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Connecting cell phone to the controller kills the phone

Rich Z

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I am having a problem with the Skydio 2 app crashing my phone when using the controller. Samsung Galaxy 8+. Running version 9 Android.

I hook up the phone to the controller via the USB cable, and the phone goes black and stays black. It has happened five times now, requiring me to put the phone into the charger, then doing a hard reset to the phone to bring the phone back to life. It kills it pretty dead. Yesterday it only happened once, and the next time I tried it after finding out how to reset the phone, it worked, so I just figured it was some random fluke.

Today I tried to run the app again with the controller (which is the only way I have flown it so far), and the phone crashed each and every time. I am trying to use the drone to inspect the new roof going up on my house. It flew successfully on 06-29, 06-30, and excepting that first phone death on that day, 07-01. After it crashed my phone four times in a row today, I became concerned that the app might just permanently brick my phone and decided to cease efforts and see if I could find some solution to this problem.

I tried contacting Skydio via chat, but no one was picking up. I was only #1 in the queue, though. So I sent an email describing the problem. I am charging up the controller right now, even though the blue light was blinking when I opened it up, and I don't think I used it enough to deplete the battery charge. My phone is at 71%. Skydio 2 app version is 7.0.16.

Any ideas? Trying another phone is not an option.
 

Lifeisfun

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Common problem they are still working on solution ... for months now
 

Rich Z

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Well, after I fully charged the battery in the controller, 2 out of 2 tries had me connecting to it via my phone, just fine. I was able to take my flight without issues. So perhaps the app just doesn't know how to respond when the controller is starving for juice? At the very least I am going to make sure the controller is fully charged whenever I am planning a flight, just in case.
 

Lifeisfun

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Well, after I fully charged the battery in the controller, 2 out of 2 tries had me connecting to it via my phone, just fine. I was able to take my flight without issues. So perhaps the app just doesn't know how to respond when the controller is starving for juice? At the very least I am going to make sure the controller is fully charged whenever I am planning a flight, just in case.
Make sure you report this to Skydio as well.
I got confirmation from Skydio that this is known issue with Galaxy phones. This was months ago.
 

Rich Z

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Yes, I did that. I was talking to Sutton via email and I let him know what seemed to correct the problem for me. Maybe the app just needs some tweaking concerning how to recover from a controller that doesn't have enough juice to run. But I'll just keep an eye on it and see if the problem shows up again to shoot my theory out of the water.
 

JoeydDetroit

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I have a similar problem but not the same thing.
After finding out that my phones Wi-Fi range sucked and I needed to use the controller, I started using it and loved it it was so much better. This love affair went on for several months, One day after migrating to a new phone, and reinstalling everything, The app on the phone never sees the controller connected. I even set it to launch the Skydio app when I plug the controller in to the phone, That works.
Then it says "Not connected turn Wi-Fi on and connect to skydo2". The controller is plugged in so it should not be asking for Wi-Fi, but it does. When you give it Wi-Fi it connects directly to Skydio and finds out that the controller is already connected to it and tells me to "Turn off the Wi-Fi and plug the controller into the phone", which I've already done.
I even unplugged it an replugged it, flipped the connector over, flipped the jumper around and flipped that end both ways.

I wonder if anyone has any idea What's going on here?
 

kgilbertsen

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I have a similar problem but not the same thing.
After finding out that my phones Wi-Fi range sucked and I needed to use the controller, I started using it and loved it it was so much better. This love affair went on for several months, One day after migrating to a new phone, and reinstalling everything, The app on the phone never sees the controller connected. I even set it to launch the Skydio app when I plug the controller in to the phone, That works.
Then it says "Not connected turn Wi-Fi on and connect to skydo2". The controller is plugged in so it should not be asking for Wi-Fi, but it does. When you give it Wi-Fi it connects directly to Skydio and finds out that the controller is already connected to it and tells me to "Turn off the Wi-Fi and plug the controller into the phone", which I've already done.
I even unplugged it an replugged it, flipped the connector over, flipped the jumper around and flipped that end both ways.

I wonder if anyone has any idea What's going on here?
What's the new phone? I've had similar issues with a Samsung Note 9. Skydio recently mentioned a potential power issue and recommended trying a particular 3rd party cable, which I ordered from Amazon and will hopefully be trying in the next few days.
 

JoeydDetroit

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What's the new phone? I've had similar issues with a Samsung Note 9. Skydio recently mentioned a potential power issue and recommended trying a particular 3rd party cable, which I ordered from Amazon and will hopefully be trying in the next few days.
I'm sorry I meant to say that it's an LG K-50

Got a link to that 3rd party cable?
 

kgilbertsen

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Here's the description of the cord for my setup. Looks like you'd need MicroUSB. I'm hoping to get it tested Tuesday or Wednesday to see if it solves the issue.

JSAUX USB C to USB C Cable 60W, 3-Pack [6.6ft+3.3ft+1ft ] Type C Fast Charging Cord Charger​

 

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