If all DJI P4 drones and controllers are the same hardware, then why are different people having different problems with firmware upgrades?

  

  

Firmware bugs:

  

Seems that if the firmware is loaded successfully and the calibrations done then it will fly without risk of crashing.  How well may depend on what the owner uses it for.  Some are happpy, some are not. I am happy, but I do notice the video drop occassionally, glad I don't do weddings.

  

There are issues with the firmware, but it will never brick a drone. If it cannot be flown, then the problem is with the firmware installer and not the firmware itself.

  

  

Hardware versions:

  

Different revisions of hardware may need different firmware to work optimally.

  

This might be an issue.  Seems to me that they are using the same P4 Pro firmware on standard P4's now. Great that they only need to support one P4 firmware but how compatible is it with different hardware types? Can the firmware installer handle the differences or has the decision been made to ignore the differences?

  

  

Firmware upgrade documentation:

  

Good procedures would include what you do, what you do if it fails, what you don't do.  We need good documentation because the DJI firmware upgrade does not test for the required contingencies. Instead of a comprehensive automatic test and warn approach, just a basic approach is use with little recovery.

  

Warning that calibrations are needed etc. as also required.

  

Each firmware upgrade should be tested by a 10-year-old and come with an instrucion book download, not the totally inadequate several lines of instructions.

  

  

Owner expectations:

  

This stuff should be press button and success is guaranteed.

  

Some owners correctly expect it to work like that and don't have the time, capabilities or interest to persist.  eg. Upgrading the drone but not the controller may cause issues, but how would a new user know that?

  

Some go the next step of trying to resolve the issue themselves, they make a few mistakes like using firmware install procedures that seem to be no longer used and cannot revert.

  

Better if DJI suffers the pain once and gets it right rather than many users suffering.

  

  

Politics:

  

DJI seem to be more concerned about being seen as dynamic and progressive paving the way for the future.  In fact, they need to study Maslows' triangle especially looking at the base level.

Better if DJI suffers the pain once and gets it right rather than many users suffering..... tOTALLY AGREED