DJI Assistant 2 on an M1 Mac running Ventura

[pedz]

I bought a FPV Controller and it won't link to my Avata. So I was told to get the DJI Assistant 2 and use it to update the firmware on the controller. I have a long post of my problems here.

Has anyone gotten the DJI Assistant 2 to work on an M1 Mac running Ventura?

 

[rktman]

I've never heard anyone successfully using a Mac for DJI Assistant. Not saying it can't be done, just that EVERY time I've seen it (rarely) come up, the solution ultimately was to use a Windows PC.

This doesn't excuse DJI, but excuses and explanations won't get you running. Save yourself more grief and use a Windows machine. Work, friend, neighbor, relative. Spend your energy securing access to such a beast, and get this easily resolved.

The customer base using Macs is so tiny it's a better business decision to just put up with the support noise than spend the engineering $$ to keep up with Mac releases in a timely fashion. You are always going to run into many more issues on a Mac with Assistant.

 

[pedz]

I've never heard anyone successfully using a Mac for DJI Assistant. Not saying it can't be done, just that EVERY time I've seen it (rarely) come up, the solution ultimately was to use a Windows PC.

This doesn't excuse DJI, but excuses and explanations won't get you running. Save yourself more grief and use a Windows machine. Work, friend, neighbor, relative. Spend your energy securing access to such a beast, and get this easily resolved.

The customer base using Macs is so tiny it's a better business decision to just put up with the support noise than spend the engineering $$ to keep up with Mac releases in a timely fashion. You are always going to run into many more issues on a Mac with Assistant.

Yea... I have a PC but it is in storage in another town.

I managed to solve all the "Mac" problems but it still didn't find the controller.

 

[gizmoboy]

I bought a FPV Controller and it won't link to my Avata. So I was told to get the DJI Assistant 2 and use it to update the firmware on the controller. I have a long post of my problems here.

Has anyone gotten the DJI Assistant 2 to work on an M1 Mac running Ventura?

Did it just last week to update my Avata and controllers to the latest firmware.

MacBook Pro M1 Max, Ventura.

 

[pedz]

Did it just last week to update my Avata and controllers to the latest firmware.

MacBook Pro M1 Max, Ventura.

I'm trying to connect a FPV Controller expecting the circle in the middle of the screen to change and find the controller but it doesn't do anything.

I will try connecting some other device and see if that is the problem but I'm just wondering if I'm doing something really wrong.

I need to connect the controller because I need to update the firmware so I can link it to my drone.

Which version of DJI Assistant 2 did you use?

 

[pedz]

I got it to work -- half way. Fortunately I have a controller for my Mavic 3 Cine and at this point, when I connect it and power it on, the Mac sees it and DJI Assistant 2 sees it and I could (but didn't) update the firmware.

I used this version of the USB driver. And I have an issue opened for that Git project and there may be a little bit of useful information in it as well.

I disabled SIP:

1. Shutdown the Mac
2. Press and hold the power button until after it says "Continue to press for Options"
3. Boot into Recovery Mode and open Terminal via the Utilities menu
4. Enter csrutil disable which will ask for confirmation and prompt for a password
5. Reboot

Then I downloaded the version mentioned above. I had already gone into /Library/Extensions and removed the old HoRNDIS.kext with sudo rm -r HoRNDIS.kext. Then cd into the Release directory and execute the script I added to the issue mentioned above. At this point, you should get a prompt to go to System Settings and allow extensions from particular developers. It will also want to reboot -- which you need to do eventually.

I still have an entry in System Information under Disabled Software but it appears at the moment to be benign.

Now... I need to figure out what is up with the FPV Controller. It has never been linked. That might be the issue. Or it might be that I need a different version of DJI Assistant 2.

 

[twowheeledphotog]

I have an M2 Macbook, but DJI Asssistant 2 seems to work just fine on it. Have used it to update my FPV Controller 2 and O3 Air Unit. It doesn't seem to recognize my Goggles 2, but I honestly can't remember if that was something I was able to do on my PC or not.

 

[pedz]

So... this has been my experience.

TL; DR -- take @rtkman's advice and get a PC.

On an M1 Mac running Ventura, I got it "working" but not really. As stated in my last update, it worked with the Smart Controller that came with my Mavic 3 Cine but did not work with the FPV Controller nor the DJI Motion Controller (the first one). It appears to be a problem with Apple's USB driver below the point that the 3rd party kernel extensions can reach. There are two reasons for my belief.

1) With the Smart Controller, even before it was "working" there were signs that the Apple laptop saw something. There would be a prompt asking if I wanted to allow it to connect. But with the FPV controller and the Motion Controller, the Apple laptop doesn't do anything when they are plugged in.

2) The exact same situation with Parallels running a virtual PC. When the Smart Controller is plugged in, the Apple laptop as well as the virtual Windows machine "see" something. But when the other two controllers are plugged in, neither one do anything at all.

I got a super cheap $200 HP Windows 11 laptop and painfully struggled through the MS and HP horrors -- my god these things are SO broken is so many ways... but anyhow, I finally got DJI Assistant 2 to run on the new Windows 11 laptop and I plugged in my FPV controller and it worked just like it is suppose to. I "activated" it and then updated the firmware and finally got it linked with my Avata.

I'm a low level driver person but I don't know squat about USB and its protocol but my guess is that the Smart controller indicates that it is a different type of device in USB terms than the two FPV controllers and the Apple drive ignores the traffic from the FPV controller -- which seems extremely unwise in the USB world but I've actually had similar problems before. The iPhone will see USB headphones that have a microphone but it will not see just a USB microphone.

 

[gizmoboy]

2.1.13

I'm trying to connect a FPV Controller expecting the circle in the middle of the screen to change and find the controller but it doesn't do anything.

I will try connecting some other device and see if that is the problem but I'm just wondering if I'm doing something really wrong.

I need to connect the controller because I need to update the firmware so I can link it to my drone.

Which version of DJI Assistant 2 did you use?

2.1.13

 

[akdrone]

It works fine for my Avata, Mavic 3, Goggles2, Motion Controller 2 and it works for my original FPV Goggles. I am using DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series) which I believe is the correct version for us to use. With the FPV controller it goes past the large circle and shows the DJI RC-M1 icon that I can double click on. It opens normally but I get a "Cannot Load Firmware List. Retrying leads to nothing. It does not show a firmware version. The Goggles did show a firmware version no updates. I see there is a DJI Assistant 2 FPV series. I've been using the "consumer drones series" since I rarely fly my FPV anymore, preferring my Avata most of the time and when I do want to use the FPV it's all good as is. This might be the ticket. DJI Assistant 2 (DJI FPV series) - Download Center - DJI