Gimbal Overloaded on second flight

[itsneedtokno]

well this blows...

literally lol

i flew three times today

1) went great, except the birds
2) was going great, then got gimbal overloaded message
-cleaned the gimbal and recalibrated-
3) was going great, then threw the message

shes on the ground now, trying to figure this out and not send her back

 

[DCM-PA]

Man........... NOT good !
I have found this article particularly good for scoping out the various possible causes and fixes........
Hopefully you can sort out the matter. Keep us informed!

The Dreaded DJI Mavic Gimbal Overload: Causes and Possible Solutions

The original Mavic Pro was released by DJI in 2016, kicking off a whole catalog of ultra-portable drones that continue to be released until today. Although the Mavic Pro has stood the test of time

3dinsider.com

 

[itsneedtokno]

Man........... NOT good !
I have found this article particularly good for scoping out the various possible causes and fixes........
Hopefully you can sort out the matter. Keep us informed!

The Dreaded DJI Mavic Gimbal Overload: Causes and Possible Solutions

The original Mavic Pro was released by DJI in 2016, kicking off a whole catalog of ultra-portable drones that continue to be released until today. Although the Mavic Pro has stood the test of time

3dinsider.com

So I read that article as soon as this happened the first time. That's where I got the advice to clean and recal.

It helped for about 2 minutes of flight, then as I am turning left while flying forward my camera goes fuzzy. The trees seems to oscillate, everything does really.

When I turn the drone on (pre-flight) and check the gimbal movement, all is well. Turning left to right, up and down makes no errors or grinding noises. When I stop turning, say at 5°, it stops.

When it's airborne, after the error message has come up, if I move the gimbal left to right it can't seem to stop moving by 1 or 2 ° in either direction. Almost like a shuddering back and forth. For example, if I center it a 0° it will bounce from -2 to +2° adjusting 10 times a second. So strange.

Still haven't been able to get footage off the card either

 

[DCM-PA]

Double uggg ! Up until your last sentence, I was thinking ribbon cable. But then a corrupt/unresponsive data card...........?????
Can you mount the card direct to your computer and bypass the drone? Scan for errors?

 

[itsneedtokno]

Double uggg ! Up until your last sentence, I was thinking ribbon cable. But then a corrupt/unresponsive data card...........?????
Can you mount the card direct to your computer and bypass the drone? Scan for errors?

When I put the card in the computer, my Windows Media Player says that I have no sound device or that it is being used by another program. I restarted the computer, tried MOV and mp4, 4k and 1080, QuickTime player, Movie Maker, and WMP... NO.THING.

I haven't found an option to disable the mic yet. If there is a mic.

 

[DCM-PA]

When I put the card in the computer, my Windows Media Player says that I have no sound device or that it is being used by another program. I restarted the computer, tried MOV and mp4, 4k and 1080, QuickTime player, Movie Maker, and WMP... NO.THING.

I haven't found an option to disable the mic yet. If there is a mic.

So if it was me I'd try this...... Insert the microSD card and do not select any programs to open...... Go to Windows Explorer and see if the card is being recognized...... If so, explore the contents and right click to properties and run a data integrity scan.

If there's nothing on the card or it can't be read, no other option other than reformat and repeat your flights. The card was formatted before, right?

[Sorry if this is too basic and worthless] Good luck!

 

[itsneedtokno]

So if it was me I'd try this...... Insert the microSD card and do not select any programs to open...... Go to Windows Explorer and see if the card is being recognized...... If so, explore the contents and right click to properties and run a data integrity scan.

If there's nothing on the card or it can't be read, no other option other than reformat and repeat your flights. The card was formatted before, right?

[Sorry if this is too basic and worthless] Good luck!

For sure the card was formatted. I did it once in the FLY app, and once on the PC, they both formatted the card, but I wasn't able to retrieve anything either time. I did an error check on the card (which by the way, when inserted in to the PC, throws an error) but it says there is nothing wrong with the card. The files are there, recognized by File Explorer. If I attempt to open in "HP Photos" it says "Likely an unsupported filetype"

None of this happened with my Spark using the same card maybe 2 days ago.

I might have thought it through though (with your help), and I'll be back momentarily with input... It might be that I am recording in H.265 and my PC is from pre 2010... I'm going to try H.264 and see if that fixes it.

 

[itsneedtokno]

So the test will be in about twenty minutes. I'll be back.

 

[itsneedtokno]

So if it was me I'd try this...... Insert the microSD card and do not select any programs to open...... Go to Windows Explorer and see if the card is being recognized...... If so, explore the contents and right click to properties and run a data integrity scan.

If there's nothing on the card or it can't be read, no other option other than reformat and repeat your flights. The card was formatted before, right?

[Sorry if this is too basic and worthless] Good luck!

So it definitely was the H.265 codec that my computer can not recognize. Once I switched to H.264 everything is fine. Would've been nice to know that earlier today. So many cool videos lost.



Back to the gimbal issue...

After an IMU calibration (the weirdest I've ever seen from DJI, probably all drone companies actually) and a gimbal calibration, I took off to get some footage. It's dark outside so I was somewhere between BFE and the middle of nowhere. After flying for about 3 minutes in Sport mode at 150ft AGL, full throttle forward, I got the error again. This is after about a 90 second stable hover and gimbal check. Once I got the error, I returned home and restarted the bird. I launched again, this time maybe 5 feet AGL and hovered for roughly 30 seconds before getting the error...

After all this I am beginning to think the gimbal motors might be kinda weak and easily overworked. I read on DJI Forums that the gimbal motors can get overheated from flying in Sport mode while recording video for extended periods. Does anybody have any further info on this?

 

[DCM-PA]

Wow...... so educate me then....... there's an option on the MA2 for which codec it'll utilize or H.264 becomes the default at lower res, like 1080p for example? I did a bit of reading and found that H.265 HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) was introduced with the Mavic2 series vs H.264 previously used on the original Pro and Air. And sure enough, buried in the promo content for the MA2 is the obscure reference to H.265 HEVC. Good detective work man !

As for the gimbal.......before taking action like sending it back I'd wait to see what others are finding. I agree though, what you're experiencing SUCKS !

 

[Dave Maine]

The H.265 codec is a very good codec half the file size for the same quality, but very hard or impossible to use on older PC hardware. Hardware decoding for H.265 helps a lot. This is true for all Resolutions.

 

[BostonFJ40]

This is why I hate being the guinea pigs

 

[itsneedtokno]

Wow...... so educate me then....... there's an option on the MA2 for which codec it'll utilize or H.264 becomes the default at lower res, like 1080p for example? I did a bit of reading and found that H.265 HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) was introduced with the Mavic2 series vs H.264 previously used on the original Pro and Air. And sure enough, buried in the promo content for the MA2 is the obscure reference to H.265 HEVC. Good detective work man !

As for the gimbal.......before taking action like sending it back I'd wait to see what others are finding. I agree though, what you're experiencing SUCKS !

So here's a video (I started another thread)

Sport mode has nothing to do with it.

As far as the h.265 vs h.264...

If recording 4k 50 or 60 (or 4kHDR) it forces h.265 but if you record in 4k30 (and any lower res), it gives the option for h.264

 

[DCM-PA]

As far as the h.265 vs h.264...

If recording 4k 50 or 60 (or 4kHDR) it forces h.265 but if you record in 4k30 (and any lower res), it gives the option for h.264

Bingo! As I thought. H.265 for good reason is clearly where the industry is going....

Thanks for the insights 'itsneedtokno.'

 

[itsneedtokno]

Bingo! As I thought. H.265 for good reason is clearly where the industry is going....

Thanks for the insights 'itsneedtokno.'

I called DJI and BB today.

BB told me I wouldn't get a replacement until AT LEAST May 29th

DJI had me turn the drone on with gimbal cover removed and SD card out. They did something on their side, then I was asked to turn it off and back on, do a gimbal calibration, then off again, on again, do an IMU cal and Compass cal, then test flight.

My 6 minute test flight went superb. Another test coming in about 30 minutes.


EDIT: READ BELOW... Things are NOT fixed

 

[DCM-PA]

So it definitely was the H.265 codec that my computer can not recognize. Once I switched to H.264 everything is fine. Would've been nice to know that earlier today. So many cool videos lost.

Check out this video if you still need to install the H.265 codec on your Win10 machine .......... goes easy. Direct link to Microsoft too.

Get HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer from the Microsoft Store

Play High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) videos in any video app on your Windows 10 device. These extensions are designed to take advantage of hardware capabilities on some newer devices— including those with an Intel 7th Generation Core processor and newer GPU to support 4K and Ultra HD...

www.microsoft.com

 

[itsneedtokno]

Oh my God. This is insane.

Looks like it's going back.

I got 4 minutes 30 seconds this time.

Uploading videos soon

 

[itsneedtokno]

SKIP TO 2:20 (I was just circling the drain (pun intended lol) while waiting for the gimbal to fail.) Failure at 2:38

I've contacted DJI again...
This time through online chat.

They had me do most of the same stuff, with the addition of downloading Assistant 2 For Mavic and refreshing the firmware. It seemed to work... until it didn't. 6 minutes later.

Here's a sample of good video to Jello. (Shot in 1080p to save space and time)

So now I have sent them screenshots and videos capturing the failure. They should be replying in 24 to 48 hours with a possible remote fix, but I doubt it.



SIDE NOTE
Is this normal? The gimbal rotation wires being exposed, no insulation?

20200511-145644-1 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20200511-145644-1 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[DCM-PA]

SIDE NOTE
Is this normal? The gimbal rotation wires being exposed, no insulation?

20200511-145644-1 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20200511-145644-1 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Not !

 

[swooshdave]

That's the tough part about being one of the first, if you need a replacement you have wait as they are all allocated.