Frequently Asked Question
How does flashing work?
NLD uses the same technique to flash your bird that DJI uses. The only difference is that we don't require your drone to be registered. If you are having problems using NLD, you would have the same problem using the DJI software.
- NLD gets firmware using the same sources that DJI Assistant uses.
- We transfer the firmware to your drone using the same protocol used by DJI Assistant.
- We tell the drone to activate the new firmware using the newly uploaded files.
- While activating, your bird sends status reports, which we display as a progress bar.
- When the drone tells us that it has finished updating, we inform you that it is complete and safe to disconnect your drone.
Why does it get stuck?
DJI firmware activation can fail in two ways. Firstly, it may just fail to send a message out of the drone, and the progress bar is still showing stuck even though it completed successfully. The same thing happens occasionally using DJI assistant. The other possibility is a failure within your bird due to some other issue with your bird.
What should I do if it is stuck?
When you are flashing firmware, and it appears "stuck", you can do a couple of things. But before you do anything, make sure you wait at least 15 minutes to give it a chance to complete. If that does not work, there are three other things to try below.
Test and retry:
Connect to your bird using your remote control. There is no need to load any DJI app using a phone or tablet. All you have to do is turn on the RC and see if it connects to the bird. If it succeeds, that confirms that the flashing of the firmware has stopped. Restart NLD and check the installed version. If you see it is still on an older version, try again.
Restart the bird:
If you are still having issues, Leave NLD and your computer running, and restart the bird. Once NLD detects the bird after it restarts, NLD will continue the process. Be patient, and test as suggested above.
Re-Flash and try again:
If you've tried both options and the drone is still on the same version after a restart, you should re-flash the current version. This will ensure that your bird is in a clean, known state before upgrading. Verify the installed version in the NLD application, and re-flash the same version. After this is complete, try to move to your new version again.
How long does flashing take?
If you're installing a new firmware version, it can take approximately 20 minutes. If you're doing a 2nd flash or re-flash of the same firmware version, it will take about 10 minutes. We always recommend loading firmware twice if you change to a new version to ensure full error checking of the new firmware modules.
Note: Only restart your drone if the progress bar stops moving for more than 15 minutes.
What if I am still stuck?
If after trying the above you are still having issues, you will need help from DJI. As described above, NLD does not flash software. It just uploads and tells the drone to activate. We have seen examples where a user has turned off their equipment too soon, mid-way through part of the procedure causing a permanent failure.
The root cause of the problem is a fundamental issue in the DJI upgrade code on the aircraft. There is a thread on the DJI support forums about this problem, and DJI is aware of the issue. One of our developers who recreated the fault ultimately had to send the M2 to DJI for replacement. https://forum.dji.com/thread-169241-1-1.html
The only way forward is to seek assistance from the DJI's support team at https://www.dji.com/support. As you can see from the DJI forum post, it is an issue they are aware of, and it happens to customers who have never used NLD. We suggest you contact DJI at the link above and simply say to them that you were flashing a firmware file, and it continually gets stuck, and now you're unable to bind the RC and Drone.
Once again, to be clear, this is not an NLD issue. DJI firmware flashing code is the root cause of the problem. You may be one of their unlucky customers that have experienced the issue. Remember that once DJI replaces your bird, you will most likely have a new serial number. Just come back to us, and we can re-activate your NLD license key for your new serial number.