Pulling my hair out with a hand me down Inspire 1 (Controllers)

[anthropod]

I was given an Inspire 1 that had only been flown once. It came with two controllers, and three dead batteries.

I got three fresh batteries for it. The batteries in the controller seem good they both showed a bit of power before I charged them.

Problem number one: neither controller will connect to my iphone or iPads with the DJI Go app.
I have no idea what the firmware of the controllers are.

I put the 1.3 on a thumb drive but neither seem to be updating.

The aircraft is running the latest firmware. I updated that..may have been a big mistake.
After the update the controller just flashes super super fact red and green almost like a hard drive light.
It will no longer talk to the aircraft.

Ugh… don’t know what the next steps should be.

 

[anthropod]

So I read where if the controllers haven’t been used for a while the programming on the usb/hdmi/card can be lost? That’s crazy. Not sure if that’s why. Only solution is to get a new card or try to reprogram it yourself. Still not confirmed, but a possibility

 

[IronSky1]

I would start by getting a old copy of DJI Asistant 1 and see if it can comunicate with any of the controllers. Not sure were you find it anymore. As I recall it let you check controller (if it can be connected to) . Its been 6 years since I had my I1.

 

[Donnie Frank]

Updating the Inspire's firmware was a mistake. More than likely, this is why your controllers are not communicating with your Inspire 1.

Regarding communication between your remote and iPad, I assume you have tried several cables? I find Apple cables to be of very low quality. It is not uncommon for them to work intermittently or die completely. Try a quality third-party cable. Quality cables will have a brand name stamped proudly on them. Crap cables will not.

It is also not uncommon for the USB port to die. This has never happened to me but I have seen this reported several times in this forum. Since you have TWO controllers I seriously doubt both USB ports on both controllers are dead.

Because your controllers have been sitting so long, I would charge them up fully. If they sat for more than a year, you may be dealing with a low voltage situation.

Good luck.

D

 

[CMFD]

So I read where if the controllers haven’t been used for a while the programming on the usb/hdmi/card can be lost? That’s crazy. Not sure if that’s why. Only solution is to get a new card or try to reprogram it yourself. Still not confirmed, but a possibility

This is excalty what mine was like, it sat for so long the HDMI boards forgot their job i guess. After reflash both work again search the model number of controller(GL???) for tutorial and a couple bucks for ttl board from ebay. (The link says phantom but this fixed my controllers.) Fixing flash programming in DM365 chip within GL300 remote controller

 

[Ralph thompson]

I had the cable problem, I bought a cheap knockoff at Canadian tire and it frequently would not connect, this is a known problem with knockoff cables. When I got a genuine Apple cable, I had no problems.

 

[AAP]

You. You meet to update your remote firmware and battery firmware to match the Inspire.

 

[perpetualwalnut]

I had this same problem. Here's how I fixed it. Get some coffee/tea, it's a long read as it covers many of the mistakes and weird problems I had. The same firmware problem can appear, and be fixed similarly, in the Zenmuse X3.

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[anthropod]

Hey thanks for all the suggestions. Here is what I have tried thus far:
1. Cables. I have a ton of high quality cables. Tried about 8 of them.... didn't work
2. Tried a few different USB sticks with the firmware..... Didn't work.
3. Swapped the boards from the two controllers just so see if I could get any of them to work.... Didn't work

Note: In windows I see a USB serial Device when I plug the remote in via USB.

So... here is where I'm at. I figure they have forgot how to do their job.

My soldering skills are just ok C-, but I think I can manage to solder up some wires.

I have a WM610_GRCP_CORE_V3 board

 

[perpetualwalnut]

Hey thanks for all the suggestions. Here is what I have tried thus far:
1. Cables. I have a ton of high quality cables. Tried about 8 of them.... didn't work
2. Tried a few different USB sticks with the firmware..... Didn't work.
3. Swapped the boards from the two controllers just so see if I could get any of them to work.... Didn't work

Note: In windows I see a USB serial Device when I plug the remote in via USB.

So... here is where I'm at. I figure they have forgot how to do their job.

My soldering skills are just ok C-, but I think I can manage to solder up some wires.

I have a WM610_GRCP_CORE_V3 board

You will need to solder serial connections to your board among other things and follow the re-flashing instructions carefully. I recommend reading and re-reading the instructions a few times followed by stepping through them in a 'dry-run' simulation where you pretend to solder the wires to the board and go through the motions of the software to make sure it's function properly first.

Good luck, and if you know someone locally who runs linux I recommend getting in contact with them.

 

[prohairtie]

The aircraft is running the latest firmware.

 

[niki]

Find old android or iPad device and try to connect the RC. I’m almost certain that DJI Go3 is not working with latest androids, probably is the same with apple.

Edit:
Did a test on Android 12 and DJI Go v3.1.80 (downloaded from DJI's site) it works and can see the controller on this particular Android version. In DJI Go I can see controller's FW version, which confirms they are connected.

 

[Donnie Frank]

Remember; There are THREE levels of connection between the 3 devices;

1) "Disconnected." (Dark Gray) This means nothing is connected to nothing. Essentially, the iPad is not connected to the RC.
2) "Aircraft Disconnected." (Red) This means the tablet is connected to the controller, but the controller is not connected to the Inspire.
3) "Ready to Fly" (Green) This means everything is connected.

If you don't know about #2, and that there is a pretty visible state change between #1 and #2, you might think that there is no connection. But beware that there is SOME connection with scenario #2.

D

 

[prohairtie]

thank you