Forced, sneaky updates preventing flying

Member · Feb 14, 2017

Dear DJI,

Excuse me if this post seems angrier than warranted, but it's me who's just walked hours to a spot just to fly but couldn't get the shots because of the firmware upgrade.

And what annoys me isn't simply the fact that I was prevented from flying. It's that the DJI Go 4 app seems to be playing games and pretending an upgrade isn't forced.

When I first launched the app, I simply couldn't tap "Go Fly". The other options were working.
When I restarted the app, it gave me a "map load fail" warning and I still couldn't tap "Go Fly"
When I gave it internet, finally it told me that there was a firmware upgrade. It didn't tell me I was forced to install it, I just still couldn't tap "Go Fly".

After 30 minutes of waiting for the upgrade, finally I was able to fly (but it got dark and windy, my chance ruined).

This is not the first time this has happened: the last time I had a similar weird "can't tap where I want to" problem. When that happened, a friend shared his mobile internet so we "only" had to stand in the cold for some 15 minutes til the upgrade finished.

I NEVER WANT TO BE PREVENTED FROM FLYING EVER AGAIN BECAUSE OF FIRMWARE UPGRADES OR NOT HAVING THE INTERNET. Please issue whatever fix is needed either to the Go app or how firmware upgrades are handled. If I go to an exotic country to do some shots, I might not have internet anywhere near and if it's a day long hike, I'll be really unhappy. You have to be there, after a long walk uphill to appreciate how disappointed I was with the Mavic when I couldn't use it even though that was the whole point.

ps: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and possibly other Android products have a USB problem where the only way I can connect the tablet to the controller is if I reboot it as the controller is plugged in. So whenever doing a firmware upgrade, the controller is restarted during the process so I can only ever get to around 97% and then I have to reboot it. Luckily it seems that the reboot is the very last stage, so it has never caused a firmware upgrade to fail, but I'm worried in the future this behavior might change and then I'll be screwed.

Cyberpower678 · Feb 14, 2017

Member said:
Dear DJI,

Excuse me if this post seems angrier than warranted, but it's me who's just walked hours to a spot just to fly but couldn't get the shots because of the firmware upgrade.

And what annoys me isn't simply the fact that I was prevented from flying. It's that the DJI Go 4 app seems to be playing games and pretending an upgrade isn't forced.

When I first launched the app, I simply couldn't tap "Go Fly". The other options were working.
When I restarted the app, it gave me a "map load fail" warning and I still couldn't tap "Go Fly"
When I gave it internet, finally it told me that there was a firmware upgrade. It didn't tell me I was forced to install it, I just still couldn't tap "Go Fly".

After 30 minutes of waiting for the upgrade, finally I was able to fly (but it got dark and windy, my chance ruined).

This is not the first time this happened: the last time I had a similar weird "can't tap where I want to" problem. When that happened, a friend shared his mobile internet so we "only" had to stand in the cold for some 15 minutes til the upgrade finished.

I NEVER WANT TO BE PREVENTED FROM FLYING EVER AGAIN BECAUSE OF FIRMWARE UPGRADES OR NOT HAVING THE INTERNET. Please issue whatever fix is needed either to the Go app or how firmware upgrades are handled. If I go to an exotic country to do some shots, I might not have internet anywhere near and if it's a day long hike, I'll be really unhappy. You have to be there, after a long walk uphill to appreciate how disappointed I was with the Mavic when I couldn't use it even though that was the whole point.

DJI won't read this. L

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Pedro · Feb 14, 2017

If you start the app without internet access to start with how will it know that there's an update available? I know that will stop map data, etc. but it would (I think) stop what happened to you.. You could cache the map for the area prior to leaving I believe.

Member · Feb 14, 2017

Pedro said:
If you start the app without internet access to start with how will it know that there's an update available?

I use the tablet to watch Youtube at night. I think DJI Go is running in the background, setting an 'upgrade available' flag. I had no internet and the tablet was in Airplane mode when I launched it at the site. Hence the 'sneaky' part...

Now I wonder if I had wifi disabled on the tablet at all times if after a year DJI would force me to give it internet before being allowed to fly. I'm sure it's in the T&C somewhere that they can revoke your access to fly the Mavic with no refund. I don't really care about the T&C because companies will just stop all liabilities legally allowed and claim all rights on anything and everything. It's the practice I care about and not being able to fly is a big problem.

Pedro · Feb 14, 2017

How about forcing Go to stop after every time you use it? Pain in the butt I know..

Member · Feb 14, 2017

Pedro said:
How about forcing Go to stop after every time you use it? Pain in the butt I know..

I don't know Android very well, but my overall impression I got from years of using it is that apps can set hooks to certain events and will re-launch automatically and I would have to keep checking if it is running and stopping it. Maybe Go doesn't auto-start itself, maybe it does. Not really full-proof. I'd much prefer DJI to stop screwing around.

Pedro · Feb 14, 2017

I recently bought an Nvidia Shield to use exclusively with my Mavic. I want to use Litchi with Go4 but I know that Litchi is a little possessive about tablets and has it in for Go so I force stopped all the apps on it that I didn't think were needed and checked it a while later after just using Go and they were all still stopped so that might work for you. I don't think you'll convince DJI to stop doing what they do.

HK! · Feb 14, 2017

Pedro said:
How about forcing Go to stop after every time you use it? Pain in the butt I know..

Ditto.

People in North Korea sell their **** (literally) so they can pay for food to make more.
And this has you in CAPITALS

AlanTheBeast · Feb 14, 2017

Member said:
Dear DJI,

Excuse me if this post seems angrier than warranted, but it's me who's just walked hours to a spot just to fly but couldn't get the shots because of the firmware upgrade.

And what annoys me isn't simply the fact that I was prevented from flying. It's that the DJI Go 4 app seems to be playing games and pretending an upgrade isn't forced.

When I first launched the app, I simply couldn't tap "Go Fly". The other options were working.
When I restarted the app, it gave me a "map load fail" warning and I still couldn't tap "Go Fly"
When I gave it internet, finally it told me that there was a firmware upgrade. It didn't tell me I was forced to install it, I just still couldn't tap "Go Fly".

After 30 minutes of waiting for the upgrade, finally I was able to fly (but it got dark and windy, my chance ruined).

This is not the first time this has happened: the last time I had a similar weird "can't tap where I want to" problem. When that happened, a friend shared his mobile internet so we "only" had to stand in the cold for some 15 minutes til the upgrade finished.

I NEVER WANT TO BE PREVENTED FROM FLYING EVER AGAIN BECAUSE OF FIRMWARE UPGRADES OR NOT HAVING THE INTERNET. Please issue whatever fix is needed either to the Go app or how firmware upgrades are handled. If I go to an exotic country to do some shots, I might not have internet anywhere near and if it's a day long hike, I'll be really unhappy. You have to be there, after a long walk uphill to appreciate how disappointed I was with the Mavic when I couldn't use it even though that was the whole point.

ps: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and possibly other Android products have a USB problem where the only way I can connect the tablet to the controller is if I reboot it as the controller is plugged in. So whenever doing a firmware upgrade, the controller is restarted during the process so I can only ever get to around 97% and then I have to reboot it. Luckily it seems that the reboot is the very last stage, so it has never caused a firmware upgrade to fail, but I'm worried in the future this behavior might change and then I'll be screwed.

In a revised checklist addendum I posted here a week or so ago, I added (for at least the "night before") that one should check for firmware upgrades. In retrospect, since China's day begins before most of the rest of the world, it's prudent to check before packing the gear into the car or hiking bag.

I do agree, however, that unless there is a serious safety issue, that there should be a 7 day window to install upgrades.

OTOH, it could be that due to their s/w release process that every update includes a range of fixes, some of which are considered safety related in some degree.

Member · Feb 14, 2017

HK! said:
People in North Korea

Member · Feb 14, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
I do agree, however, that unless there is a serious safety issue, that there should be a 7 day window to install upgrades.

If I have no internet for a month because I'm at such a location, I still don't want to be forced to upgrade. The only way I can be forced to upgrade in practice is, if Mavic forces me to give it internet periodically. All the products that thought this was an OK thing to do have been returned by me. I don't want the Mavic to end up on this list.

The other thing that grinds my gears is: why can't they be open an honest about this? Why can't they display a box on the screen "we know that there is an update and you MUST install it before being able to fly again". Instead of frustrating me with buttons that don't work... Come on.

AlanTheBeast · Feb 14, 2017

Member said:
If I have no internet for a month because I'm at such a location, I still don't want to be forced to upgrade. The only way I can be forced to upgrade in practice is, if Mavic forces me to give it internet periodically. All the products that thought this was an OK thing to do have been returned by me. I don't want Mavic to end up on this list.

The other thing that grinds my gears is: why can't they be open an honest about this? Why can't they display a box on the screen "we know that there is an update and you MUST install it before being able to fly again". Instead of frustrating me with buttons that don't work... Come on.

I'm misunderstanding something: if you're at non-internet location then how would the app know there is an upgrade? (LTE/Data via cell, perhaps)?

Member · Feb 14, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
I'm misunderstanding something: if you're at non-internet location then how would the app know there is an upgrade? (LTE/Data via cell, perhaps)?

That's what pissed me off the most! I had airplane mode on from the start. And there was definitely no open wifi up there. No LTE or sim card in the tablet. No shared wifi on my phone. The only way it could have known about the upgrade was if it checked for upgrades in the background while it still had internet at home.

Another aspect of 'sneaky': it didn't actually tell me that there was a firmware upgrade. It just didn't work. I had to give it internet to finally cough up the thing about the firmware, its version, and to give me the option of downloading it. But the only times I was ever prevented from flying or tapping on 'go fly' was before firmware upgrades and it was ALWAYS fixed after the firmware upgrade. So it's definitely that.

AlanTheBeast · Feb 14, 2017

I'm still confused: you said you don't have internet for a month. Did that begin yesterday?

Member · Feb 14, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
I'm still confused: you said you don't have internet for a month. Did that begin yesterday?

No, that was a branch of the thread where someone suggested there should be a 7 days period before upgrading, to which I replied that *IF* I don't have internet for a month, I still don't want to be prevented from flying.

AlanTheBeast · Feb 14, 2017

Got it. I agree generally, but then I rarely go to places where I won't have internet so I'm perhaps less sensitive to the issue. Doing the upgrade as we chat here.

HK! · Feb 15, 2017

Member said:
View attachment 6371

You remind me of those guys in South Park. The pissed off and angry party, lol

Seriously though you sound like a whining b$%^. Be happy your Mavic is in one piece, keep calm and get over it.

cluc · Feb 15, 2017

LoL I got the firmware update in the DJI Go 4 App, but I was still able to fly without upgrade...
Are you using iOS or android? (I'm on iOS)

deltalimatango · Feb 15, 2017

Member said:
If I have no internet for a month because I'm at such a location, I still don't want to be forced to upgrade. The only way I can be forced to upgrade in practice is, if Mavic forces me to give it internet periodically. All the products that thought this was an OK thing to do have been returned by me. I don't want the Mavic to end up on this list.

The other thing that grinds my gears is: why can't they be open an honest about this? Why can't they display a box on the screen "we know that there is an update and you MUST install it before being able to fly again". Instead of frustrating me with buttons that don't work... Come on.

If there is a safety of flight issue, you should be forced to upgrade or not allowed to fly. It is that simple.