Camera system resets mid-flight...?

[Chickenskat]

In the computer or in the Mavic? PC or Mac?

Reformatted in the Mavic

 

[HSK]

I don't know if this is insightful in any way - I did another test on the ground. Mavic close to fully charged, DJI go 4 app on iOS - I used the SD card that came with the Mavic:- Lexar High-Performance 633x 16 GB MicroSDHC UHS-I Card with SD Adapter: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I formatted the card, within the Mavic - settings at 4k / 30 fps. It ran for about just under 30 mins (around 29 mins something) which I think is a full run. no cut outs. I started recording again, and the was a low memory warning, but it still had about 4 mins on the timer.

I examined the files, they are split as expected, and they are pretty seamless when laid out in Premiere.

I'm going to do another test once the Machine cools down. With another memory card.

 

[samd012]

View attachment 12128 View attachment 12129

I don't know if this is insightful in any way - I did another test on the ground. Mavic close to fully charged, DJI go 4 app on iOS - I used the SD card that came with the Mavic:- Lexar High-Performance 633x 16 GB MicroSDHC UHS-I Card with SD Adapter: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I formatted the card, within the Mavic - settings at 4k / 30 fps. It ran for about just under 30 mins (around 29 mins something) which I think is a full run. no cut outs. I started recording again, and the was a low memory warning, but it still had about 4 mins on the timer.

I examined the files, they are split as expected, and they are pretty seamless when laid out in Premiere.

I'm going to do another test once the Machine cools down. With another memory card.

The delay between videos is anywhere between .03 and .08 seconds for me, I have pretty fast memory cards. I used a digital stopwatch to time it. It is somewhat ridiculous that this is happening. I say that because gopro deals with the same issue but they have a small overlap when there is a new file created so in post you can work it so it is unnoticeable. DJI has known about this issue since the P3 4K model and have done nothing to address it. Even worse if you call their tech support about the issue they have you send the unit in for repair. There is nothing you they can do and you end up without your quad for 4-6 weeks!
My camera does a full run without stopping, it splits the files too. I had mine intercepted in shipping yesterday and it is on ots way back to me so I am lucky and will not be out that long without it.

 

[HSK]

The delay between videos is anywhere between .03 and .08 seconds for me, I have pretty fast memory cards. I used a digital stopwatch to time it. It is somewhat ridiculous that this is happening. I say that because gopro deals with the same issue but they have a small overlap when there is a new file created so in post you can work it so it is unnoticeable. DJI has known about this issue since the P3 4K model and have done nothing to address it. Even worse if you call their tech support about the issue they have you send the unit in for repair. There is nothing you they can do and you end up without your quad for 4-6 weeks!
My camera does a full run without stopping, it splits the files too. I had mine intercepted in shipping yesterday and it is on ots way back to me so I am lucky and will not be out that long without it.

The splits and any delays in the splits are not the issues for me - it's about the camera randomly resetting. like out of nowhere, the gimbal resets/moves (often points up, then drifts back down, exposure and focus are off, and settings get changed, the recording has STOPPED).

I think we're all thinking of different things now on this thread, I'm not sure. But I'm documenting camera stops randomly and gimbal resets. which as far as I know is not a normal thing.

 

[HSK]

Right, this time I tried this card:- SanDisk Extreme 64 GB microSDXC Memory Card + SD Adapter up to 90 MB/s, Class 10, U3, V30, FFP: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

formatted the card in camera - and set it to record. 4K /30fps - it went on close to 29 mins - just before 29 mins (around 28:30), I tapped the screen the focus, and it immediately stopped recording. hmm.

I then commenced to record again without formatting the card, and this time it got to about 4 mins something before resetting. and then to about 11 mins something.

I swapped back to the other card (16GB Lexar) and had the setting on 2.7k 24fps - that got close to 30 mins - again I touched the screen, and it stopped recording.

Make of this what you will! I will next try it in the air, for as long as I can with a blank SD card.

 

[Chickenskat]

Interesting that focus/auto focus might have something to do with it.

 

[HSK]

yes its a strange one - I recorded a film on iPhone of me doing it, will upload and post soon.

 

[HSK]

Untitled <<< Video

I don't think me autofocusing stops the video, I think it's a coincidence, it didn't flip up and reset the other settings as I would expect it to when it usually resets. it just stopped nicely. I think it had reached the end of the overall recording limit.

Does anyone know the limit?

I think what I learned through this is, it's possible the SD card has to be formatted and clear of other files in order for it to recording without stopping. would anyone else like to try?

 

[EsiMavic]

Untitled <<< Video

I don't think me autofocusing stops the video, I think it's a coincidence, it didn't flip up and reset the other settings as I would expect it to when it usually resets. it just stopped nicely. I think it had reached the end of the overall recording limit.

Does anyone know the limit?

I think what I learned through this is, it's possible the SD card has to be formatted and clear of other files in order for it to recording without stopping. would anyone else like to try?

I tried that even resetting the camera still it randomly stops

 

[EsiMavic]

Its nice to know that recording while not flying will have little to no issues but the thing is MP is not built that way.

 

[HSK]

Its nice to know that recording while not flying will have little to no issues but the thing is MP is not built that way.

I know I know I have had it stop while on the ground, just wanted to try and investigate - want to try it in the air once work has finished.

 

[HSK]

Okay the drone started to stop again even with the card formatted. It's a fault that can only be fixed via repair I suspect. I gave up with it now. Finished.

 

[EsiMavic]

@HSK By way of testing a video recording on the ground I'm hoping its just a software problem.

 

[dareich]

I did a video for 20 mins yesterday, at 4k 30fps, no interruptions. and then today its stops at around 2:50 mins.

Good luck with the repair, I hope the resolve the issue and shed some light on it! Fingers crossed!!!!

Well, at least the repair is free. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) they have not provided any additional information about the "damage" to the drone. Just replacing the gimbal and camera. I did ask them to reproduce before and then verify issue gone after, but have not heard back yet.

 

[Member]

"Me too" - posting in this thread because there are now two threads about the exact same issue and if there's an update I'd like to know about it. Also mentioning here that I got back the drone from service (a different drone, based on stickers everywhere and the different serial) and it did the same thing on the second flight. SD card (size, speed, filesystem, other) and direct sunlight with no headwind are my two main suspicions for the cause of this.

 

[strider]

About time I came back around to my own thread to respond!

I have seen some people posit that the camera/gimbal reset occurs when the video file hits the 4gb limit. That was when my first reset occurred however my second and third resets occurred no where near the 4gb limit. So I am not sure that theory is the answer, many resets occur at the 4gb limit but not all. Also read in the .700 firmware thread someone thought it was a cable issue. That is an interesting idea but if it was hardware related, why are so many people able to replicate the reset issue at 4gb file limit time frame?

So after posting this thread I was able to get out only for (6) batteries of flight time while I was still on the .600 firmware. During all (6) of those flights I never had a camera/gimbal reset happen. Day before yesterday I upgraded to the .700 firmware and went out for (3) batteries worth. Still no camera/gimbal reset and I did hit the 4gb file size limit on (2) of those flights. Also noteworthy, one of my flights was 24,000'+ in distance (12K away from me and 12K straight back) and another flight was 26,000'+ in distance (13K away from me and 13k back) and I had no issues with camera, gimbal, RC signal or anything else, they were perfect flights.

After reading everyone's responses here and how even people who have sent drones in for repairs are still getting drones back with the camera/gimbal reset issue, I have decided to sit on mine and just live with the problem. I have refresh and maybe at the 11 month mark I will send it in for a replacement and maybe they will have figured out the problem by then.

Thanks for the responses everyone and I will definitely keep an eye on this thread for future developments and will update if I find anything new.

 

[rossmoney]

Thanks for everyones work on this issue! My camera has been resetting intermittently as well, and I had suspected it had to do with high winds, but i guess not...
after 131 flights it's happened MAYBE 3 times.... I'm very curious to see if someone lands on an explanation for it.

 

[Member]

Thanks for coming back to post in your thread. This is the only way we have a chance to find out what's causing it, everyone posting situations in which it had or hadn't occurred. I was flying in heavy winds today also, so that's not it.

I'm not sure if it was discussed before, but another theory I have is that potentially it could be direct sunlight with the drone staying in one place for longer. It's something that was typical for the two flights during which this happened.

Another thing to consider is: I haven't had any gimbal resets for months of flying it. These two threads dealing with the issue are not very old. Could it be a firmware issue? A memory leak or something similar - in which case ANYTHING could be causing it, and it wouldn't really matter anyway because then it's just the issue with the code in the firmware.

 

[strider]

...I'm not sure if it was discussed before, but another theory I have is that potentially it could be direct sunlight with the drone staying in one place for longer. It's something that was typical for the two flights during which this happened....

First time: I was flying South at about 25 mph, coming back from 5000' feet away and was only about 1500' away, 20 minutes into flight around sunset and while I was passing a tree to my left the camera/gimbal reset
Second time: I was flying North, at low elevation about 15 minutes into flight and 500' away in the afternoon over a creek and it reset
Third time: I was flying West, towards the sunset, about 200' up, about 500' away and about 5 minutes into flight when it reset.

For me, all different conditions, different times of day, different directions, different position of the drone relative to me, and different recording lengths. My sample size is too small at (3) for me to figure it out.

 

[Member]

My sample size is too small at (3) for me to figure it out.

Even a sample size of 1 can help to rule out something. Sunset means it wasn't direct, hot sunlight beaming at the drone so there goes that theory. This issue is beginning to rustle my jimmies. If it happens in a bad spot, it can be dangerous.