Gimbal goes crazy twice in 4 flights.

[FlyingFilmmaker]

So by now I may become know as the guy who got a used Mavic and has lots of problems with it, but..... I just got a used MP, and I've had the gimbal go crazy, seemingly for no reason, twice, two flight apart (about 10 flights total so far). The gimbal became unresponsive and started going all over the place, and the video feed disconnected and reconnected a few times and seemed to change picture styles. Both times I brought it down and landed (didn't turn the drone off) and when I took off again, it worked fine. The first time it changed my camera settings back to what they had been just before it had the issue (resolution, frame rate, and I'm not sure what else). Is this just a known bug that I shouldn't worry too much about, or is something wrong, possibly a bad gimbal ribbon or something? Seems like this would be pretty bad for client work if the drone just goes crazy in mid shoot and you have to land to fix it.

 

[brett8883]

So by now I may become know as the guy who got a used Mavic and has lots of problems with it, but..... I just got a used MP, and I've had the gimbal go crazy, seemingly for no reason, twice, two flight apart (about 10 flights total so far). The gimbal became unresponsive and started going all over the place, and the video feed disconnected and reconnected a few times and seemed to change picture styles. Both times I brought it down and landed (didn't turn the drone off) and when I took off again, it worked fine. The first time it changed my camera settings back to what they had been just before it had the issue (resolution, frame rate, and I'm not sure what else). Is this just a known bug that I shouldn't worry too much about, or is something wrong, possibly a bad gimbal ribbon or something? Seems like this would be pretty bad for client work if the drone just goes crazy in mid shoot and you have to land to fix it.

There’s an issue with certain memory cards that can cause what you are describing.

Sandisk Extreme Plus 64 GB

and memory cards that aren’t U3 or V30, so if your card has a 10 with a circle around it or says v10 then it’s no good

It may just be a bad memory card in which case replace it with one purchased from a reputable dealer that says either U3 or V30 on it but isn’t a Sandisk Extreme Plus 64 GB

I don’t know why an SD card causes this issue, I could guess but it’s still just a guess) but I’ve tracked this issue for a long time and the vast majority of people have the issue solved with a new SD card that meets the requirements above.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

There’s an issue with certain memory cards that can cause what you are describing.

Sandisk Extreme Plus 64 GB

and memory cards that aren’t U3 or V30, so if your card has a 10 with a circle around it or says v10 then it’s no good

It may just be a bad memory card in which case replace it with one purchased from a reputable dealer that says either U3 or V30 on it but isn’t a Sandisk Extreme Plus 64 GB

I don’t know why an SD card causes this issue, I could guess but it’s still just a guess) but I’ve tracked this issue for a long time and the vast majority of people have the issue solved with a new SD card that meets the requirements above.

If that's all it is that would be great! I'm using a 64gb Sandisk Extreme, but not Plus.

Does this card look like it could cause the issue? I've actually had this exact card lose a bunch of footage from my P3A before, but I thought it was just a P3 issue.
Also what brand of card would you recommend to get instead? I've always used Sandisk.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The card is certainly one that is very popular, nad should work fine.
Of course they can become problematic, especially if old and taken out / put in quite a lot.

Maybe try another one to double check if problem persists, you could maybe use that one in a camera, not so finicky usually.

It really sounds like your gimbal is resetting in flight though, it that what it looks like on screen ?
Very violent gimbal movements.

If so, I have read of this happening sometimes with the M1P and MPP.
If you have a filter fitted, make sure it's pushed on really well, right down to the ring line on the camera barrel.

If the MP is getting on in years, it is possible the gimbal ribbon is simply worn form general vibration etc over many flights.

Is this the sort of thing it's doing ?

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

The card is certainly one that is very popular, nad should work fine.
Of course they can become problematic, especially if old and taken out / put in quite a lot.

Maybe try another one to double check if problem persists, you could maybe use that one in a camera, not so finicky usually.

It really sounds like your gimbal is resetting in flight though, it that what it looks like on screen ?
Very violent gimbal movements.

If so, I have read of this happening sometimes with the M1P and MPP.
If you have a filter fitted, make sure it's pushed on really well, right down to the ring line on the camera barrel.

If the MP is getting on in years, it is possible the gimbal ribbon is simply worn form general vibration etc over many flights.

This card has done weird things before so.... I actually don't have another U3 V30 card, but I think I may get one to check it out. And yes, it does look like a gimbal reset. Similar to what you showed, but worse. Goes all over the place. No filter. Any way to tell if it might be the gimbal cable? Is there a way to tell from the SN or something how old the drone is?

 

[CareyL]

...Is there a way to tell from the SN or something how old the drone is?

DJI serial # decoder: DJI SERIAL DECODER

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

Checked the SN, and the Mavic is about one and a half years old. Also checked the batteries and from the charge cycles it looks like it's had less than 10 flights before I got it. It looked practically brand new when it came out of the box. So I don't think it's an old, worn ribbon cable. Gotta wait till the rain stops so I can do more testing.

 

[brett8883]

Checked the SN, and the Mavic is about one and a half years old. Also checked the batteries and from the charge cycles it looks like it's had less than 10 flights before I got it. It looked practically brand new when it came out of the box. So I don't think it's an old, worn ribbon cable. Gotta wait till the rain stops so I can do more testing.

I still think it could be the SD card especially since you said you were having issues with it. That’s where I’d start since that’s the most non-invasive fix. Just make sure you get it from a reputable place.

Don’t ask me why this one works and the 64GB version doesn’t but I currently use this one

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...dhc-uhs-i-memory-card/9387066.p?skuId=9387066

Never had a problem with it.

 

[CareyL]

I still think it could be the SD card especially since you said you were having issues with it. That’s where I’d start since that’s the most non-invasive fix. Just make sure you get it from a reputable place.

Don’t ask me why this one works and the 64GB version doesn’t but I currently use this one

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...dhc-uhs-i-memory-card/9387066.p?skuId=9387066

Never had a problem with it.

Another issue could have occurred when you updated the fly safe database. My Gimbal acted funny until I powered down and back up.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Any way to tell if it might be the gimbal cable?

Usually not, just a relatively cheap 1st level 'replace and see it it fixed the problem' step.

I'd try the new card first, but can't see how the card could really make the gimbal recalibrate in flight.
It's good to have a couple of cards anyway, so a place to start that is cheap too.

It might be worth resetting camera to all default and doing a camera calibration from settings, just to see if that works.
DJI page mentions IMU calibration, might be worth a go too.

DJI Guides - DJI Store (United States)

Online shopping for a great selection of at the official DJI Online Store.

store.dji.com

I might ask, you didn't get any screen warnings when this happened ?
No gimbal warnings etc ?

And, did you ever check a flight log where this happened for any errors or warnings showing ?

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

Usually not, just a relatively cheap 1st level 'replace and see it it fixed the problem' step.

I'd try the new card first, but can't see how the card could really make the gimbal recalibrate in flight.
It's good to have a couple of cards anyway, so a place to start that is cheap too.

It might be worth resetting camera to all default and doing a camera calibration from settings, just to see if that works.
DJI page mentions IMU calibration, might be worth a go too.

DJI Guides - DJI Store (United States)

Online shopping for a great selection of at the official DJI Online Store.

store.dji.com

I might ask, you didn't get any screen warnings when this happened ?
No gimbal warnings etc ?

And, did you ever check a flight log where this happened for any errors or warnings showing ?

Don't you have to split the drone to replace the gimbal cable? I don't really want to do that since I can just return this drone and get another one if that's the problem. It actually does make sense to me how a SD card could make do that. But we will see if that fixes it.

I've already done an IMU cal, gimbal cal, and camera, gimbal and complete drone reset (for another problem).

No screen warnings at all.

I haven't checked the flight logs. Got to figure out how.

One other thing that might be worth noting is that it did it again today while sitting on the table doing some camera tests. Just sitting there, not moving the gimbal or anything, and it did the gimbal reset.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Don't you have to split the drone to replace the gimbal cable? I don't really want to do that since I can just return this drone and get another one if that's the problem. It actually does make sense to me how a SD card could make do that. But we will see if that fixes it.

I've already done an IMU cal, gimbal cal, and camera, gimbal and complete drone reset (for another problem).

No screen warnings at all.

I haven't checked the flight logs. Got to figure out how.

One other thing that might be worth noting is that it did it again today while sitting on the table doing some camera tests. Just sitting there, not moving the gimbal or anything, and it did the gimbal reset.

Oh I thought 2nd hand you might be stuck with it.
I would try the new card (did the other one come with it ?), if that doesn't magically fix it, then return it.

If it did a full reset just sitting on the table, then there is something going on with a cable or even the main board, you don't want to get stuck with that if you can return it.

You can do the log thing, get a TXT log for a flight where the motors are going, and the problems happens, post up here.
Getting the TXT . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

I don'

Oh I thought 2nd hand you might be stuck with it.
I would try the new card (did the other one come with it ?), if that doesn't magically fix it, then return it.

If it did a full reset just sitting on the table, then there is something going on with a cable or even the main board, you don't want to get stuck with that if you can return it.

You can do the log thing, get a TXT log for a flight where the motors are going, and the problems happens, post up here.
Getting the TXT . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

I don't think that's it's necessarily the cable since I was recording video when it did it. But who knows.

 

[ThorDar]

Is this what was happening? I've had my MP1 for three and half years and it's only done this twice. I went through the logs and found nothing. The only difference I could correlate between those two flights and the many other flights I've had in the same spot with no problems is that there were a couple of other guys there flying freestyle drones using FPV goggles. There is no other wifi around there so I'm speculating the signal from the goggles was somehow messing up the commands being sent from my controller. I point to the goggles because I've been there lots of times with guys doing freestyle without goggles and have had no problems.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

Is this what was happening? I've had my MP1 for three and half years and it's only done this twice. I went through the logs and found nothing. The only difference I could correlate between those two flights and the many other flights I've had in the same spot with no problems is that there were a couple of other guys there flying freestyle drones using FPV goggles. There is no other wifi around there so I'm speculating the signal from the goggles was somehow messing up the commands being sent from my controller. I point to the goggles because I've been there lots of times with guys doing freestyle without goggles and have had no problems.

That does look pretty similar, but I don't have as many disconnects and it doesn't keep jerking for as long. I'm flying more or less in the middle of nowhere (although there is some wifi), but definitely no freestyle FPV with goggles around.

I'm getting a couple new SD cards today, so we'll see if that fixes the problem.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

I still think it could be the SD card especially since you said you were having issues with it. That’s where I’d start since that’s the most non-invasive fix. Just make sure you get it from a reputable place.

Don’t ask me why this one works and the 64GB version doesn’t but I currently use this one

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...dhc-uhs-i-memory-card/9387066.p?skuId=9387066

Never had a problem with it.

I got the SD cards and 6 flights in no more gimbal resets! Thanks so much!

 

[Fred czar]

Hi I am a new member and need help with mavic pro afer a crash and gimbal holder repair I get an error esc and the moters wont turn on can enyone help thanks ,fredczar

 

[brett8883]

Hi I am a new member and need help with mavic pro afer a crash and gimbal holder repair I get an error esc and the moters wont turn on can enyone help thanks ,fredczar

Make a new thread

 

[Fred czar]

Thank you brett8883 < hi to all and hope everyone is safe during this crises , thanks for any help with this issue . fredczar

 

[shadowherder]

For some of you the sd card will not fix the issue as you should be able to replicate it without a card. Mine was doing it every flight mainly in sport mode going fast. I tried different cards, firmwares, resets etc then opened the top of the MP and start pressing ribbons in to see if any were loose and found the main power for the camera was in but not all the way. I pushed it in with some force and it clicked .
Today was the first flight in 3 months that it didnt reset once. My guess is that power wire gets lose or didnt come pressed in all the way and it disconnects for a millisecond resetting the camera.
I really hope this helps some of you because I was lost searching these sites with o solution.