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When will DJI fix the new firmware problem?
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4722 96 2017-9-3
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JockC
First Officer
Flight distance : 459416 ft
Australia
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Cetacean Posted at 2017-9-4 19:23
Aloha Jock,

     Sorry, but I have to take exception to your comment.  You do not understand the nature of firmware in DJI cutting edge technology.  Read my extensive posts on this issue so you can understand why you have a problem with DJI's fully functioning firmware.  (Try say that fast three times!)


I take exception to your comment that I need to do a "proper update". Who do you think you are?
I have decades of experience in the IT firmware business and also extensive experience with the P4 and previous P3A. I know full well what firmware is and also how to install it. I have installed the latest firmware, downgraded and then re-installed several times using various methods and in each case, the new firmware is dodgy whilst the previous version works perfectly. Many other experienced DJI users have done the same with the same result. I would love it to be as simple as installing the firmware "the proper way" but that is clearly not an answer for the many posters who have the same issues. DJI knows full well that these problems exist but their priorities seem to be to keep rolling out new products rather than fixing the existing ones.
The firmware was clearly released without enough testing and is flawed. Everyone else seems to accept that except yourself.
2017-9-4
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CraigR
lvl.4
Australia
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Cetacean Posted at 2017-9-4 15:03
Aloha Craig,

     You are flying a network of three computers, the RC, AC and your device.  All three computers have firmware and the device has an app.  The parts of the network have to interact properly with each other.  That means that the more powerful firmware that is shown to work very well thousands of times a day on remote controllers and aircraft needs an appropriately powerful device to process the input from the more powerful firmware on the RC and AC.  The new firmware increases calculations exponentially and that stresses the device.  The device can be streamlined to only operate with the RC and AC and with no background apps or downloads but that can only go so far until it needs more powerful processors and more RAM.

No, you're incorrect. The firmware is running on the RC and the AC and not on your tablet/phone. But, what would I know? I've only been paid as a systems level and embedded programmer for 25 years and unpaid for maybe 10 years before my 4 years of university.

You are seriously misunderstanding how things work, I'm afraid.

If you think that the behaviour of the drone shown at the beginning of this thread is caused by the tablet/phone then that is incorrect.

When many people first start programming professionally they might tend to "blame the user" when they do not experience a reported issue or problem themselves. Yeah, sure, sometimes it is the client/user's fault; maybe even often. But jumping to that conclusion is a road towards pain, misery and failure. If one of my clients report an issue with firmware that I've programmed I investigate it, even if I'm not experiencing the problem myself on my hardware. If the number of client's reporting issues after a firmware upgrade that I've programmed (or helped program) and pushed exceeds a fairly low threshold and I can't within a reasonable (very short) period come up with a solution then I pull the firmware out of release (call it a digital product recall if you like) and start pushing the previous release of the firmware to clients (e.g. basically a rollback). This is the responsible thing to do.

Anyhow, I get the impression that you don't want to listen because you're still insisting that the firmware runs partially on the phone/tablet, so I don't know what else I can say.

2017-9-4
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Pakawan
lvl.4
Flight distance : 7264 ft
Thailand
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"Obviously, there is device firmware that is addressing issues separately from Operating System improvements.  So you need to have a device that is one year old or less as part of the spec."

He is a funny person
2017-9-4
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NKars
lvl.4
Flight distance : 834117 ft
Netherlands
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take another underground.  
2017-9-5
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JCJMC
lvl.4
Flight distance : 2122467 ft
Spain
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I have my doubts that DJI knows to fix all the errors of the last firmware of the P4.
2017-9-5
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Breezeblock
lvl.4
Flight distance : 38586 ft
United Kingdom
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Deep^Blue Posted at 2017-9-4 01:33
Breezeblock, can you confirm you don't have and never have had a problem with filming 4K video at 30fps with this latest firmware?

Yes I can.   I have always used the highest resolution available on my P4.  I view  SD card recorded video on a laptop Windows 10.   Because I did not know this was not the `approved` format for Windows  (really for Mac equipment) I have only used .MOV files.  However these have consistently  been quite excellent with the  supplied Films and TV software so I am not minded at present to switch to MP4.  Hope this helps.

Breezeblock
2017-9-5
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StephenGSY
lvl.4
Flight distance : 814232 ft
Guernsey
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To the guy arguing that the firmware isn’t flawed.
Post the fix here if tour so sure. Tell us the PROPER way to update.
Personally I don’t have the issues as serious as others have here. So maybe the new firmware is showing some sort of quality issue with certain components that wasn’t showing with the earlier firmware. It’s being pushed harder with this new firmware so it might be that.
2017-9-5
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M109
Second Officer

New Zealand
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Cetacean Posted at 2017-9-4 15:24
Aloha Cian,

     When DJI comes out and says there is a firmware issue, then I will believe that there is a firmware issue.  But, so far, the only thing I have heard from DJI reps is that there are problems with downloads and installations and some of the devices are not powerful enough to work properly with the new firmware.

What we really need is someone with a P4 with the current firmware that is  having problems  and someone on the same firmware that has no problems to get together and mix and match  RC AC and tablets so they can  narrow the problem down to either RC, AC or Tablet, and I'm picking the AC with the problems will still have the same problems as will the AC without problem will continue without problems when linked to the other RC and tablet   and that will elimanate your theory that certain devices are not powerful enough to work with the new firmware.
2017-9-5
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Mabou2
First Officer
Flight distance : 811257 ft
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United States
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M109 Posted at 2017-9-5 04:41
What we really need is someone with a P4 with the current firmware that is  having problems  and someone on the same firmware that has no problems to get together and mix and match  RC AC and tablets so they can  narrow the problem down to either RC, AC or Tablet, and I'm picking the AC with the problems will still have the same problems as will the AC without problem will continue without problems when linked to the other RC and tablet   and that will elimanate your theory that certain devices are not powerful enough to work with the new firmware.

Hi M109,  your suggestion would help to eliminate some of the software problems, but the firmware issues are broad ranging and have nothing to do with the mobile device.

My iPad Mini2 now totally overheats after the latest update, but that has nothing to do with the P4 bucking and much more.
2017-9-5
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DroneGuyEd
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1168140 ft
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United States
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Based on what I see here, the firmware related issues seems drone related.  While there are a lot of possibilities, two seem somewhere near the top of the list:

A.        Some aspect of the firmware update left the bird in an unstable state

B.        There is some incompatibility with the firmware for some birds

If A ends up being the cause here, that would seem to point to a weakness in the update process that somehow didn’t detect problems.  If the update somehow requires a “fast” device, then the update process should validate this before starting.

Many firms use things like check sums to validate the update process.  I don’t know whether DJI does this.


If B ends up being the cause here, that would seem to point to weak firmware or update process.

Many types of hardware that use firmware sometimes have different revisions within the same model number.  For these devices, there may be firmware differences by revision number.  Network vendors are clear to point this out and avoid firmware B going on revision A.


All the P4s affected were likely NOT made on the same day.   Its not out of the range of possibilities that some P4 model lots are more likely to have issues with the most recent firmware than others.  

We seem to see that users who had problems, and downgraded, got their stability back with the former firmware.

The fact that DJI doesn’t seem to be jumping all over this issue makes me suspect that the percent of affected users might be small.  That too is also a complete guess.

2017-9-5
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Pvt Pilot '79
lvl.4
Flight distance : 1000272 ft
United States
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DroneGuyEd Posted at 2017-9-5 07:59
Based on what I see here, the firmware related issues seems drone related.  While there are a lot of possibilities, two seem somewhere near the top of the list:

A.        Some aspect of the firmware update left the bird in an unstable state

Your last statement could very well be true regarding the affected percentages being small.  People with problems tend to go onto these forums as opposed to people giving kudos for a successful update.  It doesn't discount the fact that DJI should have stepped up to the plate a long time ago to address this.  The fact that they seem to be ducking their head in the sand leads me to believe it's more of a widespread problem.  The DJI people that respond act as if nothing is wrong with the update time after time. It's too bad they have such a great product.....on the surface that is. A great product has equally great support when needed. I certainly won't be recommending DJI to anyone at this point. If there were another product close to being as good, I'd recommend that one in a heartbeat.
2017-9-5
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DJI Joe
Captain

United States
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Hey guys. To avoid duplicate threads running at the same time, please post here: http://forum.dji.com/thread-103711-1-1.html

I'll leave this thread open for a bit so discussions can somewhat resolve. Hope you understand. Thanks.
2017-9-5
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veekman530
lvl.1
United States
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Cetacean Posted at 2017-9-4 01:43
Aloha wangrin,

     Why do you not read my posts?  Apparently, you only get to the part where I explain why there is a problem.  You appear to completely miss what you can do to solve your problem.

Wrong! Very wrong. There is obviously a firmware problem, there are tons of posts about it, and no they are not trolls. I know because I now have a $1000 brick from this faulty FW. My P4 flew perfectly fine before the update, now I have all the problems the so called "trolls" are having! DJI, not the owners, need to find a solution to this, they created it!!!
2017-9-5
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jbj220
Second Officer
Flight distance : 847031 ft
United States
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Mabou2 Posted at 2017-9-5 06:53
Hi M109,  your suggestion would help to eliminate some of the software problems, but the firmware issues are broad ranging and have nothing to do with the mobile device.

My iPad Mini2 now totally overheats after the latest update, but that has nothing to do with the P4 bucking and much more.

I switched to Litchi,  now my iPad mini 2 runs cool as a cucumber.  
2017-9-5
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veekman530
lvl.1
United States
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I swear, if I read the words "cutting edge technology" one more time........
2017-9-5
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FredAstra
First Officer
Flight distance : 595577 ft
United Kingdom
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Deep^Blue Posted at 2017-9-4 04:34
I don't think I have to say anything more than, my device is listed on the supported product list, that should be also everything you need to think about that. If DJI supports it, you might as well shut up about it.
I am 100% sure, flying without my device yields the same problems so you might as well stop trying to make it anything else than a firmware issue.
Updated using latest DJI Assistant 2, two times over.

Hear hear. Cetacean I am beginning to think you are DJI Susan in disguise :-)
2017-9-5
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DJI Joe
Captain

United States
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Thread closed as described earlier. Please post here: http://forum.dji.com/thread-103711-1-1.html
2017-9-5
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