Phantom 4 Pro camera freezing up, glitching.

[Mike Davies]

Tried everything... Happened the day after iOS was updated to 12.4... App is up to date.... Doesnt matter if the SD card is in or not... Firmware is fine... Ribbon cable is fine... all appearances physically look fine... wasnt in an accident... But Im pretty pissed right now... I use this to film weddings... Anyone have an idea?

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Tried everything... Happened the day after iOS was updated to 12.4... App is up to date.... Doesnt matter if the SD card is in or not... Firmware is fine... Ribbon cable is fine... all appearances physically look fine... wasnt in an accident... But Im pretty pissed right now... I use this to film weddings... Anyone have an idea?

Have you tried different usb cable to eliminate fault,,

 

[Mike Davies]

Have you tried different usb cable to eliminate fault,,

Yes....

 

[Mike Davies]

Have you tried different usb cable to eliminate fault,,

That was the first thing I tried

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Same result when select custom channel,,see if fresh relink help....your device probly fine but do you have another device just to try,this will eliminate your device even if it ok in the past,,

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Ok can you list what you tried,it's a guessing game at this end,,,ps,,I know these things can make blood boil but that not fix it,trust me,I get mad and kick it,,but that not fix either,,these phantoms not equal so one fix not for all,,,it's more experimenting to see what work and what don't,, we could offer fixes all day long and get no where,now that's a clever drone for you,
That's certainly a mean glitch you got,so hope we can fix it,,you might get some dumb replays like mine but we not know what you done so far apart from first post saying you tried everything,,,more info might make someone's brain click,,me not think it bad sensor or it be like this ages ago

 

[Drippintx]

Could you see this effect when you were shooting? If yes did you have a backup for a wedding?

 

[Capt KO]

I had the same thing happen, on my pro, when I accidentally left the little foam block on the back of the gimble. No permanent damage but freaked me out. At least my repair was very simple, remove the foam. Hope you solve your problem. Have fun fly safe.

During warm-up, does your camera move freely side to side? Gimble lock, either externally or internally? The camera is trying to swing but can’t. Just guessing, I hope someone throws the right dart and answers your problem.

 

[David_Cambridge]

This looks like a file write problem. Is the video you supplied from the app on the tablet or the SD card from the drone?

 

[Mike Davies]

This looks like a file write problem. Is the video you supplied from the app on the tablet or the SD card from the drone?

This is from the SD card but this problem happens regardless of recording.... it happens in preview screen and the app.

 

[Mike Davies]

I had the same thing happen, on my pro, when I accidentally left the little foam block on the back of the gimble. No permanent damage but freaked me out. At least my repair was very simple, remove the foam. Hope you solve your problem. Have fun fly safe.

During warm-up, does your camera move freely side to side? Gimble lock, either externally or internally? The camera is trying to swing but can’t. Just guessing, I hope someone throws the right dart and answers your problem.

Thanks but there is nothing blocking the gimbal... and it is very steady and not vibrating at all.. this is either a camera or signal problem.

 

[David_Cambridge]

What Apple device is being used here?

I am using 12.4 on an iPad 9.7"" and an iPhone 6, and both work fine with both a Mavic Air and Phantom 4 adv with no issues

I would also try force quitting all other apps on the iDevice to see if that improves anything

What are the specs on the SD card? Can you try another card?. Slow writes to an underspeced card can show symptoms like this as well.

 

[Mike Davies]

What Apple device is being used here?

I am using 12.4 on an iPad 9.7"" and an iPhone 6, and both work fine with both a Mavic Air and Phantom 4 adv with no issues

I would also try force quitting all other apps on the iDevice to see if that improves anything

What are the specs on the SD card? Can you try another card?. Slow writes to an underspeced card can show symptoms like this as well.

I use an iPad Pro 10.5… And I also use my iPhone 8+… I don’t believe it is the iOS devices at this point. I have restarted the iOS devices as well as shut all apps off other than the DJI Go 4 app only running. I have deleted the DJI app and reloaded it… Still no change. As for the SD cards, I always use Sandisk Pro with high write speeds.... But this problem happens even if I’m not using the SD card for recording... This problem happens if it is just sitting there not recording… This problem is in between the body of the phantom all the way to the camera.... my suspicions are the ribbon cable… Of which I ordered this morning… DJI OEM FLEX RIBBON CABLE.

 

[David_Cambridge]

It sounds as if it is hardwire problem, you are right. Odd that it coincided with an OS switch. The signal path is longer than that. It goes from the camera to the AC body, gets modulated onto the downlink signal, gets passed to the drone antenna, is captured by the RC antennas, is converted back to a video format by the RC, which feeds it thru the USB cable to the iDevice.

I do agree that the ribbon cable is a good place to start, but the breakup of the signal is not distorted in the way that suggests something intermittent. That breakup looks like the video timing signal is at fault preventing the scan's displaying the addressed pixels at the right time. It's hard to be sure.

 

[Mike Davies]

It sounds as if it is hardwire problem, you are right. Odd that it coincided with an OS switch. The signal path is longer than that. It goes from the camera to the AC body, gets modulated onto the downlink signal, gets passed to the drone antenna, is captured by the RC antennas, is converted back to a video format by the RC, which feeds it thru the USB cable to the iDevice.

I do agree that the ribbon cable is a good place to start, but the breakup of the signal is not distorted in the way that suggests something intermittent. That breakup looks like the video timing signal is at fault preventing the scan's displaying the addressed pixels at the right time. It's hard to be sure.

If it is not the ribbon cable then I am starting to believe the image processor is going defective… Which is rare but not unheard of… Unfortunately you cannot buy just the image processor… DJI does not sell it nor will you find it on eBay… I am going to have to buy the whole entire camera assembly ...[emoji853] and that is expensive unless I can find a crashed Phantom.

 

[Mike Davies]

If it is not the ribbon cable then I am starting to believe the image processor is going defective… Which is rare but not unheard of… Unfortunately you cannot buy just the image processor… DJI does not sell it nor will you find it on eBay… I am going to have to buy the whole entire camera assembly ...[emoji853] and that is expensive unless I can find a crashed Phantom. View attachment 113344View attachment 113345

This is the image processor located on the gimbal assembly attached to the gray gimbal plate

 

[Mike Davies]

This is the image processor located on the gimbal assembly attached to the gray gimbal plate

 

[Mike Davies]

It sounds as if it is hardwire problem, you are right. Odd that it coincided with an OS switch. The signal path is longer than that. It goes from the camera to the AC body, gets modulated onto the downlink signal, gets passed to the drone antenna, is captured by the RC antennas, is converted back to a video format by the RC, which feeds it thru the USB cable to the iDevice.

I do agree that the ribbon cable is a good place to start, but the breakup of the signal is not distorted in the way that suggests something intermittent. That breakup looks like the video timing signal is at fault preventing the scan's displaying the addressed pixels at the right time. It's hard to be sure.

 

[David_Cambridge]

When you are flying nearby, how is the receive signal on the iDevice? It should be full strength or nearly full. In any case it should show a constant strength. If it isn’t strong, the transmission from the drone to the controller is weak or intermittent. My P4 image looks like that when I have a partially blocked signal either from being slightly below the tree line or far away, nearly out of range.

I don’t think the ribbon cable has anything to do with downlink signal strength. The antenna, and it’t connections does.

 

[Mike Davies]

When you are flying nearby, how is the receive signal on the iDevice? It should be full strength or nearly full. In any case it should show a constant strength. If it isn’t strong, the transmission from the drone to the controller is weak or intermittent. My P4 image looks like that when I have a partially blocked signal either from being slightly below the tree line or far away, nearly out of range.

I don’t think the ribbon cable has anything to do with downlink signal strength. The antenna, and it’t connections does.

The reception is fine… I am pretty sure it is the image processor at this point.... I even got a camera sensor error today when I was messing with it… And I no longer have a feed of what the camera sees… I already ordered the ribbon cable… I will try that… If not then I will have to order the complete camera Assembly...