Hey guys,

Just a heads up, got a DJI inspire 1, went to take it out for a flight and it got a "ESC error, please restart and try again. If this continues contact DJI"  I tried to update the firmware again, then I go to start the motors and it started!  I was shocked, I shut it down, started it back up and got the same " ESC error".  Clearly something is wrong with the bird.  Going to be sending it back.  Hope they can get all the bugs worked out of these things shortly.  

TJ

I'm getting fed up seeing bad news. Looks like you are not alone, did you see this http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=6667
and http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/s ... 80074&page=1041

Rockeyes Posted at 2015-5-4 03:18
I'm getting fed up seeing bad news. Looks like you are not alone, did you see this http://forum.dji. ...

Quality Control !!!

Surely these faults would get picked up? or is it a case of a low paid worker sticking " Pass " labels on the finished untested product?????????
Hmmmm!! i wonder how many P3 are going to drop like bricks?

I don't know but if this keeps up, something is going to get grounded

Rockeyes Posted at 2015-5-4 04:40
I don't know but if this keeps up, something is going to get grounded

Im grounded regardless i have other toys i can use, its GroundHog day in the P3 forum, no delivery dates, no apps ready, bricked on arrival, customer support 0%. Very unsatisfied buyers again.

Geeez   you'd think they would have learned from the Inspire 1 screw up*sigh* next it'll be Beta test on P3 next....

loving it

FictitiousPerso Posted at 2015-5-4 04:47
Im grounded regardless i have other toys i can use, its GroundHog day in the P3 forum, no delivery  ...

Just been over there and had a gander. Looking like the powder is in place and those guys are just getting warmed up
Is there a customer survey anywhere that might help   LOL

Can you get this stuff on Youtube live screening. Theres stuff all on the box

Rockeyes Posted at 2015-5-4 04:56
Just been over there and had a gander. Looking like the powder is in place and those guys are just ...

I think they have had their survey by just looking at the disgruntled comments.

is to much to ask to have these things do their 2 basic functions.

Basic function = being able to take off
Basic function = being able to stay in the air

Really thats what aircrafts should do? Or am i wrong??

FictitiousPerso Posted at 2015-5-4 04:59
I think they have had their survey by just looking at the disgruntled comments.

is to much to ask  ...

This is a genuine question. Doesn't your Inspire fly and stay in the air at the moment?

lethbrp Posted at 2015-5-4 05:44
This is a genuine question. Doesn't your Inspire fly and stay in the air at the moment?

Yup it sure does, not had any issues with DJI products so far apart from one of its feet suspension units being of on arrival(bonded back on now with epoxy).

Im mainly filming  with a self build Flame F550 with FPV with eagletree telemetry and a GoPro, i can afford the odd prop to fly off with that but a quad needs all 4 and I'm not really happy with the sudden drop in battery % and the Tranny switching its self off, not good when you are flying close and tight to things.. theres a few bugs need addressed quickly as its not as though you could self fix or get a local dealer (Dji agent) to repair it with a quick turn around. ~spares spares spares.

Ill pay it safe and still be able to have fun without the doubt
And i also zone out flying Helis
Logical?

Let's imagine there are 30,000 Inspires in the wild (I'm just making that number up, I don't know if it's 6,000 or 200,000) and 300 people are having real trouble, which is many many more than are being vocal of issues on this forum.  

This means 99% are functioning as promised.

Do the 1% deserve better info and service when problems arise?   Absolutely, but let's be careful about jumping to any conclusions here about fundamental design faults.

My Inspire has worked great since day 1, just no point creating posts to say it.

Jim, +100

I was just going to post something along the lines of, "if only 1 in 100 Inspire owners are active in the forum, and 1 in 10 have issues and post about it, you're talking about 1/1000, .1%. Generally only disgruntled people post, happy people read along & cluck their tongues. The level of negativity here really is off putting. I've had no issues with my I1. I did have a crash when it descended on it own when it reached the altitude limit, but now that I know that the software is written that way, I know how to avoid it.

I went out yesterday & flew through both my TB47 & TB48, down to the point of triggering a return to home & landing. Everything worked perfectly. To those peeps who have grounded their birds out of fear of what might happen, Jesus, grow a pair and go fly. Why would you let some posts about other peoples problems stop you from finding out for yourself? Not discounting those who have had real issues, but the percentage is very small.

<rant over>

It really is an awesome machine. Anything this technologically complex is bound to have some issues, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
BTW, I had a Phantom 2 for over a year before the I1, and other than how easily it entered Vortex Ring State with prop guards on, had no issues with it either.

. I did have a crash when it descended on it own when it reached the altitude limit, but now that I know that the software is written that way, I know how to avoid it.

Really?

Edit: Removed the face as I didnt mean it was funny to crash, far from it.

I have been spending most of my time over on the P3 threads.  I have read the vast majority of them.  There is an issue that the iOS was not available at launch.  However, the Android version of the App is available.  I have not seen anyone having difficulty taking off.  There has been two reported crashes that we are waiting for the flight data logs and one which seems to be a bird strike.  Right now that is a very small percentage of the units delivered.  

As far as the Inspire goes, I agree with Jim, to characterize the entire product as being defective based on a few vocal users is not realistic.  

Deleted

" Do the 1% deserve better info and service when problems arise?   Absolutely "

This is bang on, but if Dji would be honest instead of hiding the 1% would slowly be happier. Support and information would help as everybody is thinking WTF!

@ Tahoe_Ed

There is not enough information when problems arise and certainly very little answers to genuine questions asked directly to Dji.
Put it like this Ed. humans would rather have an answer of some sort rather than silence. and if you be honest Dji are far too silent !
That's when frustration kicks in and all the negativity comes out regardless of what's then said.
Great products ! Great innovations !  I'm 100% happy with all my Dji items....... Just NO sign of after sales or any attempt to.
How many times have you seen it kick off in here??
Dji have left the building, Hello Dji etc etc. just keeping people in the loop is suffice.
We have found a problem and we are working on it....... Is far better than no answer. Then the 1% feel assured Dji are working on things. ( I'm not saying they aren't) it's just that everyone from the 1% think wtf I spent big money on a product and the manafacturer seems to have taken a back seat.
This applies to any manafacturer ------ reassurance

Love & Peace

I once watched a company the size of DJI nearly fail.  It was saved by a new CEO who was brought in and almost immediately distributed a copy of a book called The Cluetrain Manifesto to ALL the company's employees.  The book argues that today's customers will not accept a small number of gateway employees who are only authorized to talk about certain things.  They want direct access.  Customers who ask marketing questions like "when will spare parts be available" want a straight answer, now.  Customers who ask technical questions want to hear straight answers, quickly, from someone who actually knows, not from a "support representative" who only knows what is in a script.  Customers want to know immediately if a promised deadline is missed - AND WHY.

Pesky things, these customers.  But they're the ones with the money AND the ability to give a company a great or terrible reputation.

So I agree COMPLETELY that the genuinely strident people in these forums are that way largely due to lack of attention to these characteristics of today's customers.  And when people get angry they talk - and if banned by the company they re-form elsewhere and talk louder.  ALL of which happened at that other company and nearly destroyed it.

The new CEO saved the company from extinction, but barely.  It was significantly weakened by that time and many competitors had stolen many of its customers - not because they had better products (they didn't) but because they interacted better with the customer base.  The new CEO ensured that EVERY customer was made to feel important, and as though they had the company's attention.  In fact the CEO arranged discussion groups of angry customers, flew them to the company's HQ, and used them to help analyze where the company had gone wrong.  And of course those formerly-angry customers began talking about that positive experience instead of all the negative things they had been talking about.

Today that company continues successfully in business and with a much more satisfied and far less angry-vocal customer base.  Had they changed course earlier they would have retained much more.  Their story can be learned from.

Just a few notes.  When problems are brought up in the forums they are promptly reported to DJI R&D, the Engineers and the PM's.  Sometimes there are solutions and sometimes not.  When we have solutions, we share.  I guess I could do a better job at communicating when we don't.  Thank you all for your comments.

Rockeyes Posted at 2015-5-4 14:23
. I did have a crash when it descended on it own when it reached the altitude limit, but now that I  ...

Yeah, I live and fly in the mountains, so it's easy to be 100m (or 500m for that matter) above takeoff point, but just above terrain. When the I1 hits whatever altitude limit is entered, it will not only refuse to go higher, but will descend automatically to stay under it. During this descent, you can't stop it with stick input. Fortunately my I1 wasn't damaged, and now that I know what to expect, I will avoid that situation.

(edited to soften tone)

woodielb@xmissi Posted at 2015-5-4 09:04
Jim, +100

I was just going to post something along the lines of, "if only 1 in 100 Inspire owners a ...

"Jesus, grow a pair and go fly". Are you serious?

So the people that had Firestone tires several years ago should have just grown a pair? Toyota's gas pedal problems 5 years ago should have been ignored? There are numerous other examples.  "Grow a pair and go fly" is not the answer, I can assure you. The problems that are arising are going to be everyone's problems eventually.  I much like you have had no issues. I fly in very open areas and always play it safe and pay attention to what I am doing. However, that does not mean that my bird is not going to shut down mid flight like other people's and come crashing down due to battery or ESC failure. Hearing the other day about a bird come crashing down, battery catching fire, etc....it is only a matter of time before something like this turns into a disaster. Home gone, crops gone, forests gone, etc...especially with summer coming up.

I worked for GM at one time and I have seen all the good and bad of the manufacturing, production, and testing processes. I understand that DJI is working on these issues, but it would be nice for someone other than Ed to come here and post. I want to hear from engineers and let us know they are working on it. I want updates, other procedures to try and follow, etc. I get the fact that a group of engineers can test until they are blue in the face, but you will never know the real problems until it is released to the masses, but the lack of communication is mind boggling.

I also have no doubt that 9/10 crashes/problems are user error or just simply not paying attention. However 1/10 of it being a manufacturing/production error are unacceptable. Flying the Inspire is like dealing drugs. How many drug deals do you hear about that went well? NONE, and there are thousands every day. How many drug deals do you hear about that went bad? EVERY SINGLE ONE, and thus the reason we need answers and communication.

DJI needs to be active on these message boards and let us know what is going on, that is the bottom line. Imagine the wait time with the Phantom 3's being shipped now. Crashes just doubled if not tripled and that equals longer wait times for repairs, etc. At 6-8 weeks now, that is totally unacceptable, its downright criminal. There needs to be facilities, in NY, California, Chicago, Orlando, Dallas. Get it to where its just a one day shipment to a facility to cut down even more on wait time. Start hiring more people to fix these if they are going the route of having to send it to them to get it fixed. You realize how many smart people are out there in the masses that would love to be able to fix these for people and have it done in a 2-3 day turnaround time.

I am hoping the problems get better soon, but I am not counting on it.

Ok, maybe a little tongue in cheek, but what do you suggest, all Inspires grounded until reliability is 100%? I don't think that will ever happen. And DJI may have opened up RC flying to a much larger audience than in the past, but there have always been failures & crashes in model aviation. I used to fly at our club field years ago with FM transmitters & frequency boards. I guess a big difference is they're being flown in a lot more places by a lot more people. As for the battery fire after crashing, big lipos are volitile when ruptured. This has happened to numerous RC helicopters.

I'm going to keep flying my I1 , with an abundance of caution, until I'm convinced it's not safe to do so. What would be interesting to know, is how many have been sold and are flying vs how many of the inflight failures.

Is it 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, ............? What's an acceptable rate? I think 100% reliability is not realistic. I'm all for more repair facilities, but if we want them in NY, Dallas, Chicago, etc, there's a big rest of the the world that wants them in London, Frankfort, Rome, Bucharest, etc. the point being that having a repair facility within a day or so of all their customers would be impossible. Maybe 4 in the US would be realistic.

I agree the reports of I1's spontaneously falling from the sky are worrisome, but I'm going to keep flying unless mine does the same.

woodielb@xmissi Posted at 2015-5-6 11:43
Ok, maybe a little tongue in cheek, but what do you suggest, all Inspires grounded until reliability ...

Major Updates：
1.      Reduced moire pattern in camera images.
2.      Added support for YouTube live streaming.
3.      Added support for the DJI Pilot app’s Director function.
4.      Reduced power consumption of the Intelligent Flight Battery when it is powered off to protect the battery.
5.      Solved issue of the remote controller occasionally powering off automatically when using firmware v1.2.1.0.  

Number 5 should make you realise it's better not to risk it until they find a remedy.
Why didn't they say anything?.... That's like a manafucturer knowing your brakes could fail......

Not pleased!

woodielb@xmissi Posted at 2015-5-6 11:43
Ok, maybe a little tongue in cheek, but what do you suggest, all Inspires grounded until reliability ...

I do not suggest grounding them at all, just be cautious. Us on the message boards read these threads and know whats going on and that is always in the back of our mind. For every one of us there is probably 10-50 that do not come here and hear the horror stories and are out flying and then something happens and then they come here.

As far as repair facilities go, we do not take our cars to Detroit to get serviced at the plant. We take it to a local dealer who has paid for all the tools and been through proper training through the manufacturer. "Dealers" for DJI are nothing more than resellers. DJI needs to have people show them they are serious about being a repair facility and show them the money. Pay for training to do repairs, pay them for the tools needed and start accepting repair orders. DJI is shooting themselves in the foot by not making service a priority. Once you open up this avenue, you are going to see platforms like the Inspire and Phantom blossom.  In my line of business, I would for sure pay to become a repair facility and go through the proper training and pay for all the tools needed.  This takes away from DJI having to repair so many and they can focus on the more important things. Fixing broken landing gear should be the least of DJI's problems, but it is, and that problem becomes the rest of ours because of the wait time.  With DJI's growth the last few years and expected growth, they need to have 3rd party repair facilities, plain and simple. They probably have more birds out there than some small car manufacturers.

As far as a percentages for failure....I would say 1-2% max should be the target.  I get the fact that parts fail, but what is going on is far from a parts issue.

Like you said, I will just continue to use caution! However, it does upset me when I see stuff happening to others who have spent their hard earned money and it was not their fault at all.

Well...

Couple weeks into this mess, DJI has had the drone for over 2 weeks and have still not received a notification of it being received.  I had to call DJI to confirm they received the package, which a phone call to DJI is something to plan your day around, given the wait times.  I really hope they get their act together, customer service is paramount in maintaining and growing a business.

Hi buds, I have same problem. After I upgrade the FW to v 1.6, try to googling and try to many option like
1) downgrade the FW below (1.5) for both rc and drone -> the message appear was WEAK SIGNAL,
2) Upgrade to 1.6 -> The message appear: " ESC status error. Turn off the aircraft and restart it again. Contact DJI support if error continues"
try to upgrade through SD Card, and connect the micro SD to RC but all are FAIL.
the drone is READY, The RC on first boot always beeping D-D-D led is RED and it stopped after I press "right" on the left stick.

any one can solve this kind of problem?