8 Ways to Fix Mavic Air 2 IMU Calibration Stuck
People are having a hard time trying to calibrate DJI Air 2’s IMU, they usually get stuck on step 2 or 4 on DJI FLY.
I also had this problem two days before I wrote this article, and I went on google but no one had a clear answer. Then I contacted DJI support but they couldn’t be more naive, anyways after reading a bunch of forums, hours of frustration, I finally solved mine so I thought I could do the same for others
Why is Mavic air 2’s imu calibration getting stuck?
If your Mavic air 2’s IMU calibration is stuck try placing the drone under room temperature, reinstall DJI FLY and make sure you are following the steps properly.
There is no one single reason why this might be happening but the common reasons like not following the steps properly, for a successful IMU calibration, it is crucial that you follow the steps exactly as you see on the screen, or you will get stuck on one of the steps.
So in the next sections, I will show you how to properly calibrate your Mavic air 2′.
1. proper calibration process
1. Place your Mavic air 2 on a flat/level surface
If you have an iPhone open your measure app or if you have an android download bubble level app and make sure you place your drone on a level surface
2. Put the arms folded with its belly
This step needs no explanation, put the drone in its normal position with arms folded.
3. Put the drone on its right side
Even though it is simple, step 2 is where people get usually get stuck.
What you basically have to do is face the drone’s belly facing to the wall, and its side facing to the ceiling.
However, even when you are doing everything correctly DJI FLY app won’t proceed to the third step for some reason
So if this is happening look for the lights on the arm of the drone
When the green lights are flashing rapidly – it means it is calibrated for that position and it now wants you to move it to the next position.
So you don’t have to wait for the app, if the lights are flashing green just proceed to the next step!
4. Rotate the drone onto its left side.
Just repeat the previous step but on the left side.
5. Finally face the camera upwards
6. Put the drone belly up
2. Refresh the Mavic air 2’s firmware in DJI assistant 2
If the calibration process is not working, chances are there is a software issue that is supposed to get fixed.
To do that I will show you a couple of ways
Let us start by refreshing the firmware
- Power on the drone
- Download the proper DJI assistant for Mavic air 2 here and so on
- Connect it to your computer using the USB cable DJI provides
- Open the software on your laptop
- Log in to the DJI Assistant 2 app and select your drone
- Next, you will see the firmware version
- Tap update and choose the latest version
- If it is already the latest version click refresh
- Repeat process with every battery you own
3. Downgrade firmware
If refreshing the current firmware doesn’t work, you can downgrade the firmware until the next update comes out.
You can downgrade your firmware both in DJI assistant and DJI FLY.
To downgrade firmware in DJI assistant–
- Power on the drone
- Connect it to your computer using the USB cable
- Open the DJI Assistant 2 software on your laptop
- Log in to the DJI Assistant 2 app and select your drone
- Next, you will see the firmware version and older versions lined up
- Choose the version one below the current version you have
- Then click install
- Then the drone will automatically restart
To downgrade firmware in DJI FLY
Press and hold the menu icon (three horizontal lines in the top right corner) for five seconds and a special firmware menu appears. You can now select which previous firmware version you would like to downgrade to. Check it out.
4. Reinstall DJI FLY
One of the troubleshooting methods DJI support recommended me is to reinstall the DJI fly app and that is what helped me to solve the issue.
However there is one key thing they didn’t tell me and that is to restart my iPhone after deleting the app from my phone, I got that info from a forum. so anyways follow these steps.
- Remove the DJI fly app from your phone
- Restart your iPhone
- Reinstall DJI fly app from app store/play store
- Finally restart your phone and try connecting them again
5. Clear cache
If you have previously connected the drone and the controller and you already have a flight history you may have stored cache, and sometimes logged chance can cause problems
To clear the cache go to DJI Go 4 app, click on the settings three dots, and under “General Settings” you can see the video cache settings. You can select to “Clear Video Cache” here and free up a lot more space on your device.
If none of the methods above work for you, your last option is to factory reset your drone.
6. Factory reset
- First, Install the DJI Assistant 2 Program on your device, make sure you download the proper one.
- Connect your drone to your laptop using the USB cable provided, and wait for the software till it to detect your drone
- You’ll be able to see your drone on the Connected Devices screen. Select your drone and then click on confirm.
- Click on Firmware Update. After that, you’ll be able to see the “Restore factory defaults” button.
- Click on the factory reset button and then confirm when you are asked to confirm the reset. A progress bar will pop up showing the progress of the reset. You’ll be notified when the reset is complete.
Note: After a factory reset you have to calibrate everything again.
7. Use a different phone
If you are using android to calibrate the IMU and it is not working try swapping it with ios, and vice versa.
8. Change location
I am not sure why but DJI recommends doing IMU calibration on an open field, so if you are doing the imu calibration in a tightly enclosed space go out and try it again.
Can you fly your drone without IMU calibration?
IMU or inertial measurement unit’s job is to keep the aircraft stable while in flight.
If you don’t calibrate the imu, the drone will try to avoid obstacles by using its sensors however it will be hard to operate for the operator.
If you have seen a drone go forward or backward without getting a signal it is because the IMU needs calibration.
Some drones come with a calibrated IMU so if you are not getting a notification on your DJI go for app chances are you shouldn’t worry about it unless there is a red flashing light on the arms.
Even though there is no way to tell which is which if there are red flashing lights on the arm then that is a signal the imu or the compass needs calibration.
Any way let get to the process of calibrating the imu
Make sure you don’t miss any steps because that is how you get stuck
Final choice
If none of the methods fix it your drone might have some hardware problems and for that, you might have to send it to a professional
If your drone is within a year period from activation which is most likely the case because I assume the drone you are trying to calibrate is new you can get it fixed without any cost.
If not you might have to pay from fifty dollars up to hundreds of dollars depending on the situation
After you hand it to DJI it can take up to 15 days till they fix it and send it back to you, and it can take longer if you don’t live in the united states
If you are located in Armenia, you may contact the local dealer or DJI’s support via email to start a case and send the unit back.
