Mavic Mini looses altitude and I don't know why.

[Cindy12]

I got a Mavic Mini for Christmas and since I live in New Hampshire I haven't had many opportunities to fly. The first time I went anywhere
besides my front yard, as I was flying the drone just lost altitude so I just brought it down the rest of the way. I flew again right away and it
seemed fine. I have flown a few times since then with no problem. Until today. As I was flying it started losing altitude. I was in a huge
field, with no nearby structures. I tried to increase the altitude but it would not. It was responding to my controls as far as direction was
concerned, but eventually can down to the ground even though I was telling it to climb. It gently crashed into the snow. I have got to say
I am losing confidence in my drone. Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[sar104]

Unfortunately it's a known problem with the Mavic Mini. The exact cause hasn't been determined as far as I'm aware.

Search results for query: uncommanded descent

mavicpilots.com

 

[Cindy12]

So, what is a person supposed to do? I can't fly responsibly and comfortably being afraid it my "fall" from the sky at any time. I
have not flown that many times and having it happen twice is very disconcerting.

 

[sar104]

I don't know what to advise. Right now I wouldn't be flying a Mini that I wasn't willing to lose.

 

[Cindy12]

Thanks for the reply. At least I have DJI Care so I can get a new one if I can find the wreckage.

 

[Meta4]

So, what is a person supposed to do? I can't fly responsibly and comfortably being afraid it my "fall" from the sky at any time. I
have not flown that many times and having it happen twice is very disconcerting.

The Mini's habit of descending and failing to respond to joystick input to climb has caused the loss to too many Mavic Minis.
If you wanted to keep flying, you should replace the propellers, but I'd still be wary.

 

[new2mavic]

.... It was responding to my controls as far as direction was concerned .....

Sounds like the drone was in auto landing mode. If you can post the .DAT and .TXT flight log files in your phone, the reason can be identified with more confidence. Method to get the files : Flight log retrieval and analysis guide

 

[Meta4]

Sounds like the drone was in auto landing mode.

Even without data, the OP's description: I tried to increase the altitude but it would not. It was responding to my controls as far as direction was
concerned, but eventually can down to the ground even though I was telling it to climb.
... was pretty clear.
It's just another of the uncommanded descents that has been a real problem for Mini owners.
We've had way too many of them lately and the symptoms are all the same, just the way the OP described her incident.

 

[new2mavic]

Even without data, the OP's description: I tried to increase the altitude but it would not. It was responding to my controls as far as direction was
concerned, but eventually can down to the ground even though I was telling it to climb.
... was pretty clear.
It's just another of the uncommanded descents that has been a real problem for Mini owners.
We've had way too many of them lately and the symptoms are all the same, just the way the OP described her incident.

I wont jump to that conclusion before seeing the flight log. In auto landing mode, the throttle stick has to be pushed up by a lot before the descent will stop. Full throttle up will only make the drone ascend very slowly. Under panic, this response can easily be perceived as having no altitude control. It was exactly what happened to me when my M2P did auto landing for the first time .

 

[Cindy12]

I will be able to post the files tomorrow, but I don’t think it was auto landing because it took a couple of short dips and recovered before it finally came all the way to the ground. But I am new to this, so anything is possible.

 

[new2mavic]

...it took a couple of short dips and recovered before it finally came all the way to the ground....

Then it looks like the notorious uncommanded descent problem of Mini. It will be helpful if you can post BOTH the .DAT and .TXT files so that a more thorough analysis can be done.

 

[lannes]

So, what is a person supposed to do? I can't fly responsibly and comfortably being afraid it my "fall" from the sky at any time. I
have not flown that many times and having it happen twice is very disconcerting.

Were you flying in sport mode when the loss of altitude happened ?

 

[Cindy12]

I think I was in cinematic mode.

 

[Bekanne]

Thanks for the reply. At least I have DJI Care so I can get a new one if I can find the wreckage.

I would try to get DJI to exchange it.

This may or may not help but
If they won't change it -
I fly a pro and it gains and loses altitude by about 5 feet on its own.
I reset the IMU and it stops doing it. That drone needs it's IMU reset each time I change the battery. Then of course setting the IMU I have to set compass again.
I don't have a warranty on it or i would try to change it out.
So if you can get the refresh warranty to exchange your Mini, and it should I've read many stories of DJI sending people exchange for the Mini.
If you can't change it though try resetting the IMU and compass every time it's acting on its own.

Hope you can take something useful from this reply. Best wishes.

 

[Meta4]

I fly a pro and it gains and loses altitude by about 5 feet on its own.

That's a very different situation to the Minis that just sink and keep sinking even when the left stick is pushed full forward.

I reset the IMU and it stops doing it. That drone needs it's IMU reset each time I change the battery.
Then of course setting the IMU I have to set compass again.

That's pretty odd, Usually the IMU stays set for months or years after recalibrating.
There's no need to recalibrate the compass after calibrating the IMU - they are completely independent. compass

If you can't change it though try resetting the IMU and compass every time it's acting on its own.

Neither of those would "fix" the uncommanded descent problem with the Mini.

 

[Bekanne]

That's a very different situation to the Minis that just sink and keep sinking even when the left stick is pushed full forward.

That's pretty odd, Usually the IMU stays set for months or years after recalibrating.
There's no need to recalibrate the compass after calibrating the IMU - they are completely independent. compass

Neither of those would "fix" the uncommanded descent problem with the Mini.

Good to know. Thank you Meta 4.

 

[Myha]

I've have posted several times in response to this problem that downgrading your a/c and controller firmware to v1.00.00.0300 cures the problem. It seems to be a bug in the firmware. It is my suspicion that not all the hardware sold is identical, which may explain why some operators do not experience this problems whilst others do!

Extract from my YouTube channel: -
DJI Mavic Mini firmware version v1.00.00.0400 is unstable on some models of Mavic Mini - mine is one of them. Mini firmware downgraded from v1.00.00.0400 to v1.00.00.0300 due to instability in holding altitude. Using Assistant 2 from the DJI website, I updated the firmware for both Controller and A/C and after this I found that the Mavic Mini would not hold a constant altitude whether it was hovering or flying at 50 meteres or 3 metres above water. or not. As this was a new problem I decided to re-Flash v1.00.00.0400 again using Assistant 2, but this made no difference. This was despite both IMU and Compass calibration procedures being carried out. As I considered the Mini to be unsafe for flight I decided to downgrade the firmware for the A/C and Controller back to the previous version of 1.00.00.0300. I have been flying Quadcopters since 2014 so I am familiar with "their issues". As I have found previously to my cost with earlier DJI quadcopters, you should not immediately upgrade your firmware unless you are having issues with your current version. If it ain't broke don't fix it it!

 

[Wayne Mavic Mini]

I've have posted several times in response to this problem that downgrading your a/c and controller firmware to v1.00.00.0300 cures the problem. It seems to be a bug in the firmware. It is my suspicion that not all the hardware sold is identical, which may explain why some operators do not experience this problems whilst others do!

Extract from my YouTube channel: -
DJI Mavic Mini firmware version v1.00.00.0400 is unstable on some models of Mavic Mini - mine is one of them. Mini firmware downgraded from v1.00.00.0400 to v1.00.00.0300 due to instability in holding altitude. Using Assistant 2 from the DJI website, I updated the firmware for both Controller and A/C and after this I found that the Mavic Mini would not hold a constant altitude whether it was hovering or flying at 50 meteres or 3 metres above water. or not. As this was a new problem I decided to re-Flash v1.00.00.0400 again using Assistant 2, but this made no difference. This was despite both IMU and Compass calibration procedures being carried out. As I considered the Mini to be unsafe for flight I decided to downgrade the firmware for the A/C and Controller back to the previous version of 1.00.00.0300. I have been flying Quadcopters since 2014 so I am familiar with "their issues". As I have found previously to my cost with earlier DJI quadcopters, you should not immediately upgrade your firmware unless you are having issues with your current version. If it ain't broke don't fix it it!

Hi there, and thanks for this detailed explanation. How does one go about downgrading to V3? Many thanks.

 

[DanMan32]

I've have posted several times in response to this problem that downgrading your a/c and controller firmware to v1.00.00.0300 cures the problem. It seems to be a bug in the firmware. It is my suspicion that not all the hardware sold is identical, which may explain why some operators do not experience this problems whilst others do!

Extract from my YouTube channel: -
DJI Mavic Mini firmware version v1.00.00.0400 is unstable on some models of Mavic Mini - mine is one of them. Mini firmware downgraded from v1.00.00.0400 to v1.00.00.0300 due to instability in holding altitude. Using Assistant 2 from the DJI website, I updated the firmware for both Controller and A/C and after this I found that the Mavic Mini would not hold a constant altitude whether it was hovering or flying at 50 meteres or 3 metres above water. or not. As this was a new problem I decided to re-Flash v1.00.00.0400 again using Assistant 2, but this made no difference. This was despite both IMU and Compass calibration procedures being carried out. As I considered the Mini to be unsafe for flight I decided to downgrade the firmware for the A/C and Controller back to the previous version of 1.00.00.0300. I have been flying Quadcopters since 2014 so I am familiar with "their issues". As I have found previously to my cost with earlier DJI quadcopters, you should not immediately upgrade your firmware unless you are having issues with your current version. If it ain't broke don't fix it it!

Of course if you're in an authorization zone that LAANC has legally given you authorization, then you need the latest firmware and app to unlock the zone.

 

[GerdS]

I've have posted several times in response to this problem that downgrading your a/c and controller firmware to v1.00.00.0300 cures the problem. It seems to be a bug in the firmware. It is my suspicion that not all the hardware sold is identical, which may explain why some operators do not experience this problems whilst others do!
...

Simply No!
I have experienced an uncommanded descending just one single time yet and that has happened with firmware v1.00.00.0300!
So there is NOTHING what you can actually do to ship around this bug for the future.
I have seen the uncommanded descending problem already occuring with a beta unit in a YouTube video just on the first day after announcement. The guy there thought it has been caused by the altitude he was flying, as he was located on a hill.