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mavic mini wont connect

AFUA

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Greetings, I am new to this forum and dji, I have more than 20 years UAV experience and have piloted everything from 2.5oz. MUAVs to 350lbs aircraft. But, I am not the computer/autopilot guy, I usually have the sticks for test flights, missions or recovery....
I can't get the new Mav Mini to connect. I updated the firmware by downloading the app to PC, putting it on SD card and loading into
a V20 phone. The phone has no sim, but is hooked up to wifi to get started. I have read about people successfully flying with phones on airplane mode...
The app comes up, but like others, I can't get past the first screen, the aircraft gives flashing yellow, then green for a bit, then goes to red......I already tried formatting the SD card for the aircraft. Do I need an SD card in the phone? Do I need to set it to airplane mode, so it won't try to use the phone?
Do I need to update the firmware on the aircraft? I have not found instructions for doing that...
Also tried to go to the DJI website to download dji assistant, but I only go to the German website, even when I type in the URL, it adds the /de for Germany.....
 
Are you certain the drone is not connecting to the controller, could it be the phone is not connecting to the controller? Does the phone show it is being charged by your controller?
Remove the mSD card from the drone.
Unless it is a quirk of that phone, memory and simm cards in the phone are irrelevant.
What process are you using to get the drone to connect to the controller?
It may not be of much use but the LED colour codes for the drone are found on -page 12 of the manual. https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_Mini/Mavic_Mini_User_Manual_v1.2_enI.pdf

It is likely that you do not need to update ANY firmware unless the existing firmwares clash or can not work together ( That I remember, I haven't experienced that myself).
Without an app the linking process is shown in
from 1:23 onwards, note the "hold" may be longer than 4 seconds.
 
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Did a manual link and got a blinking green light, but still no connection and when I repowered everything I would end up with a blinking red light. It does appear that the phone is not connecting to the controller. I also tried all this without the SD card and then I tried with no phone, blinking red light and nothing from the quad....
 
When you say things like ."......but still no connection and wh........" you need to clarify which connection you are talking about i.e. drone to controller or controller to phone,
A blinking green light on the drone should mean that you have a drone to controller connection. The lights on the controller should blink if there is NO drone to controller connection and be solid (not blinking) when there IS drone to controller connection.
Also try twiddling the gimbal control dial on the controller and look to see if the gimbal tilts as you twiddle the dial.
If you have no controller to phone connection then plug the phone into a computer via the phone's USB port, does the computer see the phone?
Check whether or not you need to enable things like USB debugging and whether or not the USB connection mode is correct. I don't remember have problems but I do not have your model of phone.
Does the phone or another phone charge when connected to the controller?

Aside from the published LED codes, the blinking red light on the drone can, indoors (with no GPS), mean that the drone IS connected to the controller but that it thinks it does not have sufficient light for the VPS system to work and that consequently it would be in ATTI mode when it took off. The app is needed to authorise such a flight. I see that all the time when launching indoors but once the drone is in the air it has sufficent light and flies perfectly well.
 
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@AFUA this may sound a stupid question, but do you have the screen device connected to the side port of the controller make sure that you have it plugged in the correct way as it is very easy to damage the socket if you get it wrong
 
Ok, There was actually a message from the phone," no controller connected"
I fired it up without the phone and got the blinking green light, the gimbal was responsive, but it wouldn't do anything else and then would revert to blinking red light after a minute or 2.

So, the phone is not recognizing the controller, or the cable it bad and the connection to the airframe seems wonky without the phone. I have not taken it outside for satellites yet. I also have not had any prompting to register an account with DJI, I do not have the "Assistant" app and when I try to go to the site, it only takes me to the German site.
 
DJI drones need you to register with DJI before you can fly them ,so you will need a good stable internet WIFI connection in order to achieve that part you will be asked to do that when you first connect every thing up have you downloaded the correct APP to your device its the fly app for the MINI 1 hope you get it sorted out
 
From what you say the connection between the drone and the controller seems fine.

Did you see the
"Aside from the published LED codes, the blinking red light on the drone can, indoors (with no GPS), mean that the drone IS connected to the controller but that it thinks it does not have sufficient light for the VPS system to work and that consequently it would be in ATTI mode when it took off. The app is needed to authorise such a flight. I see that all the time when launching indoors but once the drone is in the air it has sufficent light and flies perfectly well."
bit?

I am a bit concerned about the "minute or 2" delay in the drone going to flashing red. But when mine are flashing red they, (note the plural, so not an isolated instance) will do nothing other than move the gimbal UNTIL I authorise the flight, so your's doing nothing else is, at the moment, nothing to worry about.

Your......," no controller connected" tells us only that the controller is not connected to the phone, it does not tell us whether the problem lies
a) within the phone, or
b) in a damaged USB socket in the phone, or
c) in the cable connecting the phone and controller, or
d) in the soclet of the controller, or
e) in the controller itself.

Trying to locate the problem is why I have asked questions such as does the phone indicate it is charging, what happens when you connect the phone to a computer etc. etc,. You need to answer such questions if we are to help you.
 
Ok, thanks, the red blinking is probably no gps. it turned green again when I brought it closer to a window.
The Fly version update is: 1639387363940-DJI-v1.5.4-211213-1390-50209-official-sec . apk
That is what is loaded on the phone.
The cable connection is uneventful and if it were plugged in backwards, it would point upwards and not reach the phone. Nothing looks, or feels damaged, this is a new unit, not a refurb.
The phone is new to me, so there is another variable. I have seen reports of this phone working from last year, so maybe I need to revert to an earlier version...
I do not have the dji account and have not found a way to get there yet, so this may be the problem with the program not working.
Just went to dji site on another pc and they are phasing out the mini, (Not even listed under mavics) but did find downloads. Appaerently I would be prompted from the phone if it were connecting with the controller...
I will try loading the assistant in the phone tomorrow and see if I can back in to it so to speak....
 
Installed assistant in PC account is set up, tried to set up the mini, but still get the red top banner stating I am not connected to the controller. The gimbal works, the haptic response happens in the phone when I plug it in and the Fly program launches and can not be turned off without re-launching when the phone is connected to the controller. Seems like everything should work, but the phone can not see the controller.
The phone did a DJI update today, but can not install it until there is a connection, catch 22...
How can I update the controller without the phone?
 
I downloaded dji assistant and hooked everything up. I have an account, although it does not show my purchases.
When I fired up "Fly" in the phone, it prompted me to update, I did, but it would not install because it does not recognize the controller connection. The gimbal is responsive, the phone is charging as well as starting the Fly program when it gets plugged in, but nothing else happens, so the phone is not recognizing the connection.
 
They only ship with one cable, I am not sure what the little square cornered connector on the mavic is. I have not seen one before and don't really want to order more parts to make what was supposed to be simple, work.
I ordered this to have a simple platform for quickly taking a few overhead shots of our larger UAV field ops. It is turning out to be more hassle than setting up the pixhawk on Ardu, I am leaning towards returning it since I can't get it to simply connect.
 

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