New to the forum. Service question?

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I just retired November 1st. I am taking a much needed and long vacation before I settle in at home. I am now in Bogota Colombia and heart broken. I sit here in the middle of the Andes Mountains and my drone is out of commission. I got it out of the case yesterday after we arrived and put the batteries on the charger. This morning when I did a pre-flight check I saw I needed a firmware update. The drone (Phantom 3 Pro) seemed to update ok but 1/2 way through the controller update it froze up. In subsequent attempts to complete the update I get error messages. I called the DJI customer service line 2 times today. Both techs had me do the exact same things to try getting it going to no avail. They said I would need to send it back to be repaired. Well since I am traveling the next couple months and I desperately want to use the drone, I thought my best bet is to see if I can find a repair center in my next stop. That would be Brisbane December 8th. I am going to see if I can find something here in Colombia the next week but figured my best chance was in Brisbane.
Of course any tips on trying to get this firmware update in the controller would be appreciated. But looking for contact info for a service center.
 
I just retired November 1st. I am taking a much needed and long vacation before I settle in at home. I am now in Bogota Colombia and heart broken. I sit here in the middle of the Andes Mountains and my drone is out of commission. I got it out of the case yesterday after we arrived and put the batteries on the charger. This morning when I did a pre-flight check I saw I needed a firmware update. The drone (Phantom 3 Pro) seemed to update ok but 1/2 way through the controller update it froze up. In subsequent attempts to complete the update I get error messages. I called the DJI customer service line 2 times today. Both techs had me do the exact same things to try getting it going to no avail. They said I would need to send it back to be repaired. Well since I am traveling the next couple months and I desperately want to use the drone, I thought my best bet is to see if I can find a repair center in my next stop. That would be Brisbane December 8th. I am going to see if I can find something here in Colombia the next week but figured my best chance was in Brisbane.
Of course any tips on trying to get this firmware update in the controller would be appreciated. But looking for contact info for a service center.
Welcome to the forum and congrats on your retirement. :)

It always so disappointing when we hear about troublesome FW changes right before a vacation or a big job. Hopefully you'll get it sorted.

Since you noted that you were updating the RC (controller) when it froze up. I'm assuming you were updating it through the app. Were you logged into your DJI account? Do you have another mobile device you can try?

Another thing you can try is the RC FW download reset. It has worked for many people.

Press these four buttons on the remote controller at the same time: C1, C2, Recording and the Scroll that adjusts ISO. (See photo below).

With another finger, turn the remote controller on without letting the other four fingers go.

Once the RC is on, turn on the app (while your mobile device is connected to the RC) and you should be able to download and install the RC firmware again. You may need to do this a couple of times (while your device is connected to the Internet) before you get the "new FW available" message.

Once complete, please let us know what it shows in the app for AC and RC firmware versions.

Important: Since you chose to update FW, I hope that you are aware of the significant flight distance restrictions with the latest FW that need to be removed. Click here to read about it, get some of the background, and how to remove the restrictions.

Also if you are interested, click here for some tips that I often share with new P3A/P3P owners. It's getting a bit long, but it has very valuable information for a newbie.

Cheers!
Reset_P3_RC.jpg
 
Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
 
Welcome to the forum, and I hope Oso excellent advice gets you up and running again....

One other point to note for future reference - you do NOT need to update firmware to continue flying; all you need to do is just ignore the nagging!
 
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Welcome to the forum, and I hope Oso excellent advice gets you up and running again....

One other point to note for future reference - you do NOT need to update firmware to continue flying; all you need to do is just ignore the nagging!
!!!!!!!!!!!! (Root and firewall= muffled DJI demands)
 
Oso saves the day with his sage advice.
 
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Thanks for all the great tips and info. This is a great site.
I tried a few of the tips to continue to get the controller to work. No luck.
I found a drone sales and repair shop in north Bogota and went in today. A great little shop with knowledgeable service person. He plugged the controller into a laptop and in about 10 minutes had it all downloaded. Checked all the settings on the app and took it out to the parking lot for a test flight. They took it up to about 100' and flew it around to make sure everything worked well. There normal rate to work on a drone is 130,000 pesos an hour. About $43. I went in half expecting buy a new controller if they couldn't get this one fixed, so I could use the drone here in Colombia. A great surprise.
Inicio | Distribuidores Autorizados DJI | DreamX Drones Colombia
Tomorrow heading to a little town about 1.5 hours north of Bogota with some great scenery around. I cant wait.
 
Great news indeed! You were indeed fortunate you didn’t send it back to DJI! Good luck on the video!
Jim
WA5TEF
 
Brilliant. Very happy to hear. Can't wait to see all the pics and videos off your holiday [emoji4]
 

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