DJI to restrict non-compliant drones at next software update

[timesnaps]

Has anyone actually been non compliant and seen the restrictions in the wild?

If this activation process is not performed.... flight will be limited to a 50-meter (164-foot) radius up to 30 meters (98 feet) high.

Obviously a few of you have not updated the DJIGo4 software & I am not referring toi this. . What I mean is updating and then not doing the activation process again...

Not exactly, but... I use the 4.0.5 app about 10 days ago, when I was in China with the bird that was bought in Hong Kong. I am usually flying on Android with wifi/data off. The phone was not connected to the controller or the magic at the time, and I wanted to download the offline maps. When I opened the DJIGo4 app, I had the prompt asking me to activate or ignore. I clicked Ignore, updated the maps. As I was in Beijing at the time, I had no way to fly it (huge NFZ).

Back in HK now, and only flying offline (no data/wifi) and so far no issues. (This is all with firmware .400)

 

[timesnaps]

If you're concenerned about flight restrictions just turn the geo toggle off. Or am I missing something?

I dont have an option for turning it off on DJIGo4 app on android, v.4.0.5

 

[stratos]

Of course, if you would never fly in a restricted zone, the DJI restrictions are not aimed at you (and nor do they affect you in any way.)

In contrast consider the mass media hysteria surrounding the GoPro Karma that crashed into the MLB stadium the other day. (For a start, it probably doesnt surprise anyone here that it is a GoPro because the DJI wouldnt let you fly there). And we dont know what the MLB will do (if anything) about this flight. But we do know, that people acting irresponsibly with their drones could end up ruining drone flying for people like you that act responsibly with yours. So, as I see it, these NFZ restrictions by DJI are a necessary evil without which drones will be subject to much more draconian measures.

This is the kind of things that I hate and why our hobby will be limited to a "Flying club only" kind of activity.
There are so many drones on the market and most of us follow the rules however, I seen personally dads buying drones to their teenagers who care less about rules.

This upsets me as so parents just want to look cool for their kids and buy them a powerful drone and they care less how and where they operate it.

 

[AGT]

I will tell you what happened to me.
Mavic and RC with firmware 0400;
I bought an ASUS ZE600KL (which works well), I installed the DJI go 4.0.7 I connected the smartphone, I made the login and I downloaded the offline map. I put the smartphone offline and I did some tests, everything OK.
Today, I'm going to fly with Mavic but I forgot to put the smartphone offline, just connect the Mavic, the DJI go 4.0.7 auto closes itself.
I put it offline and... continue to auto auto close itself
I have uninstalled and deleted all the DJI folders.
I installed the DJI go 4.0.6, I connected the smartphone, I made the login and I downloaded the offline map. I put the smartphone offline and I did some tests, everything OK.
I put the smartphone online and the same thing happened with the 4.0.6
I tried again with the DJI go 4.0.4 and now everything works fine, both offline and online.
I do not think it is a case that with the DJI go 4.0.7 and 4.0.6 everything works fine offline while as soon as Mavic comes on with the smartphone online, the DJI go 4 goes into automatic close, although after you put it offline
I think it is intentional to force you to do the upgrade.

P.S. Excuse my bad english.

 

[tangoseal]

Sounds like DJI is goinf to regulate themselves out of business. Vote with your dollars people. If I cant fly above 400 foot any more im selling the piece of garbage junk drone because that is what it will be.

I fly above 400 foot from take off all the time. I record my self driving off road on dirtbike and hil climb and my bike goes much higher than the original 400 foot limitation from taje off going up hills. What a flipping joke.

 

[Maxheadspace]

If you are so anti DJI, why did you support them. and purchase their pro duct and support the Chinese economy rather than an American made product? We await your response.

Also, As you appear negative to DJI and their business practices, trash your drone. It sounds like with your negativity, you would never want to have anyone else, even a future buyer, be imposed with the TOS. Remember, as a seller, in the US, you would be required to Disclose All Information about the drone that you are aware off.

I'm not anti DJI. DJI drones are great applications of technology. China is a Communist nation. They do not have a bill of rights. You should have learned that in high school. The practice of modifying conditions of ownership AFTER the point of sale is not an acceptable practice in any market in the world. And although I own a couple versions of DJI drones, I own much more of other brands.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

I will tell you what happened to me.
Mavic and RC with firmware 0400;
I bought an ASUS ZE600KL (which works well), I installed the DJI go 4.0.7 I connected the smartphone, I made the login and I downloaded the offline map. I put the smartphone offline and I did some tests, everything OK.
Today, I'm going to fly with Mavic but I forgot to put the smartphone offline, just connect the Mavic, the DJI go 4.0.7 auto closes itself.
I put it offline and... continue to auto auto close itself
I have uninstalled and deleted all the DJI folders.
I installed the DJI go 4.0.6, I connected the smartphone, I made the login and I downloaded the offline map. I put the smartphone offline and I did some tests, everything OK.
I put the smartphone online and the same thing happened with the 4.0.6
I tried again with the DJI go 4.0.4 and now everything works fine, both offline and online.
I do not think it is a case that with the DJI go 4.0.7 and 4.0.6 everything works fine offline while as soon as Mavic comes on with the smartphone online, the DJI go 4 goes into automatic close, although after you put it offline
I think it is intentional to force you to do the upgrade.

P.S. Excuse my bad english.

Thanks for reporting your experience with the various app versions

 

[Oingo Boingo]

Does anyone know if there is a free trial version of Litchi? I would like to have a look at it before committing yet more money to the "Mavic Project".

Also, any know issues with firmware 0400 which is where I intend to stick for now, it does everything I need and performed without fault.

Thanks

I flew 9 missions with Lichi this weekend. No issues. To be honest, I've had no issues ever with Lichi. Except for the 360 pano not working skipping a few pics... But that was due to my memory card. It's a well worth purchase

 

[Oyibo VFX]

Sounds like DJI is goinf to regulate themselves out of business. Vote with your dollars people. If I cant fly above 400 foot any more im selling the piece of garbage junk drone because that is what it will be.

I fly above 400 foot from take off all the time. I record my self driving off road on dirtbike and hil climb and my bike goes much higher than the original 400 foot limitation from taje off going up hills. What a flipping joke.

I went to 500m yesterday

 

[Oingo Boingo]

How sure are we the GEO will no longer be optional? Seems like this will kill urban droning.

Here is my other questions - even with GEO off right now on .700, you still can't get within a mile of airports or near major stadiums. So is this just enhanced GEO fencing or are they actually not going to allow you to fly within 5 miles of any airport (no matter how small)?

That's the whole point.... And yes you hit all the nails on the head

 

[collins]

Once again (is this the sixth time now?) this is all about China, and problems they're having there with drones around airports.

I don't have any actual data, but I suspect the Chinese market is pretty **** big for DJI drones. The changes taking place in authorization process is targeted at the Chinese market, and is being mandated by the Chinese government.

I read about this China stuff quite often in this thread and I am not so sure. I just got back (to Thailand) from 4 days drone photography in China. Half way through I updated the app and signed in. So they know I am a Thai registered user, using a Mavic in China. Nothing at all changed as far as I could tell. I couldnt fly (or didnt try to fly in NFZ before or after) but was warned when I was near them (and China is quite a large country so their are plenty of other places to fly). After, I updated this morning my Mavic reached 150m which is more than 400ft because that is the height of my RTH and I lost signal. On one flight this morning I flew over 5km (max distance from controller probably about 2km) over a small City - no problems.

Other random thoughts about flying in China...

1) From my perspective there seemed remarkably few restrictions certainly compared to Thailand. You could fly in and around temples and monuments - noone seemed bothered just curious.

2) There are many other restrictions in the country that are more of a hassle. The maps are offset and although you can correct them through the app a lot of the terrain looks as though it was photographed from so far up it is impossible to use. I couldnt buy a local sim card as a foreigner. Nobody had access to Facebook etc to share. I am not complaining - their country, they set the rules - but it isnt as though DJI adds much in the way of restrictions.

3) The weather was pretty terrible, I really wish DJI would get that sorted out.

4) I went through 6 airports with my Mavic without it even being mentioned. However, the x-ray almost exploded when it spotted a lighter in my packed luggage.

I start from the fact that I am pleasantly surprised that I (as a foreigner) can fly my Mavic in China. Really I appreciate DJI's efforts to prevent me in flying in areas I am not supposed to. Of course I am a relative newbie (owned a Mavic for 6 weeks) and I can see that others who have been flying without restrictions before feel somewhat aggrieved that restrictions are being placed on them now. But realistically, as drones become cheaper and more popular restrictions were always inevitable and I would rather they were implemented by a company whose interests are aligned with current and potential drone owners (through sales and profits) than the 'authorities' who will tend to regulate on behalf of the interests of the majority who dont own and are not interested in drones.

In my view, China is a country where self regulation via DJI has almost certainly mean less government intervention - it does help, of course, that DJI uses China tech, China manufacturing and China ownership.

 

[Turnerm]

I read about this China stuff quite often in this thread and I am not so sure. I just got back (to Thailand) from 4 days drone photography in China. Half way through I updated the app and signed in. So they know I am a Thai registered user, using a Mavic in China. Nothing at all changed as far as I could tell. I couldnt fly (or didnt try to fly in NFZ before or after) but was warned when I was near them (and China is quite a large country so their are plenty of other places to fly). After, I updated this morning my Mavic reached 150m which is more than 400ft because that is the height of my RTH and I lost signal. On one flight this morning I flew over 5km (max distance from controller probably about 2km) over a small City - no problems.

Other random thoughts about flying in China...

1) From my perspective there seemed remarkably few restrictions certainly compared to Thailand. You could fly in and around temples and monuments - noone seemed bothered just curious.

2) There are many other restrictions in the country that are more of a hassle. The maps are offset and although you can correct them through the app a lot of the terrain looks as though it was photographed from so far up it is impossible to use. I couldnt buy a local sim card as a foreigner. Nobody had access to Facebook etc to share. I am not complaining - their country, they set the rules - but it isnt as though DJI adds much in the way of restrictions.

3) The weather was pretty terrible, I really wish DJI would get that sorted out.

4) I went through 6 airports with my Mavic without it even being mentioned. However, the x-ray almost exploded when it spotted a lighter in my packed luggage.

I start from the fact that I am pleasantly surprised that I (as a foreigner) can fly my Mavic in China. Really I appreciate DJI's efforts to prevent me in flying in areas I am not supposed to. Of course I am a relative newbie (owned a Mavic for 6 weeks) and I can see that others who have been flying without restrictions before feel somewhat aggrieved that restrictions are being placed on them now. But realistically, as drones become cheaper and more popular restrictions were always inevitable and I would rather they were implemented by a company whose interests are aligned with current and potential drone owners (through sales and profits) than the 'authorities' who will tend to regulate on behalf of the interests of the majority who dont own and are not interested in drones.

In my view, China is a country where self regulation via DJI has almost certainly mean less government intervention - it does help, of course, that DJI uses China tech, China manufacturing and China ownership.

Great post and thanks for sharing.

Proof that all the doom and gloom in this thread is only pure speculation.

Oh wait... the next firmware release is when the bomb drops. I forgot. (Insert sarcastic face here)

 

[bcltoys]

When is the next firmware update suppose to be released.

 

[Turnerm]

When is the next firmware update suppose to be released.

I don't think it's been announced yet. I could be wrong though...

 

[Turbomon1]

If you are so anti DJI, why did you support them. and purchase their pro duct and support the Chinese economy rather than an American made product? We await your response.

Also, As you appear negative to DJI and their business practices, trash your drone. It sounds like with your negativity, you would never want to have anyone else, even a future buyer, be imposed with the TOS. Remember, as a seller, in the US, you would be required to Disclose All Information about the drone that you are aware off.

If everyone would follow the basic common sense rule then we wouldn't have this flight restrictions. That is why DJI took it on themselves of not being sued. Lawbreakers makes it hard for us hobbyist to enjoy. Some fly near airport in front of flight path of aircraft. That also why they need to control us .

Has anyone actually been non compliant and seen the restrictions in the wild?

If this activation process is not performed, the aircraft will not have access to the correct geospatial information and flight functions for that region, and its operations will be restricted if you update the upcoming firmware: Live camera streaming will be disabled, and flight will be limited to a 50-meter (164-foot) radius up to 30 meters (98 feet) high.

Obviously a few of you have not updated the DJIGo4 software & I am not referring toi this. . What I mean is updating and then not doing the activation process again.

I cannot see how after installing the new software you could end up with the above restrictions. Because if you do not sign in to the new app, you cannot even get past the sign in prompt to access the GO interface to fly with it , let alone be restricted. At least that is what I am seeing with the IOS app.

I suppose I could theoretically sign into someone else's DJIGo account in the new app, then log out again. Then I might get to the interface and fly my non activated Drone with the restrictions.

 

[digdat0]

For those who updated to the latest version of DJI Go 4 and don't like it/want it, you can rollback to an earlier version. Here's a how to I made for the community.

 

[Sablue]

For those who updated to the latest version of DJI Go 4 and don't like it/want it, you can rollback to an earlier version. Here's a how to I made for the community.

missing the rest... not seeing on how you can roll back

 

[digdat0]

missing the rest... not seeing on how you can roll back

those steps show you how to download the older version .. then you sync with your ipad. What did i miss?

 

[Sablue]

those steps show you how to download the older version .. then you sync with your ipad. What did i miss?

Weird , the video link didn't show. now its there ... never mind

 

[digdat0]

Weird , the video link didn't show. now its there ... never mind

okay, cool .. thought i did something wrong