New SDK 2.4 brings new encryption (range issues?) and major system change - will you install it?

damoncooper · Oct 5, 2015

Machoman said:
There are EU guidelines prepared, they include a

50m limit for unproven pilots

a control chip for government access in the drone geofencing for limited flyzones

(basically each city can declare itself a no fly zone)band some more "features".

Wow. Next up:

- auto-dispatched police cars to drone takeoff locations when aircraft are powered on

- Retina scan and fingerprint pilot ID scans via RC before takeoff permitted

- Auto ticketing for any flight violations. Fines start at 500EU.

- 10m height and distance restriction unless

1) written exam and flight simulator tests are passed and
2) physical home and workplace inspections are passed (conducted by MI5)

Machoman · Oct 6, 2015

In Firmware 1.05.011 is a hidden limit which restricts SDK Software to 500m altitude limit. As this is NOT real altitude over ground but just fictious altitude over starting point which actually can cause the Inspire to fly into a mountain this is a severe and unsafe limitation.

I will stay with Firmware 1.04.010 and not install future updates with hidden downgrades from DJI.

In version 1.4.010 this limit can be bypassed even for DJI GO if it is set with other software. Dont misunderstand this - its not for flying 500m over ground its for starting at 1500 alt on a mountain and flying up to 2200m as example but still being only 50m over ground all the time.

I cannot see at the moment what fabulous inventions DJI could bring in their future firmwares to change my mind. In my opinion the encryption stuff will bring more limits and is just a hoax to drive people into the altitude limit which is not documented in the release notes.

DJI already downgraded some features previousely - of course also undocumented:

- the Orbit cannot be set with more then 500m radius anymore (no fix known until to date)
- channels reduces from 32 to 8 (could be repaired for manual mode at least)
- severe speed reduction of 20 km/h in all GPS modes (no fix known up to date)

Even in Atti its already under the specifications advertised already.

If I would have ordered an Inspire Pro I would be concerned now which firmware it will have installed.

If anyone knows a fix of one of the problems or knows someone who could made a custom firmware and remove that downgrades help would be appreciated.

The Editor · Oct 6, 2015

Machoman said:
In Firmware 1.05.011 is a hidden limit which restricts SDK Software to 500m altitude limit. As this is NOT real altitude over ground but just fictious altitude over starting point which actually can cause the Inspire to fly into a mountain this is a severe and unsafe limitation.

I will stay with Firmware 1.04.010 and not install future updates with hidden downgrades from DJI.

In version 1.4.010 this limit can be bypassed even for DJI GO if it is set with other software. Dont misunderstand this - its not for flying 500m over ground its for starting at 1500 alt on a mountain and flying up to 2200m as example but still being only 50m over ground all the time.

I cannot see at the moment what fabulous inventions DJI could bring in their future firmwares to change my mind. In my opinion the encryption stuff will bring more limits and is just a hoax to drive people into the altitude limit which is not documented in the release notes.

DJI already downgraded some features previousely - of course also undocumented:

- the Orbit cannot be set with more then 500m radius anymore (no fix known until to date)
- channels reduces from 32 to 8 (could be repaired for manual mode at least)
- severe speed reduction of 20 km/h in all GPS modes (no fix known up to date)

Even in Atti its already under the specifications advertised already.

If I would have ordered an Inspire Pro I would be concerned now which firmware it will have installed.

If anyone knows a fix of one of the problems or knows someone who could made a custom firmware and remove that downgrades help would be appreciated.

This is serious, could the CIA, FBI and MI5 be behind these changes?
They all seem out to get us at every opportunity don't they? I for one will immediately be throwing petrol over my Inspire and setting it on fire in a ritualistic ceremony whilst chanting holy mutterings in forgotten tongues to the multirotor Diety to get the evil firmware spirits out. Do you think holy water will help or will my gimbal spin round with satanic possession?
From tomorrow I will start wearing a 'hoodie' and only go out after dark in case they are watching me, you just don't know who you can trust anymore.
Since I live in a county which is notoriously flat and walking up the steepest hill it possesses barely causes an asthmatic to wheeze, will my Inspire still fly into a mountain?
**** these firmware updates and the evil behind them, **** them I say, they are clearly designed to infiltrate our homes, our minds and our civil liberties.

Machoman · Oct 7, 2015

To make more clear WHY the enforced 500m alt limit in Fw 1.05+ IS a severe problem.

Even if you dont live in a mountain area or just dont got up mountains at the moment - think twice if you sure you never will do this because if you install future DJI firmware you will soon not be able to roll back anymore and have this limit forever.

The Editor · Oct 7, 2015

Machoman said:
To make more clear WHY the enforced 500m alt limit in Fw 1.05+ IS a severe problem.

Even if you dont live in a mountain area or just dont got up mountains at the moment - think twice if you sure you never will do this because if you install future DJI firmware you will soon not be able to roll back anymore and have this limit forever.

And this has suddenly become a problem because.......?

The 500m altitude (from take off) limit has always been there. The setting is between 20-500m (1,640ft) with a warning if setting any figure above 120m up to and including 500m.
DJI are simply fixing a bug which allowed third party apps to break this limit. DJI's intention was never to allow their UAV to go above 500m (from take-off)
If this is a problem for you then a Da-Jiang Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd platform is probably not for you.

Machoman · Oct 7, 2015

The Editor said:
And this has suddenly become a problem because.......? The 500m altitude (from take off) limit has always been there.

Thats not true!

What you write is only valid for DJI apps.

As I have written in the posting before this can be overrided in 3rd party Apps until FW 1.04.010.

ONLY with FW 1.05+ this limit cannot be bypassed anymore.

I explained it in detail above.

The Editor · Oct 7, 2015

Machoman said:
Thats not true!

What you write is only valid for DJI apps.

As I have written in the posting before this can be overrided in 3rd party Apps until FW 1.04.010.

ONLY with FW 1.05+ this limit cannot be bypassed anymore.

I explained it in detail above.

And as I wrote above - DJI limit has always been 500m and always intended to be 500m
They have corrected a bug which allowed third party apps to circumvent this limit (which was an error) and now people are throwing their toys out of their prams.

Machoman · Oct 7, 2015

If they want to make such limits they should make it really safe and make the Inspire to calculate sea level and send this upgrade free to all customers. They could restrict alt even to 300m then and no one will have a problem with this.

This limit as it is now is completely useless for safety because

a) in a flat area flying over 120/150/300m alt depending on location is not advised anyway because of airplanes and helicopters

b) flying from the top of a mountain at even 0m altitude can be already 2000m over sea level just 300m away and could hit a Cessna just 500m away even in legal range while still showing 0m alt in the RC.

What is more safe due to this limit??

The only thing this restriction accomplishes is that legal flying like shown in my illustration is not possible after FW 1.05+

Scotflieger · Oct 7, 2015

@Machoman you do protest too much.

Machoman · Oct 7, 2015

Its more safe to fly on a mountain up from middlestation then down from top. Flying down having everything green in front makes it much harder to estimate real altitude and distance to object even on very short range. So yes I protest against a firmware trying to enforce unsafe flying.

Especially as it directly affects me in this case.

The Editor · Oct 7, 2015

I can see we are going to go nowhere on this.
What good would 'calculating sea level' be?
Since the oceans levels are not uniform around the world and vary locally I fail to see the significance of knowing sea level.
You could not use GPS for altitude measurements since it is very inaccurate for that purpose and in any case you would need to load a topological map of the area you intend to fly in for the flight controller to calculate its relative position against the ground terrain - and what about trees? Should the database also contain data on the forestry mapping with rates of growth for different species of trees to account for their height?
The only safe way to fly is using your eyeballs and keeping the aircraft in sight at all times.
DJI have been very responsible in aligning the SDK limits with their own firmware limits.
It is not dangerous, it is not going to cause Inspire Armageddon, it is not going to suddenly result in all Inspires becoming mountain magnets and taking suicide dives into the side of large features on the landscape.

InspiredOne · Oct 7, 2015

Machoman said:
However I dont accept limits and restrictions only because fools are allowed to buy drones.

Do you own/drive a car?

InspiredOne · Oct 7, 2015

@ The Editor & Scotflieger

Is arguing with a sign post a UK thing or am I missing something?

damoncooper · Oct 7, 2015

Machoman said:
To make more clear WHY the enforced 500m alt limit in Fw 1.05+ IS a severe problem.

Even if you dont live in a mountain area or just dont got up mountains at the moment - think twice if you sure you never will do this because if you install future DJI firmware you will soon not be able to roll back anymore and have this limit forever.

Ahhh. Machoman is IN Germany. That explains a lot.

damoncooper · Oct 7, 2015

The Editor said:
And as I wrote above - DJI limit has always been 500m and always intended to be 500m
They have corrected a bug which allowed third party apps to circumvent this limit (which was an error) and now people are throwing their toys out of their prams.

It was simply a bug.

By the way isn't Machoman in violation of his NDA with DJI for posting this info about unreleased firmware?

Moderators take note.

Mazz · Oct 7, 2015

damoncooper said:
It was simply a bug.

By the way isn't Machoman in violation of his NDA with DJI for posting this info about unreleased firmware?

Moderators take note.

We have no affiliation to DJI here. Actually it is quite the opposite. We are here to out everyone and share as much info as possible. I am surprised we don't have a "secret source" passing on more info. Unless DJI sends a cease and desist letter we can and should share as much as possible. Now if you want to report it to DJI that is another story and your prerogative. I am here for you guys not DJI.

damoncooper · Oct 7, 2015

I'll be passing on this info to DJI yes.

Bad apples in a Beta program where confidentiality is required and agreed to by participants can ruin it for us all and cause DJI to shut down access altogether.

damoncooper · Oct 7, 2015

Stealthmatt · Oct 7, 2015

Mazz said:
We have no affiliation to DJI here. Actually it is quite the opposite. We are here to out everyone and share as much info as possible. I am surprised we don't have a "secret source" passing on more info. Unless DJI sends a cease and desist letter we can and should share as much as possible. Now if you want to report it to DJI that is another story and your prerogative. I am here for you guys not DJI.

Thank you Mazz this is awesome, I love this forum much more now! I hope the other staff have the same opinion because really we are all trying to find out as much as we can about the platform we are using

Sharing is caring