Drone-Hacks V2 supports the Mavic Air 3, this page will detail the exact steps you need to perform to license and apply hacks to your drone.
Firstly, ensure you have downloaded and installed the app (we have a guide for this HERE) & that you are logged in (using this helpful guide HERE). When you're at the main Drone-Hacks page you can continue!
If this is a new sealed Air3. You MUST complete all hacks first before the activation. Activation can be done once the hacks are completed fully.
PLEASE NOTE:
All firmware is currently supported, but our modifications run and operate on the 1500 firmware, we do not modify the 1600 firmware, but we use a small trick which is currently available to downgrade the 1600 firmware to 1500 and apply our custom firmware and modifications. If you're requiring the usage of a RC Pro 2, then the modification is not for you, we may add compatibility in the future, but that is a long way from being looked at, we are aiming to modify other drones before this is looked at again.
The compatibility warning below is for historical reading and information as to what has been going on. As normal, do not use DJI assistant to flash any part of your Air 3, you may use it to flash your RC, but while any modifications are being performed on your drone, please do not have your RC on, the RC should never be on anyway for any drone or firmware modification as it is simply not required and can cause issues. Use only our dronehacks v2 software and the modificartions tab within to do any firmware modifications.
¶ DJI Assistant 2
Please ensure you download DJI Assistant 2 for Consumer Drones from DJI. You need this app installed, it contains USB drivers that Drone-Hacks uses to connect to your drone. Please install this app but then make sure it is fully closed before even turning your drone on and especially connecting the drone to the PC. If this is running when you connect your Air 3 to the PC, you will be automatically hit with a block to stop the hacks installing.
¶ ‼️Compatibility Warning ‼️
On January 7 at 7:59 AM (China Standard Time), DJI forced out an update via DJI Fly, The update occurs automatically and cannot be disabled & It affects both the installation and uninstallation of any hacks. DJI FLY continuously checks for this update and installs it without user intervention.
As a result, we temporarily suspended purchases of hacks for this drone. They are now available again, however, only users who have not received the DJI hot-patch are eligible to purchase it.
To check if you are affected and to purchase the hack:
- Turn off your RC
- Download Drone-Hacks v2.
- Navigate to "License Management."
- Click on "Purchase New License."
A small check will run, this takes just a few seconds. If you are unaffected by the DJI patch you will be allowed to purchase a license or assign any "DH Regular for Air 3" licenses you have available in your account.
NOTE: You must keep your RC disconnected until hacks are applied otherwise the DJI patch will be downloaded and you will be unable to hack. If the hacks will fail to apply, contact support and wait for their response, do not connect RC to your drone!
If you are affected by the patch, Drone-Hacks now offers a free solution to remove the patch on supported firmware version. The Drone-Hacks v2 application will guide you through the removal if you are affected and on compatible firmware version. If you are not on compatible firmware version, we're sorry, but there is no firewall patch removal available for you :(.
After hacking, the drone will contain our patch that prevents DJI from applying the firewall rules. Stay offline if possible while flying!
NOTE: If your Air 3 is already hacked with Drone-Hacks and has connected to your RC at any stage from January 7 at 7:59 AM (China Standard Time) onwards, you likely have the DJI patch installed alongside our modifications. This means that currently you are unable to remove any Drone-Hacks applied hacks and remove the firewall patch. Only users with stock firmware version (drone without modifications) can remove the firewall.
¶ Connect Your Drone
Connect your drone to your PC using the included USB cable. After a few moments the drone should be detected and you will see this screen
¶ Apply a License
Each drone to be hacked needs its own license. Licenses are described in more detail on THIS page, we will assume you have read this and understood the type of license you need.
Simply select “License Management” and you should see the ‘DH Regular For Air 3’ license you purchased. Click the “Register” button to bind this license to your drone.
¶ Apply Your Hacks
With the drone now licensed, you can apply any available hacks to your drone. To do this, select the Modifications button and then click “Apply Modification”
The hacks will then start to apply, please wait for them to complete
After a few moments, you will see the message below. As stated, please allow the drone to reboot automatically. You will hear the USB disconnect and reconnect sound and you will be sent back to the main Drone-Hacks screen. At this point your drone is rebooting. Please leave it connected to the USB cable until it is detected once more by the software
Once this is done you can disconnect the USB cable and go and enjoy your new hacks!
NOTE: If you are using a DJI 4G dongle, you MUST also follow the guidance at the bottom of this page, or Click Here
¶ Enable FCC Power
For legal reasons, customers outside of regions where FCC is the standard (US, Canada and a few other places) the FCC hack will be enabled automatically as these regions are already using FCC power levels. For customers in CE regions of the world (Europe and most other places) you must now manually enable the FCC hack.
To do this, please select the ‘Modifications’ tab and then click on “OPEN FEATURE CONFIGURATION”
¶ Not Already on the Recommended Firmware?
If your drone is not on the recommended firmware, a message will be displayed telling you what the recommended firmware is. This can be flashed using the inbuilt Firmware Flasher as shown here. For this drone, the recommended firmware is 01.00.1500, rather than leave you to flash this yourself, DH can automate this.
The screenshots below are for a Mini 3 Pro, but the process is the same
If this is the case, you will see this message in the Modifications tab
Flashing to the recommended firmware is as simple as pressing “Install Firmware”, you will be shown this message once you click it.
The firmware will immediately begin to install. Leave the drone powered on and connected to your PC until you receive the completion message. Once you see the message below, manually power off and then back on the drone, then click "Cancel", your new firmware is now fully flashed & you can move on to applying hacks!
¶ Uninstall Hacks/Returning to Stock
If for whatever reason you wish to remove all Drone-Hacks hacks and return your drone to stock configuration, this is also now super easy to do. Simply click the Modifications button and select “Apply” next to the ‘Undo All Changes’ option.
¶ Are My Hacks Installed?
To verify if the hacks are installed you can simply check the Modifications tab. If you see this green banner, you're good to go:
However, if you wanted to check in the real world, the easiest way is to do one of the following things
- Check for FCC mode (if applied) by using this guide. This will show you if the FCC mode is active. If it is, the hacks are applied.
- In DJI Fly, set the maximum height limit of the drone to a very low value such as 20 metres. If you drone fly's higher than this, then the hacks are applied.
- In DJI Fly, edit the device name by opening the Settings menu and then tap in About. You will see a field called “Name” which can be edited. Enter the command DH About to verify if hacks are installed.
PLEASE NOTE: We do not modify the DJI GO/Fly app in any way, so you will still see a maximum limit for height within the app, NFZ areas and receive warnings on screen, but the modification will ignor them.
¶ FCC and the DJI 4G Dongle
Using the DJI Enhanced Transmission 4G dongle is not recommended if using the Drone-Hacks FCC hack. This is because the FCC will overpower the 4G signal. This results in poor 4G performance or no signal at all.
If you with to use the 4G dongle, please ensure you have disabled the FCC portion of the hack. Steps to do this are on our Known Issues page.