Like many I'm slightly concerned about the recent notification about the planned implementation of the new Updates Process For Activating Software And Firmware Updates.


DJI, I have a couple of questions...

Will I need a data connection every time I want to fly? Or Is the update a one off process?


What is the reasoning for this implementation?

What I am hoping on is that DJI does what is right and gets rid of this requirements and we can all go back to normal.

I read somewhere that the activation process happens each time the drone is flown, but that you need to only log in once or when the app asks you to.  I have read additional items where the app will require a log in every 72 hours, but this could be China only or maybe not China only.  I don't know yet.

Bottom line is, I never want to or need to activate my drone.  This is the only free and morally responsible path.

As a recent flyer that's come back to DJIs products my feelings are pretty polarising. Good products, like my Mavic, Goggles aside from that friggin bit of dust inside...grrrr but reading some of the new and old threads/comments about DJIs after sales and customer worries me. Then, now reading into the recent notification of this process I'm alarmed. Mobile signal generally in the U.K. is utter toilet. The,big open countryside is where I wanna fly. Ironically the areas that are most unlikely to have a good reliable source of data.  

DJI - You must work on your communication & customer service skills!

ShadyDealer Posted at 2017-5-22 14:48
As a recent flyer that's come back to DJIs products my feelings are pretty polarising. Good products, like my Mavic, Goggles aside from that friggin bit of dust inside...grrrr but reading some of the new and old threads/comments about DJIs after sales and customer worries me. Then, now reading into the recent notification of this process I'm alarmed. Mobile signal generally in the U.K. is utter toilet. The,big open countryside is where I wanna fly. Ironically the areas that are most unlikely to have a good reliable source of data.  

DJI - You must work on your communication & customer service skills!

If they warned ya ahead of time, you would have thousands or tens of thousands of me, loading firmwar .0400 and firewalling their app.

I am usually pretty good about seeing the writing on the wall.  Maybe it is just China for now, but it is coming to a state /country near you when people see what it does.

This is really out of line. When I buy something and pay ridiculous amount of money then I own that something and I don't want anyone to come back and tell me hey no you can do this or you can't do that or I want to sit next to you and see how you drive or how you fly or where you drive or where you fly.

Bottom line, I don't live in China or Russia or whatever. I live in the USA and I don't need you to tell me or allow me to do anything I don't want to. Otherwise, take your product back and give me my money back. Period!

I really cant decide for myself, I wish a French or Irish guy would chime in and make my decision for me.

Recently, DJI was able to make no-fly zones so that their drones can't be used in terrorist heavy areas.... maybe, just maaaaybe this is what they are doing... fine tuning when and where their devices can be used?!?  Maybe?  Good news/bad news?!? I'm totally guessing here.

PanaceaBeachBum Posted at 2017-5-22 16:56
I really cant decide for myself, I wish a French or Irish guy would chime in and make my decision for me.

I am sorry, how does this offer anything by way of a constructive comment?????

It seems that most of the other DJI / Mavic  sites are going crazy with this news from DJI.  Many people are reacting as though DJI were coming in to remove both their First and Second Amendment rights (for US of A citizens).  My personal opinion is to wait and see:  Will I be happy if this leads to many more restrictions on my ability to fly my Mavic - no.  But - IMO - my Mavic is what I do for fun; IF DJI is pulling some draconian act of removing my rights or spying on me, I'll make a rational decision, not one based on conjecture and paranoia because of what I read on a web-site that seems to be driven by a few Orwellian posters.

If this were a business tool, I would probably take a much narrower view and be more concerned.  I'm taking a wait and see attitude but I will probably upgrade once I know a little more.

FlyingSmasher Posted at 2017-5-22 16:45
This is really out of line. When I buy something and pay ridiculous amount of money then I own that something and I don't want anyone to come back and tell me hey no you can do this or you can't do that or I want to sit next to you and see how you drive or how you fly or where you drive or where you fly.

Bottom line, I don't live in China or Russia or whatever. I live in the USA and I don't need to tell you or allow you to do anything I don't want to. Otherwise, take you product back and give me my money back. Period!

I'm guessing this was an attempt at sarcasm?  

Nikon 1 Posted at 2017-5-23 01:37
I'm guessing this was an attempt at sarcasm?

Maybe or maybe not. I am taking a wait and see attitude. but I will probably let you know when...

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 15:20
If they warned ya ahead of time, you would have thousands or tens of thousands of me, loading firmwar .0400 and firewalling their app.

I am usually pretty good about seeing the writing on the wall.  Maybe it is just China for now, but it is coming to a state /country near you when people see what it does.

Exactly what I did lol
I was going to get the goggles. But now I don't need them

The only purpose of this is to track you and attempt to reduce liability on DJI's end.  Otherwise, there is no benefit to the end consumer.  Although worded well, every "benefit" DJI claims with this new system can automatically be provided without you having to confirm that you agree with their rules.  

method007 Posted at 2017-5-23 07:43
The only purpose of this is to track you and attempt to reduce liability on DJI's end.  Otherwise, there is no benefit to the end consumer.  Although worded well, every "benefit" DJI claims with this new system can automatically be provided without you having to confirm that you agree with their rules.

The benefit to the end user is that they get the correct and most up-to-date geofencing data for their location. I live in the Washington, DC area and had problems with locations near the edge of the DC RFZ that should have been fine to fly in until an update addressed the issue.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-5-23 08:33
The benefit to the end user is that they get the correct and most up-to-date geofencing data for their location. I live in the Washington, DC area and had problems with locations near the edge of the DC RFZ that should have been fine to fly in until an update addressed the issue.

No, the new process for software activation provides no benefit to the consumer at all.

You are referencing other things that have nothing to do with the software activation.  Things that could be provided without the requirement of the new software activation process.  DJI simply compressed the two to soften the blow.

I should point out that is still remains to be seen what these changes bring.

My concern is mainly with the re-activation. Like... how does this affect the Care Refresh deal. After this re-activation... how many are gonna get the "Sorry, but you activated XX amount of days from the purchase of your Care Refresh".

one day left until 24 ...hmm...i am waiting...

I to will wait and see.  No one has mentioned the root cause: IRRESPONSIBLE PILOTS. Maybe we need the Digital ID talked about a couple mounths ago. Fly Responsivley.

strydr Posted at 2017-5-23 11:03
I to will wait and see.  No one has mentioned the root cause: IRRESPONSIBLE PILOTS. Maybe we need the Digital ID talked about a couple mounths ago. Fly Responsivley.

This...  And as with anything, a certain tiny percentage of village idiots will be out there.  Every village has one.

method007 Posted at 2017-5-23 10:18
No, the new process for software activation provides no benefit to the consumer at all.

You are referencing other things that have nothing to do with the software activation.  Things that could be provided without the requirement of the new software activation process.  DJI simply compressed the two to soften the blow.

Things that could be provided without the requirement of the new software activation process.

How so?

I do believe that the  chance  is 1 in10 that a dji drone will be involved in an accident so bad publicity  is not good so as the biggest boys on the block don't  want that blame so this is a kill switch and all the others will follow-up  to get rid of the  village  idiot's. NATIONAL  AIR  SPACE IN THE USA  IS A PRIVILEGE  NOT A RIGHT. Just like a car you don't  drive it for hobby. You have to be trained in the  laws and take a test.

Get ready... It's almost time

let's see if the stats take a diff. turn once it's released.. for now doe snot look too bad for dji, although most people think it's under-explained.

Definitely under explained. Sounds like that standard DJI practice. This could end being a pr nightmare and cause a massive backlash. When all said and done, I do think we should all fly safely, that goes without saying really but I would imagine the vast majority of people fly these drones, not just DJI ones illegally in some way shape or form.

Regulations in most countries are strict and because of this it limits the areas where we can fly legally. Legally though is not always fun, interesting and appealing. Hands up who literally fly to the letter of the law every time they fly? Honestly....would imagine not many.

Not happy at all!. Need straight forward answers in BLACK and WHITE!

NO CLEAR AS MUD! stuff lol

I fly by the laws of this land. LOS, 30 meters from people/houses, obey height restrictions and having fun. Not sure how you assume everyone is a shonky operator.

But like the OP i have a question also regarding the announced changes to the DJI update policy.

It appears the .400 FW is removed from Assistant2. This is the ONLY FW i have found to be free of disconnect errors and NFZ errors amongst other dissapointing glitches.
If DJI force me to apply another FW which is dogged with errors making this drone useless, can i return this item as a product that is unusable?

Why has DJI killed the thread about reports of the new update process, instead of actually addressing the concerns raised?

Bent Kangaroo Posted at 2017-5-23 18:22
I fly by the laws of this land. LOS, 30 meters from people/houses, obey height restrictions and having fun. Not sure how you assume everyone is a shonky operator.

But like the OP i have a question also regarding the announced changes to the DJI update policy.

I never flew .0400, but after downgrading, I should have been all along.  

Notes:

1.  Gimbal problems just don't exist on .0400.  The gimbal looks nearly perfectly lined up with the horizon.  This is not so on any other firmware I have used *.0500; ,0550; .0600; .0700 all required a gimbal tilt of 4 to line it up with the horizon.
2.  NFZ problems don't exist on .0400.  Not worried about it dropping into a lake.
3.  I have noticed the stop from speed has a slight shift to the right before coming to a hover.  Not a big deal unless flying at high speed in a confined space (Idiot move anyway).
4.  .0700 seems to have a poor signal warning in high wind.  Flew in high wind on .0400 today and it really didn't care.
5.  .0700's whacked out gimbal problems where it wants to go to some strange position sometimes does not happen on .0400.

So far, I don't know why I haven't been flying this since day one.  It is the firmware rev that seems to check all the boxes of what the Mavic advertises and what you bought into it for.  It is sad that it is now gone for most users.

What worries me the most about this update, should your drone be involved in a flyaway, crash, disconnect or something similar - DJi  could go back over all your flights data, find that one date when you had flown within 30 meters of a shed or road (sarcasm yes) or you only had 9 satellites instead of the 10 etc.  and now your warranty is no longer valid or worse the authorities get involved.

I was not implying everyone and anyone is a shonky flyer. However, it's not always possible to fly to the exact letter of the law. For the record, I do believe being responsible and flying safe is paramount regardless of where you fly.

SLiWooDy Posted at 2017-5-23 23:12
What worries me the most about this update, should your drone be involved in a flyaway, crash, disconnect or something similar - DJi  could go back over all your flights data, find that one date when you had flown within 30 meters of a shed or road (sarcasm yes) or you only had 9 satellites instead of the 10 etc.  and now your warranty is no longer valid or worse the authorities get involved.

They can do that already.  The main thing the update does is is to make sure the PIC has current GEO data, thus reducing liability to DJI if you do something really stupid and claim ignorance.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-23 18:43
I never flew .0400, but after downgrading, I should have been all along.  

Notes:

Ive been telling people this for months. I bought my Mavic when .400 was the current firmware, after trying out a few of the updates since I have been appalled at the performance (hovering issues, serious disconnect issues and erratic gimbal behavior). None of these problems exist on .400 on the EXACT same AC.

I've already listed my Mavic on ebay, Im tired of DJI and their shotty and shady business practices and theres no way on gods green earth I'm going to have spent 1500 dollars on a product that doesnt work correctly just because DJI wants to force people to upgrade to their crap  untested firmware.

Not to mention the additional limitations that this activation process could enforce.

Why would you sell one running .0400?  You already have what everyone wants.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-24 17:32
Why would you sell one running .0400?  You already have what everyone wants.

Well lets see....

" after trying out a few of the updates since I have been appalled at the performance (hovering issues, serious disconnect issues and erratic gimbal behavior). None of these problems exist on .400 on the EXACT same AC. "

Is that not good enough?
Did you not read that in the post above yours?

Do we need more problems to jump from this sinking ship?

Big deal we have .400, when DJI pull the pin you will have no say.

Bent Kangaroo Posted at 2017-5-24 17:43
Well lets see....

" after trying out a few of the updates since I have been appalled at the performance (hovering issues, serious disconnect issues and erratic gimbal behavior). None of these problems exist on .400 on the EXACT same AC. "

My drone is off grid and DJI has no connectivity to it.  DJI can't pull the pin.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-24 17:50
My drone is off grid and DJI has no connectivity to it.  DJI can't pull the pin.

Good for you.

What about everyone else?
How many people bought this thing to be forced to take it off grid ?

What a joke!!

Firewalls are your friends....  iOS however and I cannot help you.  Android and you have hope:

https://play.google.com/store/ap ... .netguard&hl=en

So from a fully functioning drone with no problems to now needing to take steps to disassociate the manufacturer from the drone itself in order to have some reliability?
Is this another joke?
How about all the iOS users?
Your patch job might be good for people with time to throw out the window, but its a sad sad day when we are forced to behave like quasi criminals/hackers just to get this POS to fly.
i didnt sign up for this crap.

Bent Kangaroo Posted at 2017-5-24 18:30
So from a fully functioning drone with no problems to now needing to take steps to disassociate the manufacturer from the drone itself in order to have some reliability?
Is this another joke?
How about all the iOS users?

I can't argue.  I don't want to take steps to protect my investment, but I hope it temporary.

iOS people bought into control consciously when they bought the phone.  I don't think they are too worried about someone also controlling their drone.  They live in a jail cell lined with flowers and paid for it.

In the meantime, remember he who has the gold...  I mean drone, makes the rules.  Chill as nothing is the end of the world.  Lisa Gerrard might be able to help with that like no one else can:

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-24 18:49
I can't argue.  I don't want to take steps to protect my investment, but I hope it temporary.

iOS people bought into control consciously when they bought the phone.  I don't think they are too worried about someone also controlling their drone.  They live in a jail cell lined with flowers and paid for it.

I have IOS  and always fly with airplane mode, so no WIFI, no flower in cell. lol

Just flew today with the goggles and after set up it asked to update to the next version when it is available to unlock more features. Also no issues with gimbal, NFZ, dancing video.lol etc.