Best Firmware for P3A

msinger · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
Is the downgrade and upgrade process the same?

Yes.

Wolfiesden · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
I've been looking on lots of forums but I can't find the answer anywhere. A lot of people say the latest fw has screwed up their range or whatever. My P3A is arriving on Monday, and I don't know what fw to update it to for it to be the most reliable. Do you recommend the latest fw, or a difference one, and if you recommend a different fw, which one??

The choice is limited by whats on it to start with. That determines how far back you can go.

Both my birds are on a dev firmware (see my sig). It has no GEO. It doesn't have the large NFZ coverage. It has the advanced flight modes. It does not have the cold weather bug or the reduced power "bug" that fixed the cold weather bug.

But, if your bird already has a much newer FW, you are screwed in only having the option to go forward. DJI blocks reversion back past 1 version of FW now.

Wolfiesden · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
Just received it and it's v1.5. I'm going to take it down to v1.4. Is the downgrade and upgrade process the same?

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Sorry, I missed your latest post. Try 1.5.0011. Its a dev build. Do not use 1.5.0030. It has the battery bug. IIRC, 1.4 won't allow advanced flight modes. I think. Not 100% on that. I know that 1.5.0011 does.

Wolfiesden · Jul 11, 2016

Dunno if Mike's site has the dev FW link or not. If not, you can find 1.5.0011 in the firmware folder here:
Dropbox - Phantom3

Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

For some reason v1.4 didn't work (I read a lot of tutorials and in convinced I did it correctly) so instead I'm did v1.6 and it worked perfectly (also updated controller to v1.6). Calibrated compass and gimbal. One question: after I calibrated the compass in my house(yes there's a lot of interference), it said "compass error: move aircraft or calibrate compass). I hope that's because of the interference in my house, not because I did something wrong (it was on a flat surface).

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Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Wolfiesden said:
Sorry, I missed your latest post. Try 1.5.0011. Its a dev build. Do not use 1.5.0030. It has the battery bug. IIRC, 1.4 won't allow advanced flight modes. I think. Not 100% on that. I know that 1.5.0011 does.

Whoops didn't see that. Oh well, I'll see how 1.6 works and if it doesn't work well I can only upgrade it from there.

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Oso · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
One question: after I calibrated the compass in my house(yes there's a lot of interference), it said "compass error: move aircraft or calibrate compass). I hope that's because of the interference in my house, not because I did something wrong (it was on a flat surface).

Calibrate the compass outside away from any interference. Also, it's the IMU cal (not the compass) that requires the level surface.

msinger · Jul 11, 2016

Wolfiesden said:
1.4 won't allow advanced flight modes

The IOC modes were added in 1.4.

Wolfiesden · Jul 11, 2016

msinger said:
The IOC modes were added in 1.4.

K, I thought my P3A had 1.4 and wouldn't run Litchi waypoints until I upped to 1.5.0011. But you are better at this than me.

Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Oso said:
Calibrate the compass outside away from any interference. Also, it's the IMU cal (not the compass) that requires the level surface.

My bad, I phrased that incorrectly. I calibrated the IMU inside, then I saw compass error and for some reason in my brain I associated those 2 as the same thing. Brain fart, sorry haha. (On my last 2 or 3 posts, whenever I said compass, I meant IMU)

But, I tried controlling the ac with the ac and rc both at v1.6 and it didn't work (not compatible). So, I'm upgrading the ac to v1.7 and I'll see if that works, and if not, v1.8, which I know is compatible with rc v1.6.

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Oso · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
My bad, I phrased that incorrectly. I calibrated the IMU inside, then I saw compass error and for some reason in my brain I associated those 2 as the same thing. Brain fart, sorry haha.

But, I tried controlling the ac with the ac and rc both at v1.6 and it didn't work (not compatible). So, I'm upgrading the ac to v1.7 and I'll see if that works, and if not, v1.8, which I know is compatible with rc v1.6.

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1.8 AC and 1.6 RC are tied together due to an encryption change. If you have one, you must have the other (or later). To use 1.7 on the AC, you'd need to be lower than 1.6 on the RC.

Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Oso said:
1.8 AC and 1.6 RC are tied together due to an encryption change. If you have one, you must have the other (or later). To use 1.7 on the AC, you'd need to be lower than 1.6 on the RC.

Welp, 1.8, here I come

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Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Okie Doke, it's all updated and calibrated. I'm going for my first flight now. I'll let you know the results.

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Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Wow, this thing is smooooth. Stays in place much better than the P3S and the 1080p 60fps video is noticeably smoother than the 1080p 30fps video on the standard. Not ready for a range test but I'm excited to fly this thing all the time [emoji1]

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Oso · Jul 11, 2016

Michael Stuart said:
Wow, this thing is smooooth. Stays in place much better than the P3S and the 1080p 60fps video is noticeably smoother than the 1080p 30fps video on the standard. Not ready for a range test but I'm excited to fly this thing all the time [emoji1]

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That's great news!

One thing that just came to mind is that many former P3S owners start threads asking why the P3A / P3P does not auto land as smoothly as does the P3S. The threads normally end with a dozen or so posts saying to only hand catch or manually land. Just in case you ever happen to use the auto land function, keep in mind that it wont be as smooth as the P3S. Cheers sir.

Michael Stuart · Jul 11, 2016

Oso said:
That's great news!

One thing that just came to mind is that many former P3S owners start threads asking why the P3A / P3P does not auto land as smoothly as does the P3S. The threads normally end with a dozen or so posts saying to only hand catch or manually land. Just in case you ever happen to use the auto land function, keep in mind that it wont be as smooth as the P3S. Cheers sir.

Noted. Thanks for the advice [emoji2]

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Michael Stuart · Jul 12, 2016

3rd flight

Man this thing is fun to fly

flyNfrank · Jul 12, 2016

msinger said:
The IOC modes were added in 1.4.

They began being released in 1.3.2 and were totally added by 1.4.x.

heykool69 · Jul 16, 2016

Oso said:
What I normally recommend when this question comes up is to just use what you get when it arrives. Unless it's v1.5, you will most likely have no issues. Remember that you can only go back to one level below the highest level that has previously been installed. I would recommend that you should not be in a hurry to make a hasty change that you may not be able to easily undo.

Using what you get when it arrives will give you a chance to check out your new drone for any infant mortality (early life) type of electronic issues, to understand the relationship between the RC, the AC, your mobile device, and the software, plus learn the many nuances of the design and it's features. Once you are very comfortable with what you have, you will better understand the forum discussions about pros/cons with each FW and you can make a more educated decision about which version you prefer. You will also be in a better position to recognize any issues of your own that are introduced when you update.

I cringe when I read about people who immediately update their firmware before they even know how to fly or before they know if what they have is fully functional. Then it's more difficult to diagnose or recognize any issues, and much more difficult if not impossible to go back to what they started with when new.

As always, just my humble opinion. Cheers and good luck sir!

I just received my first P3A drone yesterday. I will definitely take your advice. As for right now, i'm even afraid to start up my drone until i read more advices and stories from you members. Don't wanna mess up my expensive toy