No Response From Control Sticks on DJI Spark R/C

[Echo-Tango-Juliet]

Hi everyone!
Sooo...my new drone arrived yesterday.

I can fly the drone just fine with my mobile device after turning off the obstacle avoidance mode (see this thread).

Things start going bad when I connect the drone to the R/C.
It pairs fine, I can move the gimbal up and down, and take off using the function button. Once in the air, however, the drone is unresponsive to any stick commands. I then tried to calibrate the remote in DJI Go 4.

The sticks show no movement in the attempted calibration, even with full force in the required direction.

What do I make of it? Is the remote simply "broken"? Or is that very unlikely considering the the remote hasn't been heavily used or mistreated?
Is it firmware-related since it was left for a long period without use?
If so, how do I refresh firmware since the remote does not show in DJI Assistant 2?
Could it be that I'm near a blue zone? But then, why can it fly with just a mobile device just fine?
Could it be the fact that the vision sensors are not working?

Sorry to ask so many questions!

I've tried resetting the drone and refreshing the firmware, as well as a Wi-Fi reset.

Again, sorry for such a complex post, but I hope someone can help.

Regards,

Josh

 

[SoccerRef12]

Hi everyone!
Sooo...my new drone arrived yesterday.

I can fly the drone just fine with my mobile device after turning off the obstacle avoidance mode (see this thread).

Things start going bad when I connect the drone to the R/C.
It pairs fine, I can move the gimbal up and down, and take off using the function button. Once in the air, however, the drone is unresponsive to any stick commands. I then tried to calibrate the remote in DJI Go 4.

The sticks show no movement in the attempted calibration, even with full force in the required direction.

What do I make of it? Is the remote simply "broken"? Or is that very unlikely considering the the remote hasn't been heavily used or mistreated?
Is it firmware-related since it was left for a long period without use?
If so, how do I refresh firmware since the remote does not show in DJI Assistant 2?
Could it be that I'm near a blue zone? But then, why can it fly with just a mobile device just fine?
Could it be the fact that the vision sensors are not working?

Sorry to ask so many questions!

I've tried resetting the drone and refreshing the firmware, as well as a Wi-Fi reset.

Again, sorry for such a complex post, but I hope someone can help.

Regards,

Josh

Josh,
Did you try recalibrating the drone? How you get it figured out.
Jerry

 

[Echo-Tango-Juliet]

Thanks for the reply @SoccerRef12 - yes, I've recalibrated everything (IMU, Compass, etc.) but not the vision sensors as I have no clue how to after much fruitless searching...
DJI Assistant 2 doesn't have a calibration tab when I connect the Spark, and apparently that's normal. But then, how do I calibrate the vision sensors if there isn't an option in Assistant?

 

[Echo-Tango-Juliet]

BTW, I just completed a test out of the blue zone where I live and still no response from the remote sticks. So that eliminates that possible cause.

 

[SoccerRef12]

Hi everyone!
Sooo...my new drone arrived yesterday.

I can fly the drone just fine with my mobile device after turning off the obstacle avoidance mode (see this thread).

Things start going bad when I connect the drone to the R/C.
It pairs fine, I can move the gimbal up and down, and take off using the function button. Once in the air, however, the drone is unresponsive to any stick commands. I then tried to calibrate the remote in DJI Go 4.

The sticks show no movement in the attempted calibration, even with full force in the required direction.

What do I make of it? Is the remote simply "broken"? Or is that very unlikely considering the the remote hasn't been heavily used or mistreated?
Is it firmware-related since it was left for a long period without use?
If so, how do I refresh firmware since the remote does not show in DJI Assistant 2?
Could it be that I'm near a blue zone? But then, why can it fly with just a mobile device just fine?
Could it be the fact that the vision sensors are not working?

Sorry to ask so many questions!

I've tried resetting the drone and refreshing the firmware, as well as a Wi-Fi reset.

Again, sorry for such a complex post, but I hope someone can help.

Regards,

Josh

Are you connecting the controller to your phone via Bluetooth or cable? Are you on airplane mode on the phone? I use a cable and put the phone in airplane mode.

 

[Echo-Tango-Juliet]

Thanks Jerry!
I'm not using the cable since I'm on an Apple, and the one supplied is a USB-C, not a Lightning. No, my phone is not in Airplane mode, so I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

[Echo-Tango-Juliet]

It's fixed!

I eventually got frustrated enough to open up the remote, and guess what?
It seems the previous owner loved to open everything up for no apparent reason and he managed to disconnect the joystick wire from the main board!
After a bit of figuring out, I found out how to reattach the wire, even though it seemed to be almost impossible to do so due to the screw arrangement etc.

Anyway, it's working. Thanks Jerry for your help!