Hi everyone,

Some Mavic users have reported that "Compass Error, Exiting P-GPS mode" displays in the app when flying in Sport mode after upgrading to the latest firmware.

This is because the main compass may encounter electromagnetic interference when it’s flying fast. The flight controller monitors GPS data and calculates compass orientation in real-time, and if the orientation deviation was too large, GPS and compass data would not be used, and the aircraft would enter Attitude mode.

The latest firmware, v01.03, has added a feature that allows the aircraft can select the best compass for a given situation. When the main compass encounters interference, it will seamlessly switch to the backup compass, avoiding the issue where the aircraft switched from P-GPS mode to Attitude mode.

If this issue still occurs when you’re flying in an interference-free environment with the latest firmware, please send your flight records to DJI Support for analysis.

Best,
DJI Support

Thanks for the explanation, this kind of information is highly desirable and important for better understanding how the Mavic works, which in turn allows us be more aware when we fly in different environments, to recognize  certain behavioral characteristics.  Not to mention reducing the emotional over-reaction when something does go wrong.

Hey Mindy,

I have flown in a wide open field and am able to replicate this issue over and over. In addition to compass redundancy warning, I will also encounter IMU calibration errors. As soon as I let off full throttle and full ascending when pushing both sticks forward, the warning and errors go away. This issue has only occurred since the latest firmware update.
I would upload flight logs but as per my existing thread (http://forum.dji.com/thread-75282-1-1.html) the DJI Assistant 2 app continuously loads when I try to pull flight logs. Screenshot attached of the compass redundancy error

Wild Junkie

The last sentence of Mindy's post is unfortunately worded and can be misconstrued.  I certainly read it incorrectly the first time and thought this is clearly not the intent.

"If this issue still occurs when you’re flying in an interference-free environment with the latest firmware, please send your flight records to DJI Support for analysis."  
Specifically refers to the second half of the previous sentence RED  and not the fix which is the GREEN bit and what you would expect to see if it is working as programmed.
  
"When the main compass encounters interference, it will seamlessly switch to the backup compass, avoiding the issue where the aircraft switched from P-GPS mode to Attitude mode."


"This" being the undesirable switch from P-GPS to Attitude mode.   So your Mavic is behaving as expected with the compass redundancy switch. I can replicate them too if I want. The IMU warning though are something else. .

Hi -- I've emailed support, the ticket # is 362813  - device logs are on dropbox and phone log is synced

Honestly -- other than the fact that there was a warning message, flights have been fine

So I am curious Zee, why did you email support and raise a ticket? The Warning message is to be expected.

Pretty sure Mindy was only asking for people to do so if the old issue that the new firmware fixes recurred. ie a drop from P-GPS to ATTI mode.  Pretty sure she is not actually asking for reports every time anyone gets the new compass redundancy switch message. Otherwise they will get swamped.   Is this the way others read it?

Logger Posted at 2016-12-13 17:29
So I am curious Zee, why did you email support and raise a ticket? The Warning message is to be expected.

Pretty sure Mindy was only asking for people to do so if the old issue that the new firmware fixes recurred. ie a drop from P-GPS to ATTI mode.  Pretty sure she is not actually asking for reports every time anyone gets the new compass redundancy switch message. Otherwise they will get swamped.   Is this the way others read it?

I read it that way.

Thanks for the info Mindy, its good to hear that the issue is recognized by DJI.

Do your engineers forsee a fix for the electromagnetic interference issue for the future? I suspect lowering the  amount of load on the esc's etc would suffice (but i'm no expert) would R&D recommend reducing the forward flight speed and/or throttle max values in software to achieve this ?

Here is the Official post on DJI Chinese forum: http://bbs.dji.com/thread-95244-1-1.html
It says this situation is perfectly normal so do not worry about it, the reason is similar to what Mindy says. Just for ur info.

Thanks Mindy.

Logger Posted at 2016-12-13 17:29
So I am curious Zee, why did you email support and raise a ticket? The Warning message is to be expected.

Pretty sure Mindy was only asking for people to do so if the old issue that the new firmware fixes recurred. ie a drop from P-GPS to ATTI mode.  Pretty sure she is not actually asking for reports every time anyone gets the new compass redundancy switch message. Otherwise they will get swamped.   Is this the way others read it?

Hmm, no I just created this ticket so they could get access to the files.

This problem has only came up _since_ the last update.
It can be flying at top speed in sport mode, and then when I let go of the forward momentum it says there is a compass error and goes into manual mode.  Apparently the new way will have it switch to the backup system and continue without an issue.  Unless i'm misunderstanding.  Anyway, not a huge deal so far.  They have the log I sent, maybe it'll help.

Encountered this when I switched to sports mode this morning and came to the forum to see if it was normal or not. Glad it has already been aknowledged. Haven't got my drone on me right now but will upload the flight logs when I get back home.

UPDATE: Sent in details - Ticket #364429 - Please let me know if you would like me to attach anything else.

It would appear to me, for this issue to be a proximity issue of components,  my limited knowledge suggests that the motor ESCs especially at high throttle and high alpha are making an RF interference that is being collected by the onboard compasses then the onboard firmware is then trying to deal with the issue,  the newer firmware just reallocates priorities to the items that can deal with it the best,  if i were getting the same issue i would throttle back to a low cruise power setting to give these components a chance.

i get it fully that the mavic is pushing every flight envelope possibility of camera drone flight,  and maybe much like a fully prepared and finely tuned racing car you cannot apply FULL to all the controls at once, as just like a racing car it would spin out and crash.  i also fly racing quads,  and how mine is set up, i know i could not hold full throttle for more than 20 seconds before it could possibly blow an ESC,  i also know that as the throttle goes past the 3/4 mark the power load intensifies massively, and with really short wiring and close coupled devices they do bleed RF interference
Many fullsize aircraft have limits that the pilot must adhere to VNE , RPM limits on engines etc,   these are there because in some situations they can be exceeded,  most aircraft need an excess of power for take off and certain manouvers,  but then you must not apply full throttle in a dive as you may overstress the airframe or overrev the engine!

Just thinking that I am wired to react to RED warnings on the screen (I work for a software company that makes monitoring software) and was wondering if now that this is a known issue can the warnings, which they are, be changed to reflect this and just shown amber/yellow instead of critical red?

Peter Galbavy Posted at 2016-12-15 23:54
Just thinking that I am wired to react to RED warnings on the screen (I work for a software company that makes monitoring software) and was wondering if now that this is a known issue can the warnings, which they are, be changed to reflect this and just shown amber/yellow instead of critical red?

+1

Great suggestion.
Warnings = Amber/Yellow
Danger = Red
Safe = Green

so I never got this warning in sport mode. but now I upgraded and get it every time in sport mode going fast. also how can I upload flight records just through a iphone? I have a work computer but I am not able to install any programs on it. so if there is a way to do it on a computer with out any software great. thanks

freddyms Posted at 2016-12-16 14:17
so I never got this warning in sport mode. but now I upgraded and get it every time in sport mode going fast. also how can I upload flight records just through a iphone? I have a work computer but I am not able to install any programs on it. so if there is a way to do it on a computer with out any software great. thanks

https://healthydrones.com/

There is an app to sync your logs with this website, remember to sync your DJI app logs with DJI cloud first though.
DJI Sync, when you start the DJI app you will see a photo of the mavic, click the little paper airplane in the top left, and then the cloud in the top right.

Am failry confident this is a firmware glitch and will be sorted in the next version, I am not an expert in anything though.

Logger Posted at 2016-12-13 17:29
So I am curious Zee, why did you email support and raise a ticket? The Warning message is to be expected.

Pretty sure Mindy was only asking for people to do so if the old issue that the new firmware fixes recurred. ie a drop from P-GPS to ATTI mode.  Pretty sure she is not actually asking for reports every time anyone gets the new compass redundancy switch message. Otherwise they will get swamped.   Is this the way others read it?

HAHAA ahhhhh ... just give up mate .... you know there all going to be sending in flight logs.

freddyms Posted at 2016-12-16 22:17
so I never got this warning in sport mode. but now I upgraded and get it every time in sport mode going fast. also how can I upload flight records just through a iphone? I have a work computer but I am not able to install any programs on it. so if there is a way to do it on a computer with out any software great. thanks

why on earth would you want to upload your flight logs ?

How do i start a new thread? I keep hitting the button to start it after i type and it does nothing

freddyms Posted at 2016-12-16 22:17
so I never got this warning in sport mode. but now I upgraded and get it every time in sport mode going fast. also how can I upload flight records just through a iphone? I have a work computer but I am not able to install any programs on it. so if there is a way to do it on a computer with out any software great. thanks

You need to sync your flight records from DJI GO app.
Here is the video tutorial for your reference.
Or you can export the flight records manually.
Android：Link your mobile device to a computer, the follow this file path: \DJI\dji.pilot\FlightRecord\
iOS system：Connect your iPhone to iTunes then find the flight record in the DJI GO APP folder.

dixieandbacon Posted at 2016-12-18 07:11
How do i start a new thread? I keep hitting the button to start it after i type and it does nothing

Did you click the new thread button after input the content and did you get any error message?

Hi,

I used to never get this warning.  After the latest firmware and dji go 4 app, I started seeing the warning in sport mode.  

Yesterday I was flying in GPS mode, the warning began appearing.  Whenever I'm all full throttle forward, it comes on.  Please advise.

Same here . Only since latest firmware .
I've rolled back to the last update and all is good again.

Also noticed a slight drift in one direction

James L. Posted at 2016-12-19 06:49
Hi,

I used to never get this warning.  After the latest firmware and dji go 4 app, I started seeing the warning in sport mode.  

I'll help to report this issue. Thanks for your feedback.

Same here. Whenever the aircraft goes faster than 60km/h the warning pops up. As soon as the stick is released the warning disappears. No weird behaviour to be seen. Maybe a slight drift to the left when flying straight, it comes after the error but it goes away after a restart.

I tried to go over 60km/h when in the sensor page of the app and I see that the noise level of the compass 1 raises, but it stays green, after some seconds tho, the bar of the compass disappears and IMU error(?) Data error appears. I couldn't make a screenshot of my iPhone sadly. Again, as soon as I release the stick, the bar comes back in the green zone.

Contacted DJI about this and they made me a UPS label for send the aircraft for repair. I'l be going in holiday in some days and I will bring the aircraft with me, I bought it for this! I will try not to fly with sport mode.
Anyone from DJI can give an opinion on this? Is it safe to fly?

eliosmavic Posted at 2016-12-19 22:43
Same here. Whenever the aircraft goes faster than 60km/h the warning pops up. As soon as the stick is released the warning disappears. No weird behaviour to be seen. Maybe a slight drift to the left when flying straight, it comes after the error but it goes away after a restart.

I tried to go over 60km/h when in the sensor page of the app and I see that the noise level of the compass 1 raises, but it stays green, after some seconds tho, the bar of the compass disappears and IMU error(?) Data error appears. I couldn't make a screenshot of my iPhone sadly. Again, as soon as I release the stick, the bar comes back in the green zone.

They want you to mail it back!? WOW

I hope I don't have to do that

I can re-create this error over and over again and as soon as I let off the acceleration (for both altitude and forward thrust) the error goes away.

DJI Mindy can I share with you my logs and can you tell me if you feel that my Mavic Pro does indeed need to be returned? I really hope not. I'm 75 flights in with over 8 hours and aside from this have had 0 issues.

Thank you

I tried all direction, but it only happens in forward or forward up direction.  Back and sideways doesn't seem to be affected?

I know it's firmware problem because I did not have this problem before the update.

Should I roll back to last update?

I've rolled back and the issue seems to have gone..  so it has to be a firmware issue

Apriliamgt Posted at 2016-12-19 19:46
I've rolled back and the issue seems to have gone..  so it has to be a firmware issue

Can you check (while flying forward in sport mode at max speed) in the sensor page if the compass 1 has problems? It can be that in the previous firmware, the warning wasn't shown, and the problem stayed hidden.

I'm going to try to refresh the firmware and then if that doesn't work, I guess I will have to roll back to 2.9.

Do you have to roll back on the remote also?  Or just the drone?

So, Sports mode creates a higher electromagnetic interference which in turn interferes with the rear compass. The craft changes compasses mid flight. So this means you loose your flyway redundancy whilst flying in Sports mode because your now down to one compass?

Has the manufacturing process been changed to route the power cables away from the rear compass?

I would like dji to pipe up and ask if this is a hardware problem or firmware issue ??

Hopefully DJI can answer those questions soon?

Hi DJI Mindy

It happens to me a lot!!! a lot !! the weird thing is that once i do 360 jaw it gains GPS again

i will send the logs to DJI so you guys can help us

Regards

So this is what I have found, when observing the compass data within the go app the value climbs pass 400 when I travel max speed in sports mode, when it passes 400 the compass redundancy error appears and switches to compass 2.

The following is what I have observed with the current firmware:

- Compass redundancy occurs when the compass 1 data passes 400
- I have tried both firmwares (v01.03.000) dated 06DEC and 09DEC (whats the difference?) and the problem remains
- When Im in sports mode and max yaw my gimbal topples and seems to drop to one side. It tries to correct itself but drops to the other side
- When the compass switch occurs I see 'IMU data error' appear in the compass 1 data screen.  
- I receive a lot of maximum wind warnings.
- I receive the 'gimbal pitch limit' warning appear in both sport and P-GPS mode

Now when I downgrade the firmware to v01.02.0900 all of the above problems (including the gimbal toppling) disappears. Ive noticed the compass value climbs to past 600 (on compass 1) when I fly max speed in sports mode but it doesn't change compasses.

Anyway, whilst the above seems to be firmware related I would really like to know if it is at all hardware as well. Happy to send logs in if required but I need an answer very soon.

When is a DJI representative going to provide an update to this, people are sending their units in to have the compass replaced and are reporting no issues since. Should I do the same?

This new firmware has a much more safer compass switch strategy.  Please don't worry about the message.

I had this message too today in sports mode.

This is a screen shot of the flight from yesterday where I had this happen as well.