DJI 10GBPS LIGHTSPEED DATA CABLE

[Etdronehome]

This is the cable that DJI includes with the Cine version.

I can’t find a source for the cable (not on DJI store that I can find) and DJI hasn‘t provided any further details on the USB port in the Mavic 3 and/or the cable so buying 3rd party is a bit of a guessing game.

I’m interested in finding out if it can be used to transfer data from the SD card and/or internal storage of a ”standard” Mavic 3.

What is the minimum USB port spec on the Windows based computer for this cable to work at its max data rate?

 

[akdrone]

Don't know the specs but something like THIS might be the ticket.

 

[Etdronehome]

I believe this is an accurate representation of the current USB naming conventions. USB has always been a bit of a hairball and implementers haven’t helped by using the terminology in an off the cuff manner.
So if I take the 10Gbps of what DJI “named” their cable as a data point then the port on the drone and/or cable could be called either USB 3.1 Gen 2 OR USB 3.2 Gen 2 as “it or they” support max 10Gbps, unless of course DJI decided to use something even faster - doubtful but who knows.

My Windows PC is a few years old and has a bunch of USB 2 and 3 type A ports and a USB C 3.1 (don’t know what Gen but I’m guessing Gen 1 so limited to 5Gbps)

I can see the two drives labeled InternalStorage and USB Drive if I connect the Mavic 3 using a “normal” usb A to C cable such as the one that DJI included to charge the controller from the wall charger.

That cable and the non USB C ports on the PC limit the data transfer to around 38MB/s or the same as if I insert the SD card in the PC reader slot.

Even going to 5GPS would be a big boost, plus the PC is under my desk so crawling around on the floor inserting the SD card is not ideal. I can live with the drone FLASHING the lights during data transfer but I hope they change that at some point!!

 

[CanadaDrone]

To my knowledge it is simply a USB C to C 3.1 Gen2 cable. You should be able to buy one for $10-15 on Amazon.

For any cable to work at its maximum data rate, all parts of the "chain" have to be a certain speed, as it will always run at the speed of the weakest link. Same for HDMI cables, they are just "dumb pipes" with certain bandwidths for the most part.

 

[Etdronehome]

Found this today. Interesting that Cine owners were/are having trouble. I wonder if Apple computers had the same issues??

Can't access Mavic 3 Cine on Windows 10

Hello all, I took my Mavic 3 Cine out for its maiden flight last night and tried plugging it into my Windows 10 pc via the provided "lightspeed" cable to retrieve the files. I installed the DJI assistant 2 in case there were any drivers that came with it. With the mavic 3 powered on, I plug the...

forum.dji.com

I get the Windows “sound” of a new device added and the no driver indicator when I connect the drone to the USB C port, but no joy as it just keeps chiming and the drive(s) don’t show.

I was assuming that perhaps I didn’t have the correct cable and/or the USB implementation on my current PC wasn’t “new” enough.

If DJI did something to fix this for Cine owners in the latest update they might not have bothered for NON Cine owners. Maybe it’s NOT supported at all as inside the drone it would have to read the SD card and transfer it out of the USB C port, 10GBPS might not be possible. In the Cine the read would be on the SSD which is logically a lot faster than the SD card.

Still hoping someone who has both the Cine and the non-cine would try this out

 

[Etdronehome]

To my knowledge it is simply a USB C to C 3.1 Gen2 cable. You should be able to buy one for $10-15 on Amazon.

For any cable to work at its maximum data rate, all parts of the "chain" have to be a certain speed, as it will always run at the speed of the weakest link. Same for HDMI cables, they are just "dumb pipes" with certain bandwidths for the most part.

Yes, as I’ve been pondering this today that has surfaced as the real issue.

I think you and @akdrone are likely right on the cable spec matching what DJI is including with the Cine but that’s just a piece of the entire chain.

I don’t know I might have to buy a new PC to get my new drone to work!!!

 

[brett8883]

Also note there’s a huge problem on online sellers saying their cables are one thing and it’s ends up they are something else Amazon is one of the biggest offenders. Buy a USB 3.2 gen 2 (10 GB/s) cable from a really reputable source. A 3 ft cable usually costs in the neighborhood of $25-$30 so if you see a cable that says it’s USB 3.2 Gen 2 and it’s 2 for $10 you know it’s probably fake.

 

[kodiak]

It's a nice cable. Well made. Seems to be OEM for DJI with only a 10G marking visible on the boot of each connector. Braided jacket and custom orange insulators. Very, very fast transfer speeds to my mac. Not quite thunderbolt level but close. The biggest issue is having the drone LEDs flashing... They really need to dim or disable them during transfers.

 

[Etdronehome]

I think if I do buy a cable I think I will get a USB certified USB4 from a reliable source It should support anything “slower” and give a little future proofing for the $

 

[Etdronehome]

It's a nice cable. Well made. Seems to be OEM for DJI with only a 10G marking visible on the boot of each connector. Braided jacket and custom orange insulators. Very, very fast transfer speeds to my mac. Not quite thunderbolt level but close. The biggest issue is having the drone LEDs flashing... They really need to dim or disable them during transfers.

I assume you have the Cine or you have somehow got your hands on the “real” DJI cable.

What is your transfer rate??

 

[Reid937]

Using the cable supplied with my M3C, I am getting data transfers from the SSD at 600 MB/sec to my Windows 10 PC.

 

[brett8883]

Using the cable supplied with my M3C, I am getting data transfers from the SSD at 600 MB/sec to my Windows 10 PC.

What kind of drive are you transferring the data to and how is it connected to your PC?

 

[Etdronehome]

Using the cable supplied with my M3C, I am getting data transfers from the SSD at 600 MB/sec to my Windows 10 PC.

Thanks.

So in my simple test I copied a 3500 MB file from the SD to my hard drive at a rate of ~ 40MB/s in 90 seconds

Your data rate is 15 times faster so it would take about 6 seconds to move the same file assuming my math is correct WOW!!

Have you tried copying data this way from your SD card? Interested if the SD card even shows up as a drive letter and what difference the SSD drive in the drone makes in the data rate.

 

[Reid937]

I have two Samsung 970 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD 1TB drives in my PC. I am in the process of transferring the same file to the M3C's SD, via cable, and the transfer is slow.

 

[Etdronehome]

Well that’s puzzling if I understand correctly.

You copied the ~20GB file from the drones SSD drive to your PC at 600MB/s but when you copy the file on your PC’s SSD drive back to the drones SD card you are only getting 8 MB/s on a what I think is a fast card.

I’m not well versed in SD cards but I would think max or sustained write would be a lot faster than 8 MB/s.

I searched Lexar and I think this is the card you are using. States write is up to 120MB/s so I don’t think it the card. Perhaps the link between the SD slot and USB c connector on the drone is the problem???

 

[Reid937]

>I’m not well versed in SD cards but I would think max or sustained write would be a lot faster than 8 MB/s.

I thought so too. Prior to the firmware update, the M3's SSD transfer was just as slow as the SD is now.

After the file copy to the SD completes, I will pull the SD and see how fast it is with a card reader.

 

[Reid937]

I am getting about 86 MB/sec with the SD in a card reader.

 

[Reid937]

>I searched Lexar and I think this is the card you are using. States write is up to 120MB/s so I don’t think it the card. >Perhaps the link between the SD slot and USB c connector on the drone is the problem???

It probably doesn't answer that question, but when doing an internal transfer from the SD card to the M3's SSD, the file transfers at 29 MB/s.

 

[Etdronehome]

>I’m not well versed in SD cards but I would think max or sustained write would be a lot faster than 8 MB/s.

I thought so too. Prior to the firmware update, the M3's SSD transfer was just as slow as the SD is now.

After the file copy to the SD completes, I will pull the SD and see how fast it is with a card reader.

I really appreciate your efforts on this quest I started

Perhaps the slow write is a DJI firmware thing also.

From a DJI perspective they would be thinking the drone would be writing to the SD card directly so would optimize that path. They might have improved the read from SD out via the USB c path as well as the SSD one. Your write from the PC via a cable wouldn’t be something they would likely plan for, maybe that’s a factor??

 

[Etdronehome]

@Reid937
“It probably doesn't answer that question, but when doing an internal transfer from the SD card to the M3's SSD, the file transfers at 29 MB/s.”

So that would be a read on the SD out through the cable to the PC, and then a write from PC through the cable to the SSD or at least that’s the way I think Windows 10 would handle that. Interesting the data rate is in the ball park of what I am getting.

I don’t know about you but my head is starting to hurt