Mavic Pro Flies, but Won't link to DJI GO4. No video link.

[Conservative Nihilist]

I recently purchased a used Mavic Pro from Ebay, and have thus far been unable to get any video feedback, and unable to establish a link between the drone and both DJI GO4 , and Litchi. There is, however, a link between the drone and its controller, whereby the controller's screen shows the drone as ready for takeoff in GPS mode.

To ensure that the purported readiness to fly in GPS mode translated into reality, I took the drone outside, and launched it, only to find out that it was trapped in beginner mode, which I most certainly do not need, and did not set in the menu options. Oddly, the geographical position of the drone is accurately depicted on the map view of my Apple iPad screen. Further testing the functions, I sent the drone out to the close proximity limit imposed by beginner mode, then pressed the RTH button, which had zero effect. The drone just sat there and made no attempt to return to the landing pad.

During this short flight test, the controller's record button appeared to work, but without a connection to DJI GO4 or Litchi, it was not possible to start recording from the iPad screen. For the purposes of that short flight test, I inserted an 8GB SD card into the drone, and the flashing "REC" icon confirmed that recording did occur when I pressed the controller's record button,

Prior to that brief flight test, I did try to link the Mavic Pro with DJI GO4 by following the 4-steps outlined for that process, only to see the procedure stall at the final step of the linking process. It was at that point that I decided to conduct a short flight test, with the mixed results described above. Now, I might not qualify to be regarded as a seasoned drone-meister, but having covered over 1,200 miles in autonomous Litch missions using my venerable Phantom 3 Standard, I have accrued sufficient experience in piloting DJI quadcopters to transition from the Phantom platform to the Mavic Pro without being confounded by too steep of a learning curve, at least in theory.

Finally, I do have a DJI account, which I checked in search of a menu for adding newly acquired drones, only to find that no such option exists, strangely. Also, I understand that used DJI drones do not require a repeat of the activation process that needs only be carried out with brand new drones, meaning that activation of this Mavic Pro cannot be a causative factor in my inability to see a video signal or link the drone with both DJI GO4 and Litchi. Any advice on how to establish a video link, and how to connect the drone to the DGI GO4 app, or to Litchi, would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Repaid1]

The two biggest issues you list above are what I will try and help with. First connectivity. SO you are saying you have the Go 4 App being displayed and in camera view, just the actual vieo feed is not displaying? It seems so as it must already be bound if you can arm by controller and fly. The main cause of this is the connection of USB cable from controller to tablet/phone. One of the biggest issues is indeed the cable itself. From there it is because the user is using a port for connection and still has a side or bottom port with the small provided cable still in the controller. IF you are feeding out of the side connection, then nothing can be plugged into the controller on the other and vice versa, regardless if the other end is free (Not connected or not) So insure nothing is in any port and try the bottom port first, then the other port. Ensuring you are using a data cable and not a charge only cable.

The second cause for this could be firmware mismatch to the controller. If the app is current and the controller and aircraft are not in some instances due to a update that will cause your issue. So for that issue you need to insure nothing is attached to controller except to the port you are trying, that the cable is known good data transfer type, and that all your systems are up to date.

Your distance problem is simply because your App is not logged into your account at DJI, there are plenty of threads and youtube videos to show you the correct method for that


Beyond the above and verifying all those are a go and proper...you bought a lemon from my observations through the years.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

This highly informative reply is appreciated, Repaid1. I am suffering from major buyer's remorse at the moment, because I bought THREE used Ebay drones at once, only to discover that the single one that works as advertised is the Phantom3 Standard. For as long as I live I will NEVER consider purchasing any other model of DJI drone used, no matter how glowingly described by the seller.

The Phantom 3 Pro I bought also flies, but has no video feedback, exactly as is the case with this Mavic Pro. If I could offer one bit of advice to anyone shopping for used DJI drones, I would warn them to buy ONLY Phantom 3 Standard models to the exclusion of ALL other more pricey and complicated variants, Any other DJI drone besides the Phantom 3 Standard that is bought used, is GUARANTEED to be DOA Dead on Arrival, no matter how "new" it looks.

With that rant out of the way, I can confirm that I did not have the side cable plugged in while using the USB socket underneath the Mavic Pro controller to connect my iPad with a known good cable. Your mention of the distinction between a data cable and a charging cable is news to my ears because the USB to lightning cable I am using is indeed the one for charging my iPad. I truly had no idea there was a difference between charging cables and data cables, so that might be the problem there.

Finally, I will look into the logging in process for the app, into my DJI account. This is another nugget of information that I hadn't encountered anywhere previously. I doff my hat to you, sir, for this and previous insightful advice offered both here and in the RC Groups forum. I am enormously grateful and will post a follow-up report on how my bumbling adventures turn out here.

P.S. I just remembered that this same USB to lightning cable does work as a data cable when used with my Fimi X8 drone, which therefore eliminates the cable as a reason for the connectivity problem between DJI GO4 and this Mavic quadcopter.

I will also look to see if there is a mismatch with respect to the firmware update revision numbers of the drone, as compared to the App, which I downloaded just a few hours ago, after deleting the existing one, as suggested in a few youtube videos I watched.

 

[Repaid1]

I won't say the two are connected, but there is a slight chance that what is causing your issue could be. You are taking two drones one LightBridge and one Ocusysnc (uipdated LightBridge) and are having same issue. I am leaning towards a simple error you might be making or overlooking something. The difference is that a P3S is connected by a wifi signal and the other two are tethered, which is why I say that. Again just guessing, but plausible.

I flew/and fly a P3P from the start and know of the quirks. Just because a cable works for one thing doesn't mean it will work for the other. Although with apple I don't "Think" they make a non data cable, but third parties do. It must be a MFi certification cable...it is a very strict apple certification. And has been problems for many people. Again I am leaning towards the cable a good 90% of your problem shows that is the issue. Best of luck...I have bought 2 used drones off Ebay BTW and both were perfect as described.

Note that there is some talk lately of P3P's basically bricking on video side as they were stored over a year or so, it may be the same for a Mavic (first series)...I won't get into the complexities of why, but basically it has to do with not having power applied to have a certain circuitry energized to "remember" info stored. So yeah there is that as well. But let's keep things positive right now

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

Holy chit, Repaid1. You are a freaking GENIUS ! I dug out the original lightning cable supplied with my iPad, and to my utter astonishment, the Mavic taillight illuminated in solid green, AND the video image came to life on my iPad screen right before my disbelieving eyes. I owe you a beer, or several, without question.

I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn't dreaming. Sir, you just saved me one thousand dollars, being the combined cost of the Mavic Pro, and the Phantom 3 Pro, which would have wound up as static conversation pieces, if it weren't for the advice you just gave about their importance of using OEM Apple cables for these drones. Since my Fimi X8 worked just fine with the generic charging cable I had been using thus far, it would never have occurred to me that the cable might be the problem that so confounded me for 3 days running.

Good thing I'm time zones away from you because I'd be picking myself up off the floor after being punched out for trying to give you a bear hug. You are da man sir! Now I'll check the Phantom 3 Pro, but even before I do, I am 100% certain there is absolutely nothing wrong with that drone either, save for my ignorance about the importance of using ONLY an original OEM Apple lightning cable.

My concluding remark, before I get to dancing about like a right looney over here is as follows: Yeeeeehaw !

 

[Repaid1]

Glad to hear...that is what some of us do here...some help, some learn. Go fire that P3P...report back Glad your sorted.

 

[old man mavic]

once again the forum has shown that having the vast pool of knowledge its members have,has saved the day ,for another member ,thats what makes this such a great place to be ,and its really what this forum is all about at the end of the day

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

Keeping my fingers crossed for more good luck, I tried out my newly acquired hand-me-down Ebay Phantom 3 Pro which also produced no video feedback during my earlier failings using a non-OEM cable to connect the controller to my iPad. Lo and behold, a nice crisp video image materialized instantly, just as it did when I swapped cables with the Mavic Pro.

Repaid1, my hat is off to you for that key hint about the importance of using OEM cables. I would never have stumbled on that wisdom without your help in this forum. I am a true believer in seeking technical advice from the pros in this forum, and once again I thank you kindly, sir. I am literally spoiled for choices now when it comes to selecting a drone for the day's Litchi mission sorties.

Regarding signal reach, the Mavic Pro is definitely in a league of its own, in comparison to the Phantoms. The video link remained sharp and glitch-free way beyond the point at which both Phantoms started to lose signal and stutter. I was amazed to see that signal strength remain steadfast even as I lowered the drone to 80 feet AGL, thousands of feet afield. The Mavic Pro is truly an evolutionary step above the technology used in the Phantom 3 series of quad-copter. Now, I've got some more flying on the agenda here. Over and out, for now.

 

[old man mavic]

@Conservative Nihilist once you have flown a drone with the Occusync transmission system even the earlier versions, you wonder how you managed before, i went from a PH3 to my MPP and was totally blown away by the stability of the signal between RC and drone and still marvel at it today after many many hours of flight time without ever dropping connection ,on a couple of occasions i have had the video feed drop out for a short while ,but i have never lost the control connection, and have just been able to fly back safely till the image reconnected