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Warning! Do not install fw 1.9! Lost I1

The sole purpose of my post is to warn of other potential losses from other members of this community and to raise awareness for the lack of reliability of DJI fw developmemt rather than to comfort myself from losing a drone.
Total misunderstanding of my reply ... I wasn't judging you. All I was trying to say that machines are getting broken, worn out, malfunctioning. It is a possibility that your bird had a failure of some sort not related to the latest FW upgrade. Cold soldering, loose connector, fried capacitor, whatever. After every FW update a handful of pilots is reporting problems of various nature without any conceivable pattern, while the other 257748 of us is flying updated Inspires as usual with no issues whatsoever. These few complaining users assumes that when something went wrong, than the one and only thing to blame is this infamously messed up firmware. It may be true in your case, may be not. Instead of sending alarming message worldwide perhaps you should cool down, wipe off your tears and finally realize the vulnerability factor of this business ...
 
it said there was an ESC status error and it wouldn't turn the engines on. Asked me to restart the aircraft and if the problem persisted to contact DJI. After rebooting the I1 and rc for five or six time,

This would the first case of an Inspire1 'spiralling' down after a firmware update.
To my knowledge there haven't been any issues before with engines or esc's giving up because of a firmware issue. And considering it came down spiralling as the OP says, and the status error 5 or 6 times before starting, this was a malfunctioning ESC.

the I1 went into a deadly spiral

Which is normal behaviour when a quadcopter loses one of the four propulsion units.

The latest issue concerns the barometer and compass and is easy to tackle if you know how to fly in Atti. And by downgrading of course.

Undeniably a pilots error. The ESC was telling the pilot over and over again it was failing.

After such a message I would not fly at all. Even the first message alone is enough to start to investigate. I would mention it in my logs and I would ground it until I'm sure enough there's no issue. Any error concerning ESC's is most serious and needs to be eliminated, and not just by rebooting 6 times.

edited for typos
 
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"
[...]
Why doesn't DJI place a warning in big read letters on the download page: IF YOUR BIRD IS FLYING JUST FINE, STAY AWAY FROM THIS FW UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A BETA TESTER. PS- WE ARE NOT REPLACING YOUR BIRD IF YOU CRASH.
[...]

Well, it is not in big red letters but they have it more or less:

From Inspire 1 - Specs, FAQ, manual, video tutorials and DJI GO | DJI

* Disclaimer of Warranties:

SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. provides the firmware “as is” and “as available” for your use, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties of merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose. You expressly agree that your use of, or inability to use the firmware is at your sole risk. In no case shall SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of any of the firmware, including but not limited to, any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your misuse, transmitted, etc.

That's customer service par excellence.

Chris
 
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Hey doods!

First time posting to this forum. Thanx for having me. I know this information is probably old, but here goes anyway...

According to the published firmware release notes, update v1.09 simply updated and expanded the NFZ database. This raised a flag, because my partner was out on a job, and his Inspire wouldn't launch within 1.5 miles of the airport (had COA, 333, NOTAM, etc. for the flight). Hmmm... Because of this, I decided I would research the firmware updates to see when NFZ "feature" was implemented. Turns out the firmware release notes don't share that information, and the DJI chat "technicians" haven't a clue, either.

Also, turns out that DJI doesn't have many of the firmware versions .bin files available as stand-alone files on their website. But, instead (according to the log files), roll v1.06 into the v1.08 update, and roll v1.06 and v1.08 into the v1.09 update. I suspect the NFZ "feature" was rolled into v1.08. But because v1.08 has many other important updates (like addressing an inaccurate battery warning issue), I decided not to push too hard for v1.06. My objective was to NOT have to deal with NFZ's (one of my clients was right next to an airport). So, instead of updating my new bird to v1.09, I updated to v1.08 (from v1.04 out of the box), and she's been flying great.

Note: Though I was able to start the motors near our International Airport, once I connected the iPad (and therefore the DJI Go app), I was no longer able to start the motors, but instead faced the dreaded "NFZ" warning. Interesting. So there may be a hack to get around the NFZ's completely. Because I don't ever fly near our International Airport, I don't really care too much about the present NFZ coverage area. Maybe someday I'll seek out a hack around this, but I digress...

After a half dozen successful flights on v1.08, for grins, I updated her to 1.09. Turns out my GF's house is 4 miles from a small, private airport. Therefore v1.09 flashed a warning up on the screen (with 2 check boxes and an "agree" button) that I was in a "warning zone." In order to fly the bird, I had to agree that I understood this. This doesn't just pop up once, but every time one flies. Forget that. Hello v1.08. Without a single flight, I rolled her back to v1.08.

As far as I can tell, update 1.08 addressed all battery, motor, ESC, IMU, PMU, FC, GPS issues - and a few other issues. So I'm good with v1.08. v1.09 just expands the NFZ database (says so right there in the release notes). Forget that.

I'm of the school, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So I plan on staying with v1.08 for the life of the bird. The caveat is a "firmware update required" warning pops up every time I open the DJI app. Closing this warning is a single click.

Fly effectively! (Mike Rowism)

Donnie Frank
 
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Undeniably a pilots error. The ESC was telling the pilot over and over again it was failing.

Just received the following e-mail from DJI:

"Dear Gerson,

After having our data analysis team take a look at the flight log from the flight in question, we were unable to determine the cause of this unfortunate event.

There does not seem to be any user error.

With that being said we have decided to cover your unit by warranty, and offer the craft only at no cost to you."

First I need to take back what I said about DJI's customer service. They were very helpful and prompt about my case.

Secondly, I will once again say that the only reason I posted this is to warn other users that could or may have had similar issues not to vent or b*the about my misfortune.

Thirdly, I want to thank you all "Mr. Know It Alls". And remember that the only certainty about this beautiful hobby (hobby in my case) is that one day the equipment will fail on you. And when this day happens and you watch it smash into the ground, remember all your assumptions that the equipment is flawless and you are the one to be blamed.
 
Dji from day 1 have had issues with all their machines and fw!
Definitely not user error!

I have been flying with a parachute attached for the past 2 months.
 
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Cheers to the original poster for the warning info and holding the message steady considering all of the boneheads and their replies. Saved my bird.

Thank you for the kind message. I'm glad it served you a good purpose as it has been my only intention.
 
Right. And your assumption that it was a human or "machine" error is more accurate than mine, the actual operator? You also make an even more bizarre assumption that my Inspire "has been in service for quite some time" just because I had a bricked gimbal also due to fw update, I assume?... Well, as you might've seen in my previous posts, this happened quite a few months and fws ago, and have had more than 100 flights after that with no issues. I've never had any issues with the aircraft whatsoever and never had to send the bird for maintenance.

While I thank you for your condolences, I am offended by your third assumption that I am such a proud prick that I decided to create a post with thousands of characters to excuse myself from an operator or "other mistake" error rather than an fw issue.I am quite experienced with drones (as experienced as it can be given the recent development of the gadget). Believe me, I've made every single fw update there is save one. I am the one who experienced the unfortunate image of watching a drone going down with conflicting messages after being stable and locked on for several satts.

The sole purpose of my post is to warn of other potential losses from other members of this community and to raise awareness for the lack of reliability of DJI fw developmemt rather than to comfort myself from losing a drone.
Great reply!

I totally have a sore spot for those who immediately go into "blame the user" mode instead of asking for/analyzing all of the facts. Keep standing up for yourself. It helps all of us.

Oh, and thank you for the very appropriate and timely warning.

-Angel
 
Great reply!

I totally have a sore spot for those who immediately go into "blame the user" mode instead of asking for/analyzing all of the facts. Keep standing up for yourself. It helps all of us.

Oh, and thank you for the very appropriate and timely warning.

-Angel

Thank you for the message.

I assume it is safe to say that if DJI had not identified a serious flaw in the 1.9.1.10 fw, they would not be so condescending as to cover the warranty for a new aircraft (worth mentioning I bought the Inspire on day 1, hence over a year ago). This is very humble and client-oriented attitude from their part, which has changed my mind in terms of their post-sales service.
 
"BTW if you had called DJI, they have an update to 1.9 that is not public" What he hell is that supposed to mean?

I agree with your statement that if the thing is telling you there's a problem you should heed the warning, however , that is far from removing responsibility off DJI for releasing a defective product. Now we are supposed to do an exhaustive web search before each and every flight?
You are way off base here.

I am recommending every one who asks me about a purchase to stay away from DJI. Too late for the rest of us...

Excellent point!

If the instructions from DJI direct the operator to restart once and THEN call DJI if the problem persists, then it follows that if the problem DIDN'T immediately persist for Gerson Morelli after he/she restarted, he/she has little reason to doubt DJI's directions and little reason continue down the troubleshooting path. This is an error with the directions from DJI, not Gerson.

However, I'm not mad at DJI. They have been around for years serving a market of DIY assemblers successfully. I'm realizing now that we consumers have allowed DJI (and numerous other companies) to get lazy with their after sales support by accepting user forums (no matter how helpful they can be) as a replacement for quality, thourough and thoughtful post-sales support.

Want them to do better? Well, we get what we demand from our companies and companies like DJI only listen when we vote with our wallets.

So a huge thank you Gerson. You have put out an honest warning to those looking into purchasing DJI as an option. I will still use my Inspire 1 but will now do so with even more caution.

Thanks,

-Angel
 
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I never update anything on the first launch of an update "why" do it if everything works great. Not my Mac, iPhone, Drone, nada. It's also why I don't do Kickstarter or buy a first run product. Silicone Valley for the last 30 years has trained the consumer to accept less than perfect software and hardware, through the disguise of 'Beta" We are so used to stuff not working right, that we accept sub-standard and download, the next 'thing/up grade' So I didn't up grade, I figure I'd sit back and enjoy the show here, then wait till DJI fixes everything with 1.9.2 :)
 
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The technology from DJI is far from perfect. Their service also sucks. Two undeniable facts.

What do you think are the alternatives? Do you think any other company is putting out products that do as much and are more reliable?

I have come to terms with DJI shortcomings and if I want to continue to do Aerial work I see no really good alternatives to DJI. Case in point look at the new m600 and tell me that anyone can come close to the technology packed into that unit.

I read the forums regularly and I act on that information as I see fit. Otherwise what am i going to do? Quit flying?

Ah ha!

That is very honest. A warning to everyone looking into DJI products:

Buying DJI can reward you with wonderful platforms to get your work done. But, don't buy DJI unless you are ready to take on some expensive risks.

If you are looking into DJI, all of their products have shortcomings (particularly on their support front) like products from other companies. These DJI shortcomings can subject you to monetary losses ranging from a few dollars to thousands of dollars.

Then, if you try to recoup your money from DJI, you are generally stuck unless you have bought DJI's additional insurance and proven their fault.

Agiain, thank you Gerson Morelli for bringing up this super important and often forgotten aspect of purchasing DJI.

Keep flying and safety first.

-Angel
 
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I never update anything on the first launch of an update "why" do it if everything works great. Not my Mac, iPhone, Drone, nada. It's also why I don't do Kickstarter or buy a first run product. Silicone Valley for the last 30 years has trained the consumer to accept less than perfect software and hardware, through the disguise of 'Beta" We are so used to stuff not working right, that we accept sub-standard and download, the next 'thing/up grade' So I didn't up grade, I figure I'd sit back and enjoy the show here, then wait till DJI fixes everything with 1.9.2 :)
Truth!
 
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I never update anything on the first launch of an update "why" do it if everything works great. Not my Mac, iPhone, Drone, nada. It's also why I don't do Kickstarter or buy a first run product. Silicone Valley for the last 30 years has trained the consumer to accept less than perfect software and hardware, through the disguise of 'Beta" We are so used to stuff not working right, that we accept sub-standard and download, the next 'thing/up grade' So I didn't up grade, I figure I'd sit back and enjoy the show here, then wait till DJI fixes everything with 1.9.2 :)

Agreed. Probably the wise attitude. Unfortunately, I have always been an early adopter... Lesson learned I guess.

Nonetheless, this does not redeem software / hardware makers to release faulty updates.

Obviously with DJI things are more apparent given the nature of their products... One bad fw and a drone could be flying / falling away from you to remote places. Whereas the worst thing that has happened to a bad iOS update is a malfunctioning app, as far I know.

Also, worth mentioning that I do not live in the US. I live in Brazil, where bringing the whole thing was a big hassle and expensive... So taking the aircraft to service is almost a remote possibility, unless I personally bring the whole thing back to the US to ship to service in LA. Obviously, I knew that from the beginning, and it's not DJI'S fault by any means in this respect.
 
After installing the 1.9 I tried to fly and when I turned it on, it said there was an ESC status error and it wouldn't turn the engines on. Asked me to restart the aircraft and if the problem persisted to contact DJI. After rebooting the I1 and rc for five or six time, everything seemed ok. And even rebooted a few more times to make sure the problem wouldn't happen again, and it didn't. Also I calibrated a couple of times just to make sure... Had 17 sats locked.
I decided to make a flight with caution in order to assess if everything was good. After a couple of minutes going up and down, back and forth further no issues. As I was stable at around 1.000 feet from me and 200 ft high the I1 went into a deadly spiral and at the DJI Go app a bunch of different red lights started to blink with different messages (where the status is). I couldn't read all of them as I was desperate to try to regaing control, but one of them was something regarding compass error, and sensors error or something like that, among others.
My I1 felt in the middle of a small river. I must say I am actually thankful for that, as there was some people near the margins.
I don't understand how DJI is such a terrible company and there is not a single time when they update their fw that a lot of people have issues. I just watched 2.000 dollars fall into the ground and I know that there is nothing I can do about it because in addition to their incompetence to deliver reliable software, they have the worst customer relations I've ever experienced.
I can't wait for GoPro's Karma drone. Hopefully an American company will do a better job in serving the community.

My I1 also displayed errors after fw 1.9. After the error were reported to me, I completed the IMU recalibration and the engines started as normal. 3 minutes into the next flight the DJI Go app started reporting faulty altitude readings (by a huge margin) and the A/C began to ride and fall without regard to the throttle settings attempted. Since the I1 was only about 50 feet high and the weather and field were ideal, a harder that recommended landing on grass was all I suffered. Went back to FW 1.8 and have logged 8 flights of normal stability. The point I feel we are trying to make to the DJI Corporate types in this thread is that we are not beta testers, nor should we be asked to be without being requested to participate as such BEFOREHAND. Of all the forum reports I have read of fw 1.9 irregularities, the VAST percentage were I1's. My I1 with X5 kit installed took on 1.9 without incident (so far) I understand the challenge of a manufacturer who is writing software for retrogrades to be able to own ALL applicable OEM models in OEM condition and test each upgrade on ALL, but it either has to be done, or the customer redress policy for those models not tested has to be very lenient. Or your US business model come crashing down. Our company DOES NOT OPT for choice three.
 
Just received the following e-mail from DJI:

"Dear Gerson,

After having our data analysis team take a look at the flight log from the flight in question, we were unable to determine the cause of this unfortunate event.

There does not seem to be any user error.

With that being said we have decided to cover your unit by warranty, and offer the craft only at no cost to you."

First I need to take back what I said about DJI's customer service. They were very helpful and prompt about my case.

Secondly, I will once again say that the only reason I posted this is to warn other users that could or may have had similar issues not to vent or b*the about my misfortune.

Thirdly, I want to thank you all "Mr. Know It Alls". And remember that the only certainty about this beautiful hobby (hobby in my case) is that one day the equipment will fail on you. And when this day happens and you watch it smash into the ground, remember all your assumptions that the equipment is flawless and you are the one to be blamed.

Yes!

Give credit where credit is due. Go DJI!

Thank you for following up here Gerson. That boosts my confidence in DJI and encourages me to play by their rules in case something like this happens to my ship.

Next stop for me... parachute shopping. Lol!

Gratefully,

-Angel
 
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You obviously had an ESC going bad, and were warned a half a dozen times and chose to fly anyway. The crash characteristics you describe are hallmark of an ESC not responding properly. You should have contacted DJI, as you were instructed to by the aircraft.

This one's on you. Glad DJI took care of you, but heed the warnings in the future. These are very reliable aircraft, and I think that makes us become complacent with them and ignore the complexity of them and how many things have to 'work right' for it to fly. If it says somethings wrong, somethings probably wrong.
 
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