How to access waypoint folder on RC/RC2 from Windows?

[DJ Wes]

One can use one of two primary methods for importing KMZ waypoint files into the DJI RC, RC2, or RC Pro:

• Copy the KMZ file to an SD card, plug the card into the RC, use Android to copy and replace the KMZ file.
• Connect the RC to a computer via USB and use “Android File Transfer” (Mac) or “Windows Explorer” (Windows) to copy and replace the KMZ file.

I have received a number of queries from people who are unable to do this using a Windows computer. I am told that they are unable to navigate to the “waypoint” folder on the internal storage of the RC. The correct path to the waypoint folder is:

/Android/data/dji.go.v5/files/waypoint

But, one of more of the directories is not displayed when navigating from Windows. For anyone who has done this using Windows, would you tell us what steps you took to see and navigate into the “waypoint” folder? I do not have a DJI RC or RC2 so I cannot troubleshoot this myself.

I have told people to try:

• Enable USB debugging on the RC/RC2.
• Turn on USB file transfer on the RC/RC2.

Neither have helped. For someone who has an RC/RC2 and Windows, are these treated has “hidden” files? What happens when you manually type a directory into the address bar in Windows Explorer?

 

[GFields]

Awesome!

 

[msinger]

On my RC 2, I'm able to navigate to the waypoint folder or any of the other folders within this location:

This PC\DJI RC 2\Internal shared storage\Android\data\dji.go.v5

On my RC, Windows automatically takes me to this location and does not allow me to browse to any other folders (like where waypoint data is stored):

This PC\DJI RC\Internal shared storage\Android\data\dji.go.v5\files\FlightRecord

And I'm not able to see the above file path. The file path appears like this:

This PC\DJI RC\Internal shared storage

 

[DJ Wes]

On my RC, Windows automatically takes me to this location and does not allow me to browse to any other folders (like where waypoint data is stored):

If a DJI RC is connected to a Google Pixel phone via USB, one can navigate from the phone to the waypoint folder.

On a MAC using "Android File Transfer", one can navigate to the DJI RC waypoint folder.

Those two things tell me it has to be possible from Windows. What happens when you manually change the path in the Windows Explorer address bar to:

This PC\DJI RC\Android

Does displaying hidden files change anything?

How about opening a Command Prompt window and navigating to the DJI RC. Can you see anything using "dir /h" or "dir /s"?

If I could get my hands on a DJI RC I know I could figure it out. PowerShell would allow for more troubleshooting.

 

[msinger]

Does displaying hidden files change anything?

No

What happens when you manually change the path in the Windows Explorer address bar to:

This PC\DJI RC\Android

How about opening a Command Prompt window and navigating to the DJI RC

Windows doesn't allow that natively. You'd need some kind of 3rd party application to navigate that file system (like Android File Transfer on a Mac).

 

[DJ Wes]

Windows doesn't allow that natively. You'd need some kind of 3rd party application to navigate that file system (like Android File Transfer on a Mac).

If you right-click on the "MCDatFlightRecords", do you see "Open PowerShell window here"?

If so, select it. In the PowerShell window, type: Get-Location (or pwd). It should show you the path.

Can you navigate using Set-Location (or cd <path>)? For example, can you move up a level (cd ..) and then list the contents of the directory (ls -la)?

 

[msinger]

If you right-click on the "MCDatFlightRecords", do you see "Open PowerShell window here"?

 

[DJ Wes]

View attachment 179496

Sorry, I should have said: Shift Right-Click.

 

[msinger]

Sorry, I should have said: Shift Right-Click.

That doesn't show the PowerShell option either.

 

[Dave Pitman]

If a DJI RC is connected to a Google Pixel phone via USB, one can navigate from the phone to the waypoint folder.

I just tried with a Pixel 3 and a Pixel 6a and in both cases, I only see the same limited file structure that we are seeing on Windows.

 

[Exphantomflyer]

I dont have the RC only the RC2 and when browsing to
This PC\DJI RC 2\Internal shared storage\Android\data\dji.go.v5\files

I have these folders I guess that the RC has limitations on what it shows maybe

As for turning on debug for the RC2 this cant be done as you cant access the settings that would allow that, unlike a normal phone the RC2 is locked down.

edit i turned off show hidden files and it makes no difference

 

[Dave Pitman]

I dont have the RC only the RC2

Yeah. The RC2 works fine. The RC, not so much.

 

[DJ Wes]

I just tried with a Pixel 3 and a Pixel 6a and in both cases, I only see the same limited file structure that we are seeing on Windows.

I don't own a Pixel. I'm just going by what people are telling me. Here is a sample message I received:

---------------------------
but one strange thing noticed by our team is that when we connect DJI RC with Google pixel phone we can access the both internal and external storage of the RC.

but we can not do same when connected to the PC.
---------------------------

 

[atlas-ivy]

Solution for Windows (100% certainty):

A previous commenter was on the right track -- basically, the issue is caused by a security feature built into Windows (NTFS), in which files carry additional attributes to track their sources, e.g. if you download something off the internet, it will be 'invisibly' tagged as such... and this attribute will prevent certain actions on that file, basically to make it more difficult for users to accidentally get themselves infected by malware. Anyway, I don't remember which attribute that Windows adds onto the waypoint data (the referenced .kmz files), but it does prevent them from being unzipped until you remove it. The process is easy:

- Copy the .kmz file locally -- here I'll assume you've created a temporary directory called c:\321 and copied the .kmz file(s) into it
- Open Winows PowerShell (Start > type powershell and it should be the first match), and within that command-line interface simply run this command:
unblock-file c:\321\*
- There won't be any feedback of any type, but the problematic attribute will be removed and you can now rename the file to .zip / unzip it and work with it as needed (in short, just follow the instructions given above for Macs)

Hope that helps!