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IF IT AIN'T BROKE...DON'T FIX IT.
2038 27 2017-11-20
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Dan Morgan
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My Phantom 4 was working just fine for the past year. Then I started getting notices about upgrading firmware, and then it started limiting my altitude/distance and having glitches.
So, I begrudgingly attempted to update the firmware, with all suspicion the "upgrade" would actually be a "downgrade" as always seems to be the case when updating mobile devices, computers, etc. Upgrades always seem to make it worse.

My suspicion was confirmed when it was trying to update and got stuck on 99% for about an hour, and ran the battery on the drone down to 1 bar. I tried several different things, but now all I can get is a lousy video output, no GPS signal, map not loading, etc.

Ya know, I understand that these little college boy nerds sitting at a desk wearing a suit and tie need job security....but can we find something better for them to do than constantly wanting to 'change' things that aren't broke? What are they, government employees?? Like the reverse of King Midas, everything they touch turns to crap. Give them something more useful to do around the office like take out the trash, sharpen pencils, sweep the floor. But enough of these upgrades. Especially when the support is non-existent.

I suppose now I will send my drone off to let someone else deal with the headache of trying to fix what their 'upgrade' has fouled up. In the meantime, may I suggest an "opt out" option for any more upgrades. That's what I do with my mobile devices and computers, I decline upgrades, because this incident with the drone is a classic example of what happens when you try to 'fix' something that isn't broke.
2017-11-20
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ALABAMA
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Dan, You're making me chuckle!.  Hang in there.
2017-11-20
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hallmark007
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I endorse your sentiment, sometimes it just makes you feel tired.

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.”
2017-11-20
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M.C. Pilot
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Heard ya! Yeah change is difficult. Don't like em either but once it's over then the copter is current.
2017-11-20
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KedDK
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"My Phantom 4 was working just fine for the past year." - you're one lucky guy, i had a stable craft for 2 weeks until it got updated 6 months ago!

"now I will send my drone off to let someone else deal with the headache of trying to fix what their 'upgrade' has fouled" - hopefully you have better luck than what i have experienced so far.
Delivered  back to dealer on the 24th. of Oct. for repair of unstable flight and  very degraded range after the June update, only result  so far is DJI  repair trying to quote me for a new battery even it has no issues what  so ever but a "1" mark made with a permanent  marker in order to keep track of my batteries. Guess the damage is that  they have been unable to wipe my mark it away!.

repar_dji_com_1.png


2017-11-20
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DJI Susan
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I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please kindly offer the case number once you got it, we will check the exact status and keep follow up.
2017-11-21
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DJI Susan
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KedDK Posted at 2017-11-20 08:29
"My Phantom 4 was working just fine for the past year." - you're one lucky guy, i had a stable craft for 2 weeks until it got updated 6 months ago!

"now I will send my drone off to let someone else deal with the headache of trying to fix what their 'upgrade' has fouled" - hopefully you have better luck than what i have experienced so far.

Could you tell us your case number? I'll double check with the local team and confirm.
2017-11-21
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KedDK
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DJI Susan Posted at 2017-11-21 01:06
Could you tell us your case number? I'll double check with the local team and confirm.

Sure PM sent.
I am sure my synced flight records will confirm that nothing is wrong with the battery.
2017-11-21
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BagoDJIoperator
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I just here to know when the new firmware for the P4P will be released.
2017-11-21
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dayviduk
Second Officer

United Kingdom
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My P3A Flys , comes back and records , faultlessly since i bought it , now what would an update do for my drone   , and i betting their is not a good answer  .

I did hear that some company's release updates towards the end of a model to basically make it not works a s well as it did , hence you go buy a new item to replace it ,  

Think of all those laptops that get slower and slower
2017-11-21
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Dockater
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dayviduk Posted at 2017-11-21 15:33
My P3A Flys , comes back and records , faultlessly since i bought it , now what would an update do for my drone   , and i betting their is not a good answer  .

I did hear that some company's release updates towards the end of a model to basically make it not works a s well as it did , hence you go buy a new item to replace it ,  

Now that is cynical, and undoubtably true.
2017-11-21
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RedHotPoker
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dayviduk Posted at 2017-11-21 15:33
My P3A Flys , comes back and records , faultlessly since i bought it , now what would an update do for my drone   , and i betting their is not a good answer  .

I did hear that some company's release updates towards the end of a model to basically make it not works a s well as it did , hence you go buy a new item to replace it ,  

That's a silly belief. You don't actually follow that falsehood, I would hope.

If a company ever got caught, purposely debilitating our drones, and expecting future sales from those same customers? Yeah, well, that would be much like shooting yourself in the foot, without a western style dance...

I would choose not to continue with being a dedicated, satisfied customer. If my drone was buggered by a new Go app, or a firmware update.
There are DJI drone pilots on this forum and many others as well, that have been loyal and true from the beginning. Flying their flamewheels and other earlier Phantom models. Some have every DJI hobby grade model, that DJI has released, without going into detail of their professional models.
Doing something like that, to make abrupt, the end of the line, with a faulty firmware, purposely written into the code.
Honestly I would call that corporate suicide. So I feel these accusations are empty. Unjust and untrue.


RedHotPoker



2017-11-21
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DJI Susan
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KedDK Posted at 2017-11-21 01:45
Sure PM sent.
I am sure my synced flight records will confirm that nothing is wrong with the battery.

Received with thanks! All info has been forwarded to the local team for double check. I'll follow up and update the status here.
2017-11-22
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KedDK
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DJI Susan Posted at 2017-11-22 04:00
Received with thanks! All info has been forwarded to the local team for double check. I'll follow up and update the status here.

Thank you so much.
2017-11-22
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P4PCommander
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You are exactly Right!! as a former Field Engineer for Microsoft back in the Day! We learned real Quickly that you should NEVER UPGRADE UNLESS! the upgrade gives you a new feature or to fix a specific issue!!  Again if you are not having any issues other than PILOT ERROR....NEVER UPGRADE!!!
2017-11-22
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Kuya Kano
First Officer
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You are absolutely right.  Some people keep their jobs by constantly changing what already works.  For every innovation comes 100 problems to be ironed out.  And while these people get paid to make the product more problematic for the consumer, its the ones paying their paychecks by buying their products that suffer.
2017-11-22
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gabriel.magana
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*shrug* There's always someone complaining: If people do not update, then the complaint is that they do not update: One could whine about people who do not update firmware and then fly themselves into no-fly zones (intentionally or not) and give a black eye to all the other drone pilots who do follow the rules.  Also there are the things actually fixed on each release (I've had at least one major, major issue fixed via firmware updates).

The other side of the coin is that each firmware version change is a chance to break something, and things do break.

To DJI's credit, everything about programming drones is extremely complicated (i know, being a software engineer myself), and it's extremely difficult to do exactly right every time. To DJI's discredit, I agree they could use much better quality assurance, and they could absolutely, certainly do better when we send in a drone in for repairs. The whole process seems to be broken, and has been for a long time, and DJI does not seem interested in fixing it. There are way too many horror stories on here and elsewhere to think these are isolated incidents. The admins on this forum do a great job looking into things, but the fact that inside people have to intervene to get as much as a status update, points to a system that is integrally broken.

So I personally do not complain and hold my breadth every time I upgrade because all options suck :-).
2017-11-22
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Dan Morgan
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United States
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My case # is 841412. Had to send it back for repair, just as I suspected. Seen the same kind of crap with Mac computers.....do an upgrade then you have to take it in for repair, usually at personal expense. I made it very clear right off the bat that since this was DJI's "upgrade" that caused the problem, I was not going to pay one red cent for shipping,repair or return. They can eat it. And truthfully, they should dock it out of the paycheck of the 'engineers' who thought this upgrade was necessary, That would teach them to leave stuff alone that isn't broke.

And as far as complaining.....yeah, I'm complaining, because my drone worked just fine, even with autopilot, before they rammed this upgrade down my throat and forced me to do it, like Obamacare.

I don't do computers for a living, I'm a certified welder and machinist. But in keeping with the spirit of creating  BS upgrades for job security, I think I need to formulate some kind of welding rods that cause the welds to deteriorate within about a year, so I can call my customers and tell them that "weld and structural performance may be affected if they don't do a welding upgrade" Then go out to the job and run a few beads, and fall asleep about 75% of the way through the job, roll up my leads and go home. Then tell them they need to ship their building/bridge/boat/whatever I welded on...to an authorized service center for repair.

THAT'S how stupid I think upgrades are.
2017-11-23
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FatherXmas
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I guess I'm lucky, have a Spark, Mavic and P4P, fly every day and never had an issue that wasn't self inflicted. Just for future reference, you shouldn't fly a Spark inside the house in sport mode - you might smash a lamp and make your wife unhappy.
2017-11-23
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DJI Susan
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Dan Morgan Posted at 2017-11-23 20:12
My case # is 841412. Had to send it back for repair, just as I suspected. Seen the same kind of crap with Mac computers.....do an upgrade then you have to take it in for repair, usually at personal expense. I made it very clear right off the bat that since this was DJI's "upgrade" that caused the problem, I was not going to pay one red cent for shipping,repair or return. They can eat it. And truthfully, they should dock it out of the paycheck of the 'engineers' who thought this upgrade was necessary, That would teach them to leave stuff alone that isn't broke.

And as far as complaining.....yeah, I'm complaining, because my drone worked just fine, even with autopilot, before they rammed this upgrade down my throat and forced me to do it, like Obamacare.

Generally, the firmware update will not cause any hardware glitches. Per the case log, the drone is on the way, and the local team will diagnosis once it arrived. We will keep follow up for you.
2017-11-24
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RedHotPoker
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Being one lucky SOB, my Phantom 3 Pro, has been a blessing. No problematic flights, never had a bad upgrade, and always update, when ever there are new firmware or app upgrades, for our benefit.

I don't see any reason that DJI or other companies would purposely brick your drone, in hopes that you will buy the next best thing released... Not going to happen.

I would never buy another model, from the same company, that spoiled my last drone model. Ever.

If my drone ever was bricked by the update, that would end my future relationship with said company.

The leading drone manufacturer, would slowly, slide down the 50' razor blade of destruction.


RedHotPoker
2017-11-24
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Dan Morgan
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United States
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RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-11-24 23:49
Being one lucky SOB, my Phantom 3 Pro, has been a blessing. No problematic flights, never had a bad upgrade, and always update, when ever there are new firmware or app upgrades, for our benefit.

I don't see any reason that DJI or other companies would purposely brick your drone, in hopes that you will buy the next best thing released... Not going to happen.


"I would never buy another model, from the same company, that spoiled my last drone model. Ever.

If my drone ever was bricked by the update, that would end my future relationship with said company.

The leading drone manufacturer, would slowly, slide down the 50' razor blade of destruction."


Seems a lot of people have had issues with this latest upgrade. It's left a bad taste in my mouth, for sure.

My case # is CAS-1260644-P7F2T8. Says it qualifies for repair under warranty, and will be done in 3-6 business days.

I guess we'll see what we see, when we see what we see, won't we?

Any more glitches with this drone, I'm selling it and buying something from a competitor, as I can't afford the risk of losing a $1000 drone because some computer programming nerd has decided to jam it, due to needing another 'upgrade' or having said upgrade cause further issues.
2017-11-30
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RedHotPoker
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Yes, please report your new experience with thee repaired or the refurbished model?
Did you record the drones original serial number before you sent it in?


RedHotPoker
2017-11-30
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Dockater
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gabriel.magana Posted at 2017-11-22 09:52
*shrug* There's always someone complaining: If people do not update, then the complaint is that they do not update: One could whine about people who do not update firmware and then fly themselves into no-fly zones (intentionally or not) and give a black eye to all the other drone pilots who do follow the rules.  Also there are the things actually fixed on each release (I've had at least one major, major issue fixed via firmware updates).

The other side of the coin is that each firmware version change is a chance to break something, and things do break.

Congratulations Gabriel, well written and very well-argued.
2017-11-30
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Dan Morgan
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RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-11-30 11:31
Yes, please report your new experience with thee repaired or the refurbished model?
Did you record the drones original serial number before you sent it in?

No, I forgot to record the SN of the one I sent. Almost willing to bet they replace it.
2017-11-30
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RedHotPoker
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Dan Morgan Posted at 2017-11-30 17:55
No, I forgot to record the SN of the one I sent. Almost willing to bet they replace it.

Oh well, we may never know, if you got the original back.

Anyway, good luck, going forward. ;-)



RedHotPoker
2017-12-1
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Dan Morgan
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Got an email today from DJI stating they had repaired and tested the drone, and would be shipping it back, along with a tracking number.
I appreciate the quick service, but as I said before, if not for their 'upgrade' this would be unnecessary.
2017-12-6
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Cradoka
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True that, especially when coupled with the usual fix of 'send it back'. Upgrades should be just that, upgrades, and yes I'm a victim of the failed upgrade and send it back story....
2017-12-6
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