My P4P was about .7 miles away, barely visible, when the screen became sluggish and then non-responsive. Then I got an application crash message and the screen went dark (I have the P4P+ controller with the built in screen).

I tried to reboot the screen only (button on the top right of the display) but it wouldn't turn back on. I thought about rebooting the controller itself, but then decided to hit RTH. By then I had lost sight of the drone in the haze but I could hear it getting louder. Screen remained black.

Finally I spotted the drone directly overhead and it landed pretty much spot on. I then rebooted the controller and the screen was back on as well. So the drone was back safely and everything was back to normal. Whew!

The controller does not have any flight data at all for this flight. So I can't upload to AirData or the view the flight simultated on the controller.

I believe there is a .dat file on the drone itself. How can I view the flight data that is recorded in the drone to figure out what happened?

Update: I retrieved the Data from the aircraft using DJI assistant (Data Upload). Then viewed it using a program on datafile.net.

Did you find what happened?

I see this at times as well. It's definitely a bug. If I hit RTH, the screen never comes back. I restart the app and it's fine.

SM-17 Posted at 2017-5-24 11:58
Did you find what happened?

No -- I used a tool called DatCon and it doesn't show what happened to the radio connection between the controller and the aircraft -- just stuff like motor power, compass etc. which isn't much help.

What surprised me was that after the app crashed, the screen itself (of the P4P+) turned off and then I couldn't turn it back on using the button on top of the screen.

Should I have rebooted the entire controller? Did I do the right thing -- hit the RTH button on the controller and hope for the best?

sakumar Posted at 2017-5-24 13:51
No -- I used a tool called DatCon and it doesn't show what happened to the radio connection between the controller and the aircraft -- just stuff like motor power, compass etc. which isn't much help.

What surprised me was that after the app crashed, the screen itself (of the P4P+) turned off and then I couldn't turn it back on using the button on top of the screen.

"Should I have rebooted the entire controller? Did I do the right thing -- hit the RTH button on the controller and hope for the best?"

A little practice with RTH is a good idea.
If you just lose the screen, you still have full control but just can't see the live feed.
If you lose signal, you have no control.
If you switch off the controller, the Phantom loses signal and initiates RTH.

sakumar Posted at 2017-5-24 13:51
No -- I used a tool called DatCon and it doesn't show what happened to the radio connection between the controller and the aircraft -- just stuff like motor power, compass etc. which isn't much help.

What surprised me was that after the app crashed, the screen itself (of the P4P+) turned off and then I couldn't turn it back on using the button on top of the screen.

Best practice is to stay in LOS especially with the P4P+. until they figured out what the heck is going on. It happened to me twice in one week after the last update. Important, stay calm hit RTH and then reboot the entire system and wait for it to come back and then take over the control and land.

I am the E Posted at 2017-5-24 17:24
Best practice is to stay in LOS especially with the P4P+. until they figured out what the heck is going on. It happened to me twice in one week after the last update. Important, stay calm hit RTH and then reboot the entire system and wait for it to come back and then take over the control and land.

The surprising/scary thing is that the screen did not turn back on. I was kind of prepared for the app crashing and having to restart, but not that the display wouldn't turn back on at all.

As I said, I could see the craft when the problem happened, but it was far away. Then when I looked up after trying to figure out the controller I couldn't visually locate it any more. Thank god for RTH.
I'm thinking of getting DJI goggles and in this case, it could have worked out. Even if the controller display went blank, if I had the goggles I could put that on as a sort of backup display.

sakumar Posted at 2017-5-24 18:18
The surprising/scary thing is that the screen did not turn back on. I was kind of prepared for the app crashing and having to restart, but not that the display wouldn't turn back on at all.

As I said, I could see the craft when the problem happened, but it was far away. Then when I looked up after trying to figure out the controller I couldn't visually locate it any more. Thank god for RTH.

My post from a couple of months ago had incorrect information -- for a Phantom 4 Pro the video image is not directly transmitted from the Aircraft to the DJI Goggles. It is sent to the Remote Controller and then to the Goggles via USB or HDMI.

For the DJI Mavic Pro, though, the image is received directly by the DJI Goggles using a technology called "Occu-Sync" that is not available for the Phantom line.