Hi guys, I recently did the firmware upgrade after purchasing a new battery (5870mAh) to get it working on my "old" P4. As many of you, I got all the problems reported: shaking, aggressive response to stick inputs and very unstable flight in windy condition. Also I got the app crashing during 4k video reconding at 30fps. So I read many threads trying to understanding and get rid of those problems. Finally I decided to downgrade firmware and get my bird flying again.
Two day ago, I was reading about the "fix" suggested by DJI to a guy on Phan....pilots forum. The guy said his P4 now flies very well after doing it so I decided to give a new chance...


I still can't believe, it works!


Here are the steps I followed:


- Format the SD card via DJI GO app (I have 4.1.5)
- Remove the SD card from the P4
- Switch off P4
- Connect the PC to the P4 and then power on the bird
- Upgrade the firmware via DJI Assistant 2 and power off when finished (repeat if you have many batteries)
- Go Flying without SD card
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I immediatly noticed a smooth flight! no more aggressive response, no wobble. It was simply fine!
I then tried to insert my sd card (lexar 1000x U3) and tried to fly recording video at 1080p without problems. So I switched to 4k 30 fps and I got 4 min recording with no issues. No "strong wind message" and yesterday it was windy here. I did two batteries flight with no problems!


Please try it! I really hope you get it work too!
Probably developers (or DJI) can understand and explain it. What does it change upgrading with or without SD on?

DJI has a great product with the P4P.  Personally, I think there's a fine line between "improving" a product and "don't fix what isn't broken".  The recent firmware update might be more of the later of the two.  Never the less, something is better than nothing.  A year ago I tried a drone simulator on the computer without any stabilization.  I'm proud to say I was able to go up, backwards, forward, and then crash.  That prevented me from buying a DJI P4P until I learned of the upgraded stability.  So from no control to what we have now, with a few glitches, I'm not going to cry about a few glitches myself.

Nauticalman Posted at 2017-9-2 08:59
DJI has a great product with the P4P.  Personally, I think there's a fine line between "improving" a product and "don't fix what isn't broken".  The recent firmware update might be more of the later of the two.  Never the less, something is better than nothing.  A year ago I tried a drone simulator on the computer without any stabilization.  I'm proud to say I was able to go up, backwards, forward, and then crash.  That prevented me from buying a DJI P4P until I learned of the upgraded stability.  So from no control to what we have now, with a few glitches, I'm not going to cry about a few glitches myself.

Yea. The philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should be put up on DJI R&D and engineering walls -- one of those inspirational posters. Lol.

When we first unboxed and flew our Inspire 2 ... OH MY GOODNESS ... it was a life-changing experience.

Then we had the firmware update from June ...

But I might actually try the OP's recommendation, just to see.  Couldn't hurt, since our Inspire 2 is practically garbage at this time.

Good catch!

This makes sense to me I have had problems with SD Cards before that have affected the performance of the drone and this is before this update. At one point the video transmission would not work and I did search on the internet and someone else had the same problem and they formatted the SD card and it fixed the problem this solution back then also worked for me. It is worth a try with the new firmware. Now to find out how many people have tried this with the latest firmware and see if it will fix all the problems for everyone. Wouldn't that be great if we can put these problems behind us and move on? If I have time today I will give it a go.  Thanks

I performed the drill and....................I think it flies better. It certainly did not hurt anything.  

Do you still hear the motors fighting each other trying to stabilize between hovering?

Hi
I have upgraded as per your details and the whole process worked without any problems. I have also done the IMU cal and that worked ok to. I managed to do one quick flight so still need to do more testing. But the first quick flight was stable. Will do more testing in the coming weeks and report back ounces completed.

Hi
I have upgraded at per your details , but my Phantom 4 is still Wobling alot an It flyes still very bad , engines are not running smothly , I WANT MY GOOD OLD PHANTOM 4 BACK NOW , It is nealy 2 month since I updadet to last firmware , an DJI does nothing to help us .

1HPC Posted at 2017-9-3 02:34
Hi
I have upgraded at per your details , but my Phantom 4 is still Wobling alot an It flyes still very bad , engines are not running smothly , I WANT MY GOOD OLD PHANTOM 4 BACK NOW , It is nealy 2 month since I updadet to last firmware , an DJI does nothing to help us .

Reading the forum how to downgrade. Or send pm

A bad SD card should not make flight performance worse. It might affect write speed, make videos stutter or something like that, but it does not affect flight characteristics or the VPS sensor. It's like if you had a scratchy CD in your car, it might sound bad, but it does not alter how the car drives.

Nevertheless, it is good to format the SD card after awhile to minimize photo/video performance issues.

Rob W Posted at 2017-9-3 05:31
A bad SD card should not make flight performance worse. It might affect write speed, make videos stutter or something like that, but it does not affect flight characteristics or the VPS sensor. It's like if you had a scratchy CD in your car, it might sound bad, but it does not alter how the car drives.

Nevertheless, it is good to format the SD card after awhile to minimize photo/video performance issues.

I followed the procedure, but without results. Positional instability, lateral drift, poor video feedback.
I notice that it's worse in tripod mode.
The merit of DJI's clientele is unspeakable and I have lost all confidence.

This posting could be sponsored by DJI! An SD memory card has to do with the flight behavior of a Phantom 4 as little as this famous button which you see only at full moon!

Satstream Posted at 2017-9-3 08:55
This posting could be sponsored by DJI! An SD memory card has to do with the flight behavior of a Phantom 4 as little as this famous button which you see only at full moon!

Please search on Phan...pilots and you will find the thread. I know, it's incredible... I still don't believe it but my P4 now flyes as good as 01.02.0602 firmware with all new functions (tripod is helpful in many situations). I did two battery today, it was windy but my P4 did two perfects flight and 6 minutes of video reconrding at 4k 30fps.

After the first upgrade to v02.00.0106 it was dangerous, wobble and had quick response to input commands.
I can't explain what does it change upgrading with or without SD card inserted but it does for me and other people.
I have no reason to write it. I'm only trying to help. I'm happy now and was frustrated a few days ago.

Have a good day

paraviz02 Posted at 2017-9-2 11:09
Yea. The philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should be put up on DJI R&D and engineering walls -- one of those inspirational posters. Lol.

When we first unboxed and flew our Inspire 2 ... OH MY GOODNESS ... it was a life-changing experience.

Yea. The philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should be put up on DJI R&D and engineering walls -- one of those inspirational posters. Lol.


I agree with you. My P4 work fine from the day I bought it (about a year) After update Ver 106 it's unstable and jerks when it comes to a stop.

Hi,
This solution not works for my P4.

I tried that, the wobbling is less but is there. Then I performed the calibrations, the bird is wobbling like crazy on the hovering. Time to go back to the previous FW.

Made the the upgrade to .0106 when it came out, and made My P4 almost unusuble until the way to downgrade came out. My P4 was up flying again. Used it since (but missed the tripod mode). So decided to try OP's guide. OMG everything works great now with .0106, cant explain why, but I'm glad that it worked out. Tks OP!

Not being funny, but I think just re-installing something generally fixes problems that occurred on initial install, we all know this from experience with computers.  The old saying "have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it?"  Well known to us IT geeks.

HomePoint Posted at 2017-9-4 06:23
Not being funny, but I think just re-installing something generally fixes problems that occurred on initial install, we all know this from experience with computers.  The old saying "have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it?"  Well known to us IT geeks.

Seems unlikely but concievable that the update process drops in temp files or config  files to either one of the mounted SD cards, by removing one it has to use the other which is DJIs own internal SD.

Wonder if it has to do with the initial verification on the first firmware install?

I couldn't get the new NFZ Update to install, or even get to the second downloading installation screen on my P4 using the tablet.  Later I tried Assistant 2 and same thing, it refused to go to page two of the NFZ update to download it.  Endless loop as the NFZ Update refused to proceed after me clicking on okay for the update notification.

I decided to do a Refresh of the same firmware to the P4 in Assistant 2 since it was the only thing available, and since we cannot roll back to any prior versions.  On the next try of the NFZ update it took and downloaded and installed.  Dunno, but it may have been a bad initial flash of P4 firmware in the first go round.

That said, I'm never going to say it "Now it flies perfect" because I've gotten bit a week later with these things.  It will be a long go before I have 100% faith in this DJI stuff.

Dear all,

It's the 5th try with this update and I have several behaviours. The last one it's a flight limitation even if logged on the DJI Go app 4 and in an open area outside CTR, Dangerous zone, ... on a (registered) drone field.
I have contacted the onlin support via the chat and the operator confirms that developers are on this issue. They will give me feedback in 24-48 hours.
I keep you informed if they find a solution (I hope). I cross all my fingers. ;-)

I realize that on a surface level, it doesn't make sense that the SD card could affect the stability of the bird (as many have pointed out here).  But you are looking at the problem too simply.    A great example of how this can happen involves a quick history lesson with computers.  I don't know if this still applies, but it used to be when you were doing a software upgrade, Apple required us to disconnect all external hard drives and ALL third party peripherals because their presence could adversely affect the quality and accuracy of the software update on your main drive.  It didn't really make sense that having an external hard drive connected should affect the quality of the internal hard drive update, but it was apparently enough of an issue that the documentation required disconnections of all peripherals.

The same kind of thing could be applying here.  By having an SD card in the slot, something goes wrong with the firmware installation, which causes the issues we are having.  A bottom line is, many of us have problems after installation, but most likely many more  had no problems. The granularity of the problem could even go into silly space.  For example, the update works fine if you have formatted the card recently.... or the upgrade might be fine if you have nothing recorded to your card.  I know these are probably extreme examples, but that is exactly the way odd bugs are introduced.

So, for the naysayers about the SD card removal trick, it actually COULD have an impact on the firmware update.  Not highly likely, but completely possible.  There MUST be commonalities between those who had successful updates and no problems, vs those who are now grounded.  Might just be a silly little reason for it that none of us saw coming.

Same problem as all other P4 users with the latest firmware. Tries as you suggested, did not help. Just downgraded to good old 602 and flying like a charm, no wobbling no agressive flight behaviour . Will think twice before upgrading again...

Mabou2 Posted at 2017-9-4 08:11
I realize that on a surface level, it doesn't make sense that the SD card could affect the stability of the bird (as many have pointed out here).  But you are looking at the problem too simply.    A great example of how this can happen involves a quick history lesson with computers.  I don't know if this still applies, but it used to be when you were doing a software upgrade, Apple required us to disconnect all external hard drives and ALL third party peripherals because their presence could adversely affect the quality and accuracy of the software update on your main drive.  It didn't really make sense that having an external hard drive connected should affect the quality of the internal hard drive update, but it was apparently enough of an issue that the documentation required disconnections of all peripherals.

The same kind of thing could be applying here.  By having an SD card in the slot, something goes wrong with the firmware installation, which causes the issues we are having.  A bottom line is, many of us have problems after installation, but most likely many more  had no problems. The granularity of the problem could even go into silly space.  For example, the update works fine if you have formatted the card recently.... or the upgrade might be fine if you have nothing recorded to your card.  I know these are probably extreme examples, but that is exactly the way odd bugs are introduced.

On Windows there is a procedure like this where you in some cases should remove secondary hard drives before a fresh install. But that has nothing to do with system stability, just that the proper drive is selected as the boot drive when the computer starts. But nothing boots from the SD card in a Phantom, and the SD card cannot possibly affect flight performance.

I understand that people are trying to be helpful, but this superstition about the SD card is only confusing. Not trying to sound harsh but some advice is on the level of

"Yesterday my Phantom flew unstable. But today, I had a cheese sandwich before flying, and it was much more stable! Everyone should try eating a cheese sandwich. At least it can't hurt."

... cheese and pickle unlocks Super_Sport mode.

Fruxen Posted at 2017-9-4 11:45
On Windows there is a procedure like this where you in some cases should remove secondary hard drives before a fresh install. But that has nothing to do with system stability, just that the proper drive is selected as the boot drive when the computer starts. But nothing boots from the SD card in a Phantom, and the SD card cannot possibly affect flight performance.

I understand that people are trying to be helpful, but this superstition about the SD card is only confusing. Not trying to sound harsh but some advice is on the level of

Hola Fruxen...

hmmm... well, Apple used to suggest unplugging ALL peripherals, not just hard drives.  In the case of third party peripherals, it was to avoid having any drivers running that could impeded the update process.  Also, Apple never suggested unplugging extra internal hard drives (four drive tower enclosures), just the external drives, for the same reason as the other peripherals... the external drives could involve software drivers (for example, they could get a hold of the OS USB driver and not let it go when it needs updating.  Anyway, there is much much much more to the system (and ways the system can go wrong) than many people are aware.

Not saying that pulling the SD card will work in this case (certainly hasn't for some people), but this is also not out of the realm of possibilities for an abstract fix in any computer based system.

I thought I'd give this a try; after all my initial upgrade was with SD card inserted. Unfortunately, I have to report this has made no difference to my 4K @ 30fps issue - it still occurs. However, it has not negatively impacted anything else - I've still got satisfactory stable flight controls.

Where is the link to the thread in Phantom Pilots FORUM?

Where is the link to the thread in Phantom Pilots FORUM?