Unable to link Mini 4 Pro with new RC 2

[jimlips]

I purchased a Mini 4 Pro (along with the "basic" Remote Controller) a few months ago, and have not had any issues.

After tiring of always having to attach my cellphone to the top of the RC, decided to spend the $$ and buy the RC 2 (which has the screen built-in).

It arrived today. I charged it, but am unable to sync the two. I'm positive it is an RC 2, which is supposed to be compatible with the Mini 4 Pro and the Air 3.

Here is what I am doing to sync (per the instructions):

1. I have already charged and powered-on the RC 2.
2. Entered all the login info into the RC 2 with my account on DJI, answered all the other questions (about location & time zone, etc). That was all successful.
3. Tapped on "Connection Guide", waited for it to time out (saying "Searching for aircraft"), now says "Unable to connect to aircraft?"
4. Tapped on blue "Unable to connect to aircraft" at bottom.
5. It shows to "Press and hold the power button for 4 seconds until the aircraft beeps to indicate it is in pairing mode. Complete.
6. It shows Tap Pair to start pairing the remote controller to the aircraft. Complete.
7. The aircraft battery level LEDs are flashing back and forth to show it is in pairing mode. The RC 2 beeped for about 15 seconds (annoying) and shows "Pairing" while counting down.
8. RC 2 shows "Pairing unsuccessful"

What am I doing wrong? Since the aircraft is already "paired" with another RC, do I need to "unpair" it first? I've tried this about four times, same results each time.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

It might be worth checking if the original controller is still paired/linked to the drone.

You say the drone beeps during 5) but are "its battery level LEDs blink"ing "in sequence to indicate it is ready to link." The quotation is from the manual. Or is that your "back and forth"?

If so do you have care fresh etc.?
If so did you bind the original controller to the drone?
If so, though I do not think it should make a difference, you might try unbinding the controller and then try pairing/linking the RC2 to the drone.

You might want to check whether or not it is necessary for the RC2 to be bound to the drone in order for care refresh ( if you have it ) to be valid.
The controller MUST be bound to the drone in order for Flyaway insurance to be valid.

 

[old man mavic]

@jimlips ,if it has antennas ,at the top and a single,type C Micro connector ,and SD card slot on the bottom then it is an RC 2,the first RC does not have antennas , and there are two Type C micro connectors on the bottom ,one of them plus the SD slot is under a cover

 

[jimlips]

It might be worth checking if the original controller is still paired/linked to the drone.

You say the drone beeps during 5) but are "its battery level LEDs blink"ing "in sequence to indicate it is ready to link." The quotation is from the manual. Or is that your "back and forth"?

If so do you have care fresh etc.?
If so did you bind the original controller to the drone?
If so, though I do not think it should make a difference, you might try unbinding the controller and then try pairing/linking the RC2 to the drone.

You might want to check whether or not it is necessary for the RC2 to be bound to the drone in order for care refresh ( if you have it ) to be valid.
The controller MUST be bound to the drone in order for Flyaway insurance to be valid.

Yes, that is my "back and forth", the LEDs are flashing in "sequence" showing it is in pairing mode. The RC 2's Blue LED is on, showing that it is in pairing mode. Yet, they never "pair".

I have Care Refresh.
I did bind the original controller to the drone.
Do you know how to "unbind" the original controller?

I paid for DJI Care Refresh, so I certainly want the insurance. Perhaps I should contact DJI to make sure I won't lose my insurance if I unbind the original controller. That would be ridiculous. I'm not flying the controller.

 

[Chrislaf]

It may be a firmware problem between the drone and the new controller. Is the firmware on the drone and the new controller updated to the latest versions?

When I bought my Mini 3 Pro (drone only) almost a year and a half ago I had a similar problem. I could not bind the new Mini to my RC Pro controller no matter what I tried. It turned out that there was a firmware mismatch - the Mini 3 needed a firmware update because my RC Pro was updated to the current firmware. I had to use my RC-N1 controller (that came with my Mavic 3) and my cell phone to update the Mini 3 firmware then once I did that the binding process worked.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[jimlips]

I did update the firmware via the old controller.

Just FYI, I contacted DJI onlilne, and they were very helpful.

I *did* have to unbind the old R/C from the aircraft first. Once it was unbound, then the binding sequence above worked properly.

I specifically asked her if this would affect my Care Refresh insurance, and she said no. Care Refresh insurance is related to the drone, not the drone controller. Yay! Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Perhaps post 15 in Care Refresh-and selling drone and remote
or

DJI Fly App Account and Device Binding/Unbinding Guide

After unboxing your new product, it is important to promptly bind it to your DJI account. Failure to do so will result in your inability to produce a DJI Care Aircraft Flyaway Report in case of a flyaway incident. To bind your aircraft and remote controller, or to perform an unbinding operation...

support.dji.com

Having been reminded by Chrislaf's post to not forget the routine stuff, remove the memory card from the drone, a corrupt or misnamed file on the memory card prevented my M2P from pairing with the controller.

With that in mind also remove any memory card in the controller.

Ahh it seems you have pairing sorted but I will leave the above.

I paid for DJI Care Refresh, so I certainly want the insurance. Perhaps I should contact DJI to make sure I won't lose my insurance if I unbind the original controller.

I specifically asked her if this would affect my Care Refresh insurance, and she said no. Care Refresh insurance is related to the drone, not the drone controller. Yay! Thanks for everyone's help!

You need to be VERY CAREFUL THERE and differentiate between simple care refresh and the 'sub set' flyaway insurance.

The controller MUST be bound to the drone if you wish flyaway insurance to be valid, see section 3 of

https://terra-1-g.djicdn.com/851d20f7b9f64838a34cd02351370894/djicare-series/Terms%20of%20Service%20of%20DJI%20Care%20Refresh.pdf

I do not know if the same thing applies to simple care refresh, I would email them to get a written answer and KEEP that answer and make it clear that you are asking about just care refresh where you have a damaged drone to return.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Just FYI, I contacted DJI onlilne, and they were very helpful.

Just out of curiosity did their unbinding instructions correspond to those given in either of the links I provided?

If not can you post their instructions please?

 

[jimlips]

Just out of curiosity did their unbinding instructions correspond to those given in either of the links I provided?

If not can you post their instructions please?

Sorry, did not see you message until just now. I'm pretty that the link you posted above is exactly what I did, and it worked properly. Thanks for your help!