15 + 8 Device Not Detected / No Signal P3P

[RozBujnik]

Hi folks! My P3P is 2 years old. Been working fine until now, so I haven't been running FW upgrades. The "NO SIGNAL" issue appeared out of the blue the other day (No live video feed, while camera still takes pics and videos through app and controller, and am able to fly with otherwise full control). Tried upgrading FW from 1.1.9 to 1.2.6 to 1.3.2, with no change (controller is on 1.3 FW), so gave up on further upgrades. Reverting back made no difference. In each upgrade/downgrade case log shows the following 2 issues:
[00028903][15 00][00] device not detected
[00041962][08 00][00] device not detected
Do I understand correctly that these are lightbridge related? Is the only solution a camera / gimball replacement?
Thanks!

 

[RozBujnik]

[00028903][15 00][00] device not detected
[00041962][08 00][00] device not detected
Do I understand correctly that these are lightbridge related? Is the only solution a camera / gimball replacement?
Thanks!

... Or could it be as simple as replacing the ribbon cable (though no obvious signs of stress can be seen)?

 

[RozBujnik]

Do I replace the gimbal/camera unit, or something else inside the drone? Anyone?

 

[SilverStone641]

Hey Roz. I've too have a 2 year old P3P with the exact same problems. I'm almost positive it's the gimbal main board. (circuit board the gimbal arm is attached to) I've already tried swapping out the OFDM board, which handles video transmission back to the controller, but it had no affect at all. I'm currently looking for a gimbal main board or an affordable gimbal assembly that I can use for parts.

 

[RozBujnik]

Thanks for replying, SilverStone641. Is it possible the OFDM board was defective? Both Main and OFDM appear to be readily available, pulled from drones, but who knows why... As per your experience, though, I might go directly with the main board. Thanks again.

Hey Roz. I've too have a 2 year old P3P with the exact same problems. I'm almost positive it's the gimbal main board. (circuit board the gimbal arm is attached to) I've already tried swapping out the OFDM board, which handles video transmission back to the controller, but it had no affect at all. I'm currently looking for a gimbal main board or an affordable gimbal assembly that I can use for parts.

 

[SilverStone641]

It is definitely possible your OFDM could have failed, I was just saying in my drone that turned out not to be the case. Also, don't get the drone main board and the gimbal main board confused in your searches. I found many of the drone mobo's, but none of the gimbal boards alone. Don't wanna go buyin the wrong thing! Good luck! If you do find a reliable source for gimbal boards please share! I miss my bird so much. I'm currently saving for a completely replacement gimbal/camera if I can't find a cheaper option.

 

[Oso]

Thanks for replying, SilverStone641. Is it possible the OFDM board was defective? Both Main and OFDM appear to be readily available, pulled from drones, but who knows why... As per your experience, though, I might go directly with the main board. Thanks again.

I'd have to agree with @SilverStone641 since we have seen this exact scenario so many times with those exact symptoms. The main gimbal board of P3P's has proven to be a weak link in the design and that gimbal board has been reported numerous times to have gone bad either with a bad video chip or corrupted FW. As such, they are difficult to find since DJI does not sell them. Also, occasionally but not nearly as often as the gimbal board, the root cause turns out to be the OFDM module.

 

[happyfeet19]

@RozBujnik, i have the exact same issues. my drone is about 2 years old. flown it maybe 7-8 times. I haven't flown it in a while recently, so i wanted to get everything updated with the firmware. i started the firmware update process, and fail. my hidden log file states the [08] [15] device not found errors. this is very frustrating. i never crashed my drone. always handled it with care. as a result, i cannot fly it. what gives?

solutions seem to be
1. camera replacement
2. broken cable
3. main controller

i don't really want to spend $349 for a new camera, if i can replace with a new gimbal board, but i think replacing camera would be the easiest way to go. Does anybody know where to just buy the gimbal/camera board so i can try replacing that?? i would ideally like to replace this myself.

i should mention, i tried tackling this with DJI support 2 previous times, but not the best experience and customer service with them. so god speed if you travel down that path. they are no charging per hour for servicing and i heard it basically gets sent back to China for service. In other words, i don't trust the process and am fearful that they hold my drone hostage and charge an exorbitant amount for fixing.

so right now my drone is sitting in my closet, not being flown at all while i attempt to find out more information on this issue. any suggestions?

 

[Alan Russel]

I had the "device not connected" notice on my P3P but this was after a bad crash..after fixing gimble (new yaw arm & ribbon cable) and replacing damaged VPS and OFDM modules it was good to go.

 

[RozBujnik]

Update: I ended up purchasing the entire gimbal/camera unit on kijiji, used, at 150$. Swapping was easy, works like charm, with no need for firmware updates even though the unit was from a drone running firmware five steps higher from mine.