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beanxxaddict

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I apologize for this being so long winded.

So I have dug and dug and I can only find a thread of one other having this same issue, and there was never a resolution.

I received the drone in pieces for free to see if I could rebuild it. I replaced all 4 arms, the chassis, the gimbal arm, and multiple ribbon cables.

After all of the repairs the drone does fly. The camera and gimbal function, but the front left sensor fails.

On the calibration screen the left sensor greyed out. To troubleshoot if it was the lens itself or its cable, I plugged It into the right lenses port on the gimbal control board and it works perfectly.
So logically thinking, the board itself was the issue. So I ordered a new board and installed it. Initially, all four sensors were failing, but with a factory reset on the drone and updating the firmware, all sensors are functioning but , you guessed it, the front left sensor… so I did The same process with a little extra steps.
Unplug the right sensor (I tore It’s ribbon cable doing this, so now I have New sensors coming) and plug the left sensor on the right part of the gimbal board. It works perfectly on the calibration screen when plugged into the right. When plugged into the left slot, nada. It’s greyed out again.

So I started Unplugging everything on the gimbal control board one at a time to see what would be the minimum amount of connections required for the front sensors to still work. I unplugged both rear right gimbal ribbon cable that run to the main board, the camera ribbon cable, and its video cable. Still the lens will not function on the left side of either gimbal boards. Only on the right side of them.

I’ve ordered a third board to triple confirm that it’s not the issue, but I cannot begin to figure out what could be interfering with the left sensor. It would have to be coming from the main board, but that would mean it’s an issue traveling through the ribbon cable up to the gimbal board.

I truly hope some genius can help me, because I'm so close to giving up. I’ve put ~$450 into this thing, and it’s still not working right.

I’m trying to downgrade the firmware to each older version to see if it helps, but the drone keeps turning off mid update. 😤😤😤
 

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It does seem to be a broken connection or bad board
 
It does seem to be a broken connection or bad board
It’s hard to believe it could be two boards with the same bad left port, but I guess we will see tomorrow with the third one arrives. If that doesn’t fix it I may tear into it deeper, or throw it into the highway. Not sure yet.
 
I'm am thinking that when you get the new sensor your problem may go away. Those boards are terrible for getting damaged in ANY crash. Are you sure there isn't any of the old conductor paste residue on the connection the tiniest bit will cause you problems.
 
Suprised you're willing to put so much money, and effort, into a mavic pro.
 
I'm am thinking that when you get the new sensor your problem may go away. Those boards are terrible for getting damaged in ANY crash. Are you sure there isn't any of the old conductor paste residue on the connection the tiniest bit will cause you problems.
I’ve cleaned the old board extensively with alcohol and a soft tooth brush. It and the new board I bought Look perfectly fine and clean.
 
I’ve never had a drone, and it was kind of a special project because of who gave it to me. I never Expected to be chasing ghosts.
I have a mavic pro Platinum that fell in the ocean. It was recovered, and I got it flying, but the gimbal camera was broke. I changed the ribbon cable, and then bought a new gimbal/camera for it. But it didn't work, so I returned it and got my money back. No point in screwing with it anymore since I have a mavic 3 pro now. But I appreciate all your effort.
 
I have a mavic pro Platinum that fell in the ocean. It was recovered, and I got it flying, but the gimbal camera was broke. I changed the ribbon cable, and then bought a new gimbal/camera for it. But it didn't work, so I returned it and got my money back. No point in screwing with it anymore since I have a mavic 3 pro now. But I appreciate all your effort.
That sucks!

Yea, I meant to try the last board I ordered Sooner so I could send it back if it didn’t fix the problem.

Life got in the way and now I’m down another $100 lol.

I’ll send this one back if it doesn’t fix it.
 
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Since you have tested the left camera in the right port have you tested the right camera in the left port?
BTW, your test was good thinking but, in hindsight I think risky, since there's no guarantee that the pin outs of the two connectors are the same especially where they are left & right.


Additionally, the suspect boards presumably connect to another board (call it board B ), how do you know that board B is not at fault?
Unfortunately the problem demonstrates the risk of DIY repairs where you have to buy bits and hope that you have correctly identified the broken component.
Best of luck.
 
Since you have tested the left camera in the right port have you tested the right camera in the left port?
BTW, your test was good thinking but, in hindsight I think risky, since there's no guarantee that the pin outs of the two connectors are the same especially where they are left & right.


Additionally, the suspect boards presumably connect to another board (call it board B ), how do you know that board B is not at fault?
Unfortunately the problem demonstrates the risk of DIY repairs where you have to buy bits and hope that you have correctly identified the broken component.
Best of luck.
If you look at the bottom of the connections on the ribbon cables for both the left and right sensors, there are markings to show orientation. The are identical. It was worth the risk lol. And I havent yet, since the ribbon cable on the right sensor was torn. But the right sensor was working before I tore it taking it off. The new sensors will be in with the board today.
 
If you look at the bottom of the connections on the ribbon cables for both the left and right sensors, there are markings to show orientation. The are identical. It was worth the risk lol. And I havent yet, since the ribbon cable on the right sensor was torn. But the right sensor was working before I tore it taking it off. The new sensors will be in with the board today.
They are*
 
Since you have tested the left camera in the right port have you tested the right camera in the left port?
BTW, your test was good thinking but, in hindsight I think risky, since there's no guarantee that the pin outs of the two connectors are the same especially where they are left & right.


Additionally, the suspect boards presumably connect to another board (call it board B ), how do you know that board B is not at fault?
Unfortunately the problem demonstrates the risk of DIY repairs where you have to buy bits and hope that you have correctly identified the broken component.
Best of luck.
And if what you are calling board B is the main board, (the bigger ones), I honestly Have no idea. I suspect they may be the issue as well but I have No idea how to test it. Replacing wouldn’t be worth it, definitely due to the need to resolder everything.

I’m leaning towards it NOT being one of the other boards since the gimbal and camera work perfectly, and the two ribbon cables coming from the other bigger boards both say gimbal. Also can disconnect the right ribbon cable from the main boards without losing the right sensor. Not sure if that means anything. Just a rough way of narrowing down the culprit.
 
It's been 5 years since I've flow my mavic pro Platinum. I don't even remember if it had obstacle avoidance, but I think it did. So are you saying it won't fly without both the obstacle avoidance cameras working?
 
It's been 5 years since I've flow my mavic pro Platinum. I don't even remember if it had obstacle avoidance, but I think it did. So are you saying it won't fly without both the obstacle avoidance cameras working?
It will fly, but the last time I tried It kept auto landing from an error
 
Update: installed the second new gimbal control board as well as two new sensors, and the front left sensor still isn’t appearing in calibration. I’ve updated all firmware and what not. So the issue must be stemming from deeper in the drone. I think I’ve officially given up. Too expensive chasing ghosts.
 
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