Drone program memory

[AZDave]

I've done a fair amount of web searching and I can't find a clear answer to these questions.

When a DJI Fly update is performed, exactly where do the updates occur and what kind of memory is used?

1. I know that the drone and the standard controller both need to be on during an update, so is there memory in both units that get updated? Or is only the memory in the controller updated and the drone simply needs to be connected for linkage/pairing purposes?

2. I believe that there is also memory in the batteries ... correct?

3. If there is memory inside the drone that gets program updates, exactly what kind is it and what is the size of it? I know that my MA2 has 8 GB of internal flash memory, but I don't believe that the control code is stored there? Is that correct? I assume that any program memory in the drone itself (other than the 8 GB) is also flash memory.

4. I'm pretty certain that the memory in the standard controller is flash memory ... anybody know what size that is?

Thanks in advance for any answers and clarification.

 

[Deleted member 177263]

I couldn't find anything either on this subject but it's a great question, I wonder if there's a mini CMOS battery inside that stores the info like when we update our PC's firmware?

found these useful vids on the DJI site RE upgrading:
Updating Your Drone Firmware!

might be useful to ask 1 of their chat reprasentitives this question directly HERE

 

[Deleted member 177263]

I just asked for you, interesting, so there's only memory in the Drone.

 

[mobilehomer]

More than likely it is stored on an EEPROM. That would not be considered as part of the storage for the user. The batteries have to be updated to maintain communication between them and the drone/controller firmware concerning charge state, charge cycles and usage.

 

[EssenYVR]

These days pretty much all electronic devices that contain firmware use flash memory to hold it. I have no doubt that it's used on both the controller and the drone. Since the controller can display the type of battery and how many times it's been cycled I have to assume there is a bit of flash memory in the batteries as well.

Who knows how much memory, and who cares? It's a black box that does its job well, it's not as if I'm going to cannibalize the drone for its parts...

 

[BigAl07]

More than likely it is stored on an EEPROM. That would not be considered as part of the storage for the user. The batteries have to be updated to maintain communication between them and the drone/controller firmware concerning charge state, charge cycles and usage.

I agree with you. I'd guess that the FW etc is on EEPROM or Flash Memory and neither are "User Accessible" memory modules.

 

[AZDave]

These days pretty much all electronic devices that contain firmware use flash memory to hold it. I have no doubt that it's used on both the controller and the drone. Since the controller can display the type of battery and how many times it's been cycled I have to assume there is a bit of flash memory in the batteries as well.

Who knows how much memory, and who cares? It's a black box that does its job well, it's not as if I'm going to cannibalize the drone for its parts...

I cared enough to ask the question, and I asked the question because I'm an engineer and curious how my drone works. Not everyone is an appliance operator.

 

[Meta4]

might be useful to ask 1 of their chat reprasentitives this question directly HERE

DJI support people aren't much good at answering anything that isn't in one of their scripts.
If you ask something that's not covered, you are likely to get some really strange answers.

 

[Droning on and on...]

These days pretty much all electronic devices that contain firmware use flash memory to hold it. I have no doubt that it's used on both the controller and the drone. Since the controller can display the type of battery and how many times it's been cycled I have to assume there is a bit of flash memory in the batteries as well.

I'm 110% certain this is the case. It has been for at least a decade or more. With the chipsets and components available today, it would be extra effort to design and implement a RAM based, battery backed NV memory. It would be costly from a manufacturing and support standpoint compared to EEPROM.

There would have to be a very strong reason to use such an archaic design for NV memory. If there were, it wouldn't be secret.

BTW, that CR2032 on the main board in your PC is backing the real-time clock, not the NV BIOS firmware, which is stored in flash (EEPROM).