New Firmware.

[Ewan Morrish]

Ok that's your choice, I disagree - again why wait 10-14 days? So other test subjects can lose their MP and find out the issues for you?

When a manufacturer releases FW it should be thoroughly tested (may seem that it's not) so if anything where to happen that is proven to be the result of bad FW then they will replace the craft and think twice before releasing bad FW.
Lessons are often learnt the hard way, DJI included.

I don't need to be high up in some DJI ranking to know that when a product is new early FW is often crucial to update as products are rushed out the door to meet tight deadlines of demand.

If FW is classed as BETA then yes sit back and wait as it's an early non stable version.

I will stand corrected when thousands of people crash and burn due to a new FW update, until then I will always upgrade straight away until the updates become a year or so apart. - sorry for the rant I've just woke up

I am always keen to update to the newest public release firmware as it either contains new features or corrects issues that i currently have. Same goes for the DJi Go App. There are always risks when doing FW updates, but see them as minimal and I'm happy to wear the consequences should I crash and burn, but I doubt I will.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[Anthony]

The sooner we update the wider the testing pool and the better the feedback which results in faster fixes IMO so i will ALWAYS take new public firmware release.

 

[Ewan Morrish]

The sooner we update the wider the testing pool and the better the feedback which results in faster fixes IMO so i will ALWAYS take new public firmware release.

Well said Sir.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[DroneTone]

Upgrade to latest firmware, v01.03.0200, GO App 4.0.2, using iPad Mini 4.
Flew 3 batteries yesterday in 15-20 mph winds. One trip flew 1.8 miles out over open ocean to lighthouse at maximum 100 ft.
No problems, only used Sport Mode for the way home.
Still working on finding the best color setting to use for footage I don't want to do any post editing on.
I was always pleased with the stock settings on my Phantom 3 Pro for the most part.
The color on the Mavic seems harsh and more problematic.
So far I'm tending to try reducing the Exposure to -0.3 or -0.7 and chose the Color as either None or D-Cinelike.

 

[longrange]

Just did the update. It stopped at 73%. Shut everything off. Turned it back on and update was done in 7 mins. Put all the batteries in but didn't get any update or firmware messages. In fact I have never got a message about updating batteries from day 1. Must just be doing it without notifying me.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots
Correction sort of. As stated above I was not prompted to update batteries. I thought this was weird so I hit the DJI button on top left of flying screen. Sure enough the battery update screen comes up. I did all my batteries. When I open the GO app it always goes to the flight screen. Before it would go to the equipment screen with pic of mavic and go fly button. This is where the update prompt is. Now I know to go to equipment screen to update batteries because it will not prompt me.

 

[JDPEagle]

I, too, prefer to wait and see if others are encountering unfavorable flight characteristics from a new firmware release. However, I typically only wait 3-5 days (and read enough forum posts to get an idea of any underlying issues). It is important to keep in mind that DJI also has a history of denying claims on aircraft with non-current firmware versions. This really is a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" scenario. Wait a couple of days (3-5), upgrade and take a cautious check flight to confirm controllability and predictable behavior.

Happy droning!

 

[flyNfrank]

Ok that's your choice, I disagree - again why wait 10-14 days? So other test subjects can lose their MP and find out the issues for you?

When a manufacturer releases FW it should be thoroughly tested (may seem that it's not) so if anything where to happen that is proven to be the result of bad FW then they will replace the craft and think twice before releasing bad FW.
Lessons are often learnt the hard way, DJI included.

I don't need to be high up in some DJI ranking to know that when a product is new early FW is often crucial to update as products are rushed out the door to meet tight deadlines of demand.

If FW is classed as BETA then yes sit back and wait as it's an early non stable version.

I will stand corrected when thousands of people crash and burn due to a new FW update, until then I will always upgrade straight away until the updates become a year or so apart. - sorry for the rant I've just woke up

Ok that's your choice, I disagree - again why wait 10-14 days? So other test subjects can lose their MP and find out the issues for you? Exactly! It's their choice to load the firmware and take the risk of possible issues, why should I?

I will stand corrected when thousands of people crash and burn due to a new FW update, until then I will always upgrade straight away until the updates become a year or so apart. This in fact already did take place. Last October 2015 dji decided it was time to activate the Smart Battery on the P3. It was actually their 1st chance to start writing code for it. Their goal was to make the Smart Battery not last as long, plus reduce performance. In the end it was accomplished. But before doing so they made some huge mistakes along the way. They made changes in the firmware so that when the battery actually had say 80% remaining charge, it displayed 70%. They made this change in the battery firmware untested and published the firmware for updating. The problem was they forgot to make the same formula changes in the AirCraft firmware. At this point the A/C read the same voltage value based on the amount you would see displayed as remaining charge. So when the A/C read the battery dropping below 13 volts, it would shut down and drop out of the sky and crash. The operator of course thought there was plenty of charge still in the battery. By the time they got this straightened out a great deal of AirCraft had crashed. They replaced everyones A/C that crashed in result of a battery issue.

At that time I worked for dji as a Product and Firmware beta tester. Prior to this I had already experienced other shady subjects take place, I knew it was time for me to move on. Btw, as mentioned, this is only one of several firmware issues.

 

[mavicme]

What is their reason to reduce the performance of the battery? Sell more batteries?

 

[flyNfrank]

The sooner we update the wider the testing pool and the better the feedback which results in faster fixes IMO so i will ALWAYS take new public firmware release.

Dji has teams in place for beta testing. There is some good knowledgeable testers part of those teams. They have dedicated teams for each operating system. I can say that these teams make sure these devices are rock solid when the completion date comes. Problem is, the beta admins will make untested changes to the firmware and send it to be published. For GO app updates dji likes to use the google playstore and itunes as another method of beta testing. If no major issues they will place the app update on the dji.com website for download.

 

[flyNfrank]

What is their reason to reduce the performance of the battery? Sell more batteries?

That's what it looks like. They make the battery appear as if it stores less then it actually does. This explains why/where so many propulsion system messages come from.

 

[mavicme]

WTH. Seriously? Or perhaps to provide more buffer for users that run their battery too low?

 

[F6Rider]

That's interesting, I have a P3, and have had it since day one as it is a Launch model. Always updated the F/W as soon as it was released, and never had one issue other than tilted horizon.

 

[stealle]

Some of the mentality behind not upgrading firmware might stem from experience with computers. I've built several of my own computers.... often times the motherboard manufacturer will advise users NOT to upgrade firmware unless there is a specific issue mentioned in the release notes that NEEDS to be addressed. They often further advise, if you are not having any issues it is not recommended to update. They do this because they know that sometimes when you fix one problem other issues often arise.

I get what you are saying, but you don't always need a large test base to discover a problem. Let's take this current firmware. It's obvious there is a problem causing the firmware to hang at 73%. This was discovered within minutes of the new firmware release. Do you need a larger test base to discover this problem? No. Sure, it's not a big deal this time. Just restart the mavic and try again. Or, use DJI Assistant. But, what if the first dozen or so people had theirs hang at 73% and then discovered they bricked their Mavic. Would you have updated anyway just to increase the test pool? I seriously doubt it.

 

[MarkEt]

They replaced everyones A/C that crashed in result of a battery issue.

So, that's a no brainer. I'm keeping my drones up to date AND am getting the chance to have them replaced with brand new ones.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[DonB]

Took me 4 tries/failures to install this on my iPad [emoji853]


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[pureblur]

Got the new update and did some test flights. All seems good except top speed has been reduced in sports mode. I used to average about 40mph and now can't get passed about 31mph, no wind.

Update: I had the sports mode switch on but forgot to re-enable multiple modes in the settings. After resetting that I can now go 42mph again. Wish the update didn't reset everything back to default but all good now.

 

[Ozz]

This seems to be new -> Getting lots of large Red "Low Light - Obstacle Avoidance Error" messages when flying near sunset - One would be ok and useful - but If you dismiss it another keeps popping up and they consume a large amount of the phone screen.
Had to go into menus to disable "Obstacle Avoidance".

Also - I thought the last firmware fixed the autofocus issue - that %$£"£ touch-to-focus got me again today though - an opportunity to catch some very nice footage - I had to setup fast to catch it no time to get phone attached so flew by controller only - of course it was all blurry and totally useless. Really miss the P3 and P4 always-focused lens.

 

[Loz]

Got the new update and did some test flights. All seems good except top speed has been reduced in sports mode. I used to average about 40mph and now can't get passed about 31mph, no wind.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Are you should you had it in sports mode? i made the mistake of not enabling both modes in the settings, the update reset it.

I got 42mph on one of the sports mode flights no problem

 

[flyNfrank]

That's interesting, I have a P3, and have had it since day one as it is a Launch model. Always updated the F/W as soon as it was released, and never had one issue other than tilted horizon.

And who told you were guaranteed to have a problem if you updated? I mentioned it was possible and it was wise to wait a little while. Btw, my P3P is also from the 1st batch, and I did run into a few issues. The worse for me was due to VPS issues from FW 1.2.6. My a/c was grounded 3 1/2 weeks waiting for an update. Others also experienced pretty serious gimbal in that same update.

Some of the mentality behind not upgrading firmware might stem from experience with computers. I've built several of my own computers.... often times the motherboard manufacturer will advise users NOT to upgrade firmware unless there is a specific issue mentioned in the release notes that NEEDS to be addressed. They often further advise, if you are not having any issues it is not recommended to update. They do this because they know that sometimes when you fix one problem other issues often arise.

I get what you are saying, but you don't always need a large test base to discover a problem. Let's take this current firmware. It's obvious there is a problem causing the firmware to hang at 73%. This was discovered within minutes of the new firmware release. Do you need a larger test base to discover this problem? No. Sure, it's not a big deal this time. Just restart the mavic and try again. Or, use DJI Assistant. But, what if the first dozen or so people had theirs hang at 73% and then discovered they bricked their Mavic. Would you have updated anyway just to increase the test pool? I seriously doubt it.

Just so you know, and before things get twisted after reading your response,.....nobody that I have seen in this thread has made any mention of NOT updating. I personally have said it would be better to take the wait and see approach.

So, that's a no brainer. I'm keeping my drones up to date AND am getting the chance to have them replaced with brand new ones.

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Make you read the warranty info dji has in place. Generally when someone does take a few minutes to read it, they end up somewhat shocked that things are not covered like they thought. The length of time each part of the air craft is covered, and they also learn that anytime they send their aircraft in for repair....there is no guarantee they will get their aircraft back and could be sent a refurbished unit in it's place.

I read the data file from everyone of my flights as well as many others, daily. It's not uncommon for me to see changes to those that I look at that are never mentioned in updates. Every update that I have seen has in some way taken something away. It could something such as....since dada update the a/c now flies straight again but it now flies 5mph slower with -5 degrees less flight pitch.

 

[Loz]

Ok that's your choice, I disagree - again why wait 10-14 days? So other test subjects can lose their MP and find out the issues for you? Exactly! It's their choice to load the firmware and take the risk of possible issues, why should I?

I will stand corrected when thousands of people crash and burn due to a new FW update, until then I will always upgrade straight away until the updates become a year or so apart. This in fact already did take place. Last October 2015 dji decided it was time to activate the Smart Battery on the P3. It was actually their 1st chance to start writing code for it. Their goal was to make the Smart Battery not last as long, plus reduce performance. In the end it was accomplished. But before doing so they made some huge mistakes along the way. They made changes in the firmware so that when the battery actually had say 80% remaining charge, it displayed 70%. They made this change in the battery firmware untested and published the firmware for updating. The problem was they forgot to make the same formula changes in the AirCraft firmware. At this point the A/C read the same voltage value based on the amount you would see displayed as remaining charge. So when the A/C read the battery dropping below 13 volts, it would shut down and drop out of the sky and crash. The operator of course thought there was plenty of charge still in the battery. By the time they got this straightened out a great deal of AirCraft had crashed. They replaced everyones A/C that crashed in result of a battery issue.

At that time I worked for dji as a Product and Firmware beta tester. Prior to this I had already experienced other shady subjects take place, I knew it was time for me to move on. Btw, as mentioned, this is only one of several firmware issues.

Well I hope DJI have made vast improvements with the Mavic FW department...