Camera system resets mid-flight...?

Derlisz · Jun 17, 2017

The camera reset happened to me on two flights. Both times I had resets a few events at the beginning of the flight afte which it seem to go away. Both times I was flying agains strong wind, maybe up to 20 mph.

Mavic Schwa · Jun 20, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
Look any thing like https://youtu.be/L9s55YK7YHY ? If so it's a random upset/reset. May be related to wind/turbulence.

That's precisely what happens when the camera hasn't been calibrated after updates. This can also happen if you powered on your mavic and forgot to remove the gimbal lock (be thankful you didn't get a gimbal motor overload error) or if the self calibration, preflight was interrupted. Usually a few mins into the flight it'll just happen. For precautionary reasons I recalibrate every 5-7 flights. Its super simple and takes only a few mins. It's quite daunting when it occurs over water and you wonder if it's gunna fall out of the sky. Happened to me, did a camera calibration hasn't happened again.

AlanTheBeast · Jun 20, 2017

Mavic Schwa said:
That's precisely what happens when the camera hasn't been calibrated after updates. This can also happen if you powered on your mavic and forgot to remove the gimbal lock (be thankful you didn't get a gimbal motor overload error) or if the self calibration, preflight was interrupted. Usually a few mins into the flight it'll just happen. For precautionary reasons I recalibrate every 5-7 flights. Its super simple and takes only a few mins. It's quite daunting when it occurs over water and you wonder if it's gunna fall out of the sky. Happened to me, did a camera calibration hasn't happened again.

I don't even remember when I did the last camera calibrations. Not something I worry about unless there is a succession of tilted horizons.

PaoloOne · Jul 10, 2017

A friend of mine experienced a few gimbal resets on his brand new Mavic, he did the updates (so on .900) but no calibrations at first. He then re-flashed the Mavic but this time recalibrated and apparently the problem is gone for now. Personally i did not experience such an issue but I always calibrate. Some dis-agree that you need to re-calibrate everything as I do, here appears instead that is a good habit and proves that may also prevent un-expected problems.

m15Alien · Jul 18, 2017

Hi just to share that the "camera reset issue" is happening also to my Mavic ( .900 firmware), I tried to reset the Mavic, refreshing the firmware and recalibrating the camera but without any good improvements, also this morning during the flight in an open area, good weather conditions an no wind, Mavic reset the camera three times, the app warned "Mavic disconnected" than it restarted, however motors continued to work fine , the controller worked fine, I'm thinking to downgrade the firmware to .700 and test it.
Any tips or suggestion? Thanks

Best regards

alexcannas · Jul 18, 2017

m15Alien said:
Hi just to share that the "camera reset issue" is happening also to my Mavic ( .900 firmware), I tried to reset the Mavic, refreshing the firmware and recalibrating the camera but without any good improvements, also this morning during the flight in an open area, good weather conditions an no wind, Mavic resetted the camera three times, the app said "Mavic disconnected" than it restarted, however motors continued to work fine , the controller worked fine, I'm thinking to downgrade the firmware to .700 and test it.
Any tips or suggestion? Thanks

Best regards

Try downgrading but I doubt it solves anything. The core of the issue is a faulty ribbon cable, which sometimes loses contact and causes the reset. Because the cable is not completely dead, it is very unpredictable when it is going to do it. Usually mid-flight under stress is more likely, but as it worsens it can do it even on the table with the motors off.

My suggestion is you either send it back, or if you got the skills change the cable yourself.

m15Alien · Jul 18, 2017

Ok, your suggestion could be right. I'll try to give it back hoping DJI will repair it under warranty.
Thanks and best regards

Phattydingdong · Jul 22, 2017

@m15Alien Have you tried flying without recording video? Does it occur in this instance. Just curious.

m15Alien · Jul 22, 2017

Phattydingdong said:
@m15Alien Have you tried flying without recording video? Does it occur in this instance. Just curious.

Hi, I didn't try to fly without recording, so I can say for sure when it happened I was recording.
When the camera/gimbal starts the reset during a flight session, the recording stops loosing the video connection to the Mavic, the remote control works fine so I can move the Mavic during this kind of reset.
I talked about this issue also in the Mavic DJI forum, the admin suggested to send the quad back to DJI, so I think DJI knows well this kind of problem. I own a Mavic since last December and I had no issue, I notice this problem after the firmware release .800, but if DJI wanted it back I think it's not only a firmware issue.
You can find more info here: Video camera RESET mid flight - v01.03.0900 Problem? It seems there are many pilots with a Mavic with this issue.

Bye

Deanster · Jul 22, 2017

hi all, I posted in the other thread also, but wanted to make sure I'm getting updates from both.

I hadn't flown my October 2016 Mavic in a couple months, but had kept it updated with current firmware, etc.

Did a couple short test flights at home before a trip to Maui, no issues, brought it on this two week trip, and have had ENDLESS camera/gimbal resets since. Every flight, multiple occurrences per flight, usually in somewhat windy/turbulent conditions, but certainly nothing extreme.

I'm having the dropped video transmission, abrupt ending to video recording to the card, video comes back up in photo mode, unfocused, and about 15-20 degrees canted until I rotate the aircraft, at which point the gimbal figures out what's up and returns to level. Also notable that video files written after a video/gimbal reset event show a date of Jan 1 2014, 12:00am. Doesn't seem to matter how many files get written, start/stop camera, etc.

Insanely frustrating, I've at least managed to get some decent footage anyhow, but losing the camera when flying low is nerve-wracking as hell.

Sure sounding like the aircraft needs to go back to meet its maker. Sigh.

Just so it's not all whining, here's a video made of short clips between resets:

Quality isn't great, I know - frustratingly, one of my goals this trip was to work on longer and more-consistent shots, but the video resets have just torn all that apart.

m15Alien · Jul 23, 2017

Deanster said:
hi all, I posted in the other thread also, but wanted to make sure I'm getting updates from both.

I hadn't flown my October 2016 Mavic in a couple months, but had kept it updated with current firmware, etc.
.......

Hi, I can understand your frustration, my reset issue was not so frequent as yours but I think it was only a matter of time. Now the question is: will DJI repair it under warranty ? And if DJI will give back a new/refurbished Mavic will its quality be fully checked? Let's see ....

Bye

SteveM · Jul 26, 2017

Gutted. Just happened to me too. Really scary as did not know what was happening. This is my 2nd Mavic as first one replaced for another fault. Have always had DJI drone but losing faith rapidly now.

maximeeso · Aug 2, 2017

SteveM said:
Gutted. Just happened to me too. Really scary as did not know what was happening. This is my 2nd Mavic as first one replaced for another fault. Have always had DJI drone but losing faith rapidly now.

Exactly the boat I am in. Extremely discouraged to see that it's an issue that has been occurring with Mavics since the beginning and there is still no word or positive fix. Some people have sent their drones back and gotten brand new ones and the new one is now doing the same thing. I just received my 2nd Mavic since the first had an issue with the camera randomly getting the "Jello Effect" ... Wondering now if I just need to return it to Best Buy and cut my losses and wait on the Mavic 2.

Jacknet007 · Aug 10, 2017

I also joined the 9:06 gimbal reset club, recording 4K video on .900 firmware. Recording ended and File was about 4gb so there must be a bug since it's happening to many others.

AstroSurf · Aug 20, 2017

I've had my Mavic around 4 months now (3/21/2017 mfg date). I've flown at least 30 flights, 10 to 20 mins per flight and never had a single issue. Just a few weeks ago I was about 15m up right in front of me and 2mins into recording (4k/24), I hit C1 to center focus and the bird twitched hard then the gimbal reset, video stopped recording and my camera settings were all reset to defaults. Recording did not resume automatically and the home point also changed to where the bird was at the time of the reset (signs of momentary power loss??). This was on .600 fw, then I updated to .900 last week and flew 3 times without an issue. Next flight again at around 2 mins into recording (4k/24 again) and only 20m away, I hit C1 to center focus and it twitched hard and all the exact same symptoms as above occurred.

Why would the home point suddenly change to the birds location if it's just an issue with the gimbal/camera subsystem? Has anyone checked the battery stats at the time of reset? Perhaps it's such a quick drop in power that the flight recorder doesn't pick it up.Strange that so many people have it happen at the 4gb file split point yet others like myself have it happen randomly.

Could someone have a look at my logs and see if there's any indicators in there? Is the twitching of the bird apparent in the attitude logs?

First time gimbal reset on .600: Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones
Next gimabl reset on .900: Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

sefeing · Aug 22, 2017

Another one in for the issue. I've had zero problems up until this point, bird purchased pre-order on launch day. Now, I'm on vacation In Greece and it happens every few mins, recording 4K 30fps. Going to try using the orig SD card, as I've just realized it's U3 vs the Sandisk that was in there which was not... If it continues, I guess it'll be going in for repair?

HSK · Aug 22, 2017

Looks like this is shaping up to become one of the greatest mysteries of recent times. People report many different triggers and theories as to why it happens, no definitive answer.

Replacements from DJI come back with the same issues.

And the only report I've read of someone fixing it, was a (self) gimbal cable replacement.

Mavman · Aug 22, 2017

I get it every now and then. If it's a 4gb limit, then formatting in exFat rather than FAT should help?

HSK · Aug 22, 2017

Mavman said:
I get it every now and then. If it's a 4gb limit, then formatting in exFat rather than FAT should help?

I have no issues at the 4gb limit...it would just happen randomly. After a minute or after 10 mins. Once a flight, or 6 times in a row. Which leads message to think, cable issues.