Mavic 2 Pro disconnected mid-flight and lost

[pmshop]

Yes, that is what i am referring to.
And seems there was a lot of warranty work going on.

 

[RunnerGuy]

Battery needs a firmware update? It got confused when it couldn't read battery state?
When I got my M2P 3 weeks ago and updated the firmware, it did come up with the message "Inconsistent firmware", twice. It turns out, it was when I inserted different batteries.

Seems I have to update every battery with major drone updates.

 

[raylo32]

I still don't see where in DJI Go4 to update the battery firmware. It isn't on the same menu as the AC and RC firmwares. Can you point me to it? And I am not sure why a battery BMS would need updates anyway. I would have thought we'd just need to update the RC and flight controller in the AC??

Seems I have to update every battery with major drone updates.

 

[RayOZ]

When you have DJI Go 4 app running and start your drone, it’ll first check firmware. You just have to wait before pressing the go fly button. If an update is required, it’ll pop up a “inconsistent firmware”, slide right to update.
Might not have anything to do with OP’s lost drone. But if you’ve updated the firmware on AC, best to make sure any required firmware updates on batteries are updated too.

 

[RunnerGuy]

Yep - exactly what RayOZ said...

 

[raylo32]

OK, I have done that before. I didn't realize that was for the battery. Otherwise the app does not specifically show the battery firmware state, at least that I can find.

 

[pmshop]

OK, I have done that before. I didn't realize that was for the battery. Otherwise the app does not specifically show the battery firmware state, at least that I can find.

Version numbers is in the "About" section.
Where you see AC serial number, Fly Safe database version, etc...

 

[raylo32]

Yes, the "About" page has firmware version #s for AC (should be for the flight controller) and RC, not battery. There is no listing for battery.

Version numbers is in the "About" section.
Where you see AC serial number, Fly Safe database version, etc...

 

[pmshop]

Yes, the "About" page has firmware version #s for AC (should be for the flight controller) and RC, not battery. There is no listing for battery.

Meh, correct - I was thinking Spark where I came from

 

[4winds]

Hi all,

I was flying my Mavic 2 Pro today and it suddenly lost the connection and never returned. It was over water/along the coast, so I was unable to retrieve it or look for it on the ground. I have absolutely no idea why it happened, the connection was perfect and it was only 194m from me (I was bringing it back to land). There was no wind or other external factors, that I am aware of, and the battery was at about 75% at the time. It tried to return home after the connection loss but did not. I've attached the flight records, any help parsing them would be great. I also have DJI Care Refresh, but it is my understanding that it would likely not cover it since I could not retrieve it. Thank you very much.

Man sorry for your lost! DJI replaced mine with out to much trouble, different circumstances , but you got a tray did you retrieve any footage that would definitely help your case

 

[Slip Stream]

Hi all,

I was flying my Mavic 2 Pro today and it suddenly lost the connection and never returned. It was over water/along the coast, so I was unable to retrieve it or look for it on the ground. I have absolutely no idea why it happened, the connection was perfect and it was only 194m from me (I was bringing it back to land). There was no wind or other external factors, that I am aware of, and the battery was at about 75% at the time. It tried to return home after the connection loss but did not. I've attached the flight records, any help parsing them would be great. I also have DJI Care Refresh, but it is my understanding that it would likely not cover it since I could not retrieve it. Thank you very much.

Any chance birds attack drone and brings them down out of site.

 

[Grantt]

When you have DJI Go 4 app running and start your drone, it’ll first check firmware. You just have to wait before pressing the go fly button. If an update is required, it’ll pop up a “inconsistent firmware”, slide right to update.
Might not have anything to do with OP’s lost drone. But if you’ve updated the firmware on AC, best to make sure any required firmware updates on batteries are updated too.

Hi Ray,
Are you saying that in order to update the battery firmware, each battery will need to be plugged into the drone one by one, and have the software look for firmware updates? Could this be why it seems like when someone updates the firmware, then the next flight (different battery), it already seems like another update is required?

 

[AnzacJack]

The biggest concern here is not so much the lost drone, although it sucks for the owner, but is it just a matter of time before one of these guys drops and causes injury, damage.
I’m just wondering, do you FAA pilots need to report an incident when this type of thing happens? Under our CASA requirements, it would be classes as an aircraft incident and is reportable. Is there a larger data base keeping track of this?

 

[sar104]

The biggest concern here is not so much the lost drone, although it sucks for the owner, but is it just a matter of time before one of these guys drops and causes injury, damage.
I’m just wondering, do you FAA pilots need to report an incident when this type of thing happens? Under our CASA requirements, it would be classes as an aircraft incident and is reportable. Is there a larger data base keeping track of this?

§107.9 Accident reporting.​

​

No later than 10 calendar days after an operation that meets the criteria of either paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, a remote pilot in command must report to the FAA, in a manner acceptable to the Administrator, any operation of the small unmanned aircraft involving at least:​

​

(a) Serious injury to any person or any loss of consciousness; or​

​

(b) Damage to any property, other than the small unmanned aircraft, unless one of the following conditions is satisfied:​

​

(1) The cost of repair (including materials and labor) does not exceed $500; or​

​

(2) The fair market value of the property does not exceed $500 in the event of total loss.​

 

[Paul2660]

Just wanted to add, as has been pointed out, the "about" screen will not show a battery firmware issue. Sorry about that bad info.

The only place I have seen this is on the main screen of DJIgo4 before you hit the "fly" tab. Here you will get a message of a firmware inconsistency. The "about" screen only shows firmware levels for aircraft and controller.

However on the main screen of DJIgo4 when you receive the firmware inconsistency, you only have the option to go ahead an update or pass, as I recall, it won't tell you what the firmware is, i.e. drone, controller, battery. So I tend to pass up on the message, and look at the about screen to see what the message is pointing to, if aircraft or controller, I don't want to attempt a update over wifi, so I will use Assistant 2 for Mavic. If it's a battery I will go back and all the update to occur as these don't take long with a good wifi connection.

The problem with batteries if is if you have multiple drones at different levels of firmware, so if you move a battery from a MP2 with older firmware to a MP2 with latest firmware you will get the inconsistency message.

Paul C

 

[AnzacJack]

§107.9 Accident reporting.​

​

No later than 10 calendar days after an operation that meets the criteria of either paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, a remote pilot in command must report to the FAA, in a manner acceptable to the Administrator, any operation of the small unmanned aircraft involving at least:​

​

(a) Serious injury to any person or any loss of consciousness; or​

​

(b) Damage to any property, other than the small unmanned aircraft, unless one of the following conditions is satisfied:​

​

(1) The cost of repair (including materials and labor) does not exceed $500; or​

​

(2) The fair market value of the property does not exceed $500 in the event of total loss.​

Ok so there would be no reporting for loss of drone.

 

[RayOZ]

Hi Ray,
Are you saying that in order to update the battery firmware, each battery will need to be plugged into the drone one by one, and have the software look for firmware updates? Could this be why it seems like when someone updates the firmware, then the next flight (different battery), it already seems like another update is required?

Yes. but battery firmware updates are not regular. I think the firmware is already in the mobile device when it was downloaded the first time, so there's no need for DJI Go 4 app to download from wifi or mobile data again.

 

[dwolfe002]

I read somewhere, and don't remember where,' that all you had to do was change the battery in the aircraft and turn it on and back off. Then repeat for each battery that you have. Is that not correct because it seemed to work when I upgraded my M2P a few months ago.

 

[RayOZ]

I read somewhere, and don't remember where,' that all you had to do was change the battery in the aircraft and turn it on and back off. Then repeat for each battery that you have. Is that not correct because it seemed to work when I upgraded my M2P a few months ago.

I think the issue is that they didn't realise they need to update the battery firmware. If you have 3 batteries, you fly with the first one, and the firmware might be up to date cos you used it to update the AC. You then swap to the next battery, without waiting for the app to check firmware in battery is also up to date, and just start flying. When you land, and exit the video screen of the app, the "inconsistent firmware" might appear, but by then the battery level would be less than 50% to update the firmware. And the popup doesn't explicitly mention it's the battery. So the next time you fly with the 3 batteries again, you have the same 1st battery, so no popup about inconsistent firmware. It happened to me a couple of time before I realised the popup only appears when I swapped to a battery that didn't have a firmware update.

 

[raylo32]

Yeah, it's a shame they don't have the message say it is for the battery. The first time I got the message when I was getting ready to fly I declined but the next time I said OK. The update happened almost instantly, this on my iPad Mini connected to my XR phone wifi hotspot. So it seems that the battery firmware is very minimal and it is easy and fast to update even in the field.