Mavic dealt me a bad card yesterday

[Randy]

I've been flying with 4.1.0 for the last month, I always put my iPhone in airplane mode and the controller always tells me "firmware update required" I ignore it and wait for it to record the home point and fly. Once when I forgot to put it in airplane mode it gave me the same message but also gave me an "ignore" button, which I pushed and flew fine. Yesterday, after flying 3 flights earlier in the day, I flew it again, this time it told me that I had the latest firmware, which was a shocker as I was almost positive it hadn't been updated, but just assumed it had somehow managed to update without me knowing it because I try to remember not to open the app without first going into airplane mode, but anyway, it said "home point recorded please check it on the map" I took off, got about 15 feet in the air and took one hand off the controller to swat a few mosquitos and the next thing I knew it said "ATTI MODE", I had 19 satellites and it was about to drift into a tree, I caught it just in time although the controls were not very responsive, I had to over control to keep it from crashing , it finally went back to GPS mode and was still showing 19 satellites. I flew it for about 5 minutes and it behaved normally. I turned it back on in the house after I got home to verify all my settings had not changed, and confirmed that I have 4.1.0, and it's telling me "firmware update required " like it has been for a month. I had so much confidence in this thing till last night! I don't know what to make of this! Haven't had a chance to fly it again today as it is pouring rain and is forecast to all day.

 

[JOHNNYBRAVO]

Curious why you fly it in airplane mode? Is that so phone calls wont interrupt flying?

 

[Newbeans]

Curious why you fly it in airplane mode? Is that so phone calls wont interrupt flying?

I have a Samsung galaxy s7 active. It came with an app called Game Launcher that gives me the option of hiding all notifications while I'm using the app, including incoming calls. Perhaps y'all have something similar on your phones?

I mostly use my iPad mini while flying because it has a bigger screen and the s7 active is a little thick for the controller. Hope this info helps.

 

[TrayBoz]

I always use airplane mode on both my phone and my iPad when flying.

My heart skips a beat when I get an unexpected call or text or alert or notification in the middle of a flight - especially while in the middle of a hand-catch.

 

[Randy]

Curious why you fly it in airplane mode? Is that so phone calls wont interrupt flying?

So that the cell signals, wifi etc, won't interfere, also, if I don't, the app will want to download the latest firmware if it has a cell or wifi connection.

 

[Lopez0015]

So that the cell signals, wifi etc, won't interfere, also, if I don't, the app will want to download the latest firmware if it has a cell or wifi connection.

I been doing same thing airplane mode runing s7 is been working for me

 

[Gringorio]

I've been flying with 4.1.0 for the last month, I always put my iPhone in airplane mode and the controller always tells me "firmware update required" I ignore it and wait for it to record the home point and fly. Once when I forgot to put it in airplane mode it gave me the same message but also gave me an "ignore" button, which I pushed and flew fine. Yesterday, after flying 3 flights earlier in the day, I flew it again, this time it told me that I had the latest firmware, which was a shocker as I was almost positive it hadn't been updated, but just assumed it had somehow managed to update without me knowing it because I try to remember not to open the app without first going into airplane mode, but anyway, it said "home point recorded please check it on the map" I took off, got about 15 feet in the air and took one hand off the controller to swat a few mosquitos and the next thing I knew it said "ATTI MODE", I had 19 satellites and it was about to drift into a tree, I caught it just in time although the controls were not very responsive, I had to over control to keep it from crashing , it finally went back to GPS mode and was still showing 19 satellites. I flew it for about 5 minutes and it behaved normally. I turned it back on in the house after I got home to verify all my settings had not changed, and confirmed that I have 4.1.0, and it's telling me "firmware update required " like it has been for a month. I had so much confidence in this thing till last night! I don't know what to make of this! Haven't had a chance to fly it again today as it is pouring rain and is forecast to all day.

No matter what the issue is here, anyone who flies a DJI UAV must learn to fly in ATTI or full manual mode depending on your UAV, otherwise it's a 'surprise' and the 'drone is out of control'. It's sad that the new normal is that hobby drone operators depend on the drone to fly itself.

 

[f00f]

An alternative to Airplane mode on iOS anyway is to use Do Not Disturb (open Control Center & tap the moon icon). Depending on the configured settings for this feature, notifications will be silenced but data & voice are still enabled (potentially silencing all calls also, or letting certain ones through depending on settings). Granted, Airplane mode is the best option for conserving device battery.

 

[Randy]

No matter what the issue is here, anyone who flies a DJI UAV must learn to fly in ATTI or full manual mode depending on your UAV, otherwise it's a 'surprise' and the 'drone is out of control'. It's sad that the new normal is that hobby drone operators depend on the drone to fly itself.

I'm totally capable of flying in full manual mode, otherwise it would have crashed, I'm just grateful that the remote alerted me that it went into ATTI mode while I was looking down in time for me to prevent it from drifting into a tree.

 

[Johnmcl7]

No matter what the issue is here, anyone who flies a DJI UAV must learn to fly in ATTI or full manual mode depending on your UAV, otherwise it's a 'surprise' and the 'drone is out of control'. It's sad that the new normal is that hobby drone operators depend on the drone to fly itself.

This certainly makes sense but there's a few issues with it for Mavic owners - firstly there is no selectable ATTI mode and when the Mavic switches into the ATTI mode when it's in strong GPS reception (this seems to be a bug rather than simply poor GPS reception which would normally trigger ATTI mode), it frequently doesn't seem to respond correctly unlike a Phantom in ATTI mode. Also it's often not so much the ATTI mode itself that's the problem, it's the sudden change into ATTI mode and the immediate drift which often causes the crash.

 

[Newbeans]

This certainly makes sense but there's a few issues with it for Mavic owners - firstly there is no selectable ATTI mode and when the Mavic switches into the ATTI mode when it's in strong GPS reception (this seems to be a bug rather than simply poor GPS reception which would normally trigger ATTI mode), it frequently doesn't seem to respond correctly unlike a Phantom in ATTI mode. Also it's often not so much the ATTI mode itself that's the problem, it's the sudden change into ATTI mode and the immediate drift which often causes the crash.

That's my issue. The mavic is my first drone. How are people like me supposed to learn to fly in ATTI mode if there is no option for it? I don't plan on buying a second drone just to learn.

 

[pgitug]

Curious why you fly it in airplane mode? Is that so phone calls wont interrupt flying?

Always fly in Airplane mode otherwise a phone call will over ride the screen and you lose your FVP.

 

[Johnmcl7]

That's my issue. The mavic is my first drone. How are people like me supposed to learn to fly in ATTI mode if there is no option for it? I don't plan on buying a second drone just to learn.

Some people recommend practicing with an extremely cheap drone, there are models around £20 which are suitable for that. The Mavic is my first and only drone so I've been using it in wide open spaces and getting practice with the controls, I have had the sudden switch to ATTI mode but managed to bring it down fine (mine didn't seem to suffer the unresponsive controls others have reported). Although it was drifting quite a bit it wasn't that difficult to control as the Mavic still has a range of other sensors to help it fly.

John

 

[Newbeans]

Some people recommend practicing with an extremely cheap drone, there are models around £20 which are suitable for that. The Mavic is my first and only drone so I've been using it in wide open spaces and getting practice with the controls, I have had the sudden switch to ATTI mode but managed to bring it down fine (mine didn't seem to suffer the unresponsive controls others have reported). Although it was drifting quite a bit it wasn't that difficult to control as the Mavic still has a range of other sensors to help it fly.

John

John, could you direct me to a link or brand/model names of these drones you are talking about? If they're that cheap, there is no reason not to get one for practice .

 

[Randy]

This certainly makes sense but there's a few issues with it for Mavic owners - firstly there is no selectable ATTI mode and when the Mavic switches into the ATTI mode when it's in strong GPS reception (this seems to be a bug rather than simply poor GPS reception which would normally trigger ATTI mode), it frequently doesn't seem to respond correctly unlike a Phantom in ATTI mode. Also it's often not so much the ATTI mode itself that's the problem, it's the sudden change into ATTI mode and the immediate drift which often causes the crash.

I agree with that, it definitely behaves strangely to control inputs when this happens!

 

[Cbslagle]

John, could you direct me to a link or brand/model names of these drones you are talking about? If they're that cheap, there is no reason not to get one for practice .

I have the Holy Stone HS170. It's a great beginner drone.

 

[rydfree]

Curious why you fly it in airplane mode? Is that so phone calls wont interrupt flying?

Putting the phone in Airplane modes dedicates the most processing power to the flying app without other task such as WiFi , phone services /text etc running in the background . Even if you put the phone in do not disturb it still has to receive and process that incoming information and decide what to do with it . If your phone has trouble running the DjiGo app , every little thing less that it has to do can help prevent an app crashing . Of course all other apps such as games etc need to be closed and not running in the background as well .

 

[bOogErSuGar75]

John, could you direct me to a link or brand/model names of these drones you are talking about? If they're that cheap, there is no reason not to get one for practice .

Amazon.com: Syma X5C Quadcopter equipped with HD cameras, 2.4G 6 Axis Gyro: Toys & Games
This was a great beginners drone for me. I hope this helps.

 

[Johnmcl7]

John, could you direct me to a link or brand/model names of these drones you are talking about? If they're that cheap, there is no reason not to get one for practice .

I have no personal experience with this drone but it was one of the cheap ones people were recommending:

JJRC H36 MINI Drone 2.4G 4CH 6Axis Gyro Headless Mode: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Definitely see what others recommend who have hands on experience.

 

[Randy]

I have no personal experience with this drone but it was one of the cheap ones people were recommending:

JJRC H36 MINI Drone 2.4G 4CH 6Axis Gyro Headless Mode: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Definitely see what others recommend who have hands on experience.

I'll definitely NOT fly it if the app tells me it has the latest firmware when I KNOW it doesn't, there was evidently a bug in the firmware on the RC when this happened and I ignored it. I've flown many times since and every time it tells me "firmware update required" and I fly anyway and everything's fine.