Looking for Mini 2 Gimbal Technical Truths

[TX246]

Short version. Crashed the drone. Ribbon cable broke. Replaced said cable. Flew it once and the camera was shaky and no vertical control. Took pictures and video. Zoom works fine. Gimbal goes thru process on start up. Gimbal stuck error. Took the gimbal off and verified there wasnt anything impeding on axis. Still on stuck error. Gimbal wont calibrate in app. No gimbal tilt function available in flight or ground. I can clear the gimbal stuck code briefly by gently shaking the drone. Bottom line is it seems there is no communication to the gimbal after start up. This seems to be a common scenario but the info on the fix is all over the place.

Questions.

What exactly does the black thready cable control?
Is it just the camera that is paired to the motherboard ?
What keeps me from just replacing the gimbal and using the original camera if it is indeed the item paired to the motherboard?

I realize that just send it in is an option but I really want to know how it works and what is possible to repair DIY

 

[Phantomrain.org]

gimbal tilt function available in flight or ground. this tells me that the Ribbon is not installed properly , or there is still something wrong with the ribbon cable.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain

 

[Fizzbang]

I do not have any mini drones so cannot answer with personal direct knowledge.
I have several Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom drones both types of which I have sucessfully rebuilt.

Have you seen This Video?

What exactly does the black thready cable control?​

From the video and my experience with my drones, I would say that the 'black thready cable' is the (Pan Tilt and Zoom) PTZ cable. Primarily it carries the camera signal, from the camera, back to the gimbal board, but also it has a branch along its length which connects to the pitch connector in the side arm. (See the video at about 12:00 onward. for the branch connector to the pitch motor)​

Is it just the camera that is paired to the motherboard ?​

I have never had to pair my drones to the mother board but I think I remember reading that all later drones are paired to the mother board.​

What keeps me from just replacing the gimbal and using the original camera if it is indeed the item paired to the motherboard?​

Dunno!​

​

​

I am guessing that the ribbon cable you replaced is the cable that is disconnected at 6:00 in the video time line.
That cable connects the gimbal board back to the main board so I guess is primarily the gimbal control.

After carrying out any gimbal repair the gimbal needs to be calibrated (which you say you have tried). Another way to calibrate the gimbal is to use the DJI-Firmware-tools.
I have checked and there is a code for the Mavic Mini 'MMINI': 'WM160', but nothing for the Mini 2.
I guess the Mini 2 uses the same code, but I do not know for sure.
You would then need to run the JointCoarse and LinearHall commands to cetre/calibrate the gimbal.

Good luck and let us know how you fare.