Mavic is now useless

[baweber]

What device are you using? I'll bet Android.

(2015 Galaxy Tab S SM-T800 - 10" screen 32Gb running 6.01)

 

[USVR]

Using latest software - My drone is unusable at this time - seems to get worse every time I use it. I now get almost constant warning messages - including "Disconnected" when Mavic and controller are within 50 feet! It is impossible to rely on the video as well as it is completely garbled. Last flight gave me multiple - “Compass error. Move aircraft or calibrate compass” while I was flying - and I calibrated the compass just before the flight. I wanted to do a POI video, but the controller icon actually disappeared from the screen while I was flying! Not possible anyway because the transmitted video was so bad I could not tell what I was looking at! Here is a frame while trying to line up over a fountain.View attachment 9715

Then the app went black after a "Disconnected" message while the drone hovered in place. I entered the app again and quickly landed. This is the final screen shot - it is an incomplete picture of the asphalt where I landed at the home point, while app is saying what you see -

View attachment 9716

I have upgraded Litchi software and lately have noticed the video feed is freezing and broken even while at close range. It does not appear to be a signal strength issue as controller show good receive sig. John

 

[baweber]

I had those exact symptoms. Turned out the short, flat, DJI microUSB cable between the RC and the android device had become compromised (pinched/crushed) from repeated movement of the phone clamp on the left side. It was subtle, but all of a sudden I was getting the display symptoms you have. Changed to a new one, and it returned back to normal.

If you don't have another DJI short cable, any standard data cable will work (just plug it into the bottom port on the remote).

I actually made a fixture to hold my Samsung 10" tablet so use a standard 12" USB cord for the connection. My phone was just too small, and it was hard to get the connection attached to it. Have downgraded firmware to 3.04 in drone and controller. About to try flying again.

 

[Marc Hufnagel]

I guess I should be happy the latest firmware didn't make my MP useless. Working fine.

 

[Jussaguy]

one more reason to not fix it, if it aint broke. I learned to ignore the update firmware warnings!

B-I-N-G-O

 

[Jussaguy]

If anyone wants a VERY simple way to roll back the firmware, I mean SUPER easy to any itteration, PM me and if I know you and trust that you won't post it (although it already exists in the blogosphere), please PM me and I'll tell you how. Perhaps rolling back might be in your best interest.

tricky business as up-to-date firmware is a requirement for legal flight under part 107. It'd be nice if stuff just worked as advertised.

Addendum: I just got an email from DJI advising me to downgrade from the latest firmware in order to unlock NFZ areas where I have a COW/A to fly. So basically in order to make my mavic work I need to violate my license guidelines.

DJI is under no obligation to know your personal guidelines as they pertain to your country.

They are a multi-national organization and they could tell you anything they want and it is solely on you to know what it legal or not. It is also illegal to fly over 400 feet AGL but you can set it to 500m which is about 1670 feet. These are crafts and especially with the Mavic, people that don't know (this isn't aimed at you AT ALL) the regulations are just doing what they want. I saw someone at the Pier flying their Mavic in a Class C air space and he was flying at like 900 feet (I saw it myself on his telemetry). I told him he could kill someone and to bring it lower and when he landed him and I had it out a little. He didn't like someone telling him what to do but he chilled out when I showed him the Part 107 guidelines and the fees and possible imprisonment for the different levels. At 900 feet, he could and might get arrested if I was a cop and saw that. I was upset because I was wondering how many people that got into the hobby with a Mavic are like this guy. The perfect form factor for person that has wanted a UAS forever but not as one as large as a Phantom (who would have thought that would be a sentence a couple years aho?). Anyhow, yeah, no big deal on the firmware I would think but the general idea implied here that DJI should be mindful of your laws is off the mark in my humble opinion. I'd rather know the laws and make the choices as I see fit.

I am willing to fly with the wrong firmware if it works better than a different firmware but I would never fly over 400 AGL (at least not in a place that was like the pier). Won't lie. If I was 50 miles from an airport in Omaha and I was at 500 feet for a reason, i would be okay with that. You just need to know the rules and as a GENERAL rule, follow them but this is a case where safety is actually achieved by not doing the update. To take that point farther, I always get tower approval when i am flying in a class C or higher and one time at the Santa Monica Pier, I called SMO and got that approval and I checked in with them first and it was THE FIRST time they ever called the tower to check and I was a little nervous but they did and after that, they even had a lifeguard keeping people away from me as I piloted from the shore because I had to watch out for para-sailers and real human size helis flying below 400 which they are not allowed to do there but I've seen them come as close as 50 feet from the sand.

Ok, I'm rambling as usual but you get my point. I sort of latched on to a nothing comment, this wasn't directed at you but rather the base of users to help PTH (Protect The Hobby) because it is being chipped away little by little and soon we won't be able to do anything. Go check out Eurpoe's new rules to travel with LiPo bats. You must discharge to 30% now and the IATA (Internation Air Transport Association) video guy says pretty soon they will probably be banned from passenger flights altogether. On 4/01/17, the FAA tweaked it's rules which @John, this was the reason I was chatting with you. It's more about what's to come than what is. And also again, I trust you, not everyone. You are smarter and more knowledgeable about the hobby of RC than most. Please guys, common sense. PTH!

:OFF SOAPBOX:

 

[kenny lee]

one more reason to not fix it, if it aint broke. I learned to ignore the update firmware warnings!

yesh i refused to update it. The annoying message appeared on GA 4

 

[baweber]

You can downgrade the firmware using the DJI Assistant 2 app. If needed, you can download it from the Mavic downloads page.

So I used DJIGO to downgrade to .0400 firmware and the download finished, the "upgrade" started - controller said upgrading. I heard beeps from the AC and the RC. App has said 99% complete for the last 10 minutes! RC says READY TO GO and OPTI MODE - I hate to ruin it at this point, but battery is going to die eventually!

 

[baweber]

If I try to back out of process it says upgrading firmware please wait!!! Got to turn it off eventually!

 

[baweber]

I guess I should be happy the latest firmware didn't make my MP useless. Working fine.

So if that is true, then it can not be just a firmware problem. At some point DJI has to admit their entire hardware/software system is unstable. Many possibilities in such a complex system. I ordered my drone the first day they started pre-ordering. I suspect they have had component and PC board changes since then. Need to start a poll to find out how these transmission issues correlate to order date.

 

[JJM]

At some point DJI has to admit their entire hardware/software system is unstable on the android OS.

Fixed that for you.

And I think they have by recommending iOS. Idk

 

[baweber]

Using latest software - My drone is unusable at this time - seems to get worse every time I use it. I now get almost constant warning messages - including "Disconnected" when Mavic and controller are within 50 feet! It is impossible to rely on the video as well as it is completely garbled. Last flight gave me multiple - “Compass error. Move aircraft or calibrate compass” while I was flying - and I calibrated the compass just before the flight. I wanted to do a POI video, but the controller icon actually disappeared from the screen while I was flying! Not possible anyway because the transmitted video was so bad I could not tell what I was looking at! Here is a frame while trying to line up over a fountain.View attachment 9715

Then the app went black after a "Disconnected" message while the drone hovered in place. I entered the app again and quickly landed. This is the final screen shot - it is an incomplete picture of the asphalt where I landed at the home point, while app is saying what you see -

View attachment 9716

Now that I have the old 03.0400 firmware installed in RC and AC it is time to try again. Here is the result:

This day the video broke up briefly as I flew about 20 feet above the bronze fountain in my yard, then cleared up as I continued south to over 200 feet distance. I flew at distances up to 565ft away (over water) and heights up to 115 feet and saw no further video transmission problems, until I came back close to home point again and an altitude of 27 feet. Automatic braking occurred around this same time as I got too close to a tree. The now typical video transmission problems started again at the same time, and I saw a compass error warning, and also tried to use the C1 button that I had programmed for camera forward and down and it worked either intermittently or with great delay. The gimbal dial above the video button worked poorly as well. The flight path log showed the camera stuck down for a long time. Both compass and video problems continued even as I flew back to the same areas where I had no problem just a few minutes earlier. So problems are more or less random and not connected to local interference. Also around this time the app went back to the start-up screen and I had to hit GO FLY again.

Other glitches. I did a short video rotating around about 240’ up and 200 feet out after the problems were occurring. The transmitted video was breaking up badly the whole time and the gimbal control continued to work poorly. The flight data correctly shows 2 still images, but shows no video was recorded. However, it was on the SD card. Also, the warning list again showed nothing about the compass errors, only wind warnings and the braking from obstacle avoidance. Also the flight log page updated eventually after syncing to show the new max distance I covered today, but never showed the new max altitude from today’s flight that was recorded in the flight summary line on the same page!

Reviewing old log entries, it appears the first time I had video transmission problems was right after upgrading from GO to GO4 on 02/12/2017.

Comments on blog show that not everyone that has upgraded to the latest firmware had problems like this. But the Litchi site says DJI has admitted to a bug in their latest firmware that also affects the performance of the Litchi app. But now I continue to have problems even though I have gone back to 03.0400. So either the firmware change was not complete, or there are more problems than just firmware.

The fact that other people have no problems can be for one or more of several reasons.

1. I ordered my Mavic the first day pre-ordering started. It is reasonable to assume my electronics is not the same as units delivered since December. So there could be an electronics change that requires a recall and new electronics for compatibility with newer software before my problem will ever be resolved.

2. The software/firmware has to be very complex, working for very different products from one app. Could there be function calls in a particular order that set off a chain of events that cascades to an unstable condition – maybe creating random timing problems in communication between components. They need to develop an app for each drone model.

3. The mobile device used as the monitor could have some form of incompatibility, but a USB connection simply transferring data has well established protocols and as long as the device has recent Android system, enough memory and processor speed that is unlikely. On the other hand DJI has a very short list of tested compatible devices, and my Samsung Galaxy Tab S is not on it. Neither is my LG phone. I have seen my RC showing 16 strong satellites while the app tells me GPS was lost on the monitor? Is the AC lying to the RC or is the RC lying to the app?

4. Maybe the firmware installations are not performing correctly. When I went back to 03.0400 the download went to 100% and the data transfer to the RC and AC started but never went beyond 99% for 45 minutes. The RC went from UPGRADING to READY TO GO, but the app never showed complete. The firmware window shows the current firmware version only when connected to the internet. With no connection the app shows a Phantom 4, not a Mavic. So is the app reading what is loaded in my devices or what has been sent from DJI most recently?

The information supplied by DJI on the operation of this very complex Unmanned Aerial System is minimal and not very well presented. I just learned about the firmware window you can bring up by pressing for several seconds on the three lines at the top right of the GO4 app yesterday – by reading about it on the Mavic Pilots Blog!

The bottom line is that my Mavic Pro has been unusable for commercial work for two months now. I would never subject myself to possible humiliation in front of a paying client with a piece of equipment that malfunctions every time I use it. I am losing opportunity and money every day this continues.

I think DJI is not going to do anything about this as long as they can keep selling these things as fast as they can make them, leaving us initial buyers in the dust. Anybody know a lawyer willing to help the hundreds or thousands of us in this situation?

 

[baweber]

UPDATE! My number 3 above seems to be the answer. I borrowed an Iphone 6 today and used it with my controller instead of my Samsung Galaxy, and had no transmission/communication problems at all. Only a radio interference warning for some reason before I took off and it went away within seconds. Also it said calibrate compass on start-up and that failed twice due to magnetic interference. Moved further from the RC and it calibrated.Using 4.07 app and the .400 firmware. During 15 minute flight up to 85 meters above ground and a couple RTH and a POI there was no GPS lost, no bad video transmission, no compass errors no disconnect, no app crash. So it looks like all my problems were due to the Android tablet and not the Mavic UAS!! SORRY DJI !!!

 

[JJM]

UPDATE! My number 3 above seems to be the answer. I borrowed an Iphone 6 today and used it with my controller instead of my Samsung Galaxy, and had no transmission/communication problems at all. Only a radio interference warning for some reason before I took off and it went away within seconds. Also it said calibrate compass on start-up and that failed twice due to magnetic interference. Moved further from the RC and it calibrated.Using 4.07 app and the .400 firmware. During 15 minute flight up to 85 meters above ground and a couple RTH and a POI there was no GPS lost, no bad video transmission, no compass errors no disconnect, no app crash. So it looks like all my problems were due to the Android tablet and not the Mavic UAS!! SORRY DJI !!!

Tried to tell you that earlier! Haha

 

[baweber]

UPDATE! I borrowed an Iphone 6 today and used it with my controller instead of my Samsung Galaxy, and had no transmission/communication problems at all. Using 4.07 app and the .400 firmware. During 15 minute flight up to 85 meters and a couple RTH and a POI there was no GPS lost, no bad video transmission, no compass errors no disconnect, no app crash. So it looks like all my problems were due to the Android tablet and not the Mavic UAS!! I owe DJI an apology!

 

[james_mav]

UPDATE! I borrowed an Iphone 6 today and used it with my controller instead of my Samsung Galaxy, and had no transmission/communication problems at all. Using 4.07 app and the .400 firmware. During 15 minute flight up to 85 meters and a couple RTH and a POI there was no GPS lost, no bad video transmission, no compass errors no disconnect, no app crash. So it looks like all my problems were due to the Android tablet and not the Mavic UAS!! I owe DJI an apology!

I posted my guess that you were using Android a week ago.