init, 4);
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 /**
  * This method parses all incoming bytes and constructs a MAVLink packet.
  * It can handle multiple links in parallel, as each link has it's own buffer/
diff --git a/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.h b/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.h
index b24491ee6f5c47063fe8c43d608edf4ea4d72d89..c3de7bc1c4b7d235c629e4a65187c1f064ed6b33 100644
--- a/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.h
+++ b/src/comm/MAVLinkProtocol.h
@@ -155,9 +155,6 @@ public slots:
     /** @brief Receive bytes from a communication interface */
     void receiveBytes(LinkInterface* link, QByteArray b);
     
-    void linkConnected(void);
-    void linkDisconnected(void);
-    
     /** @brief Set the rate at which heartbeats are emitted */
     void setHeartbeatRate(int rate);
     /** @brief Set the system id of this application */
@@ -285,7 +282,6 @@ private slots:
     void _vehicleCountChanged(int count);
     
 private:
-    void _linkStatusChanged(LinkInterface* link, bool connected);
     void _sendMessage(mavlink_message_t message);
     void _sendMessage(LinkInterface* link, mavlink_message_t message);
     void _sendMessage(LinkInterface* link, mavlink_message_t message, quint8 systemid, quint8 componentid);
diff --git a/src/comm/SerialLink.cc b/src/comm/SerialLink.cc
index 4f1b250874f3b9bee310137aa4d467c5d58e6cb4..b64be4932c7456d1ac6b8ea7c921685d6b964ec5 100644
--- a/src/comm/SerialLink.cc
+++ b/src/comm/SerialLink.cc
@@ -377,15 +377,6 @@ LinkConfiguration* SerialLink::getLinkConfiguration()
     return _config;
 }
 
-bool SerialLink::requiresUSBMavlinkStart(void) const
-{
-    if (_port) {
-        return QGCSerialPortInfo(*_port).boardTypePixhawk();
-    } else {
-        return false;
-    }
-}
-
 //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //-- SerialConfiguration
 
diff --git a/src/comm/SerialLink.h b/src/comm/SerialLink.h
index 12b360103768058aa0a32a660fdc8cbbf403ba11..7f43d62aa28431cd2ed79dc28e2f046636c5c254 100644
--- a/src/comm/SerialLink.h
+++ b/src/comm/SerialLink.h
@@ -146,7 +146,6 @@ public:
     void    requestReset();
     bool    isConnected() const;
     qint64  getConnectionSpeed() const;
-    bool    requiresUSBMavlinkStart(void) const;
 
     // These are left unimplemented in order to cause linker errors which indicate incorrect usage of
     // connect/disconnect on link directly. All connect/disconnect calls should be made through LinkManager.