TL;DR: After experiencing unexpected behavior with my new DJI FPV drone controller, I discovered it has limited input range compared to the old one, either due to different firmware versions or manufacuring error. I'm considering downgrading the firmware to resolve this but seek advice on the process, potential issues, and whether this behavior is known or intentional.

I purchased the DJI FPV drone combo at launch. Two years later, the controller began exhibiting an occasional twitch on the yaw axis, causing unexpected rotations. Initially, I suspected the drone, but experiencing the same issue in PC simulators indicated a hardware defect in the controller. I bought a new controller, and noticed it behaved differently in the Velocidrone simulator, achieving less than half my rotation rates.

Upon further investigation using x360ce to read the raw inputs, I found that the old controller would appropriately send inputs ranging from -32768 to +32767 which is a full range of a 16 bit integer variable, while the new controller was only sending inputs between values of -21002 and +20990. The rest of the way until the maximum deflection behaves like a sort of deadzone, so the new controller keeps sending +20990 the rest of the way, rather than increasing all the way to +32767 as it reaches maximum deflection.

I confirmed this happens with the real life DJI FPV drone too by testing without props in manual mode, where the new controller exhibited the same outer deadzone effect. Motors would spin up to roughtly half of their max speed at 64% of the stick deflection, and then just stay at that speed even as the stick deflection increases to 100%.

I noticed controllers have different firmware versions:

New controller: 02.00.09.00
Old controller: 01.02.00.00

I'm considering a firmware downgrade for the new controller in hopes that could resolve the issue. As I understand, that would make the controller Avata-incompatible, but I don't own Avata so I'm ok with that.

Questions:

1. What causes this behavior?
2. Is it a known issue or intentional design?
3. Can I downgrade the firmware on the new controller?
4. How would I do so?
5. Are there any other potential downsides to downgrading firmware?

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When using Manual mode, it is recommended to adjust the throttle stick based on your stick mode for a better user experience. You may check the image below for more information. Hope this helps.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-29 22:16
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When using Manual mode, it is recommended to adjust the throttle stick based on your stick mode for a better user experience. You may check the image below for more information. Hope this helps.
[view_image]

Thank you for your swift response. However, my issue isn't related to the physical adjustment of the throttle stick for manual flying mode, but rather a technical discrepancy between two controllers' input ranges and behavior, possibly tied to firmware differences. Specifically, my new controller is not registering full input ranges across all axes compared to the old one, affecting performance both in simulators and in the actual drone operation.

The matter at hand is whether the limited input range of the new controller is a known issue, a result of the firmware version (new controller firmware: 02.00.09.00, old controller firmware: 01.02.00.00), and if there's a possibility to adjust or downgrade the firmware to match the old controller's performance.

I appreciate any guidance or information on:

1. The cause of the reduced input range in the new controller.
2. Whether this is a recognized issue or an intentional feature.
3. Instructions on downgrading the firmware, if possible, and the implications thereof.

I look forward to your specific insights on these points. Thank you.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-29 22:16
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When using Manual mode, it is recommended to adjust the throttle stick based on your stick mode for a better user experience. You may check the image below for more information. Hope this helps.
[view_image]

I have tried calibrating the controller using the goggles now but that didn't change anything.

My screws are adjusted for manual mode. I returned them to default self centering behaviour in order to attempt calibration, but screws themselves seem to be unrelated to this, as the new controller still behaved differently.

However, I found out something new upon a closer inspection which makes the situation much more tolerable:

Physical stick angle and the numerical output aren't correlated between controllers. In the sense that I previously assumed that last third of the way was deadzone due to numerical input stopping at +20990 out of expected +32767, which is 64% of the way to the end numerically, so I assumed this is 64% of the maximum physical stick deflection angle as well.

Instead the angle at which the new controller stick needs to be to output +20990 is the same as the angle that old controller stick needs to be to output +30665.

This means that 93.6% of the total available stick deflection angle is utilized, and 6.4% is a deadzone. Meaning that new controller effectively has 93.6% resolution of the old controller, which is much better than the 64% of the resolution which I previously assumed.
This is still a major inconvenience for the purpose of adjusting and testing rates, and then having those rates behaves same on the actual drone,  so all of my questions still stand unanswered, and I'd still prefer to find a way to fully resolve this issue and understand if it's related to firmware or if the newer controller is defective.

I have also found out that I can use DJI Assistant 2 (DJI FPV series) to downgrade firmware, however, the only options are 02.00.07.00 and 02.00.09.00.I tried downgrading from 02.00.09.00 to 02.00.07.00 but that didn't have any effect on the issue, so I returned back to 09.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-29 22:16
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When using Manual mode, it is recommended to adjust the throttle stick based on your stick mode for a better user experience. You may check the image below for more information. Hope this helps.
[view_image]

I bit the bullet and upgraded the firmware on my old controller in an attempt to find out more about this issue. After the firmware upgrade to 02.00.09.00, the old controller now exhibits the same issue as the new controller, it developed a small deadzone at the end and uses only two thirds of the numerical range. This means that issue is with the firmware rather than with the controller itself, and solution would be to downgrade firmware back to version 01.02.00.00.

Version 01.02.00.00 is unfortunately not available in the DJI Assistant 2 (DJI FPV Series). So can you please make it available, or provide another way of fixing this issue.

Shadetail Posted at 3-3 07:22
I bit the bullet and upgraded the firmware on my old controller in an attempt to find out more about this issue. After the firmware upgrade to 02.00.09.00, the old controller now exhibits the same issue as the new controller, it developed a small deadzone at the end and uses only two thirds of the numerical range. This means that issue is with the firmware rather than with the controller itself, and solution would be to downgrade firmware back to version 01.02.00.00.

Version 01.02.00.00 is unfortunately not available in the DJI Assistant 2 (DJI FPV Series). So can you please make it available, or provide another way of fixing this issue.

Thank you for the information provided. We will gather this information and forward it to our relevant team for further clarification. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Hi there. Thank you for patiently waiting. Please be advised that we cannot promise the data is exact or correct when using a third-party simulator. In addition, please confirm if the current issue is related to the aircraft cannot reach max speed. If yes, please refer to the recommendation below:

1. Please change the flight direction and try again to avoid the influence of wind or light from certain angles.
2. If the aircraft flies slowly in each direction, we recommend that you land the aircraft as soon as possible and go to another environment. We also recommend that you try in an open environment with less wind and at a lower attitude. (We do not recommend that the user fly their aircraft too high because the higher the altitude, the greater the difference in wind power. As such, the purpose of their testing cannot be reached.)
3. Please check whether propellers on the drone are damaged or bent. If they are found to be damaged/bent, use new propellers if possible, and try again.
4. Please check and switch the flight mode, and see if the flight speed is slow in different modes. (It is best to check the speed that can be reached in different modes.)

DJI Paladin Posted at 3-6 22:31
Hi there. Thank you for patiently waiting. Please be advised that we cannot promise the data is exact or correct when using a third-party simulator. In addition, please confirm if the current issue is related to the aircraft cannot reach max speed. If yes, please refer to the recommendation below:

1. Please change the flight direction and try again to avoid the influence of wind or light from certain angles.

It's not related to that. Current non-max values are being remapped to max values. And I can set simulators to work like that as well. It's an extra hassle but not imossible.
This is really just about allowing us to downgrade firmware so that we are able to use full physical stick deflection range rather than 93.6% of it.

Shadetail Posted at 3-6 22:49
It's not related to that. Current non-max values are being remapped to max values. And I can set simulators to work like that as well. It's an extra hassle but not imossible.
This is really just about allowing us to downgrade firmware so that we are able to use full physical stick deflection range rather than 93.6% of it.

Thank you for your response. We will take this as a suggestion and forward it to our relevant team for attention. As of the time being, we don't have the option to downgrade the firmware of the DJI FPV Remote controller 2. We appreciate your understanding.