Hi there, i recently purchased dji mini 4 pro, took it out last to fly but drone wouldn't take off and kept asking for compass calibration. I tried 3 or 4 times and calibration kept failing. Is there an issue with firmware or a setting that needs to be changed? I had the video mode in night mode, would this cause compass calibration  pop up message to show.

Any help would be welcome

There sholdnt be any reason to do a compass calibration, you turned on the drone near some magnetic interference, the app also said to move the drone didnt it, but you didnt do that did you? next time, turn off the drone and move it away from the metal source that was giving off magnetic intereference, this could be a vehilce, rebar in concrete, metail fencing/railings, bolts in benches, manhole covers and the list goes on. So turn it off, move it to a new location and turn it on, 20ft from the source should be ample.

There are two possible causes for that message.
One is having the drone too close to a steel object and if that's the cause, no amount of compass re-calibration will solve the problem.
The solution is to switch off, move away from the problem and restart.
Despite what the message says, compass calibration isn't needed.

It sounds like you were trying to launch in the darl?
I posted about another less common cause here:
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=298154&pid=3136638
Ignore the idiot's responses and just look at my posts in the thread.

Labroides Posted at 10-8 22:41
There are two possible causes for that message.
One is having the drone too close to a steel object and if that's the cause, no amount of compass re-calibration will solve the problem.
The solution is to switch off, move away from the problem and restart.

Yes its only night time. I have got a mavic 2 pro, mini 2, mini 3pro and its only happening on the new dji mini 4 at night. Daylight its fine. Never had this issue with any other drone. I'll take a torch next time i try,

djiuser_E6s18eEG01BO Posted at 10-8 22:49
Yes its only night time. I have got a mavic 2 pro, mini 2, mini 3pro and its only happening on the new dji mini 4 at night. Daylight its fine. Never had this issue with any other drone. I'll take a torch next time i try,

Hi,

Just had few night flights with my own Mini4Pro, not a single  compass calibration messages at startup.

Make a screen recording next time and upload your logs for this issue.
use this link > https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Post the uploaded link on here.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 10-8 23:29
Hi,

Just had few night flights with my own Mini4Pro, not a single  compass calibration messages at startup.

Just had few night flights with my own Mini4Pro, not a single  compass calibration messages at startup.
I've flown several times at night without this issue, but have run into it twice (both times where I had been launching from before it went dark, and no amount of moving the drone or recalibrating the compass made any difference.
Lighting the area did.

Hello there. Sorry about the inconvenience. Does it say "GPS signal is low" on the error message? Please make sure you have a good GPS signal. The aircraft cannot position itself or hover in a dark environment.

DJI Tony Posted at 10-10 20:29
Hello there. Sorry about the inconvenience. Does it say "GPS signal is low" on the error message? Please make sure you have a good GPS signal. The aircraft cannot position itself or hover in a dark environment.

No .. the message and the problem have nothing to do with GPS.
The message mistakenly says that the compass needs calibration because it's dark.
That's complete nonsense.
I wrote about it and showed screenshots of the messages here:
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 154&pid=3136903

The first message that I got on my new Mini 4 was to calibrate the controller, not the aircraft.

Mullheliflier Posted at 10-10 23:36
The first message that I got on my new Mini 4 was to calibrate the controller, not the aircraft.

These are really strange occurrences, actually something like this should probably not be the normal case

I can not help but think that quite a few Mini 4 Pro was not sufficiently tested delivered ...

Space Dream Posted at 10-11 00:30
These are really strange occurrences, actually something like this should probably not be the normal case

I can not help but think that quite a few Mini 4 Pro was not sufficiently tested delivered ...

Yes i had the same, calibrate controller compass when i first switched it on. I Tried to fly the drone again last night, indoors in the dark and i didn't get any issues taking off or any compass calibration pop ups. So it seems to have ironed itself out.

djiuser_E6s18eEG01BO Posted at 10-11 05:40
Yes i had the same, calibrate controller compass when i first switched it on. I Tried to fly the drone again last night, indoors in the dark and i didn't get any issues taking off or any compass calibration pop ups. So it seems to have ironed itself out.

I also had the calibrate controller compass message on the first startup after activation and firmware update last Friday. Had the same message come up several times on successive start ups in different locations over the next couple days.  When I went through the calibration procedure I was never able to complete a figure 8 as shown before it said completed. The messages haven't come up again the last few start ups. Drone seems to fly normally, return to home navigation is spot on and range is definitely much improved over my mini 3 pro (FCC in Canada). Flight characteristics, obstacle avoidance, active tracking all seem to work well.

However on the radar display the north point is about 30 deg west of where my mini 3 shows it and also the north point wobbles around unless I hold the controller rock steady. Also, even though my range is good, if I point the controller directly at the drone when I can see it 100 m away, the radar map arrow for signal strength is blue unless I point the controller considerably to one side of the drone to turn it green. With my mini 3, I get the green arrow best signal indicator by pointing the controller within a few degrees of directly at the drone. This seems to be some strange behavior and I'm not sure if it's a software or hardware issue with my controller.

It sounds like a couple of you had similar error messages on first start up. Is your radar compass display behaving normally?

The last dji mini 4 pro also had a strange thing with the compass calibration. Suddenly, the drone often required a compass calibration before each flight, even at the same location. Could there be a magnetic anomaly?

_dji_user_ Posted at 3-18 08:38
The last dji mini 4 pro also had a strange thing with the compass calibration. Suddenly, the drone often required a compass calibration before each flight, even at the same location. Could there be a magnetic anomaly?

Suddenly, the drone often required a compass calibration before each flight, even at the same location.
It's the location, not the drone.
The compass is warning you of magnetic interference at that location.
Recalibrating the compass cannot "fix" that.
Ignore the badly worded warning.
The correct action is to power down, move away from the site and start again in a different spot.

Labroides Posted at 3-18 12:21
Suddenly, the drone often required a compass calibration before each flight, even at the same location.
It's the location, not the drone.
The compass is warning you of magnetic interference at that location.

With the DJI Mini 3 drone, there are no such compass problems in the same places (locations).

_dji_user_ Posted at 3-18 13:09
With the DJI Mini 3 drone, there are no such compass problems in the same places (locations).

Depending on what the issue is, placement can be important.
If the drone is just an inch away from the magnetic interference or on top of it that could make a big difference.
What's the surface you are placing the drone on?

I get the recalibration message every time I turn on the drone, every single time.  When I am in the woods, at the beach, or at my own house. The message comes on every single time.  Is there a malware update or something that I can do to avoid this.  I go through the calibration process which takes about 10 minutes, and then I can fly it, in the location where I am and everything is fine.  The calibration part is the hassle. The drown should turn on without needing this every time right?

Adam Bagby Posted at 3-31 11:11
I get the recalibration message every time I turn on the drone, every single time.  When I am in the woods, at the beach, or at my own house. The message comes on every single time.  Is there a malware update or something that I can do to avoid this.  I go through the calibration process which takes about 10 minutes, and then I can fly it, in the location where I am and everything is fine.  The calibration part is the hassle. The drown should turn on without needing this every time right?

Do another IMU calibration

Adam Bagby Posted at 3-31 11:11
I get the recalibration message every time I turn on the drone, every single time.  When I am in the woods, at the beach, or at my own house. The message comes on every single time.  Is there a malware update or something that I can do to avoid this.  I go through the calibration process which takes about 10 minutes, and then I can fly it, in the location where I am and everything is fine.  The calibration part is the hassle. The drown should turn on without needing this every time right?

Hello, Adam. Thank you for reaching out. We do apologize for the trouble that this has caused. Can you confirm what specific DJI product you are using? Also, please provide us with the screenshot or screen recording showing the error message on the DJI Fly app so we can check it further. Please keep us posted. Thank you.