OS User Sets Up Wunderphone (WP)
(This is a long post intended for the weak of heart users on the forum)
OK….so without getting into the Chevy vs Ford vs Dodge type thing (comparing smartphones), I saw this thread and was looking for an alternate screen solution for flying my Mavic Pro (MP). I tried an iPhone 6 and an iPad mini which was OK but they both had some visibility problems in bright sunlight and some lagging. I liked the idea of having a dedicated smartphone for a display and I really liked the $50 Walmart Special price (they screwed up my shipping so I got an additional 10% odd - WooHoo). I continued to read this ever growing thread as I waited for the WP to arrive and I was somewhat intimidated by the whole process since I have never owned an Android product. I really liked the idea of being able to roll back the firmware (FW) (which I can’t do on my iPhone) so I was willing to give this a try.
I’’m going to walk you through the process I used with the warning that you are taking your own chances if this doesn’t work for you. It worked for me and I was able to move my MP and my Remote Control (RC) from v01.03.0550 to 01.03.0700. I picked this version because it seems to be the most stable version based on comments from the forum and I really didn’t need any of the extra features/restrictions added to later versions. I was also able to load the DJI Go4 app on the WP by moving from v4.1.18 to v4.1.15. I have a few questions and would appreciate any positive comments if I screwed anything up or you know of a better way to set this up. I’ll break this primer down into the setup of the WP, MP and the RC. Once again, I only plan to use the WP as a screen monitor for the MP.
Here goes:
1 - I popped the WP out of the packaging being sure to locate the SIM ejector tool (fancy paper clip) and then popped out the AT&T SIM card.
2 - I placed the WP on its’ charger since it arrived with a charge at 68% and let it charge to 100% (less than an hour on the charger)
3 - Once the WP was charged, I Uninstalled/Disable almost all of the apps, but Keep the Google Play Store you will need it later. I also kept the Google Chrome Browser. To Uninstall/Disable Apps, Go into Settings, then Apps. You will see a list of all the Apps. Some of the Apps can be uninstalled, some can be disabled and some can only be Forced Shutdown. I didn’t force any apps down but disabled/uninstalled everything possible. You will also see that the Android OS has a File Finder app (probably some better ones on the app store) and a Download folder which you will use later.
4- I set up a new Google account since I wanted to keep an address linked to the WP. I went into the Google Play Store and set up an account using PayPal. I’m not sure if that was mandatory since they would accept PayPal, Credit Cards or PrePaid cards but I didn’t see an option that would let you continue without one of those options. At that point, I downloaded the DJI Go 4 app v.4.1.18 onto the internal memory in the D/L folder. I’m not sure if this was the best move since the internal memory only had about 6-7 GB free (It’s supposed to come with 16GB but the OS and mandatory apps must eat that up).
5 - I installed the Go 4 v4.1.18 app and noticed that a resource file was downloaded. All looked good with the app but I didn’t connect it to the WP or RC. (Based on previous posts, there was some problems with a resource file so I elected to d/l the current version .18 and roll it back to .15 as described below).
6 - It was time to get the Go 4 app v4.1.15 o I used my WP through the Google Chrome Browser and d/l’ed the file into the Download folder on the WP. This link has the Go 4 app.
DJI GO 4--For drones since P4 4.1.15 (1027412) APK Download by DJI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD - APKMirror
IMPORTANT NOTE: Click the big DOWNLOAD button…they have some other downloads for different stuff….
7 - I went to the Download folder on the WP and installed the Go $ v4.1.15 app that was just downloaded. It too downloaded a resource file. (this time I fired up the WP, MP and RC and all seemed to function w/o any hassles….no flight - just a bench test).
CONGRATS….you just rolled back the Go 4 app to version 4.1.15 on your shiny new WP. Give yourself a pat on the back and go have a beer.
- - - - - OK….IMPORTANT PART HERE HENCE THE SHOUTING. I went to this post, watched the videos and read through all of the posts (I still don’t know what FFSRTOP means). - - - -
How to rollback Mavic firmware
8 - I am running Macs so I d/l’ed the DroneZBreak program on my Mac using this link. The post also has a link for the DUMLdore program which runs on Windows OS and uses the same Firmware (FW) binary files. These are the programs that you use to load the FW.
GitHub - mavicBreak/DroneZBreak: Change DJI drones flight controller parameters and flash firmwares natively on OSX
(IMPORTANT NOTE - This version will not run on the High Sierra OS….fortunately I had a MacBook Pro with Sierra on it and it ran without any problems.)
9 - You will need to load two separate FW files, one for the MP and a separate on for the RC. They are both located on the same link below but the RC files are in an RC Folder. I elected to d/l v01.03.700 for both the MP and RC. D/L these files to a folder on your computer that has the DroneZBreak/DUMLdore program on it. You will have to scroll through the folders to get the FW for the MP and the RC. (I don’t know anything about these sites/files but being the Lemming that I am I followed the advice from this forum…..I haven’t had any virus problems but I took the risk. Good news is I have more freedom/choice with the Android OS but there is always a risk. The iOS lockdown helps limit the risk but there are no guarantees in life.
Index of /DJI-Firmware/BIN
10 - Run the DroneZBreak or DUMLdore as instructed in the videos (This Link, Remember???
How to rollback Mavic firmware ) and you will load FW v01.03.700 on both the MP and RC. There are all of the other FW versions on the same page but I chose FW v01.03.700. It took about 10 minutes to load the MP FW and less than 5 minutes for the RC FW.
Bottom Line - I flew 3 batteries worth of MP with Go 4 v4.1.15 on the WP and FW v01.03.700 on the MP and RC. I calibrated the compass before the initial flight and took some small journeys. All worked well except I got a “Shacky Gimbal Warning” which I never had before. I calibrated the Gimbal an received a few more intermittent warnings during the remaining flights. I don’t know if that is linked to the FW but I can’t see how it would be linked to the phone. All in all I was very satisfied with the results. I checked the video and did not notice any problems with the gimbal or other. I can fly out about 3000’ from my home location which is in a heavily populated area and I get interference warnings all the time so that is my max distance from the home point. I had some lagging when I hit the outer limits but I expected that and it was not as severe as my iPad
Mini 2.
I also saw the RC charging the WP during flights but I didn’t see a problem with that since I only have 3 batteries. Here is the battery % stats after each flight.
Flight/# BATTERY RC WP
1 36% 86% 91%
2 22% 89% 89%
3 25% 51% 89%
All in all I’m satisfied with the WP and the MP/RC FW combination. I can still use the iPad
mini 2 if I want a bigger screen but I did appreciate the brightness of the WP and didn’t have a problem working the MP with the size of the WP screen, which is larger than my iPhone 6. I also like the idea of having a small phone that I can throw in a backpack with my minimal MP gear if I want to run out for a quick flight……I think it was well worth the $44.10 that I paid for the WP.
Quick disclaimer….This is a long post but I wanted to give folks a chance to see the process. If there are any mistakes or link problems please shout them out and we’ll fix it. I could also use some advise on the shaking gimbal issue and a strategy for using the SD card with the Go 4 app offline maps and video cache (internal/external memory strategies). I don’t know how I did it, but I have versions of the Go 4 app on the internal and SD memory.
I also loaded the DJI Go app on the WP for use with an OSMO Mobile….which worked out really well too so I’m going to call this a Win/Win.
