Can't download maps or reach the DJI Store or the DJI Forum

[AntoineD]

(I posted this on the Mini 4 Pro forum, but no one there could help me, though they tried. I hope no one minds if I repost it here).

I recently got a Mini 4 Pro with the RC2 controller. I've given it a test flight and everything seems fine. But I can't download any maps.

I connected it to a Wi-Fi Hub, and when I went to Offline Maps, it said I wasn't connected to the Internet. But this wasn't true, because on the black draw-down menu, the Wi-Fi icon showed I was. It showed the name of the network, and the figure 4 just to the right of the icon, which I presume was the signal strength. But offline maps wouldn't come up, or the DJI forum, or the DJI Store. So I then connected it to another Wi-Fi hub, on another network. This time the signal strength was 5. Now, when I went to Offline Maps, I didn't get the message saying I wasn't connected, but all I got was that circling symbol that (I presume) indicates that it's waiting to do something. I waited for several minutes but nothing changed. When I went to the DJI Forum or the DJI Store, all I got was a blank screen.

A tutorial on YouTube said you don't need the drone powered on to download maps so at first I just tried it with the drone switched off. Then I tried it with the drone switched on and connected with the controller. Neither worked. I'd read that you can't download maps unless the controller had a micro SD card in it, so I bought one but that didn't work. Then I read it had to be a very fast card, so I bought a Sandisk Extreme Pro, but that didn't work either.

I hadn't been logging onto my Wi-Fi account, so I did so. That didn't work. I was definitely logged in, because in the controller's settings menu, it said I was connected. At one point I got a message like 'server error - check your network connection', but that's fine, because I can get onto the Web with no problems.

I've tried everything I can think of. I'd be grateful for any advice here. I certainly don't want to risk flying the drone without a map.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I certainly don't want to risk flying the drone without a map.

What's the risk you are so concerned about? The compass tells you exactly the direction of the drone and the orientation of the controller to it, and Find My Drone still works without any map. Theoretically, you should have VLOS of the drone at all times while flying. Regardless, the FPV on the screen tells you everything you need to know to find your way back visually, and now it is supplemented with a yellow virtual Home Point displayed on top of your FPV view.

 

[mavic3usa]

Having an actual map is a tremendous help when it comes to finding your drone. Many people live in a geographical rich environment and indicating if your drone is in the water, which side of the road, in the green instead of the brown.....there are plenty of helpful clues when you're under stress, the lighting is getting dark, and you can't cope with the accuracy on a blank screen. Particularly when you have to drive to the location or roundabout way. The last thing you want to do is walk up to the area only to find out you're 100 feet short and the drone is on the *other* side of the freeway.

Folks like you and me from long ago who routinely operated GPS devices and compass with just an arrow and NO built-in map....they don't make folks like that any more.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Having an actual map is a tremendous help when it comes to finding your drone. Many people live in a geographical rich environment and indicating if your drone is in the water, which side of the road, in the green instead of the brown.....there are plenty of helpful clues when you're under stress, the lighting is getting dark, and you can't cope with the accuracy on a blank screen. Particularly when you have to drive to the location or roundabout way. The last thing you want to do is walk up to the area only to find out you're 100 feet short and the drone is on the *other* side of the freeway.

Folks like you and me from long ago who routinely operated GPS devices and compass with just an arrow and NO built-in map....they don't make folks like that any more.

Understood, but there is no "risk" to flying the drone without a map. It is helpful if you lose your drone, but DJI has added so many new recovery features that even recovery of a lost drone without any map is very likely, because the still displayed flight route is properly scaled and sufficient, especially when one also has the FPV view from before any crash, and is ostensibly flying VLOS. The map can also be overlaid after loss to assist in recovery if flying BVLOS.

 

[Dogpilot]

Really if he wants maps, he wants maps. Folks really he is looking for a solution, not comments about why he wants them. I did provide a bunch of screenshots, which apparently he is doing what he should do to get them. I myself have been getting a server error as well and I have downloaded scads of maps before. I actually like to have offline maps, as I have no cell coverage in many of the places I fly and there is a lot of nothing out here. Then I can correlate with my many devices I do get maps on. If you don't need maps, then don't use them, good for you.

Bottom line, I would hop over to the actual DJI Mini forum and see if the moderators there can comment on the server error, they actually will answer your question.