Updated to 1.2.8 today and had an issue. First flight was a bit shaky and drifted a few times around 4ft or more after calibrating. I landed it and waited about 1/2 for the second flight. Started up RC, then the P3A and opened the DJI App on my phone. When I got ready to fly (I did not do a calibration since I never moved the bird from the previous flight) I got my first warning stating that the IMU was calibrating and not to turn it off or move it. It was sitting on a wooden picnic table what has metal on it so I was a bit worried. However I let it run for over 10mins without touching it or moving it and the warning would not go away (status stated it was Safe to Fly but every time I tried to take off I got that IMU warning. I turned everything off and let it set for 5 mins then restarted everything and got the Safe to Fly again. This time it started up so I took off and hovered over the table when the P3A took off to the left and started flying on its own. I immediately pushed down on the stick to land it as it was still flying off to the left on its own. It touched down not hard however it flipped over since it was still trying to fly sideways to the left. I picked it up, put it on the table and started it up again to see if any noise or anything from the engines and did not see or hear any damage (thank god for prop guards). Any suggestions? I had a successful update to the P3A and to the RC for 1.2.8 so not sure what the hell happened.

For any one thinking of buying a P3 don't! When I thought things couldn't worse I updated today to the 1.2.8 and almost had catastrophic results. I had the same experience as spcsaw. DJI needs to keep the other firmware available until they can create one that works. So now not only is my lag as bad or worse than ever I am scared to even try and lift off the ground. I want a full refund.

moneyspots Posted at 2015-6-21 07:57
For any one thinking of buying a P3 don't! When I thought things couldn't worse I updated today to t ...

Come on. Even if there might be firmware issues, it should not be something that stopped people from buying a Phantom 3.

It is a great aircraft. Is it bug-free? No, but no high tech cutting edge product is.

I for one am very happy with my Phantom 3 Professional. I'll admit - I have not updated the Firmware yet - waiting for the dust to settle and for me to get some time to read up on the firmware-drama. Generally I've always updated to the latest firmware. And as long as you are careful, do full re-calibrations after Firmware update (just in case) there should (normally) not be any problems.

My advice is; buy a Phantom 3!     It will only get better as the software/firmware is tweaked. DJI is a serious company, they will fix whatever problems there might be with firmware/software.

We can't have it all. We can't get cutting-edge products early AND expect them to be bug free. These are complicated things. I for one am happy with the trade-off of getting the product "early" and living with the fact that there might be some issues. One could always buy an older model that might have most bugs ironed out... But I prefer the P3 for now

moneyspots Posted at 2015-6-21 07:57
For any one thinking of buying a P3 don't! When I thought things couldn't worse I updated today to t ...

Get a grip.  For the likely 1000s of phantoms flying,  there are a few having problems but to say no one should purchase a phanton is nuts and YOUR personal opinion.  I had more problems with my blade 350 than I have with my phantom.

moneyspots Posted at 2015-6-21 07:57
For any one thinking of buying a P3 don't! When I thought things couldn't worse I updated today to t ...

I think too many people expect perfection from a mass produced product. Just like new car or TV there is going to be bugs to work out. I updated my P3 Professional and it flies perfectly. I recalibrated everything after the update. I would recommend a P3 to anyone.

I love my Phantom 3 Pro and would recommend it to everyone. But I'd also tell them to be very cautious and follow all instructions.

I would suggest to everyone to turn of the VPS and leave it off until the have all the bugs with it fixed. And then just turn it on if you're flying inside, isn't needed for outside flying.

My Phantom 3 Pro was flawless for the first couple weeks and did perform as advertised. I have tried 3 different devices now trying to get the original performance back. I have not pin pointed the answer to my problems yet but I feel cheated by DJI for having to tinker so much to get the original performance restored. I really talked this thing up to my friends and the first time I tried to demonstrate it to a friend that was interested in buying one it was a shit show.

moneyspots Posted at 2015-6-21 07:57
For any one thinking of buying a P3 don't! When I thought things couldn't worse I updated today to t ...

It appears that I have fixed my issue. After having my issues I recalibrated everything and it seemed not to fix any of the issues that I've been having. However I read one of the replies stating that I should turn off the visual positioning system and I did that and it got worse. So I turned the Visual positioning system back on  and it appears that that has fixed my issue. It no longer tries to fly by itself or drifts 4 to 6 feet. maybe 1 to 2 inches now.

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-21 13:06
It appears that I have fixed my issue. After having my issues I recalibrated everything and it seem ...

Thanks for the up date. My drift problem seems to have fixed its self for now. I don't know why but ill take it.

Sorry to read about the problem!
But I got absolutely the same problems With the last update
Witch did nothihg but made my ph3pro MAD no responding
on controls spinning fast.
I tryed 3 times! first 2 tryies its didn't fly,just turned over madly spinning,so
After Two approches I have changed propps and destroyed both complects!
Yesterday I got a new props and tryed 3d time with precautions in high grass aria.
Stated it this time from the app start -slide the screen! So it did that comand but next I tried to lift it up and touched my left joystik it went strait in the side and down....
Only grass safe it but anyway it makes it useles.I'm on hollydays,all year long was planning flights and shots,and now....
I'm not talking about looking like an idiot in front of kids,quite emotional thing,especcially when it is not you fold!!!!
Had dozen successful flights with the previous firmware .
It's has happened with a lot of drone owners ,but in the same time plenty of people upgraded successfully ,
Is there any chance to downgrade firmware for my Ph 3 Pro to previous version witch worked just perfectly
before I crashed my drone trying the new 1.2.6 ?
All this makes me MAD!
Even buying a new one doesn't fix the problem!!!!
Any sugestions.
Regards
Jan

Reading some replies here about the VPS not working after the FW update makes me wonder if the VPS is actually ON when the drifting happens. spcsaw turned the VPS on after turning it off and stability returned. Could the FW actually have the VPS turned off sometimes while indicating it is ON? Personally I am not having any jssues with the update...yet but I am still being fairly cautious until I get a couple more batteries run through.

Rigworker Posted at 2015-6-21 09:48
Get a grip.  For the likely 1000s of phantoms flying,  there are a few having problems but to say  ...

I don't think there are just a few people with problems from firmware 1.2.6, 1.2.7. I have been reading about a lot of issues from that upgrade, and some pretty bad crashes and injuries.

the way I look at it ive lost count how many updates my lg nexus 5 mobile has received but its ok for those companies to release updates regularly  same applies to google with patches being released so I see no difference to what's happening here at least there  sorting them..

janibgud Posted at 2015-6-22 14:05
I don't think there are just a few people with problems from firmware 1.2.6, 1.2.7. I have been re ...

Compared to how many Phantoms out there? Even everyone that has updated are not having issues. I was not saying there are no problems. I was saying that to stop selling/buying the product is ludicrous. .

nirvanagiftstor Posted at 2015-6-21 18:48
Sorry to read about the problem!
But I got absolutely the same problems With the last update
Witc ...

I had the same issue and how I fixed it was to recalibrate compass and IMU. After that was completed I took advise to turn off the VSP and tried to fly again. It made mine drift even worse so I turned back on VSP and that seems to have fixed my issues. I can not fly again without it taking off sideways.

Latest firmware for me is also crap, I went from 1.2.7 which worked perfect to 1.2.8 which has made my phantom fly bad and at not even half the distance it could fly before, it keeps losing signal to my ipad mini 3 too, really annoyed with this now

Where's Sploodge?

''Compared to how many Phantoms out there? Even everyone that has updated are not having issues. I was not saying there are no problems. I was saying that to stop selling/buying the product is ludicrous.''


What is your point to posting comments here? I didn't see any suggestions or helpful info from you, just keeping advertising the product. If you would be one of the victims I bet your think will be different.
leave the topic, please and stop innoing people who are in the trouble only because they love their Phantoms not less then you do.
I was ready to buy a new,working one,that's how important it was,not only for me.
O.K. I'll try 5th time,before I crashed it completely,do what "spcsaw"  says has helped him...
Gonna do that today,wait for the feedback,anyway it sits here useless piece of plastic

rob@devgamers.n Posted at 2015-6-23 05:59
Latest firmware for me is also crap, I went from 1.2.7 which worked perfect to 1.2.8 which has made  ...

Hi Rob! Where you from UK,mate?
I'm from Manchester,on hollidays at moment,back England in one week .Gonna send
my Phantom 3 back to Dji....

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-23 04:49
I had the same issue and how I fixed it was to recalibrate compass and IMU. After that was complet ...

Thanks bro! I'm gonna do it again,it still flyable....{:3_58:}

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-23 04:49
I had the same issue and how I fixed it was to recalibrate compass and IMU. After that was complet ...

It WORKS indoors, - slide off - ok,up ok and down and stop.
Everything was alright ,gonna check it outdoor... fingers cross...
Thanks for you reply bro! It's useful so far...

Ronis Posted at 2015-6-23 09:31
Hi Rob! Where you from UK,mate?
I'm from Manchester,on hollidays at moment,back England in one wee ...

Stirling in Scotland mate, I spend 3+ hours online to DJi support last night to get told to return my P3 to my dealer or contact DJi Europe, not happy at all with the service from DJi but my dealer is usually ok so will see what they say

While I had problems at first with 1.2.7 I am not having any problems now. My first problems were the bird updating its self. Every time I landed and tried to restart without a full shut down I was getting calibration errors.
Now the bird is flying much better without problems. I think that 1.2.8 is a update for the controller not the bird.

iride4u Posted at 2015-6-24 00:44
While I had problems at first with 1.2.7 I am not having any problems now. My first problems were th ...

v1.2.8 is not a controller update but one for the phantom itself

I think I'm going to wait to upgrade to the new firmware v1.2.8, until I stop hearing of so many people with problems after upgrading.  I'm new at flying RC aircraft and I need all the stability that I can get during my time of training.

I was just about to pull the purchase trigger.....but now I'm going to wait a while.
I would probably go ahead IF......they allowed to reinstall previous updates.   But since they don't.....better for me to wait.   Glad I did now :-)

Cessna172 Posted at 2015-6-24 03:20
I was just about to pull the purchase trigger.....but now I'm going to wait a while.
I would probabl ...

I'm glad you waited too.  That way I can get mine faster

Very disapointed , I was already bemoaning the amount of firmware updates required already. But I had not had any problems other than noticing I had to calibrate more often after the last update. I was confident in the aircrafts systems as it had always warned of calibration issues and would not take off if calibration problem was evident. It had also returned home when i lost signal .
After todays update and crash immediately after take of i am not happy there were no warnings and its lucky i managed to crash land it on sand so no obvious damage . But i now have no desire to try another flight . Sp what to do now, , send it in to dji and wait a long time for it to return or risk flying it and it falling out of the sky from a great height! Think I may have been better of at least costomer service wise with a 3dr solo or yuneec typhoon, anyone have any experince with either?

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-23 04:49
I had the same issue and how I fixed it was to recalibrate compass and IMU. After that was complet ...

"I can not fly again without it taking off sideways"   ----- why that???Not able to do it normally?

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-23 04:49
I had the same issue and how I fixed it was to recalibrate compass and IMU. After that was complet ...

Thanks bro! I'm in the sky again!!!!

chappy4838@gmai Posted at 2015-6-24 06:22
Very disapointed , I was already bemoaning the amount of firmware updates required already. But I ha ...

Recalibrate IMU, compass , that the one and only reason of problems
after any firmware update!

I am such a NEWBE to this stuff, I just purchased a P3 - received it today - and am looking at this forum for advise and tips... How do I check the firmware version that is installed on the bird? I see the ver on the software... sorry for being such a simple question, but a reminder I am a NEWBIE.... TY all

kevinr621 Posted at 2015-6-25 10:18
I am such a NEWBE to this stuff, I just purchased a P3 - received it today - and am looking at this  ...

Its in the About section of the Pilot App.

spcsaw Posted at 2015-6-21 13:06
It appears that I have fixed my issue. After having my issues I recalibrated everything and it seem ...

I also had this experience. I cycled the VPS sensor several times and then left it off. WALLAH. Flies perfect again (minus VPS) I'm wondering if the VPS after the latest firmware appeared to be switched off when it really wasn't.  I would really like to have VPS back however as it was sold to me with a working non-gps system for inside flight. I flew out 2.5 miles today (no issues), with some reservation. It is regaining my trust now.

jimcloud74@yaho Posted at 2015-6-29 10:08
I also had this experience. I cycled the VPS sensor several times and then left it off. WALLAH. Fl ...

Be careful I had same issue I Turned vps off and started flying again even flew about a mile out and back one day. I always always run motors and calibrate before take off and hover about 6 feet for a min before flying. But low and behold sideways drift again today immediately after take off. Once it's going side ways you can't land the thing without it flipping  over. Needless to say Phantom is not working now I think I should have invested in some prop guards .