Finally picked up my new P4P the other day! I spent the first thirty minutes of the "unboxing" stage just looking at everything and handling the remote and drone like they were made of porcelain (haha) before putting them back in the foam box (case on order! already dislike the foam box - once things come out, they don't go back in as nicely!).
Spent today reading the various pieces of paper that came with. The remote showed 3 lights of charge out of the box, the batteries (bought an additional one) each showed one bar. Charged everything up one at a time (charging hub, on wish list) and then decided to check the firmware with the DJI Assistant on my computer.
Here's when the anxiety came in...
Plugged the remote (fully charged) into the computer. Took a second try when the program didn't seem to see the device. Once it did, there was nothing in the program aside from a "Factory Reset" button. Nothing to click on about firmware updates or checking for an update... I tried googling it, couldn't find anything related. So I figured I could reset it to factory settings and maybe then the firmware update would show up. Clicked the button and immediately regretted my decision, but sat there with mounting anxiety as the remote beeped on for an eternity (or what felt like). And then the program stopped and said the connection had been interrupted.
So there's me, thinking I've now royally messed up the remote - picturing it hung up with half a deleted firmware file, connection issues, and beeping in a loop. Turned off the remote and closed the program - turned it back on and the program immediately went back to resetting, but the remote was no longer beeping or flashing or anything of the sort. Sat there feeling sorry for myself, thinking I'd totally screwed it up. Decided to just unplug and pretend it didn't happen. Turned my attention to the drone, still with all its plastic stickers and warning labels because I was afraid to remove anything in case it jinxed it, just yet.
Connected my ipad mini to the remote, remote and app seemed to be functioning (anxiety lessening) and then took a deep breath, popped in a freshly charged battery and powered on the drone. Finally got to hear the lovely boot-up tune that I've heard for so long in youtube videos and tutorials. Made me smile. Camera did its little wave and the sound of the drone seemed normal, steady, as loud as expected. Remote/App and drone saw each other instantly (anxiety almost gone) and I went through the set-up steps in the app. Then it (finally) showed me that there was a firmware update to be done, and to connect the ipad to the drone. Did that, started downloading the update. I sat back and watched the green lights flashing...
The lights started flashing yellow, then yellow/green, then red (all four), then eventually back to green. I noticed the download bar seemed to be at 99% for awhile and then the anxiety came flooding back. I had read about some 99% glitch.....back to furiously googling, panic rising. 10 minutes on, 99%, lights flashing occasionally different colours. Started to think I would need to unplug but decided to just wait and stare at the screen and will it to go one more percent. The gimbal randomly would swing around, camera looked at me and then at the ground - disappointed in me?
And then the drone shut off. I starred bug eyed at the ipad - still said 99%. All hope is lost.
And then it booted back up, lights continued to flash like they did before. And then a couple minutes later it finally said "Update Complete".
The whole experience was so stressful that I played around with the flight simulator for maybe a minute before shutting everything down and taking a break - haha. I'm no beginner to equipment, but I always tend to treat new things with kid gloves. Doesn't help that every thread and video I've watched until now seem to caution on doing things in a particular order, etc.
Anyway, that's it for now. If the weather is decent tomorrow I might take it out in the back field with plenty of space and practice. Or I might sit and stare at it some more and try and convince myself its not going to randomly explode. Then again, I read a lot of cautionary tales about those batteries, haha.
/ Story Time Over
Onto questions.
- Is everything described above, normal (Assistant Program not being very assisting / firmware update behaviours)
- Memory card. I'm torn between the Sandisk Extreme and the Sandisk Extreme Pro. Only the Sandisk Extreme is listed on DJI as one of their supported cards. Which is the best card for the job?
Spent today reading the various pieces of paper that came with. The remote showed 3 lights of charge out of the box, the batteries (bought an additional one) each showed one bar. Charged everything up one at a time (charging hub, on wish list) and then decided to check the firmware with the DJI Assistant on my computer.
Here's when the anxiety came in...
Plugged the remote (fully charged) into the computer. Took a second try when the program didn't seem to see the device. Once it did, there was nothing in the program aside from a "Factory Reset" button. Nothing to click on about firmware updates or checking for an update... I tried googling it, couldn't find anything related. So I figured I could reset it to factory settings and maybe then the firmware update would show up. Clicked the button and immediately regretted my decision, but sat there with mounting anxiety as the remote beeped on for an eternity (or what felt like). And then the program stopped and said the connection had been interrupted.
So there's me, thinking I've now royally messed up the remote - picturing it hung up with half a deleted firmware file, connection issues, and beeping in a loop. Turned off the remote and closed the program - turned it back on and the program immediately went back to resetting, but the remote was no longer beeping or flashing or anything of the sort. Sat there feeling sorry for myself, thinking I'd totally screwed it up. Decided to just unplug and pretend it didn't happen. Turned my attention to the drone, still with all its plastic stickers and warning labels because I was afraid to remove anything in case it jinxed it, just yet.
Connected my ipad mini to the remote, remote and app seemed to be functioning (anxiety lessening) and then took a deep breath, popped in a freshly charged battery and powered on the drone. Finally got to hear the lovely boot-up tune that I've heard for so long in youtube videos and tutorials. Made me smile. Camera did its little wave and the sound of the drone seemed normal, steady, as loud as expected. Remote/App and drone saw each other instantly (anxiety almost gone) and I went through the set-up steps in the app. Then it (finally) showed me that there was a firmware update to be done, and to connect the ipad to the drone. Did that, started downloading the update. I sat back and watched the green lights flashing...
The lights started flashing yellow, then yellow/green, then red (all four), then eventually back to green. I noticed the download bar seemed to be at 99% for awhile and then the anxiety came flooding back. I had read about some 99% glitch.....back to furiously googling, panic rising. 10 minutes on, 99%, lights flashing occasionally different colours. Started to think I would need to unplug but decided to just wait and stare at the screen and will it to go one more percent. The gimbal randomly would swing around, camera looked at me and then at the ground - disappointed in me?
And then the drone shut off. I starred bug eyed at the ipad - still said 99%. All hope is lost.
And then it booted back up, lights continued to flash like they did before. And then a couple minutes later it finally said "Update Complete".
The whole experience was so stressful that I played around with the flight simulator for maybe a minute before shutting everything down and taking a break - haha. I'm no beginner to equipment, but I always tend to treat new things with kid gloves. Doesn't help that every thread and video I've watched until now seem to caution on doing things in a particular order, etc.
Anyway, that's it for now. If the weather is decent tomorrow I might take it out in the back field with plenty of space and practice. Or I might sit and stare at it some more and try and convince myself its not going to randomly explode. Then again, I read a lot of cautionary tales about those batteries, haha.
/ Story Time Over
Onto questions.
- Is everything described above, normal (Assistant Program not being very assisting / firmware update behaviours)
- Memory card. I'm torn between the Sandisk Extreme and the Sandisk Extreme Pro. Only the Sandisk Extreme is listed on DJI as one of their supported cards. Which is the best card for the job?
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