DJI Repair for stress crack - firmware upgrade advice

[johnbigboote]

Hi, my P3A has started to develop stress cracks below one of the motors after having it for a year. I was thinking of sending it back to DJI for repair if they agree to do it for free, but it seems like they will upgrade the firmware on the drone. I am still on FW 1.4.10 using DJI Go 2.4.1 and have had no problems with that combination at all. Does anyone know if I would still be able to use DJI Go 2.4.1 if they upgrade the FW, and if not would I lose any functionality by upgrading everything to the latest FWs? Can you request DJI to not upgrade the FW? I guess my other option would be to just buy a shell and do it myself so I keep the FW that I'm used to.
Thanks.

 

[Paul Schulze]

On the crack repair issue, there is a massive discussion of this on one of the threads. I think if you do a search for crack or repair crack or some combination of that you will find the thread. Someone else who reads this may also be able to find the link for you and post it.

 

[johnbigboote]

Yes I see all sorts of techniques to fix the crack. My question was more if I should send it to DJI or just fix it myself. If I send it to DJI I was concerned about having the FW upgraded.

 

[Wibble]

Interesting question - I am also concerned that they will automatically upgrade firmware once they get their hands on your drone no matter what the problem is - can you stick notes on it saying PLEASE DO NOT UPGRADE I wonder?

 

[Paul Schulze]

Drones can be downgraded by you later.

 

[stones]

If you feel confident to fix the crack(s) yourself, I would go that route. You take away any worry about what DJI might or might not do.

 

[johnbigboote]

If you feel confident to fix the crack(s) yourself, I would go that route. You take away any worry about what DJI might or might not do.

Yes I've had absolutely no issues with the electronics and would prefer they just fix the shell but from reading the forums it seems like I could get a refurb or something that doesn't work as well. It doesn't seem there is any way to gaurantee that DJI will fix "my" drone. So maybe for the hour or so it takes to me to transplant all the pieces I should just buy the shell for $70 and be done with it.

 

[HWCM]

Drones can be downgraded by you later.

You CAN NOT downgrade (Rollback) from the latest firmware.

 

[Paul Schulze]

Sorry, I had the P3S in mind when I made that comment. Thanks for the correction.

However, there is archived firmware at phantomhelp.com if you can figure out what to do with it.

 

[johnbigboote]

You CAN NOT downgrade (Rollback) from the latest firmware.

It looks like 1.10.90 is still on their website. Does the P3X_FW_DEBUG no longer work?

I tried submitting a return request on their website and it kept giving me errors, then all of a sudden I got 10 UPS return labels with no explanatin I called Monday and it was so busy I couldn't hear the DJI support guy because he was sitting in a crowded room with other people. I guess Monday is a busy day for them. Called back Tuesday and got another guy that said they needed to see the drone before telling me if it was covered by warrenty. I've seen other postings where people just sent in pictures and got an RMA so maybe I'll try that until I get somebody that knows what they are doing, or just buy the shell for $70 and find out what is inside

 

[airbender]

You CAN NOT downgrade (Rollback) from the latest firmware.

Actually, there is a way, but there is some risk

It looks like 1.10.90 is still on their website. Does the P3X_FW_DEBUG no longer work?

Kind of?

See Downgrading firmware on P3P from 1.10.9 to 1.7.6, read it from top to bottom, read it again and think long about if you want to try it as it's not foolproof since it's doing something that DJI didn't intend/didn't want us to be able to do.