Gimbal reset in flight

EsiMavic · Jul 19, 2017

Gimbal reset problem must be replaced by a new mavic

Thastinger · Jul 19, 2017

Alex S. said:
Do you use Windows or Mac to read the SD card?

Windows but the same card has been in the bird for a month now

serialtoon · Jul 20, 2017

Most people are stating that its a hardware issue but i personally dont think so. I have no issues with this until i upgraded to the .900 firmware. Now seems to happen every other flight. Im going to attempt a downgrade to see if that helps, but i think its all software unless DJI has a huge problem here with some global hardware issues.

HSK · Jul 20, 2017

serialtoon said:
Most people are stating that its a hardware issue but i personally dont think so. I have no issues with this until i upgraded to the .900 firmware. Now seems to happen every other flight. Im going to attempt a downgrade to see if that helps, but i think its all software unless DJI has a huge problem here with some global hardware issues.

I've had it on different firmwares, it's hardware I'd say.

alexcannas · Jul 20, 2017

serialtoon said:
Most people are stating that its a hardware issue but i personally dont think so. I have no issues with this until i upgraded to the .900 firmware. Now seems to happen every other flight. Im going to attempt a downgrade to see if that helps, but i think its all software unless DJI has a huge problem here with some global hardware issues.

A lot of people used to say it only happened after they upgraded to 550, then it was 600 all the way up to 900 firmware. This issue is not new. The threads discussing the problem date from at least February.

DJI has responded to the issue on their forums and are asking people to send their drones in for repair. Another guy fixed it himself by changing the ribbon cable. There's a DIY and before and after on YouTube somewhere.

serialtoon · Jul 22, 2017

alexcannas said:
A lot of people used to say it only happened after they upgraded to 550, then it was 600 all the way up to 900 firmware. This issue is not new. The threads discussing the problem date from at least February.

DJI has responded to the issue on their forums and are asking people to send their drones in for repair. Another guy fixed it himself by changing the ribbon cable. There's a DIY and before and after on YouTube somewhere.

Good to know. I have DJI Refresh i just didnt think i would ever need to send in a drone that is slightly older than a month old. Sucks.

Just setup my DJI repair via the website. Hate to have to send it in. Thanks for the heads up Alex

Deanster · Jul 22, 2017

I'm getting this EVERY flight now. I hadn't flown the Mavic in a couple months, did a couple short test flights before this trip to Maui, and have been absolutely PLAGUED by gimbal resets for the entire trip.

Incredibly frustrating, since I lose the FPV view, it dumps the video recording and just leaves me totally jacked mid flight.

I'm flying in LOS, but mostly doing very low runs over rocky beaches/waves, and losing the FPV midstream is really challenging.

Fortunately, the aircraft is flying stably, but the gimbal re-set is just maddening.

HSK · Jul 22, 2017

I feel your frustration. I ended up returning my first machine because if this. And now, even my current one has done it on a few occasions. Once about 6 times in a row!

serialtoon · Jul 22, 2017

HSK said:
I feel your frustration. I ended up returning my first machine because if this. And now, even my current one has done it on a few occasions. Once about 6 times in a row!

I buckled down and said **** it. Im going to send it to DJI, thats what warranty is for. Im just a little hesitant about the uphill battle im probably going to have with them. Do they fix your unit and send yours back or do they simply grab one out of the pile and send that to you?

HSK · Jul 23, 2017

serialtoon said:
I buckled down and said **** it. Im going to send it to DJI, thats what warranty is for. Im just a little hesitant about the uphill battle im probably going to have with them. Do they fix your unit and send yours back or do they simply grab one out of the pile and send that to you?

Well, I think it can go either way - they repair it, or a refurbished unit. Not sure what triggers the need for a new one in their process. I believe, it's an issue with the cable, so potentially they can just replace or repair that.

I actually returned mine to the retailer as I still within the 30 days returns / happiness policy. Have not experienced DJI process first hand, but they did want me to return it to them when I told them.

I hope u get it sorted dude.

serialtoon · Jul 23, 2017

HSK said:
Well, I think it can go either way - they repair it, or a refurbished unit. Not sure what triggers the need for a new one in their process. I believe, it's an issue with the cable, so potentially they can just replace or repair that.

I actually returned mine to the retailer as I still within the 30 days returns / happiness policy. Have not experienced DJI process first hand, but they did want me to return it to them when I told them.

I hope u get it sorted dude.

I wont lie, im a little soured on the whole drone thing because of this. Not only are they extremely delicate aircrafts but also expensive if they fail because of faulty software/hardware without user interaction. This might be my last product of this category.

HSK · Jul 23, 2017

serialtoon said:
I wont lie, im a little soured on the whole drone thing because of this. Not only are they extremely delicate aircrafts but also expensive if they fail because of faulty software/hardware without user interaction. This might be my last product of this category.

I really don't blame you. The QA process is extremely poor, and the units vary in quality / issues by quite a high degree.

They pumped these out, with a "deal with the returns later" mentality.

I'm not sure if I'd buy a DJI drone in the future.

serialtoon · Jul 25, 2017

Before i send my mavic out to DJI for replacement/repair i flew it in my house (i know, i shouldn't) but it was in a controlled environment. I did 3 flights all with a turn off remote and mavic and not once did the gimbal reset like it would when its in the air. I then flew it out and received the "magnetic interference" error and BOOM reset gimbal. Not sure what this means but if the gimbal was truly problematic it would have happened in a controlled environment as well.

HSK · Jul 25, 2017

Hmm I've had mine reset in the ground in door while filming, many times

serialtoon · Jul 25, 2017

HSK said:
Hmm I've had mine reset in the ground in door while filming, many times

Maybe ill do some more tests today. Im super reluctant to send it to DJI. im the type of person who values what i buy and take care of it. So i dont wanna send it out and get someones beat up mavic in return.

Nobbie · Aug 1, 2017

Im in the same boat about not wanting to send it out. I did some tests today, after reading others peoples suggestions but I'm SOL and have had it happen repeatedly on single battery.

Note the following, problem started around the time of firmware .550
- would only happen on rare occasion (i.e once ever 3-4 batteries).
- It has slowly gotten progressively worse (happening many times each battery now)

After reading others similar problem I decided to take to my testing field and see if I could trigger the issue and or remove it. I went out and purchased a fresh x1000 Lexar 32G SD card to rule out the slower sandisk ones I had been using.

New card, ran a Format using the DJI Go 4. (iPad version).

I Turned on Mavic, checked for updates, did a camera settings reset and did some flying. All seemed well first 15 minutes, and thought the camera reset did the trick, but then... tilt.. camera goes into reset cycle we all know about.

So, now ruling out the possible SD issue, and camera reset, I tried to see what might be a trigger for it, I tried several different resolutions, 4k 24/30 and 2.7 and did some more flying checking now for video length recording etc (after 5 mins? after 10?) I had some people note file size may been issue, but for me, this did not seem to be an issue.

On the events it happens, it returned the camera to a 4k setting, even though it was on a 2.7k etc (though funny enough, when I did a camera setting reset it defaults to 2.7k)

I was able to reproduce the gimbal reset several times when I did a small POI circle. While holding down the right throttle to increase speed in a anti-clockwise direction seemed to make it reset more frequently than clockwise direction. (It would happen in under 2 mins vs not seem to want to happen after 5).

I did notice as it resets the controller came up with "SD ERR" - all the settings off the camera switch to NA while it resets and restores. I managed to record the controller during several events so I could see if any other notifications came up, but thought I would post this for others if it helps ID the issue if it is in fact a bug with the firmware.

One thing is sure, Its getting a lot worse, so maybe it really is a fault in hardware/cable as previously mentioned. So I am left but to send it back

tibook · Aug 1, 2017

I've been lucky and this hasn't happened to me lately...its disconcerting when it does though! I was hoping its a firmware issue as well.

maximeeso · Aug 2, 2017

I'm on my 2nd Mavic due to my first having a random jello'ing issue with the first one. Is it safe to say I just need to go ahead and exchange this one as well since everyone seems convinced it is NOT a software issue?