Us that have been on these forums for awhile take these "it's broke, it doesn't work, it's DJI fault, the QC is no good" with a big grain of salt. 90% of of these newbie threads and post are usually just impatient people that think these thing are like a plug and play device. No studying or leaning or reading the manual needed. Just charge it up and hit a button and go. And than something goes wrong, or they crash or they lose their drone in the sky and it's always someone fault, but not theirs. Sorry but these are the facts and when you that think otherwise have been on this and the Phantom pilot forum for at least a full year, come back and re-read this post.

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-25 22:29
Your line, "Why in God's name would you suggest that a new owner not follow that same recommendation." Us that have been with Phantoms and DJI for awhile always recommend not to upgrade the FW right out of the box. I do this very often myself when giving advice to a new Phantom owner, so I'm sorry to say your the one that is wrong on this issue. The FW on these Phantoms can be very glitchy sometime, and having a new pilot with no experience with drones or DJI Phantoms doing a FW update right off is not advisable. It best to just fly and get some flying under your belt so you get to know your drone and how it's meant to work before messing around with software changes.

Did you even read my post.  I'm not a new pilot, I have had a P3A for over a year and never had an issue with an update.  But it is a different animal with the standard, it is all over wifi, no sd cards.  You get one for Christmas it says update, you update.  Also, as I said, it is almost certainly a QC HW issue.  Otherwise when I forced a downgrade of the FW it should have worked.

Maybe you should read and understand pots before you reply to them.

MrPinaColada Posted at 2016-12-25 22:07
Go to phantompilots.com. There is a firmware section where you need to download the latest firmware 1.7. From there insert the microsd card into your computer, format it, and then put the 1.7 files on to your computer (you must extract the files first). After you copied the files onto the sd card, put the card back into your phantom. Start up the rc, connecr your device to wifi, and then start the phantom. It should force update. If that was confusing search "How to Downgrade P3S firmware" on youtube. The process is the exact same as what I described just put the latest firmwarw (1.7) on the sd card). Let us know how it goes.

Did you read my post.  I downloaded and forced a downgrade of the FW.  Still no love.  I then reinstalled the update.  Not working.

Obviously a HW issue reflecting incredibly poor QC at the factory.  Whatever the reason it doesn't work so a ruined Christmas for all.

RSH Posted at 2016-12-25 23:20
Did you even read my post.  I'm not a new pilot, I have had a P3A for over a year and never had an issue with an update.  But it is a different animal with the standard, it is all over wifi, no sd cards.  You get one for Christmas it says update, you update.  Also, as I said, it is almost certainly a QC HW issue.  Otherwise when I forced a downgrade of the FW it should have worked.

Maybe you should read and understand pots before you reply to them.

I think your the one not reading or understanding the point here. You criticizes another member for advising another about updating the FW right out of the box when they could have just waited. I was backing them up by saying I do the very same. Advising against a new Phantom owner to update the FW on day one of ownership. Again your very words "Why in Gods name would you suggest that a new owner...." And you yourself just said "the Standard is a different animal" which I completely agree with. That's way it's not the best idea to have a newbie messing with FW on day one, because the P3S has a habit of bad FW installs. I know I own one, and three of the four FW updates I did went fine, one not so well. But because I wasn't new to the issue and learned from reading a lot on these forum I was able to fix it right off. Over and out.

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-26 00:10
I think your the one not reading or understanding the point here. You criticizes another member for advising another about updating the FW right out of the box when they could have just waited. I was backing them up by saying I do the very same. Advising against a new Phantom owner to update the FW on day one of ownership. Again your very words "Why in Gods name would you suggest that a new owner...." And you yourself just said "the Standard is a different animal" which I completely agree with. That's way it's not the best idea to have a newbie messing with FW on day one, because the P3S has a habit of bad FW installs. I know I own one, and three of the four FW updates I did went fine, one not so well. But because I wasn't new to the issue and learned from reading a lot on these forum I was able to fix it right off. Over and out.

This is why GoPro and Apple lost market share and so will DJI. In this day and age you ship tech it damn better well work, you can't rest on your laurels.

This is just one more example why the FAA has stepped in since they know that these toys are unsafe for normal operation.

OP there are many other drones out there that fly fine and update fine with much better CS than DJI and not a group of fawnbois that will tell you how wrong you are at every turn.

Do some research, the toy drone market is wide open and the competition is starting to eat DJI's lunch, especially after the failure that is the P4P gimbal bounce and the Mavic 60fps fiasco.

Christmas is not about getting presents. If that is all it means to you then you are not celebrating the meaning of Christmas!

Like a few on here, I have had problems since updating the firmware.

Yes, I got the P3 standard as a Christmas present, and plugged it all into the Chargers, and filled up the batteries for both the remote and the device. Took it outside, flew around, took some video, snap some shots, and was very happy with the outcome.

Then the DJI Go app prompts me to update the firmware and tells me all the benefits of the update. So like the good techie that I am, I followed the instructions and updated the firmware. Got the little your update is complete message that then instructed me to recycle the power on both the remote control and The Craft. I can get to the camera via the go app, I can get to the control screen from the go out, but I have nothing but connection lost and cannot get anything else to work. The lights on the rear strut structures are blinking yellow in a very fast fashion.

As someone who has been in the technical Arena for more years than I wish to admit, this is very frustrating. I do know that many times, many software publishers put out updates without thoroughly checking them, but this is not a good thing. Even everybody's favorite wanted golden Tower - Apple - I have had times where I will update iTunes 3 times in a week or two because of bad updates. Even on my Android devices, there are some apps that update 3 or 4 times because of bugs in the previous updates.

So now I will try the suggestion, of uninstalling the app from both my Samsung tablet and my LG phone and reinstall them, and see if that at least gets me flying again. Then, maybe I'll try the firmware update at another time.

Again, as a tech savvy software and Hardware Tech, this stuff ain't right. Get it FIXED DJI.

T.GingerBear Posted at 2016-12-26 00:19
Like a few on here, I have had problems since updating the firmware.

Yes, I got the P3 standard as a Christmas present, and plugged it all into the Chargers, and filled up the batteries for both the remote and the device. Took it outside, flew around, took some video, snap some shots, and was very happy with the outcome.

The FW 1.7.9 works just fine, I have it and so do thousands more, it is not flawed. And for FW not being vetted first. I can tell you it was, because those of us with the P3S had waited awhile between FW versions. There were a few leaks of beta version between this one and the previous officially released version, so it was not rushed, believe me. Now for your issue, did you try re-linking the AC to the RC ? Sometimes this needs to be done after a FW change.

Gnomad Posted at 2016-12-26 00:17
This is why GoPro and Apple lost market share and so will DJI. In this day and age you ship tech it damn better well work, you can't rest on your laurels.

This is just one more example why the FAA has stepped in since they know that these toys are unsafe for normal operation.

"OP there are many other drones out there that fly fine and update fine with much better CS than DJI"
Than why did you buy a Phantom??

T.GingerBear Posted at 2016-12-26 13:19
Like a few on here, I have had problems since updating the firmware.

Yes, I got the P3 standard as a Christmas present, and plugged it all into the Chargers, and filled up the batteries for both the remote and the device. Took it outside, flew around, took some video, snap some shots, and was very happy with the outcome.

The 2.7.9 FW has evolved in beta form since mid-summer. I've used two of the beta versions prior to the final official release without a single hitch. Do You really think after months of beta testing by both professionals and everyday end users that the FW remains broken?
   

Just imagine that every multi-rotor brand out there is having similar disgruntled new owners this Christmas ..... there will always be a few who suffer bad production / knaffed the model themselves / don't have s clue what to do but can't be bothered to read manual ..... etc. etc. etc.

Basically there will always be a few models that get through QC but are faulty. Maybe that's case here. It seems that OP has a hard attitude from the start .... with a few regulars similarly hard on him.

Various posts go on about 'not updating FW' until later and understanding etc. Trouble is - so new owner a) is unaware if this forum and b) acts according to the units and paperwork in front on him ... meaning if app says update - he updates. He has no knowledge of being able to ignore it.

I admit that I found DJI based forums when waiting for mine to be delivered - but I've been an active RC forum member for many years - literally as long as they've been going. So I knew to search for suitable. But most new owners get the model first - then later find out about forums. Quite often - forums are found because of a search for a fix to a fault !

So to OP .... the simple answer is take the SD card .... there actually is no need to format it unless some idiot has formatted with anything other than fat32 .....
Check the root of the card and delete any .bin file you find.
Now copy to the root - the bin file of the FW you downloaded from Phantomhelp. NOTE - if you already tried installing FW 1.07.009 - then you basically can only use that version now. So download 1.07.009 and copy its .bin file to the card root.

Note : if you tried 1.07.009 and then tried going backwards to earlier FW - it would have failed and may be the cause of all your ills.

So now you have a card ready to use.

Switch on Controller, put card into camera, switch Go App, switch on aircraft .... you will then see camera do its bit - then the led on the gimbal mount will start flashing as its updating .... the lights will do their thing .....
When the little led on the gimbal mount has stopped and steady green .... its completed its work.

Switch everything off .... aircraft first then controller etc.

Remove the card - check the text file by card reader on your PC..... scroll to last entry to read ... hopefully it should say success.

Delete the bin file.

Put card back into camera .... power on controller .... power on Go App .... power on aircraft ....

Now wait a bit ... for all the initialization to complete. Check the little bind light that is in the main body side ... is it red or green. If green then WiFi lock is good between controller and aircraft ... if red then its not. Do the Bind procedure as detailed in manual. You may have to do this a number of times before it locks on.

If you get success ... then go through all calibrations just in case update upset any.

Merry Xmas .....

Nigel

Mattyd104 Posted at 2016-12-25 21:24
Sorry bro...you would be incorrect on this one.  The gentleman with the complaint is correct.  Updating through the app works correctly, sometimes.  And sometimes, it screws up the controller and you cannot remove the tainted FW.  Sometimes you can remove new FW and re-download old...but when it is out of box, and you follow the steps, then you follow the manufacturers steps to doom!  Just the facts, only the facts.

Yeah and sometimes its an impatient operator

... sometimes

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-25 21:38
The FW 1.7.9 works just fine, I have it and so do thousands more, it is not flawed. And for FW not being vetted first. I can tell you it was, because those of us with the P3S had waited awhile between FW versions. There were a few leaks of beta version between this one and the previous officially released version, so it was not rushed, believe me. Now for your issue, did you try re-linking the AC to the RC ? Sometimes this needs to be done after a FW change.

Yes, I was able to relink the devices and it works. One of my complaints however will be that the link button on the device looks like nothing more than an LED. There is no way to know it's a button. But yes, I was able to relink the RC to the AC and everything was working fine. The manuals, that come with the device, are lacking. Having to download a full version is a bit much. I understand the cost savings and understand why, but it can be an annoyance.

T.GingerBear Posted at 2016-12-26 11:34
Yes, I was able to relink the devices and it works. One of my complaints however will be that the link button on the device looks like nothing more than an LED. There is no way to know it's a button. But yes, I was able to relink the RC to the AC and everything was working fine. The manuals, that come with the device, are lacking. Having to download a full version is a bit much. I understand the cost savings and understand why, but it can be an annoyance.

Almost everything now a days comes only with starter guides, not manuals. It's not just DJI that does that, every product I've bought in the last five years didn't have a full printed manual in the box. Personally I like downloading and having it to read on my computer system (won't get lost) versus having a paper version, not sure why your feeling it's a inconvenience.

Nigel,
Regards: "Switch on Controller, put card into camera, switch Go App, switch on aircraft .... you will then see camera do its bit - then the led on the gimbal mount will start flashing as its updating .... the lights will do their thing ..... " should that include "Switch on Controller, put card into camera,  switch on aircraft, connect to aircraft's wifi, switch Go App? Or did I miss something?

Funny how the last time we heard from the OP is when he replied to my post asking him if he did the CSC to start the motors, and he replied "what's a CSC" lol

stuka75 Posted at 2016-12-27 03:04
Nigel,
Regards: "Switch on Controller, put card into camera, switch Go App, switch on aircraft .... you will then see camera do its bit - then the led on the gimbal mount will start flashing as its updating .... the lights will do their thing ..... " should that include "Switch on Controller, put card into camera,  switch on aircraft, connect to aircraft's wifi, switch Go App? Or did I miss something?

Fair dinkum ... please amend my statement to read accordingly ....

Nigel

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-27 05:16
Funny how the last time we heard from the OP is when he replied to my post asking him if he did the CSC to start the motors, and he replied "what's a CSC" lol

Think he got annoyed that he didn't get the overall support expected.

Either that or he actually got the machine to behave in the end ....


Nigel

Mattyd104 Posted at 2016-12-26 16:28
There you go again.  Trying to sneak in a little bashing.  What's your point tuffy?  Some people are unaware of how to find the info.  If you knew where the fix was, why didn't you post it tuffy?  Are you bitter in life?  What's your problem?  What if he is a newbie...weren't you once a newbie?  Anyways Billy...if you're going to be an arrogant ass...continue to do it behind the computer.  I have a feeling person to person...you would cower down and watch your tongue as you should.  I pretty positive I whoop sissies like you on the way to a fight.

I was the one at the beginning of this thread that tried to help by asking questions and trying to get him to give some more detail. Gave him a few pointers here and there, way before you appeared on this thread. Once again it does appear I might be correct, that nothing was every really wrong with the equipment. He came onto this forum not just asking for help but also bashing DJI and the product at the same time, not called for. And for you, your calling me names!!! I didn't hear you offering any help to him, just complaining about the product and/or other members trying to help.  As an afterthought I mentioned the CSC to start the motors, thinking I was going to get a "of course" reply. But instead got "whats a CSC" Doesn't that tell you he might not have done the very last step, start the motors??

Mattyd104 Posted at 2016-12-27 08:28
There you go again.  Trying to sneak in a little bashing.  What's your point tuffy?  Some people are unaware of how to find the info.  If you knew where the fix was, why didn't you post it tuffy?  Are you bitter in life?  What's your problem?  What if he is a newbie...weren't you once a newbie?  Anyways Billy...if you're going to be an arrogant ass...continue to do it behind the computer.  I have a feeling person to person...you would cower down and watch your tongue as you should.  I'm pretty positive I whoop sissies like you on the way to a fight.

'I'm pretty positive I whoop sissies like you on the way to a fight.'

That's something to be really proud of.....

Woa ! Boys .... this ain't no Texas showdown !

No need for this confrontation. OP must be laughing his nuts of now !

C'mon guys .... is the season of goodwill to all ...

Cheers
Nigel

Mattyd104 Posted at 2016-12-27 05:28
There you go again.  Trying to sneak in a little bashing.  What's your point tuffy?  Some people are unaware of how to find the info.  If you knew where the fix was, why didn't you post it tuffy?  Are you bitter in life?  What's your problem?  What if he is a newbie...weren't you once a newbie?  Anyways Billy...if you're going to be an arrogant ass...continue to do it behind the computer.  I have a feeling person to person...you would cower down and watch your tongue as you should.  I'm pretty positive I whoop sissies like you on the way to a fight.

Pro tip: Start with the manual. I know it's a concept that is lost to many people, but hey. And the shots at other people? Pretty pathetic. It'lll get you a lot of help here from those of us that didn't just get one for Xmas and have actually done the research.

Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

After I switched it on for the first time I got it going fine then I get a message to uggrade the firmware which I did and it passed 100%.

Restarted the machine and now I get a barometer error

Been on to DJI Support and they say I can't roll back the firmware and they are going to replace the machine. The thing has never been off the floor.  Not the best start!

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-26 11:48
I was the one at the beginning of this thread that tried to help by asking questions and trying to get him to give some more detail. Gave him a few pointers here and there, way before you appeared on this thread. Once again it does appear I might be correct, that nothing was every really wrong with the equipment. He came onto this forum not just asking for help but also bashing DJI and the product at the same time, not called for. And for you, your calling me names!!! I didn't hear you offering any help to him, just complaining about the product and/or other members trying to help.  As an afterthought I mentioned the CSC to start the motors, thinking I was going to get a "of course" reply. But instead got "whats a CSC" Doesn't that tell you he might not have done the very last step, start the motors??

Aloha William,

     Sounds like RTFM is appropriate under the circumstances!  Some people.?.!.?

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 2016-12-26 20:32
Aloha William,

     Sounds like RTFM is appropriate under the circumstances!  Some people.?.!.?

+1

Aloha

I think DJI is going to have a hard time for the next month - as new owners pummel the Service lines !
At least it will keep the 'refurb' deals going !!

Nigel

Ì have been waiting for it to start raining Phantom's here after christmas. It seems every retailer was trying sell them as a must have present but not one was willing to spend a few minutes with the shopper to explain that dont just turn it on and start flying.
Looking forward to some bargin factory refurbs.

fans841b3313 Posted at 2016-12-27 07:26
Exactly the same thing has happened to me.

After I switched it on for the first time I got it going fine then I get a message to uggrade the firmware which I did and it passed 100%.

In the long run, that's an outcome many would envy. DJI replaced mine and it was really worth the 2 weeks including shipping. The replacement they sent me is perfect.

Phantom-Paul 7 Posted at 2016-12-27 10:54
Ì have been waiting for it to start raining Phantom's here after christmas. It seems every retailer was trying sell them as a must have present but not one was willing to spend a few minutes with the shopper to explain that dont just turn it on and start flying.
Looking forward to some bargin factory refurbs.

Nobody but me has drones in my area. When I was flying my X380 last spring, a passerby asked me if it was a quad copter or a helicopter. I could have told her it was a radio controlled kite and she wouldn't have known the difference.

Knobbynomates Posted at 2016-12-26 01:46
Sounds like an operator error to me. Updating through the app works fine

It's expected

Sounds like an operator error to me. Updating through the app works fine

I feel sorry for this guy. When you buy a drone and it says update that's what you should do. I would not expect him to read hundreds of posts to realise "oh I should not update because of problems" DJI are at fault making a mass product that does not upgrade easily and then most people here have a go at him and tell him he is doing it wrong - he said he did everything the app told him to do and yet you are all still questioning him and tell him he has done something wrong. DJI are at fault making a product that does not update properly unless you have your finger in your ear and are standing on a chair at midnight, and then can't be fixed when it goes wrong. Also waste of time waiting for a DJI rep to respond all they will say is send it in at your cost and then charge you for a fix when they have made product that obviously has faults. Ok lots and lots of people don't have problems, but listen everyone, lots and lots of people do and you should not blame this poor guy and then insult him when he says he is tech savvy. Quite honestly you should not need to be a computer brain box to fly these drones. !!!!! Give him some slack - I believe what he says that he has done it right as there are loads of posts here saying the same as him. Updates should be easy to ensure safely and DJI are at fault here making it go wrong if you decide to upgrade without your finger stuck in your ear. Just my view from experience.

Mistake ... post deleted

Gnomad Posted at 2016-12-26 13:17
This is why GoPro and Apple lost market share and so will DJI. In this day and age you ship tech it damn better well work, you can't rest on your laurels.

This is just one more example why the FAA has stepped in since they know that these toys are unsafe for normal operation.

I think you summed it up when you referred to it as a "toy". It is far from that and if you approach it as such you're in for a lot more failure.

Bay Cruiser Posted at 2016-12-27 17:22
I feel sorry for this guy. When you buy a drone and it says update that's what you should do. I would not expect him to read hundreds of posts to realise "oh I should not update because of problems" DJI are at fault making a mass product that does not upgrade easily and then most people here have a go at him and tell him he is doing it wrong - he said he did everything the app told him to do and yet you are all still questioning him and tell him he has done something wrong. DJI are at fault making a product that does not update properly unless you have your finger in your ear and are standing on a chair at midnight, and then can't be fixed when it goes wrong. Also waste of time waiting for a DJI rep to respond all they will say is send it in at your cost and then charge you for a fix when they have made product that obviously has faults. Ok lots and lots of people don't have problems, but listen everyone, lots and lots of people do and you should not blame this poor guy and then insult him when he says he is tech savvy. Quite honestly you should not need to be a computer brain box to fly these drones. !!!!! Give him some slack - I believe what he says that he has done it right as there are loads of posts here saying the same as him. Updates should be easy to ensure safely and DJI are at fault here making it go wrong if you decide to upgrade without your finger stuck in your ear. Just my view from experience.

Myself and a few others agree .... trouble there is the group that think otherwise.

The OP did come on 'belligerent' and got similar in return ... so it is a tit-tat affair.
You also have to take into account there is a certain amount of 'forelock' touching to DJI on here.

Nigel

Betamace Posted at 2016-12-27 04:51
It's expected

1,000,000 unwrapped, 64% destroyed by operator error, 1% had the balls to admit it was probably their fault - the rest blamed somebody else (usually DJI). In the time it took me to type this there's another 1% crashed. I've crashed once - it was entirely my fault

WilliamM Posted at 2016-12-25 23:10
I think your the one not reading or understanding the point here. You criticizes another member for advising another about updating the FW right out of the box when they could have just waited. I was backing them up by saying I do the very same. Advising against a new Phantom owner to update the FW on day one of ownership. Again your very words "Why in Gods name would you suggest that a new owner...." And you yourself just said "the Standard is a different animal" which I completely agree with. That's way it's not the best idea to have a newbie messing with FW on day one, because the P3S has a habit of bad FW installs. I know I own one, and three of the four FW updates I did went fine, one not so well. But because I wasn't new to the issue and learned from reading a lot on these forum I was able to fix it right off. Over and out.

So what happen on the failed update? It never completed or what? So what did you do? Format the SD card and placed the bin file on it?

Theadversary Posted at 2016-12-25 15:21
Yes I relinked it. How else would it stream video to my phone?   Yes, I uninstalled/reinstalled the app (5 times). Yes, I downloaded the more detailed manual. Yes, I read it. Yes, I downloaded and read the little manual specifically for P3S FW updates  I watched youtube videos. I followed step by step instructions on drone websites.  I spent 4 hours trying to make this thing work. It is broken.

I may have never flown a drone before but I am neither an idiot nor new to computers, phones, and tech in general.  The FW upgrade pretty much bricked my drone (at least as far as its ability to fly is concerned).

"...Yes I relinked it. How else would it stream video to my phone?..."


two different things ...

re-linking the RC is not the same as having a video link!

the RC to quad is one connection
and the video link is a different connection.

one can and will work without the other.

That is the answer to your question!

relink the Rc and it will work

BillW50 Posted at 2016-12-27 08:09
So what happen on the failed update? It never completed or what? So what did you do? Format the SD card and placed the bin file on it?

In my case it didn't complete the install, I get a failed install error message. I had moved the remote from one side of the room to the other during the install, that's all it took to get an error. So it let me re-install the FW, this time I didn't move a thing. I try to advice everyone to download the FW close to your router so there's a good signal, and do the opposite when doing the install. Get far away from your home router, and keep all three pieces right next to each other and don't move anything till it's done.