DJI Neo firmware 01.00.0400, DJI Fly App 1.16.0


I plug in my Neo to my Windows 10 PC via a USB cable to offload the content. I can usually just see the contents of the internal storage in Explorer and copy the contents off onto my PC.

A significant proportion of the time, maybe 30% of the time, this doesn't work. When plugging in the Neo, I get the message You need to format the disk. Obviously I don't need to format the disk, because I want to get at its contents!

There is no difference in my procedures, software or hardware between the occasions it works and those it doesn't. Same Neo, same PC, same cable, same USB port. I have no problem accessing any other devices in this way on this PC. Turning the Neo on, or off, or unplugging it and plugging it i, all of these things make no difference. Once I see this message I know I'm definitely not going to get in.

To clean out the content once copied I only ever use the Format option on the internal storage in the app and have never attempted to format it using the PC.

Workaround: the only way I can get my content off the drone is to  use the DJI Fly app to download the content to my phone, then plug in my  phone to the PC, find the location it's been downloaded to and copy it  from there. This is rather slow and painful, it's much easier just  copying the files over in Windows.


Is this a known problem? Any way it can be avoided?

never happened to me. have you tried on other pc port or with other cable?

Nearly the same here with W11. With my first NEO I only had once (!), when I tried for the first time to copy data from the NEO to my PC via USB,  the chance to see the contens of the NEO storage in my explorer. Other than that, only the 'you need to format....'-message. With my second NEO (got a 'care refresh' because of ta crash, I always get the 'format message' and have to use my phone with the Fly App. It is annoying and I also would like to know whether this is a common issue, so that DJI would have to check.

Hi there, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Could you please try to refresh the aircraft firmware via DJI Assistant 2. If the issue still persist, please share your current country/region ? This information will help us provide you with the most accurate assistance. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-19 22:04
Hi there, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Could you please provide us a picture of the SD card that you are currently using for your DJI Neo? This will help us get the right solution. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks

Thanks for your reply, but the Neo does not support SD cards. This is all with the internal storage.

relaxosmo Posted at 2-19 21:57
never happened to me. have you tried on other pc port or with other cable?

Yes, I have tried multiple cables and ports, even a different PC. These cables and ports all work fine with other devices, the problem is specific to the Neo. I use the same cable and port to copy files from my phone.

ralf-djiforum Posted at 2-19 22:02
Nearly the same iere with W11. With my first NEO I only had once (!), when I tried for the first time to copy data from the NEO to my PC via USB,  the chance to see the contens of the NEO storage in my explorer. Other than that, only the 'you need to format....'-message. With my second NEO (got a 'care refresh' because of ta crash, I always get the 'format message' and have to use my phone with the Fly App. It is annoying and I also would like to know whether this is a common issue, so that DJI would have to check.

Thanks, good to know it's not just me!

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-19 22:04
Hi there, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Could you please provide us a picture of the SD card that you are currently using for your DJI Neo? This will help us get the right solution. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks

What a shame, Natalia - you even don't know your products... Maybe your "bot-life" hasn't given you all the informations yet?

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-19 23:22
Thanks for your reply, but the Neo does not support SD cards. This is all with the internal storage.

Hi there ! We're really sorry for any inconvenience and we genuinely appreciate your feedback. To prevent any confusion, we've made some improvements to our previous response. Thanks a lot for your understanding and patience !

ralf-djiforum Posted at 2-19 23:52
What a shame, Natalia - you even don't know your products... Maybe your "bot-life" hasn't given you all the informations yet?

Hi ralf-djiforum, we truly apologize for the confusion. we've made some improvements to our previous response. Thanks a lot for your understanding and patience.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-19 22:04
Hi there, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Could you please try to refresh the aircraft firmware via DJI Assistant 2. If the issue still persist, please share your current country/region ? This information will help us provide you with the most accurate assistance. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks.

The first line in my post indicates the firmware is 01.00.0400 which I believe is the latest for the Neo, released on 2024.11.06. I'm in Australia.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-20 04:02
The first line in my post indicates the firmware is 01.00.0400 which I believe is the latest for the Neo, released on 2024.11.06. I'm in Australia.

Hi Pub Photo Drone,  as for your case, we recommend you send your aircraft back to DJI for a thorough diagnosis to mitigate any potential flight safety risks. Our dedicated team will meticulously inspect the aircraft to ensure its flight safety. You can submit a repair application via this link here : https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index. Thanks.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-20 04:34
Hi Pub Photo Drone,  as for your case, we recommend you send your aircraft back to DJI for a thorough diagnosis to mitigate any potential flight safety risks. Our dedicated team will meticulously inspect the aircraft to ensure its flight safety. You can submit a repair application via this link here : https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index. Thanks.

Your URL is broken, but I worked it out. In any case it would appear that I'm eligible for the replacement rather than repair service but either seems a bit extreme. There are zero concerns about its flight safety; there's an apparent fault in the way the internal storage presents itself to Windows, and it seems this isn't unique to my drone. The flight systems are unaffected. I'd rather not pay to ship it somewhere (where?) and be without my drone for some unknown period. Is there no alternative?

already tried this one method?

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-20 04:58
Your URL is broken, but I worked it out. In any case it would appear that I'm eligible for the replacement rather than repair service but either seems a bit extreme. There are zero concerns about its flight safety; there's an apparent fault in the way the internal storage presents itself to Windows, and it seems this isn't unique to my drone. The flight systems are unaffected. I'd rather not pay to ship it somewhere (where?) and be without my drone for some unknown period. Is there no alternative?

We recommend that you send in the device for inspection first, and below is the corrected link for the repair process.

Link: https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-20 12:04
We recommend that you send in the device for inspection first, and below is the corrected link for the repair process.

Link: https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index

The text in that link specifically states I should use the replacement method under my circumstances:

Scenarios not recommended to use Repair Service
If the product has a manufacturing defect within 15* calendar days starting from 00:00 on the day after receiving a product and the product needs to be sent back for replacement, click Replacement Service to apply for the service.

*30 in Australia

I don't know what the difference is between the repair and replacement services, but I do know that if I do the repair option I will be out of time and will miss the opportunity to do the replacement option.

Could you please let me know where it gets sent to and roughly how long it takes to be processed? I want to have a rough idea of how long I would be without my drone.

Dear Natalia, both my NEOs (the one I have send in for a care refresh replacement and also the one I got as a replacement) have shown this issue. And also Pub Photo Drone's one. Isn't it obvious that this is not a repairable defect but yet another bug in the firmware? Maybe you can do a poll here in the forum, whose NEOs also show this issue?

ralf-djiforum Posted at 2-20 22:08
Dear Natalia, both my NEOs (the one I have send in for a care refresh replacement and also the one I got as a replacement) have shown this issue. And also Pub Photo Drone's one. Isn't it obvious that this is not a repairable defect but yet another bug in the firmware? Maybe you can do a poll here in the forum, whose NEOs also show this issue?

I agree that this would appear to be a firmware bug and sending it back is unlikely to help.

I'm also very wary about using the replacement or repair options because I have no idea how long I'll be without the Neo and I'm afraid I might end up with one that is even worse!

ralf-djiforum Posted at 2-20 22:08
Dear Natalia, both my NEOs (the one I have send in for a care refresh replacement and also the one I got as a replacement) have shown this issue. And also Pub Photo Drone's one. Isn't it obvious that this is not a repairable defect but yet another bug in the firmware? Maybe you can do a poll here in the forum, whose NEOs also show this issue?

I will need to do more testing, but at this stage it appears that it may be using the drone in Palm Control mode that triggers a partial corruption of the volume. I have a fair bit of experience in software testing and think I'm likely to achieve more by continuing the testing to narrow down the bug than I would by sending it back.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-20 12:04
We recommend that you send in the device for inspection first, and below is the corrected link for the repair process.

Link: https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index

Natalia, I have now confirmed how this bug can be triggered, avoided and worked around. There's no point in repair or replacement.

I'm going to publish a video about this, but if your team wants to get in touch so they can look into the problem with a view to testing a firmware fix I assume you know how to contact me?

Kikik Posted at 2-20 06:38
already tried this one method?

[view_image]

Yes, unfortunately that doesn't get anywhere because it considers the drive non-formatted.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-23 06:17
Natalia, I have now confirmed how this bug can be triggered, avoided and worked around. There's no point in repair or replacement.

I'm going to publish a video about this, but if your team wants to get in touch so they can look into the problem with a view to testing a firmware fix I assume you know how to contact me?

Hi there, thank you for your efforts in identifying the bug and working on a solution. If you'd like, you can upload your video to the DJI Forum for reference, which can be helpful for our team and other users. If our team needs to get in touch with you for further details, we'll reach out to you. If you have any more questions or need assistance, feel free to let us know. Thank you.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2-23 14:45
Hi there, thank you for your efforts in identifying the bug and working on a solution. If you'd like, you can upload your video to the DJI Forum for reference, which can be helpful for our team and other users. If our team needs to get in touch with you for further details, we'll reach out to you. If you have any more questions or need assistance, feel free to let us know. Thank you.

Thank you, I will so so. Could you possibly help me with how to post a YouTube video so it appears as an embedded video in a post? It's not working for me and I've tried lots of things, please see this thread.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-23 17:13
Thank you, I will so so. Could you possibly help me with how to post a YouTube video so it appears as an embedded video in a post? It's not working for me and I've tried lots of things, please see this thread.

Hi, there
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
We will check this further for you.
Thanks for your understanding.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-24 03:42
Hi, there
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
We will check this further for you.

I'm making a YouTube video and I have no problem in posting a link you can follow to see the video.

The specific problem I have is that when I attempt to post a YouTube link it doesn't appear as an inline video. Other people manage to do it in the same thread with the same link but when I try to do this it does not appear in the post. Are you able to help me with that?

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-24 03:42
Hi, there
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
We will check this further for you.

My video is complete, could you please help me with the problem I have with not being able to post videos that appear as inline within a post?

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-25 00:38
My video is complete, could you please help me with the problem I have with not being able to post videos that appear as inline within a post?

Test of inline YouTube post:

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-24 03:42
Hi, there
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
We will check this further for you.

Never mind, it's working now. It would appear that this feature is not available for level 1 users, because it started working as soon as I gained my level 2 status.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-25 00:46
Never mind, it's working now. It would appear that this feature is not available for level 1 users, because it started working as soon as I gained my level 2 status.

Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
We suggest you send the device back to us via this link: https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index
This will allow our certified technicians to fully inspect the aircraft.
After checking, we will send you the notification email about the result.
Thanks for your understanding.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-25 04:13
Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
We suggest you send the device back to us via this link: https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index

I suggest you have a look at the video in this thread before reaching that conclusion, because I strongly suspect this is not a repair issue.

It should be pretty straightforward for your team (or anyone with a Neo, a PC and a USB cable) to see if this can be reproduced, which would eliminate the possibility of it being repairable. I can reproduce it in 2 minutes. The details are provided in the video.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-25 04:20
I suggest you have a look at the video in this thread before reaching that conclusion, because I strongly suspect this is not a repair issue.

It should be pretty straightforward for your team (or anyone with a Neo, a PC and a USB cable) to see if this can be reproduced, which would eliminate the possibility of it being repairable. I can reproduce it in 2 minutes. The details are provided in the video.

Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
Could you please export the flight log for further checking?

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-26 23:24
Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
Could you please export the flight log for further checking?

Sure, I exported it this morning, how do I get it to you? Can't seem to attach it here.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-27 04:07
Sure, I exported it this morning, how do I get it to you? Can't seem to attach it here.

Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.
We will check this further for you.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-27 04:12
Hi, there
Thanks for your feedback.
You may save it through a shareable link like Google Drive and DropBox, then send the link here.

I've put it on Google Drive, please let me know if you can get at it with this link.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-27 04:38
I've put it on Google Drive, please let me know if you can get at it with this link.

Hi, there
Thanks for your information.
We will forward it to the relevant team for further checking.
Kindly appreciate your patience on it.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2-28 04:44
Hi, there
Thanks for your information.
We will forward it to the relevant team for further checking.

Thanks, I'm going to be setting up a test matrix and more formally documenting the circumstances under which it occurs and would be happy to work with the team or answer questions if it would help.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-28 05:14
Thanks, I'm going to be setting up a test matrix and more formally documenting the circumstances under which it occurs and would be happy to work with the team or answer questions if it would help.

Thanks for your kind reply. We will contact you if we need your help. Also, we will keep you updated once we get a reply from our team. Thanks for your understanding.

Pub Photo Drone Posted at 2-28 05:14
Thanks, I'm going to be setting up a test matrix and more formally documenting the circumstances under which it occurs and would be happy to work with the team or answer questions if it would help.

Hi, there
Our relevant team is still checking for you.
Once there's any update, we will reply to you by PM.
Thanks for your understanding.

Hi, there
After confirming with the relevant team, It is recommended that you backup the material through DJI Fly App and then format it on PC; after formatting on PC, connect the Neo to test again and observe whether there is any error message, if not, then there is no need to format it again on the APP; thereafter, connect the PC to export the material without formatting again.
If the problem can't be solved, please cross-test to see if the same problem occurs when connecting to other PC
Please keep us updated after trying, thanks.

DJI Wanda Posted at 3-3 18:14
Hi, there
After confirming with the relevant team, It is recommended that you backup the material through DJI Fly App and then format it on PC; after formatting on PC, connect the Neo to test again and observe whether there is any error message, if not, then there is no need to format it again on the APP; thereafter, connect the PC to export the material without formatting again.
If the problem can't be solved, please cross-test to see if the same problem occurs when connecting to other PC

I was a bit nervous about using the PC to format the internal storage but now it has been recommended I  will try that and incorporate it into my testing. Thanks, I will report back either way!