Yesterday after a few great flights  i landed and took a break to eat.....ever thing was shut down properly....about 15 minutes later i went thru the start UP process and i got a panel that  number 1  said :......"My Aircraft was locked till i did a firmware up date" !....Here i was  24 miles out in the wide open country and "My Aircraft Was Locked".....i was pretty Upset...I dont know how i go it UnLocked to be able to Enjoy more flight time  But I did   Yeaaa !.....  *Question 1*  what caused This ?.... *Question 2*  i'm still wondering How I got it Unlocked any ideas ?   and *question number 3*   What can I do to Not allow this to happen again and spoil my days flight time again  ?      Hope i'm posting this in the right place here Thanks to all Who Help me .   

This is one of the main reasons I probably will not return to DJI for my next drone.  They are bad at firmware.  They are bad at UI.

You can use a cell phone as a wifi hot spot, if that would help.


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-10-23 10:24
You can use a cell phone as a wifi hot spot, if that would help.

But why did I have My  Drone Locked.....just because i needed a UP date !...I...somehow Got thru it and flew a few more batteries  !   it's  My Drone  i should Not have my drones system locked  cause i need a Up date.....i see where a  Update really screws things Up many many times on these forums !

Zippo43 Posted at 2017-10-23 19:53
But why did I have My  Drone Locked.....just because i needed a UP date !...I...somehow Got thru it and flew a few more batteries  !   it's  My Drone  i should Not have my drones system locked  cause i need a Up date.....i see where a  Update really screws things Up many many times on these forums !

Aloha Zippo,

     DJI is going through, and has already gone through, many different development processes, not all of which are helpful for their customers.  At one time DJI was under government pressure to improve accountability, then liability scenarios came into play and then the FAA lost in court and was no longer able to require registration of all drones over a half pound.  And lots of other outside influences.

     Ultimately, DJI decided that they would only warn customers of specific issues that needed their attention.  But, meanwhile, some coercive firmware and software had been released and not all customers wanted to update as a policy.  So, some customers have software and firmware from different periods in this mess caused by being a leader in a cutting edge technology.

     Now it just may be possible that you do not have all the same generation software and firmware regularly updated as DJI offered them.  One of the firmware that some have decided would be the last they would update or would roll-back to may have the warning about the lock-up, but the latest DJI policy is that lock-ups would not be done anymore.  So all you have to do if your DJI GO or DJI GO 4 software warns you that you are being locked up, is just push through and fly.  Just accept the warning and fly.  No current DJI software, except possibly GeoFencing near airports, locks up a Phantom.

     That is not to say that government installations like airports and military installations will not lock up your Phantom - because they will at the drop of a hat.  You will loose your Phantom real fast.

     I know this may sound confusing but it is probably even more confusing to DJI tech-support staff who have to deal with this and deal with it delicately.  If DJI customers would just work with DJI if they experience problems and otherwise do the updates and upgrades offered by DJI, this whole mess would not be so complicated.  But, having my Phantoms and enjoying how well they fly, I can understand those who would not want to update and upgrade unless they want the extra bells and whistles.  

     Everyone gets that feeling of doubt and dread before a firmware update or software upgrade but we just dive in.  Right now, my P4 Pro just had an update and is giving me all kinds of warnings that I am trying to sort out. After the initial panic that I have been struck (like others who have complained on this Forum) I realized that my bird needs to be updated as part of the process and I missed that because I pushed past and flew.  So, it will get sorted out when I catch up with what DJI is offering.  Right now it is storming outside, so it will not happen anytime soon.  I already lost the power to my house once and expect more.

     Not all Forum members will agree with what I have written, but this is the way I see it and it agrees with a lot of what we see on this Forum.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

Just to verify, when and where did you buy the drone? Post a screenshot of the error message, I'd like to help.

Git you a P2 series for emergencies and keep it with you wherever you go.  Simple.

Zippo, I have received your message in PM, thank you so much! According to your description, the aircraft was locked and you are forced to update the firmware. As far as I know, there is no mandatory update for overseas customers. It might appear if you connect China Mainland network or similar. I'm not sure for now. If you meet the similar issue in the future, please kindly take a screenshot and contact us for further assistance. Appreciate your understanding.

Zippo43 Posted at 2017-10-23 19:53
But why did I have My  Drone Locked.....just because i needed a UP date !...I...somehow Got thru it and flew a few more batteries  !   it's  My Drone  i should Not have my drones system locked  cause i need a Up date.....i see where a  Update really screws things Up many many times on these forums !

Aloha Zippo,

     Good that DJI Susan is helping you!

     I was able to update my P4 Pro Aircraft and fly today.  Everything worked better than ever before.  DJI just keeps getting better and better.

     All the Phantoms are basically a flying network of three computers.  The iOS or Android device, the remote controller and the aircraft.  These three computers have to be working on the same generation of firmware and software in order to work as designed.  If they are not on the same generation, there can be problems like a lock-out or my excessive warnings during flights the other day.

     Anyway, it looks like the problems I had two days ago were because I did not update my aircraft as I suspected.  I flew three HIgh Capacity batteries today for an hour and a half of flying.  What a blast!  And the weather was nice to in spite of the forecast.

     The aircraft are different, but the effect of having one out of the three computers in the network not as up-to-date as the other two computers is similar in that problems can occur.  The problems can also be vastly different but the similarity is that they have problems.  The way to solve those problems is to fly with firmware and software all on the same generation as they were originally designed to fly.  

     The All-in-One firmware packages keep everything in the same generation.  Whether you use a specific All-in-One firmware package or not is your choice, but you can tell what generation set of firmware you want to use by tracking the All-in-One firmware packages and working from there.  This information is in the P3 SE Release Notes.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!