Firmware downgrade and warranty

[Dronion]

Hi guys,
i tried to search for this question in the forum but i found no answer.
Due to the fact that there's not anymore an official way to perform a firmware downgrade, should this action void the warranty using thrirdy part software? I think that there are some logs reporting all firmware updates stored in the internal memory of the drone itself.

thank you

 

[Kilrah]

Nobody will know until someone tries to get a downgraded bird repaired.

 

[Glen]

I searched this forum for the words "rollback firmware void warranty" and got nothing.
I search the same words on google and got a link to this thread.
I see the tag on the top of this thread includes the tags "void" "warranty" - this is why people ask the same questions over and over, the search doesn't work properly in forums.

So DJI hasn't specifically stated anywhere that they forbid firmware downgrades or that it voids the warranty?

 

[Dronion]

I took a look at after-sales warranty policies and I found this:

"Any software programs, whether provided with the product or installed subsequently."
May this depend on how it's interpreted?
I don't now.

 

[Kilrah]

They haven't said anything on the matter, so again until someone reports nobody will know. Even so I'd expect it to vary on a case by case basis.

 

[lantiocho]

Concerning warranty issues, I asked their support, if my warranty is still valid if I choose not to upgrade to the latest firmware. They said yes, since every firmware upgrade is optional. My bird arrived with 0400 firmware and decided not to upgrade, since it's been flawless till today. However, if your bird came with 0600 and you decide to downgrade, I think your warranty is gone then. If it came with 0600, since then, you upgraded to 0700 and now decided to roll back to 0600, I think you'll be ok!

 

[Dronion]

Concerning warranty issues, I asked their support, if my warranty is still valid if I choose not to upgrade to the latest firmware. They said yes, since every firmware upgrade is optional. My bird arrived with 0400 firmware and decided not to upgrade, since it's been flawless till today. However, if your bird came with 0600 and you decide to downgrade, I think your warranty is gone then. If it came with 0600, since then, you upgraded to 0700 and now decided to roll back to 0600, I think you'll be ok!

Ok! But my question is about the method used to perform the downgrade.
What if I perform a downgrade to a version not anymore officially available using thirdy part software?
Example: I'm on .1000 and I want to downgrade to .900 but if I look at Assistant 2, the .900 is not anymore available for downgrade and
I perform it with an unofficial method.

 

[lantiocho]

I suggest you ask them directly! Send a message to their support page in FB and they will reply to you. That is why I asked the question, for my case, to their official support page, in the case they claim that I should have upgraded, if something happened to my mavic. I kept a copy of their response, will I ever need it!

 

[Kilrah]

I would personally not do that since if pressed for an answer they will obviously say no, then you'll be "flagged" for asking so any chance you could have had is gone.

IMHO the official answer will always be "warranty void" given how they consider tinkering, but in practice in most cases they wouldn't lose their time checking so it would go through. The "quick red flag" might be if the version on it is older than what was loaded at production date, which one could guess they'd see straight away. Would load latest before sending anyway to mitigate that.

 

[Dronion]

I would personally not do that since if pressed for an answer they will obviously say no, then you'll be "flagged" for asking so any chance you could have had is gone.

IMHO the official answer will always be "warranty void" given how they consider tinkering, but in practice in most cases they wouldn't lose their time checking so it would go through. The "quick red flag" might be if the version on it is older than what was loaded at production date, which one could guess they'd see straight away. Would load latest before sending anyway to mitigate that.

I think the same.

 

[jimmy johnson]

Any news to report on whether rollback affects warranty? I am currently on 0900 and saw the update notices for 1000 and decided to research the option and 1000 does not look great based on posters reviews of it. It seems like 0400 and 0700 are the least restricted and popular among many early Mavic buyers. I haven't had any issues on 0900 in the area that I live in but I'm considering rolling back to 0700 if it's better firmware in regards to freedom, privacy and camera quality. Will the newer firmwares cause issues with flying in countries like Thailand or up in the mountains somewhere? I can't remember what version it came with since I upgraded it right after I bought this MP a little over a month ago. I'm guessing maybe it 0600 or 0700 (is there a way to check?). Probably should've left it alone.

So is it worth the rollback to 0700 or will it cause warranty problems later on down the road should I send it to DJI? Thanks!

 

[Glen]

Any news to report on whether rollback affects warranty? I am currently on 0900 and saw the update notices for 1000 and decided to research the option and 1000 does not look great based on posters reviews of it. It seems like 0400 and 0700 are the least restricted and popular among many early Mavic buyers. I haven't had any issues on 0900 in the area that I live in but I'm considering rolling back to 0700 if it's better firmware in regards to freedom, privacy and camera quality. Will the newer firmwares cause issues with flying in countries like Thailand or up in the mountains somewhere? I can't remember what version it came with since I upgraded it right after I bought this MP a little over a month ago. I'm guessing maybe it 0600 or 0700 (is there a way to check?). Probably should've left it alone.

So is it worth the rollback to 0700 or will it cause warranty problems later on down the road should I send it to DJI? Thanks!

Still nothing solid about warranty other than the above comments which seem reasonable.
But regarding whether or not to upgrade/downgrade, I doubt there is very much extra 'freedom' at 700 compared to 900, and the latest video from digdat0 here

comments on what you will lose if you do upgrade to the 1000 firmware. See attached screengrab pic for summary of features lost in the FW upgrade.

When I bought mine back in late June (who knows what batch it was from, could have been in the warehouse for 6 months on the shelf) I did the firmware upgrade right away, and I have a feeling (I didn't take much notice) there was a couple versions of firmware above what I was on.
So I may have been on 500 or something out of the box, because I upgraded to 900...

I don't know if there's any way to check what you were on originally...

Regarding flight freedom, you can check the DJI No Fly Zones online to see where they might restrict you if you don't have them disabled.
I was surprised how small they are around the areas I looked in Thailand and Australia.
The DJI NFZs are a lot lot smaller than the official zones in Australia. CASA (Australia's FAA) have an app you can use to see all their NFZs and alt limits. I dunno if DJI will ever implement all the same data into their NFZ database...

 

[jimmy johnson]

I keep reading that 700 and Dji Go 4.0.6 on Android is the a rock solid setup. I haven't had too many issues on 0900 with the latest DJI Go but I did notice that it asked me to update my NFZ database when I was out in the field and had cellular data on briefly. I went ahead and did it so I'm not sure what they added with these database updates. Other than that, I just see prompts about unpaved airports in places I've flown and two checkboxes to click to take off. I did call the air control tower near my house since it was class C airspace (they told me to stay under 200 ft) and I had no issues taking off, but I think if you get within 1.5 miles of the airport the zone will turn red and not allow take off based on what I've read. I am curious if it would hover or do an emergency landing if you were to hit that NFZ near the airport on the 900 firmware while in flight. The latter kind of bothers me and made me think about downgrading (not that I would try to do this on purpose). Will DJI's NFZ database follow what is actually an NFZ or will they start adding arbitrary swaths of airspace based on public opinion about drones as the updates keep coming?

 

[lisadoc]

I am curious if it would hover or do an emergency landing if you were to hit that NFZ near the airport on the 900 firmware while in flight.

It is supposed to do a RTH. However, if your home point is not accurately set or your RTH height is not high enough, you're going to still have major issues.