Just bought a P3A, No Camera Button in DJI Go App

[mestguy182]

I just purchased a used P3A and spent about 4 hours troubleshooting it last night. The RC connects to the AC fine, I can start the props, move the camera, etc., although the light blinks green very slowly on the RC. However, I am unable to connect to the RC using the DJI Go App, there is no Camera button in the app for the P3, all I see is "How to Connect". There is a Grayed out camera button for the inspire, but clicking it brings me to a black camera screen where nothing is connected and everything says N/A.

I found out that there are many threads with this issue both on this site and on DJI.com, but none of them have been updated since July of last year and none of them had a solution so I'm hoping there is something else I can try before I send it back to the seller on eBay.

Here's what I've tried so far, none of which has worked:

1. Using different cables and mobile devices. I've tried my Galaxy S8+, an ipad Mini and an Amazon Fire 8, all with different cables.

2. Updating the RC Firmware. Since I can't get into the camera view in the app, I have no idea what firmware the RC or the AC are on. I tried updating the RC by using a thumb drive, an SD Card and by connecting the RC via USB to the AC. To do the latter I updated the AC to the latest firmware available on DJI's site. None of these methods let me actually update the RC, nothing ever turned blue on the RC, I tried holding C1+C2+Video Record Button+Dial which made the Blue button start blinking and a constant beep, but nothing ever started updating. I read that there could potentially be an issue with the new firmware, so I tried all of the above with an older firmware too, but it wouldn't start to update the RC that way either.

3. I tried older versions of the GoApp, but it looks like I can't go back past 3.1.2 (or is it 3.1.3?) and none of them made any difference. It's also worth nothing that after I created an account in the Go App, it never asked me to register my aircraft or name it or anything like that as I've seen in some of the YouTube videos.

4. I also tried Litchi, whatever the newest version is from the PlayStore, same issue with the black camera, even after uninstalling the Go App which Litchi suggested. I refunded it in the time period Google Allows.

Possible Solutions:

I'm sort of at a loss unless someone has something new to suggest here. I thought about trying a different version of Litchi just to see if that would work but haven't done so yet. I'm kind of scared to return this P3A and get another one, I'm worried I'm going to run into the same problem.

Sorry for the wall of text, just trying to be thorough.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Ignoring the RC for the moment. When you updated the AC, what did the upgrade log .txt file tell you from the AC SD card?

 

[msinger]

Is your P3A brand new? Did you try updating the firmware exactly like this?

 

[mestguy182]

Ignoring the RC for the moment. When you updated the AC, what did the upgrade log .txt file tell you from the AC SD card?

First of all, Go Dawgs.

Second:
========== 2018.01.29 16:35:02 =====================
Packet: P3S_FW_V01.11.0020.bin
Upgrading ...
Result: Success.

 

[mestguy182]

Is your P3A brand new? Did you try updating the firmware exactly like this?

No, its used. I updated the AC like your directions show, I couldn't update the RC through the Go App since I can't access the camera view. I tried to update the RC using the directions for a SD Card from the link you sent, but the LED never turns blue.

 

[msinger]

No, it used.

So, it wasn't working when you unboxed it? Did the seller note anything was wrong with it?

 

[mestguy182]

So, it wasn't working when you unboxed it? Did the seller note anything was wrong with it?

No, everything said it was working. I was just hoping that since the aircraft appears to fly with the remote, that this was just a firmware issue I could fix on my own. The seller said no returns but I know eBay will take care of it since it isn't as described, however that can be a lengthy process. If you guys think there is no way to fix this, then I'll start the return now. I just wanted to make sure first.

 

[msinger]

Which iPad Mini model do you own?

 

[mestguy182]

Which iPad Mini model do you own?

Pretty sure it's the original one, I'm not at home right now to double-check though. I have an ipad Air (first one) I haven't tried yet any my wife has an iPhone 8 that I haven't tried yet. Regardless of what mobile device I'm using, the RC definitely will not update via Thumb-drive, SD Card or being plugged directly in to the AC.

 

[msinger]

When you connect the remote controller to a mobile device, does the mobile device respond in a way that shows the device is connected? Or does nothing happen right after connecting the cable from the remote controller to the mobile device?

 

[mestguy182]

That makes sense. You can only update it via that method if it's running an old firmware version.

When you connect the remote controller to a mobile device, does the mobile device respond in a way that shows the device is connected? Or does nothing happen right after connecting the cable from the remote controller to the mobile device?

I read that after a certain firmware (can't remember which) you could only upgrade firmware through the Go App, guess the RC was already at that firmware.

When I connect to my Galaxy S8+ it pops up and tells me that I'm slow charging, there are no options to change the USB connection type though like there would be if I connected to a PC for example; I did set to MTP and MIDI in the Developer Settings just to see if it made a difference, nope.

The Amazon Fire 8 makes a noise when I connect/disconnect but there is no USB pop up like there is on my S8.

The iPad Mini doesn't seem to do anything, although I'm not an apple guy so it's possible I missed something, but no noises or anything like that.

 

[Fly Dawg]

While you are in developer options, enable USB debugging. Also, this sounds like a firmware mismatch between the RC and AC. When you did the C1 -C2 combo, did you do it like this?

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[msinger]

When I connect to my Galaxy S8+ it pops up and tells me that I'm slow charging, there are no options to change the USB connection type though like there would be if I connected to a PC for example

Did you try swiping down from the top of the screen? When doing that, you should see this USB setting:

 

[msinger]

this sounds like a firmware mismatch between the RC and AC

I don't think DJI GO would show the "How to Connect" button if the problem was an RC/AC firmware mismatch.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I don't think DJI GO would show the "How to Connect" button if the problem was an RC/AC firmware mismatch.

I was going by the "Slow Green Blinking" RC light. It's like it's "Partially" linked, which makes me think it's a mismatch. Could be wrong of coarse.

 

[mestguy182]

Did you try swiping down from the top of the screen? When doing that, you should see this USB setting:

View attachment 94154

Yes, when I try that and check in the notification all I see is slow charging, no other options.

 

[mestguy182]

While you are in developer options, enable USB debugging. Also, this sounds like a firmware mismatch between the RC and AC. When you did the C1 -C2 combo, did you do it like this?

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Yes, I did it exactly like that and it connects find, except that the led on the RC is a very slow blinking green, never totally solid. And forgot to add, USB debugging has been on this whole time.

 

[msinger]

Are you using the white DJI micro USB cable that normally comes with the Phantom 4? If not, make sure you aren't using a charge-only micro USB cable.

 

[Fly Dawg]

So, you did press the link button on the Aircraft itself right? If so, that to me says even more so that there is a mismatch, since you said that you could start the motors, etc... The RC is transmitting to the Aircraft, but the Aircraft is not transmitting back to the RC, or the RC is not receiving the transmission. You can verify that by looking to see if there was a flight log recorded. If not, then that theory is confirmed.

 

[mestguy182]

Are you using the white DJI micro USB cable that normally comes with the Phantom 4? If not, make sure you aren't using a charge-only micro USB cable.

The used one I bought didn't come with any cables but the S8 uses USB C so I couldn't use the micro anyway, I'm using the cable that came with the phone so I know it's not charge only. The cable I used with the iPad was also an OEM Apple cable, so I know it should be good too.