After hearing many DJI pilots say that there were some big issues with the new firmware update, I avoided updating my DJI FPV drone, goggles, and equipment for quite some time especially after hearing that there were issues with the RTH feature.

Unfortunately I was forced to download all the new firmware updates recently after entering in the DJI Fly app, otherwise I would not be able to fly without the updates.

And of course there was an issue today with the RTH function, which NEVER happened in the past ever. The transmission feed into my goggles lost signal and I immediately press and held down the RTH button on the controller, but after a good 15-20 minutes my drone did not return home for the first time. It was not far off at all, less than 30 seconds to reach the flight destination area and the battery life was still around 40%, plenty to return home on all previous flights.

I drove over to the last recorded coordinates of the site to search the commercial area which had buildings, trees, and shrubs but mostly empty due to it being the weekend. However, there was no sign of my drone anywhere in the vicinity nor in the sparse treetops that were visible. The flight data for the drone has not been available for today and the search has not been successful. I could not use the light and beeping feature of the drone because the battery seemed completely drained and there was no connection remaining to the goggles. Security did not have any sign of the drone and no one gave it to the lost and found. The coordinates don't seem to have reliability and the last images / short video did not help in the search and rescue. I even sent out my mavic 2 pro drone to survey the area but I could not locate it anywhere on the rooftops or parking lot areas.

This is extremely frustrating that this new firmware would cause an RTH malfunction that I've never experienced with other DJI drones. DJI should really be responsible for maintaining good firmware that can result in the lost of an expensive drone. It seems pragmatic to reiterate that the new firmware should be avoided until DJI can fix this and improve their transmission signals.

Has anyone had success finding their FPV or other drones after completely losing signal and battery?

DJI I really hope you fix this issue.

Regards,
Very disappointed customer

Hello there Jonathan Bui. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI FPV and thank you for reaching out. Since this unfortunate event happened to your DJI FPV, I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance with regards to this matter. We will do there best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you.

In the release note of the 0015 version it says: Optimized flight safety.
It doesn't seem to be the case considering the number of people who have problems with this last version.

I have no problems

I had two crashes with the drone after this update both was at the low battery RTH as well.   2nd crash was total obliteration unfortunately, in the goggles just showed low battery then suddenly boom, 0 battery

Only thing i recovered today was a leg with the props attached :/.  The rest is mia.   Googles didn’t update just drone… strange?

DJI Stephen Posted at 4-2 19:41
Hello there Jonathan Bui. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI FPV and thank you for reaching out. Since this unfortunate event happened to your DJI FPV, I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance with regards to this matter. We will do there best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you.

Appreciate the help how about replacing my drone that fell from the sky? Lol

Very sinking feeling of uncertainty at the very least; not to mention if it hits someone else.

When the RTH function kicks in on the drone and you immediately push the Air Brake/RTH button doesn't it cancel the RTH?  or does the drone still stay in RTH function?  

mbze430 Posted at 4-4 06:46
When the RTH function kicks in on the drone and you immediately push the Air Brake/RTH button doesn't it cancel the RTH?  or does the drone still stay in RTH function?

Oh man, I think that's a smart thought...

mbze430 Posted at 4-4 06:46
When the RTH function kicks in on the drone and you immediately push the Air Brake/RTH button doesn't it cancel the RTH?  or does the drone still stay in RTH function?

It just flies until ~30% then boom 0 percentage, caranage ensues; often for me its before rth kicks in, hitting the stop button cuts off the drone feed

did you try to switch to manuel mode ?

did you try to switch to manuel mode ?

Do you have an update on what happened, did DJI replace your drone?

djiuser_Z4yYDr99E3OA Posted at 5-27 00:16
Yesterday I was flying my DJI FPV drone on the beach. I’ve been flying here for the past few days now.
When I was flying above the sea the drone suddenly lost connection and it never returned to the home point.

Yesterday after a connection fail my drone did not RTH.... I did not find it back

There is always the chance that my drone may have similar issues, or crash in an location where I can't locate it.  I frequently fly up in the mountains and there are times that I fly over areas I could not get to ... I'm not a mountain climber!!!

I have written my cell phone number under each arm, inside the battery compartment and on the side of each battery.  Hopefully, anyone who might find it would give me a call.  I used one of the silver paint pens to write my number in all those locations; highly visible.

Writing that the drone has crashed does not bring much.
A little more content with description, e.g. how many charges had the batteries, etc. would be useful.
So it is just a whine without sense.

Why don't you release your logs via Airdata to analyze them?

It's not great what happened to you, but so the thread is completely pointless.

I've only had my DJI FPV for a little less that a month, and I'm still testing the edges. I fly in a canyon, typically along the opposite wall, because there's nobody there to bother.

I've been constantly triggering the "Lost Signal" RTH function by zipping around in Sport mode. It's a bit disconcerting to have the screen go blank, but in every case, the drone has properly started its RTH when the screen comes back on. When the signal is back, I cancel RTH, and go back to flying. I'm finally starting to get a feel for the edges of my "control bubble", some 40 flights in...no "signal loss RTH" for the last couple of flights! I did increase my RTH altitude after one of these flights, because when the screen came back, the drone was coming home a bit too close to the rocks on one of the ridges...

Now that I have some comfort level with it, I'm also pushing the boundaries of the battery limit. I gave up using the "time remaining" indicator for the battery, because it seems to use a worst case scenario based on my zipping speed up to that point, which is generally high. What I really want is an indicator of whether I have enough power to return home safely from whatever my location is. For that, the battery % remaining is a much better figure. From 1000 ft ATL and 2000 ft away, I turn back when the power drops under 20%.

I haven't run out yet, but today I landed with 9% power, the lowest yet. I don't want to push it any lower than that.

If I could just make one improvement to the FPV, it would be a significant increase in battery capacity.

One thing I like about the FPV is that once I tell it to ignore the low power warning, it ignores it for the rest of the flight.

Thx,

TCS

Stefan Zimmermann Posted at 5-27 12:12
Writing that the drone has crashed does not bring much.
A little more content with description, e.g. how many charges had the batteries, etc. would be useful.
So it is just a whine without sense.

I have opened a case with DJI, they are analyzing my flight log at the moment.

Here is more background info:
The drone is about 1 month old. Number of battery charges: 14

Yesterday I was flying my DJI FPV drone on the beach. I’ve been flying here for the past few days now.
When I was flying above the sea the drone suddenly lost connection and it never returned to the home point.  

The battery was still around 70% and I was in line of sight with the drone. There were no obstacles whatsoever.
After reviewing the last flight log it lost connection on 30m altitude and the distance around 690m (I've flown much further before and never had any problem).
When I watched the last flight recording in the goggles it is clearly visible that there was nothing wrong the seconds before it lost connection.

After it failed I waited 1 minute as I knew this would be the time for it to regain connection. This did not happen. I then started walking/running towards where it lost connection but the connection did not recover. I know for sure that the battery was full enough to hover or fly for at least 5-10 minutes.

This is a screenshot of the flight log in the dji fly app right before it lost connection:



This is my flight log:

https://app.airdata.com/share/VwHMeb

DJI should allow users to downgrade to the latest safe firmware 01.02.0000.
And I wonder if it is a problem with the firmware of the drone, the Goggles or the batteries.

Finally I see some logs here :-) THX

Have you tried walking to the beach to reconnect?
Was it set to hover or land? So no RTH?

Otherwise, I think it was a malfunction/failure of the electronics and thus the connection and recording was also disconnected. Do not think it is due to the firmware.

What does your visual observer say? What could it see?

Anyway, I think that probably goes on warranty.

FlyLow Posted at 5-29 01:27
DJI should allow users to downgrade to the latest safe firmware 01.02.0000.
And I wonder if it is a problem with the firmware of the drone, the Goggles or the batteries.

https://drone-hacks.com/

Stefan Zimmermann Posted at 5-29 04:56
https://drone-hacks.com/

Is a paid Hack, solely for the drone, not the controller or the Goggles.
I want something official, clean, that will allow me without remorse to use the DJI app and run future updates.

Stefan Zimmermann Posted at 5-29 04:55
Finally I see some logs here :-) THX

Have you tried walking to the beach to reconnect?

No problem

As i said: after 1 minute of waiting for the drone to reconnect i started walking/running towards it. Without succes unfortunately.

It was set to RTH when disconnected, I don't know about the hovering or landing.

I think that due to the malfunction of something it dit not RTH and i assume it landed in the sea after the battery got low.

I assume this will indeed goes under warranty hopefully.

[UPDATE]

DJI just gave confirmation that it was indeed a fault of the drone or the software.

As my aircraft was still under warranty they will replace it completely. When I asked if the micro sd card was also being replaced, they said that it was not but they were willing to look in the warehouse if there is a micro sd card which they can give me.

Very delighted with the good customer support DJI gives! Thanks!

FF_FPV Posted at 5-30 01:22
DJI just gave confirmation that it was indeed a fault of the drone or the software.

As my aircraft was still under warranty they will replace it completely. When I asked if the micro sd card was also being replaced, they said that it was not but they were willing to look in the warehouse if there is a micro sd card which they can give me.

Congratulations! I'm happy for you! Great

FF_FPV Posted at 5-28 05:08
I have opened a case with DJI, they are analyzing my flight log at the moment.

Here is more background info:

I'm a newbie to DJI flight logs but curious: from the log it looks like you didn't have GPS lock when you took off - am I reading that right?

Also looks like you were in manual mode at the end: RTH doesn't work in Manual mode, does it? So does it just drop out of the sky when it looses signal (or low battery)?

Certainly seems like DJI's fault that it lost connection, glad you got a replacement.