I found a DJI Mini 2 SE on the balcony of our family’s vacation condo. It seems a strong gust of wind made it crash into an Aloe Vera plant. Judging by the dust coating, it must have been there since December or January.
The drone is mostly intact, and I want to return it to the owner. I have some experience with cheap drones, but never with DJI.
It didn’t come with an SD card, just the battery. I attempted to connect it to a phone charger and the DJI app to see if it’s registered, but the battery doesn’t seem to be accepting a charge. Here’s a video of the situation.
Update: DJI support told me to send it to the service center in my country. I called them and they noted down the serial number and my contact details in case the owner calls. However, they don’t have a specific protocol for lost-and-found drones here; it’s available in other regions.
The local service attempted to retrieve the owner’s email but it’s obfuscated. They escalated the case internally with DJI. Let’s see what happens next.
Update 2: DJI considers the email as PII and won’t provide any details unless the owner reports it lost or there’s a legal requirement. For now, I’ll post in local drone groups on Facebook; maybe I can find the owner by luck. Both DJI and the service center have my contact info and the drone serial number.
Rhaena said:
Have you tried installing the DJI Assistant program on a computer and connecting via USB? It might work even without a functioning battery.
Tried dji assistant without the battery and it looks like windows is not even recognizing it as an external device, thus not showing up in dji assistant. Not sure if it needs a working battery.
@Marin
You need a working battery, though. Connecting with DJI Assistant 2 requires the drone to be powered on. Contact DJI tech support for guidance on returning the drone.
Lior said: @Marin
Just to confirm, make sure you’re using a USB cable that supports data transfer. Unfortunately, some cables today still charge only.
I managed to connect after fully charging the battery and turning on the drone. The DJI software allowed updates and downloading support logs, but there was no previous data.
You can download the DJI Fly app and try connecting using the quick transfer feature. It may give you access to photos, videos, and potentially the owner’s email.
Wynn said:
You can download the DJI Fly app and try connecting using the quick transfer feature. It may give you access to photos, videos, and potentially the owner’s email.
I looked up the connection steps in the DJI app, but it seems to start with the remote first. Do I need a working battery? If so, I need to revive the battery first.
