How do I permanently unlock my drone?

[steve495]

... I just didn't realize that something with a premium price tag would be so limited in function. ...

For what it is, it's functionality is not limited at all. The FPV and Mavic products including the Mini are quite a bit different when it comes to target market.

Sorry you do not like it. I'll ask one more time if you'd like to share your flight logs to see if the good folks here would be willing to troubleshoot the issues you had, but it doesn't seem like you're interested.

My suggestion - sell it.

 

[Thrillbilly]

We still aren't anywhere near solving the issues you are complaining about.
And hacks aren't the solution when you aren't getting the drone to fly normally.
Post 11 mentions one thing that could well be part of the issue.
Have you set up an account with DJI and signed into the account?
You will face some of the limitations you mention if you haven't.

For the rest go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file.

That will help someone to have something to analyse and identify the issue that's holding you up.

 

[Thrillbilly]

This is the last couple. I have a couple hundred and aren't sure which ones had the most headache.

 

[zzxrox]

I've built 15 drones and have a few whoops. I just didn't realize that something with a premium price tag would be so limited in function. Buyers remorse is an understatement and the drive company seems proud of its "features". I just didn't realize there was a market for something you're not in control of. View attachment 114919

Yeah, you kinda went the wrong way. I mean maybe get some DJI goggles and an Air unit? LOL. I started with a mavic but not really for me. I still have my Air but it rarely comes out anymore. Its good for loitering for just out of reach camera shots but falls very short on the fun flying mark for me. Thats just me anyway. Others get a thrill from it. DJI did a great job in packing all the "high tech" stuff into their drones and its really cool but not for everyone. For me, I'm a builder. I love to know everything about what I'm flying. But even in the FPV world there are people that only want an off the shelf drone to fly and not do the work required to fly and maintain them. Its all good. People have different tastes and thats cool. If you really want to spend some money I think Mr's Steele has a RTF for like $900. LOL What were you thinking?

 

[Thrillbilly]

Yeah, you kinda went the wrong way. I mean maybe get some DJI goggles and an Air unit? LOL. I started with a mavic but not really for me. I still have my Air but it rarely comes out anymore. Its good for loitering for just out of reach camera shots but falls very short on the fun flying mark for me. Thats just me anyway. Others get a thrill from it. DJI did a great job in packing all the "high tech" stuff into their drones and its really cool but not for everyone. For me, I'm a builder. I love to know everything about what I'm flying. But even in the FPV world there are people that only want an off the shelf drone to fly and not do the work required to fly and maintain them. Its all good. People have different tastes and thats cool. If you really want to spend some money I think Mr's Steele has a RTF for like $900. LOL What were you thinking?

Steele is a beast but I'm all on Betaflight for platforms and not interested in trying to learn KISS. It is a sweet Apex though. I only have two prebuilt drones -- My first 5" and the DJI. The rest are all custom, muti-brand, and have different purposes. I tune the PIDs myself and set the rates to my purposes using Blackbox telemetry with stick input, 8Khz gyro feedback, against PID term gain responses on six axes laid over video feed. I program the radio channels and set the failsafes. Register them under my part 107 and maintain my HAM radio operator technician license so I can go far and see clear.
I thought the dji mini would be good to throw in a day pack and get a quick shot and hover and the camera is solid so I thought for 500 bucks it would be well made. My most expensive quad costs less than that and it is made of premium components only. I have tiny whoops that record 4k, weigh less than 100 grams, and any component can be replaced in a few minutes. I was so wrong. DJI's aren't made for pilots. I think maybe they are for amatuer photographers that don't want to "pilot". So the firmware is trying to interpret operator inputs, comparing them to sensor data, and only outputs whatever its algorithm says is an appropriate response. Basically unless conditions are perfect it does whatever it wants. Besides 400 foot ceilings and maybe restricted airspace (waivers are easy to obtain) the piece of junk should do what its told.
It doesn't have to perform like the video (being piloted), but it should leave the settings where I put them and leave the rest to the "pilot".

10000000_307685403739823_6593694868057255527_n.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[steve495]

Concerning the logs provided. One flight had no errors -
This flight did have errors as you mentioned -
There are other logs available that will provide additional details - a lot of detail - but I'm not familiar how to read them.

Maybe DJI support about the errors?

I think earlier in this thread someone shared a link about how to download the detailed log files more than what we have here.

 

[Thrillbilly]

Concerning the logs provided. One flight had no errors -
This flight did have errors as you mentioned -
There are other logs available that will provide additional details - a lot of detail - but I'm not familiar how to read them.

Maybe DJI support about the errors?

I think earlier in this thread someone shared a link about how to download the detailed log files more than what we have here.

Awesome! That is the type of stuff it does all the time. Frustrating as hell and happens more often than not. Makes it pretty much unusable.

 

[new2mavic]

In the flight 2020-10-10_[12-03-39] a number of "max power load reached" and "extra payload detected" warnings have been issued. Near the end of the flight the craft automatically enabled payload mode limiting the max distance and altitude to 50m.






There was no wind as the craft tilted very little when hovering. Usually the "max load power reached" warning is issued when there is high wind or the craft is ascending quickly or going at high speed but in this flight, the warnings were issued when the craft was hovering or descending. This is abnormal. It seems that high motor loading was sensed by the craft when there should be substantial amount of power to spare. It can be due to bad props, bad motors or inaccurate current sensors. I have reason to believe that the "extra payload detected", "max altitude reached" and "max distance reached" warnings were all due to the same cause.

In short, your copy is a lemon. I have never seen these issues on my Mini. The only suggestion I can think of is replacing all the prop blades, if that doesn't fix the problem. Send it back to DJI. Hope it's still under warranty.

 

[steve495]

@new2mavic's reply with the internal data is a step above when it comes to translating events as compared to what I provided.

The only thing I'm thinking is the left stick command was full throttle from the 5 second mark to the 27 second mark. 22 seconds of full throttle up and then the first max power load message came up. Then you hovered for about 4 seconds and went full throttle up again for 11 seconds. All in Sport mode. Looks likely the descent was the same (full down throttle).

I'm a novice at this and so far I have not experienced or seen these sorts of warnings before. My guess is the full throttle precipitated the events, but may not be the root cause of the events. So the full throttle acceleration for 22 seconds and 11 seconds made the problem known; as @new2mavic mentioned either props or motors.

There is a more detailed log file that can even tell you what's going on with each of the four motors, but I'm not familiar how to get it or pull the data.

I'd do some testing, get both log files saved and contact DJI.

 

[Toaster]

Nice flying in the original FPV video. Have you considered building a custom rig running INAV with a GPS and barometer? Something like the new Flywoo LR? You could get the position hold and RTH the Mavic mini has and keep the fun flying of a freestyle quad. The only thing you may lose is the ability to tilt the camera vertically.

I made my way into the quadcopter world from RC planes starting with a Mavic Pro and then got goggles and a micro FPV quad. Now I hardly fly the Mavic and view it as a flying robot camera. It is amazing for what it does, but not fun to fly. It does sound like you got a lemon, and that sucks. I hope DJI can make things right.