1.4.12-1420/1430 Compass on DJI Air 2 / DJI Smart Controller

[eEridani]

DJI Fly and Air 2 Firmware installed today.

Latest 1.4.12-xxxx build installed onto a Smart Controller. Latest firmware installed onto a Mavic Air 2, all batteries updated.
Both controller and drone compasses calibrated immediately before doing this test.

To replicate the issue, place the drone facing north, move ~25 feet to the east, point controller north.

Quesion is: Which way should the controller dot arrow point?

I expect it to point towards the drone, to my right. But, the image below shows what I see. Second image shows overhead map of my setup.



If I turn the controller towards the drone, the arrow moves and when the controller points at the drone, the arrow does point at the drone (and turns green). I'm pretty sure, not 100% though, that 1.4.8 the arrow always pointed at the drone, so you knew which way to turn to keep the antennas aligned.

 

[eEridani]

Well - more testing, and not only is the compass still messed up in 1.4.12-1420; the screen recording function is also broken. Though, since it's the controller doing the recording, and I've experienced oddities with screen recordings with 1.4.8 installed, probably unrelated. But a pain, still.



Now reinstalling DJI Assistant 2 for Mavic to downgrade back to 1.4.8 ... bah-humbug.

 

[MarkusAtHome]

Well - more testing, and not only is the compass still messed up in 1.4.12-1420; the screen recording function is also broken. Though, since it's the controller doing the recording, and I've experienced oddities with screen recordings with 1.4.8 installed, probably unrelated. But a pain, still.

View attachment 136959

Now reinstalling DJI Assistant 2 for Mavic to downgrade back to 1.4.8 ... bah-humbug.

I don't know about the compass, but screen recording works fine with 1.4.12/1420 on my SC.

 

[eEridani]

I don't know about the compass, but screen recording works fine with 1.4.12/1420 on my SC.

The recording function more or less works, but fails miserably with long recording (>4GB) and after installing 1.4.12 fails to update properly after ending a recording session. The file is in cache and is only updated and moved to the Movies/Screen folder AFTER it is viewed in the controller file manager. At least that was what happened today after I tried 1.4.12.

The worst part in all this is I reverted to 1.4.8, painfully, and the compass issue remains. It use to work as expected - the arrow pointing towards the drone so you could check to ensure you faced the right way. Now it doesn't. What a mess.

 

[eEridani]

After sleeping on this: if the drone GPS is off 30 feet east, and the controller GPS is off 30 feet west, this behavior can be explained by GPS error. But I tested this when the drone was 1500 feet away, and it was still wrong. I haven't heard back from DJI, even though they've released two new version since 1420, so I'll stay with 1.4.8 unless they send me that email they promised that explains how to 'easily' downrev on a Smart Controller rather than a full Android Factory Reset.

 

[Zbip57]

This may be a dumb question, but how can I even tell which version of v1.4.12 is currently installed on my Android phone?

The DJI download page doesn't tell you until you actually start downloading the APK file. The latest build version number (1430) shows up in the APK filename. If I run that APK file, I assume that's the version I now have installed.

But where in the Fly App, or where in Android-Settings-Apps-DJI Fly, can I subsequently confirm that 1430 build number? It only ever says v1.4.12.

Wouldn't it make a whole lot more sense if DJI would simply renumber the firmware v1.4.12, 1.4.13, 1.4.14, 1.4.15, rather than floating four different versions of the same v1.4.12 - (1386), (1420), (1425), (1430)?

 

[eEridani]

Installed 1.4.12-1430; compass issue is the same. The blue/green arrow is pointing 90 off the drone, the wrong way.

Curiously, the copy of 1.4.8-1165 DJI gave me had the same compass error. So I don't know which version I had prior to installing 1.4.20 -- but the entire fiasco has messed up the usability of the compass from my point of view. I can no longer use the compass to determine which way to point the antennas if I should lose RF connectivity.

That or the compass in my DJI Smart Controller was somehow broken between my flights last weekend and a couple days ago.

 

[Zbip57]

Installed 1.4.12-1430; compass issue is the same. The blue/green arrow is pointing 90 off the drone, the wrong way.

I'm on v1.4.12 (1430) and the compass seems to be working fine with my Mini-1 using the standard Mini controller and the latest DJI Fly app running on my Android phone.

I normally ever only use the map view and hardly ever use the Compass/Attitude display, so I can't tell you if it's acting any differently than before. The only issue I notice on the compass display is that the blue dot marking the location of the controller seems to jump around quite a bit. But the direction in which the controller's blue arrow points is accurate.

Here's a screen recording of my test just now.

 

[eEridani]

It's the little arrow on the blue dot that is important for drone tracking.

 

[Zbip57]

On mine, the arrow on the blue dot seems to function properly. It was just the blue dot itself that jumped around when flying close by. That improved the further away I flew the drone.

I typically only ever use the map view, as I don't find the attitude indicator at all intuitive. It still bugs me that it shows the movement of the horizon properly in pitch when moving forward/backward, but then it switches to instead show the movement of aircraft (rather than the horizon) in roll right/left.

On the map view there's always a straight red line joining the drone back to its Home position. And the blue dot on the map has the same arrow on it to help in keeping the controller antenna aimed at the drone. You just need to keep the arrow pointing down the red line.

 

[eEridani]

On the map view there's always a straight red line joining the drone back to its Home position. And the blue dot on the map has the same arrow on it to help in keeping the controller antenna aimed at the drone. You just need to keep the arrow pointing down the red line.

There in lies the problem. The arrow only points at the drone when I point the controller 90 degrees off the drone. Drone is south, I point the controller west, problem solved. But, I'll never find the drone that way... lol.

At this point, pretty sure the controller compass has failed.

Here's screen shot - the little arrow on the blue dot should be pointing north. But it points eastward. And no amount of compass cal changes the point. Tried a cal in the middle of the street, backyard, etc., even different type cal methods like wriggle, rotation, upside down, vertical... then somewhere I read this SC compass issue isn't uncommon.

 

[eEridani]

Smart controller compass

Smart controller compass

forum.dji.com

 

[Zbip57]

At this point, pretty sure the controller compass has failed.

Apparently.

The fact that it works okay on my Android phone with the stock Mini-1 controller indicates the Fly App isn't at fault.

The issue has something to do with your smart controller itself, or how the Fly App misbehaves only when running on the smart controller.

 

[eEridani]

Apparently.

The fact that it works okay on my Android phone with the stock Mini-1 controller indicates the Fly App isn't at fault.

The issue has something to do with your smart controller itself, or how the Fly App misbehaves only when running on the smart controller.

Well - many SC owners have reported the issue over time, and some indicate the issue was with the app, not the hardware. So can't rule out the app yet. And my compass was working with whatever version of 1.4.8 I had installed before I upgraded to 1.4.12-1420, when the issue started. But until I find a compass app I can install without going through the PlayStore, I have no other point of reference than the DJI Fly app.

 

[Zbip57]

... until I find a compass app I can install without going through the PlayStore, I have no other point of reference than the DJI Fly app.

Why not the Play Store?

 

[eEridani]

You obviously don't own a Smart Controller.

 

[Zbip57]

Nope, I don't.

Are you saying the Smart Controller can't access the Play Store?

 

[eEridani]

It's optimized for flying drones, not watching YouTube or catching up on Facebook. Google services are wisely not installed, nor is it easy to install them. Certainly not worth the effort just to test a misbehaving compass or app.

 

[MS Coast]

1634957175032-DJI-v1.4.12-211022-1430-48641-official-sec.apk
Air 2S, Galaxy Tab S5e Android, standard DJI controller, latest firmware on all components

I just made another flight and the controller location indicator (blue dot with arrow) on the map view correctly shows the location and orientation of the controller, but it intermittently changes to a black dot without the orientation arrow and back to the blue dot with arrow. See photos.



Oddly the controller location blue dot and arrow remain visible and functional on the compass when they stop working on the map. That seems to rule out a GPS problem on the tablet.

As others have noted, the location of the controller is not updating smoothly; there's a 10-second or so lag.

I'm also seeing that the controller starts in Normal mode even if the switch is set to Cine. It changes to Cine mode if the switch is moved to Normal and back to Cine. This is not a new issue.

All other functions seem to be operating properly.

Suggestion: Try clearing the storage cache on the Fly app if the controller orientation is not correct. This seemed to resolve the problem for me when there was a ~90 or ~180 degree offset.

 

[eEridani]

I've seen the DJI Fly app move from P-GPS to Joystick to Detour to other modes ... no explanation what some of the modes are; someone mentioned they are support modes for the SDK. That's a different issue.

But, my compass error is - or appears to be - the base function of the controller failing to calibrate properly. The entire calibration process seems off. I have to rapidly move the SC around to finish the cal in time; yet the instructions say slow and gentle is the proper method. But if I rock the SC slowly - it times out in a failed calibration.

And - this is a DJI SMART CONTROLLER issue - not an iPhone or iPAD or Samsung phone or tablet.