So yesterday (5/29) I took my Spark on a day trip, and when I turned everything on, I got a "Firmware Update" notification. I did the firmware thing, then power-cycled the quad and controller. When DJI Go started again, I got a screen (screenshot below) asking me to choose whether to share various data with DJI. I was eager to get flying, so I left them all on "NO", intending to look more closely later.

Well, flying was impossible. After the firmware update, the Spark acted very erratically. At takeoff, it would bob vertically up and down, hitting the ground. Unresponsive to the controls. I managed to catch it from the bottom, and tried to tip it to the side to shut off the motors...and it wouldn't shut off. I had to pop off the battery. Very weird. I stuck on a new battery thinking the power pack went bad and was sending it weird spikes, but same behavior with the fresh battery. Ignored the stick controls, smacked into the ground. Strange RPM high & low revving. I packed it up.

That was yesterday. Today I turned everything on and got the same screen, asking me to share with DJI all the GPS and Hardware data. I slid all the switches to "ON" or "YES". Test flight afterward: perfect. Steady and responsive, as if nothing had every been amiss.

Has anyone else experienced anything like that? I've had the Spark for many months with zero (major) issues. I was initially suspicious of that "Share Your Info" screen because there's a misspelled word in it ("stickly"), but now I think the quad flew like crap because I DID NOT choose to share all my GPS data.

Reminds me of the "mandatory" firmware update last year, that rendered the Spark inoperative unless you installed their patch.

Any thoughts?

DJI Info Screenshot

Wothout dji device gps, u get atti modei guess... Well yes the spelling is very "noob". Like a new up omming chinese factory would spell... Bad commercial from dji

to verify that it's the disagrement:
Go back to "no", please, but start with "Rc-controlled-start" (With the Sticks) very slowly
You may "only" have encountered that some Sparks having, sometimes, starting issues.

was it looking like this?

Mine Spark does EXACTLY what is in the video above!!  Except that mine does it in both take off modes (Launch with the app as well as manual stick take off).  I didn't have this issue until after this last firmware update.  

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-5-30 20:55
to verify that it's the disagrement:
Go back to "no", please, but start with "Rc-controlled-start" (With the Sticks) very slowly
You may "only" have encountered that some Sparks having, sometimes, starting issues.

Do you mind if I share this video in another thread?

EMTDad Posted at 2018-5-30 23:29
Do you mind if I share this video in another thread?

It is not mine, the guy who made it startet a topic about it.

EMTDad Posted at 2018-5-30 23:26
Mine Spark does EXACTLY what is in the video above!!  Except that mine does it in both take off modes (Launch with the app as well as manual stick take off).  I didn't have this issue until after this last firmware update.

Ok, so in case that happens again, because I doubt it is just the App:
Do as said in the video, start very slowly with the sticks.
I had lately a lot of trouble , even after for quiet some time the stick start worked very well.
But after rewatching the video, I realized I have not used the stick start "slowly", because I wanted to get the bird as quick so high above ground as possible.
But since I use it slowly again, even with a little hovering at about 10-20 cm sometimes, the workaround seems to work again.
Which gets me back to: with one battery it behaves different than with others

I got the same message - but accepted everything, from memory and I did it very quickly, if you chose not to share the location, then the GPS mode and a lot of the other features would not work. The reality is, I think, that you have to say "yes" . Happy to be proven wrong. Chris

Since I am still using nokia here offline maps, I do not have this "you have to say yes", yet.

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-5-30 20:55
to verify that it's the disagrement:
Go back to "no", please, but start with "Rc-controlled-start" (With the Sticks) very slowly
You may "only" have encountered that some Sparks having, sometimes, starting issues.

///was it looking like this?  --  YOUTUBE VIDEO

Yes!   It was doing exactly that!   And yes, I was launching from the app, just like in the video.   The weird up/down, the rapid beeping, everything.  I'm relieved that I'm not the only one having this problem.

The workaround is to launch with the sticks, rather than the app, and I will give that a try later today.

Thanks for pointing me to that video!

It is not related to the app. Please try to change the propellers if you have spares, calibrate the IMU, too. If the issue persists, please kindly provide us with the flight logs on the drone, upload to Dropbox and paste the link here, please also provide us with the screenshot of the firmware info (General settings, about), we will have the engineers to check the data. Thank you.

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-6-3 23:10
It is not related to the app. Please try to change the propellers if you have spares, calibrate the IMU, too. If the issue persists, please kindly provide us with the flight logs on the drone, upload to Dropbox and paste the link here, please also provide us with the screenshot of the firmware info (General settings, about), we will have the engineers to check the data. Thank you.

OK, thanks.   I've never calibrated the IMU before.  I will try it today and let you know.

Thanks for sharing your experience after the last upgrade.  Haven't flown in the last month due to rain and other factors here.  Does it ask you every time or does it only ask you once assuming you say yes?  Thanks

Sparky_17 Posted at 2018-6-4 04:02
Thanks for sharing your experience after the last upgrade.  Haven't flown in the last month due to rain and other factors here.  Does it ask you every time or does it only ask you once assuming you say yes?  Thanks

Since I answered YES to everything, it's not asked me.  But it was persistent until I did slide every switch on.   Very curious.

DJI Thor Posted at 2018-6-3 23:10
It is not related to the app. Please try to change the propellers if you have spares, calibrate the IMU, too. If the issue persists, please kindly provide us with the flight logs on the drone, upload to Dropbox and paste the link here, please also provide us with the screenshot of the firmware info (General settings, about), we will have the engineers to check the data. Thank you.

I just calibrated the IMU, gave it a short test flight and all seems well.   Steady and normal.   But this weird problem was not a regular occurrence, only intermittent.  I'm hoping this is the solution.

By the way, this is the first time I've ever calibrated the IMU.  Is that something I should do regularly?  Like, every time I go out to fly?

And even though you advised me to, I didn't swap out my propellers, even though I do have some spares.   I inspected the props that are on it now, and they are in good shape:  they move and swivel easily, and they don't have any dings or cracks or tears.  For now I'll keep them on.

djcamera Posted at 2018-6-4 06:40
I just calibrated the IMU, gave it a short test flight and all seems well.   Steady and normal.   But this weird problem was not a regular occurrence, only intermittent.  I'm hoping this is the solution.

By the way, this is the first time I've ever calibrated the IMU.  Is that something I should do regularly?  Like, every time I go out to fly?

It is good to know that it gets back to normal. If it does exist again, please kindly help to export the data for further checking.
Regarding the IMU calibration, you can do it when the app prompts you to do so, in other cases like the drone becomes drift, parameters are not correct etc., you can also calibrate it.
And as for the propellers, if they are all in good condition and perform well now, you don't have to change it. We suggest changing them every year, if they are damaged or bent, please change when it is needed.