Ipad mini 4 64gb video freezes

[Nightjumper6mike]

I spent the entire morning at Verizon working with a local geek and my iPad Mini 4. After over an hour of messing with the tablet, he and the head geek determined that indeed the CPU was malfunctioning. Since I have all of my Verizon connected devices insured, they are sending me a new unit. Cool! We will see if that salves the problem.

 

[tchit]

Same issue. Hard reboot before each flight solves the issue.

 

[Kingpin1965]

Hello all. I have been an avid drone pilot for years. I started with a P3P and have a P4P more recently. I had always used an android phone (note 4 or 5) and even a tablet 4 10" which were all flawless. I had acquired a Ipad mini 4 64gb w/cellular because I had heard discussions about the screen brightness in daylight. I tried to use it on my P3P early on and ran into issues of the screen freezing in flight or slow updating on the live feed. This became a safety issue that I never experienced with my android devices. I even pulled it out to use on my P4P and had the same issues.

Is there some special settings needed to use it on any of these drones? I'm happy to use my android devices which have been excellent, but its something that's never been solved.

Thanks for any advice!

I had the same issue after the update. They took out video decoding, but this was not the issue. With the update it set the video feed to 10 mbps. Step this down to 4 to 6 and the issue stopped on my mini 4. But in the sun my mini 4 was getting hot and was starting to shut down. I think this is because DJI deleted the option for using video decoding. This puts much more stress on the CPU causing the mini 4 to run hotter. When I shaded the mini 4 with a temp of 90 degrees outside I was able to fly without issues. The bottom line is DJI needs to put the option back in the Go 4 app for using video decoding for the ipad.

 

[shockwave199]

The option for hardware decoding is gone, but it's because they made it be always ON. Now you can't disable it, that's all.

 

[John Locke]

. The bottom line is DJI needs to put the option back in the Go 4 app for using video decoding for the ipad.

It's been reported the removal of the hardware decode setting leaves hardware decoding ENABLED, since there is no reason to turn it off.

 

[Kingpin1965]

It's been reported the removal of the hardware decode setting leaves hardware decoding ENABLED, since there is no reason to turn it off.

Something has changed. I never had heating issues before with my mini 4 running the go app before the update. I now have to keep my mini 4 cooler. Other wise I was getting a cpu overload warning as the cpu starts to clock down to keep cool. Not a big issue, at 90f I had to fly from the shade of a tree. If it was hotter then 95. My guess is I could not fly because my mini 4 would run too hot.

 

[RocketBrew]

I have the same issues with my iPad 4 Mini 128k cellular once the temps get into the upper 90's. I used this same iPad last summer with Litchi and DJI GO on the P3P with no issues like this at all.

I am flying a six waypoint Litchi mission at a construction site daily, and in recent days with the temps over 110, it will start dropping video before it reaches the first waypoint, and has no usable video by the time it finishes in just over five minutes. It is almost too hot to touch, but has not shutdown like it does if left in the car. My wife's iPad Pro 9.7 works fine.

Did the factory reset and all the other tricks mentioned, the fact is the processing of the underlying DJI code for the P4P (GO4 with or without Litchi) is too intensive for the chipset and the inadequate heat sinking design.

I am now putting the iPad in the fridge before heading outside, and it is now usable for the entire mission, but still green screens at the end.

Looking for an announcement from Apple for the iPad Pro Mini !

 

[RickT]

here is a good picture of what the ipad mini 4 shows, Before the last update on the app, I never had a problem.. Something its wrong...
I called apple, and they said it was the app...
I have also tried all the methods suggested here but I'm still having the same problem
It is over 99 F here in south Texas..

 

[John Locke]

This appears to be an overheating issue. Simply fly the drone with the same ambient outside temp from inside your air conditioned car and see if the problem goes away.

 

[RickT]

I can partially agree its an ambient temperature, I just don't understand why only after the last app update starting to do this..
Very confused...
Since I do aerial work for a construction company its hard for me to do it from inside the car...

 

[StanMI]

I have the same issue with a Mini 4. I have not updated the app yet. It has been awful HOT here.

 

[bstanton89]

Not all Apple iOS devices provide a thermal conduction path from the CPU to the case. Apple employs throttling to protect the CPU under high work loads, such as decoding video on the ARM. Throttling lowers clock rate to manage thermal dissipation to a safe level. The iPad Mini (all versions) are examples of devices which do not provide the thermal conduction path, thus ambient temperature is a factor especially with summer temperatures.

The result when throttling occurs is that the CPU cannot keep up with the video stream, effectively dropping H.264 packets. Dropped packets with respect to a H.264 stream presents as blocky, tearing and/or green sections of the display. Note a dropped packet can occur due to a lack of data link closure (e.g. range, interference, etc) or simply the queue is full and packets are dropped on the floor.

Unfortunately there is little information on the web with respect to this issue, though the person in the following thread aggregates a number of sources to show this problem and which devices are affected.

IOS Devices and Pilot App Thermal Throttling. - RC Groups

In my case I have access to Samsung devices and tested a Tab S2 (SM-T710 and SM-T713). Both have zero issue with playing back a video stream under thermal stress, though the 713 has a USB linking issue documented elsewhere. I purchased the 713 for dedicates use with the P4P where the linking workaround is manageable especially given the low cost of the Tab S2. In the field I let the Tab S2 using my iPhone's access point to provide connectivity, where my iPad has cellular built it. Thus on the Samsung not integrated, but workable.

My impression is that Apple decided portable battery operated operation is not consistent with high work loads which result in excessive battery consumption, limited battery endurance and ultimately higher manufacturing cost to include a thermal path. If Apple is a must then review the thread cited above. Otherwise there are alternatives.

Best answer so far

 

[John Locke]

I can partially agree its an ambient temperature, I just don't understand why only after the last app update starting to do this..
Very confused...
Since I do aerial work for a construction company its hard for me to do it from inside the car...

I've always had the problem with my iPad Mini2 (A7 CPU) in temps above 90F, but so far no problem flying with the iPad Air2 with the newer A8 CPU, but I'm running the version GO4 in my signature, not the latest. This is exactly why I'm not eager to upgrade ANYTHING until it's fully vetted by this forum, AND there's a good reason to justify the risk of changing.

 

[RocketBrew]

Problem solved!