Mid Air "Compass Error, Exit P-GPS Mode"

zgembit · Sep 12, 2016

Dont swap it for new one, you have to send it back for them to repair it, at least that is what it seems to make it work properly.

Tommy Iversen · Sep 12, 2016

zgembit said:
Dont swap it for new one, you have to send it back for them to repair it, at least that is what it seems to make it work properly.

Thing is, the drone is brand new and the shop offers free return / money back within 45 days, so i don´t really want to send it for repairs when i still can return it. Thought about just returning and upgrading to a P4 as it doesn´t seem to be affected by this problems with 2 compasses and all. But then again, i´ve already spent a lot of money here with 2 extra batteries on the way. Quite irritating that i can´t get this to work.

happy2bahick · Sep 13, 2016

zgembit said:
If it persists you probably need to send it for repair. A pain in the *** and a lots of trouble for that kind of money spent...

I just put in for a repair ticket

Lennart wiklund · Sep 13, 2016

Same problem with My new P3 advance. Send it back to the seller her i Sweden for "repair" the only this idiot doing was calibrate the compass they send it back to me,same problem.... I,ve got my money back....... Just wonder.... Buying a new one or uppgrade to P4??

BayouBill · Sep 13, 2016

ianwood said:
Compass is essential in all forms of GPS based flight. Period. This includes position hold, RTH and everything else.

Interesting discussion on necessity of compass. Foosey is talking theoretically but this is actually done in the APM world. However I believe it is only done with fixed wing aircraft running the ArduPlane firmware. There is some discussion on the forums that flying a mission or RTH can be a problem in high winds. But the APM FC only has an 8-bit cpu.

happy2bahick · Sep 15, 2016

Lennart wiklund said:
Same problem with My new P3 advance. Send it back to the seller her i Sweden for "repair" the only this idiot doing was calibrate the compass they send it back to me,same problem.... I,ve got my money back....... Just wonder.... Buying a new one or uppgrade to P4??

I'm sending off for repair, hoping for best. Dji hasn't done me wrong yet...I won't be buying another

Noreality · Sep 29, 2016

I bought a DJI 3 Advanced from Maplin a couple of weeks ago. It has the same fault. Did firmware update, compass calibrations, IMU calibrations and it still kept on happening. Sent it back to Maplin who confirmed it was faulty and the sent it back to DJI. However im far from confident the problem will be fixed so I asked for a refund. Would rather spend the money on a DJI 4 Pro or a Mavic that doesn't suffer this serious issue.

I have seen what looks like third party replacement compass's for the DJI 3 on the likes of eBay and was wondering if they are more reliable than the ones DJI are using? Looks like it is fairly straight forward to replace them. Has anyone done this and what were the results?

imtack · Oct 20, 2016

Being Processed since 77 days 8 hours
#330581 Goes into atti mode all the time
M
mike andrzejczak
reported 3 months ago
Name:Mike
Location:Hamburg ny
Product Serial Number:
Briefly describe your problem:：goes into atti mode all the time, hover seems to make loops... Did imu and calibration every flight... Still ends up drifting away into atti mode.

Sent from my iPhone

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M
mike
said 3 months ago
seems to be a faulty gps, i can handle the replacement as i have scratch built several of your 550 kits. i'm leaving on vacation in a week and was hoping to be able to fly my new p3.
M
mike
said 3 months ago
attached are a few files that show loosing gps, this is a brand new p3 so i'm a little disappointed...
TXT
DJIFlightRec...
(787 KB)
TXT
DJIFlightRec...
(51.9 KB)
TXT
DJIFlightRec...
(413 KB)
M
mike
said 3 months ago
csv attached
CSV
ExportCSV_20...
(96 KB)
G
Gretchen
said 3 months ago

Dear Mike Andrzejczak,
Thank you for contacting DJI Support .
Could you tell us the type of drone you have?
We suggest to update the firmware in the latest version.
Make sure that you calibrated the compass.
Try different place.
Thank you for the patience and cooperation in this matter.

Best Regards,
Gretchen
DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)
Online Support: DJI Support - Here for You

M
mike
said 3 months ago
It's a phantom 3 advanced all logs point to faulty gps communication
M
Myra_Earnshaw
said 3 months ago

Dear mike andrzejczak,

Thank you for contacting DJI Customer Support.

We are so sorry to hear what happened to your unit. We do understand how you feel and we are really sorry for this inconvenience you are experiencing right now.
Mike, can you please send us a short video showing the issue in your unit and a screenshot on the app.
Thank you.

Best Regards,
Myra
DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)
Online Support: DJI Support - Here for You

M
mike
said 3 months ago
I can't fly until tomorrow but will try the logs clearly show that don't know why a video would show anything different

Sent from my iPhone
M
mike
said 3 months ago
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/8WLX5PTJ37FN4EE9P421/
M
mike
said 3 months ago
exactly the same behavior as this one.

imtack · Oct 20, 2016

Nick93 · Apr 7, 2017

probably it has been already answered lot of times.

So I bought a used phantom 3 adv. has almost 150 flights on it

First flight and I get a compass error mid air the first few seconds. The error disappears as I move the aircraft. Did a compass & imu calibration but the problem is still appears some times.

Is there anything to try or just replace the compass?

Thanks a lot

Strat · Apr 7, 2017

most likely a calibration error still.. try calibrate again at another location.

Kamloops · Apr 7, 2017

Everyone that is lucky enough to get a good p3a says 'calibrate again', but those of us that have gotten units from the suspected bad batch will attest that there is something defective with this batch.

I returned mine and have never seen a calibration error since.

Jarkko Sydänmaanlakka · Apr 7, 2017

Kamloops said:
Everyone that is lucky enough to get a good p3a says 'calibrate again', but those of us that have gotten units from the suspected bad batch will attest that there is something defective with this batch.

I returned mine and have never seen a calibration error since.

I have a P3A and I had same kind of problem after I updated the AC firmware to 1.10.9. My AC reported compass error in midair right after takeoff, no such problems with previous firmware versions.
1.10.9. also ruined the video feed, so it was difficult to fly. All problems disappeared after I downgraded the firmware.

davidmc0033 · Jun 13, 2017

Scott7161 said:
I got an error that I've never seen before while flying the Phantom 3 Pro today. I updated the firmware and App a few days ago when it was released and I've flown about 6-7 times prior (after upgrading the firmware and DJI Go App) without any problems.

Today while flying the gimbal got floppy for a second and then I got an error in the DJI Go app saying "Compass Error, Exit P-GPS mode" and had to fly back in Atti mode. I toggled the modes on the controller from P to Atti mode to see if I could get it to reset and it did not reset until it was almost all the way back home.

No crash or damage but it was strange because I have never seen that error before. I had calibrated the compass in the same place just a couple flights prrior and it worked perfectly prior to that flight. I flew again from the same location and had no other issues.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Scott

My Youtube Channel

Happened to me Sunday however I lost the drone, I was mortified :-(
fortunately the unit was found the next day and I've got it back now but error is still there

Mario_SB · Jun 13, 2017

My impression is that this is a known Phantom 3 series issue with DJI. I had the same issue and no amount of compass or IMU calibrations or firmware or DJI GO upgrades would fix the problem (Please read my earlier threads on the subject) I just received the unit back yesterday from repair and DJI would not state on the invoice what was done. They only itemized gimbal and camera parts that had nothing to do with the compass issue as was stated on the repair order sheet. This tells me that they probably do not want to disclose faulty compass issues with their products in order to reduce any liability and/or lack of confidence in their products. The Phantom 3 series was probably their lesson to go with redundancy (dual compass) with their later Phantom 4 series.

superdude · Feb 7, 2018

Searched the web for solution since I have same problem when I swapped out compasses. Thought I would share my experiences since this thread seems to have the most replies and hopefully can be a fix for others even if only a few in future. DJI Phantom 3 advanced. Was flying great with new firmware updates everything current. Then I accidentally grabbed drone by the leg and antenna clip/cover came off. Same leg that had compass wire. I put back on and like an idiot severed the compass wire. Ordered new one. Installed. And right away got error message "compass error. exit p-gps mode" upon startup. Tried everything. reconnecting. checking connections. calibrating in right spot. reinstalling firmware and app on drone and phone. Everything tried nothing worked. Was about to send back and then thought I would try one more thing. I removed the compass out of the landing leg compass cover and untwisted wires and then put it back in a little more secure then I think it was before. Theres a little notch in the compass that fits perfectly in the notch on landing gear, and I dont think it was touching anymore when I reinstalled. Put cover back on and started aircraft. No error message anymore. Calibrated compass and no error, (which before the error would come everytime without fail if I calibrated compass before flying) Then took it out for few flights. Close at first just in case. Then further and further. Out to 2000 feet still and 300 meters up and no errors after 5 flights. Everything seemed to be fixed by readjusting the compass position/orientation in the leg making sure it was snug against the notch in plastic and notch in compass board, and then tightening cover properly. Do not know why or how that happened but thought was worth sharing.

Mario_SB · Mar 4, 2018

superdude said:
Searched the web for solution since I have same problem when I swapped out compasses. Thought I would share my experiences since this thread seems to have the most replies and hopefully can be a fix for others even if only a few in future. DJI Phantom 3 advanced. Was flying great with new firmware updates everything current. Then I accidentally grabbed drone by the leg and antenna clip/cover came off. Same leg that had compass wire. I put back on and like an idiot severed the compass wire. Ordered new one. Installed. And right away got error message "compass error. exit p-gps mode" upon startup. Tried everything. reconnecting. checking connections. calibrating in right spot. reinstalling firmware and app on drone and phone. Everything tried nothing worked. Was about to send back and then thought I would try one more thing. I removed the compass out of the landing leg compass cover and untwisted wires and then put it back in a little more secure then I think it was before. Theres a little notch in the compass that fits perfectly in the notch on landing gear, and I dont think it was touching anymore when I reinstalled. Put cover back on and started aircraft. No error message anymore. Calibrated compass and no error, (which before the error would come everytime without fail if I calibrated compass before flying) Then took it out for few flights. Close at first just in case. Then further and further. Out to 2000 feet still and 300 meters up and no errors after 5 flights. Everything seemed to be fixed by readjusting the compass position/orientation in the leg making sure it was snug against the notch in plastic and notch in compass board, and then tightening cover properly. Do not know why or how that happened but thought was worth sharing.

Thank you for sharing. I always suspected the compass errors may come from a loose fitting and/or connection. Thanks again.