Device Logs
Learn more about how to remotely fetch Drone and Dock logs using the FlytBase dashboard.
The drone and dock generate device logs regularly whenever they are online, even if they're not actively in use. These logs are system-level, encrypted records that capture device health, internal processes, errors, and communication events. They are different from flight logs — while flight logs record mission data like flight paths and telemetry, device logs are hardware-specific and are specifically required by DJI to diagnose hardware-related issues.
Previously, logs had to be retrieved directly from the RC or Dock, making remote access impossible. With the FlytBase Dashboard, you can now upload and download device logs remotely without being on-site.
Device logs are stored directly on the dock and drone hardware, they are not permanently stored on the cloud. Once overwritten by newer data, they cannot be recovered. As soon as an incident occurs, fetching logs must be your first priority before resuming any operations.
Device logs are not the same as flight logs. While flight logs are about the drone's missions (including Manual Control or Go-to Location), Device logs are hardware-specific and represent the state of the drone and dock whenever they are online. The logs generated are encrypted and can only be decrypted by the hardware manufacturers.
Log Collection Quick Reference
Device logs are stored directly on the dock and drone hardware. They are not permanently stored on the cloud. Once overwritten by newer data, they are gone forever and cannot be retrieved. Log collection must be your first priority as soon as an incident occurs.
Always select a time range that starts 1 hour before the incident and ends 1 hour after. Do not use a narrower window — data from before and after the incident is equally important for investigation.
Log Availability
Dock remains powered on, no further flights performed
Logs available for up to 24 hours from the time of the incident
Dock remains powered on, 8–10 flights performed after the incident
Logs from the incident may be permanently overwritten before the 24-hour window ends — fetch immediately
No flights performed after the incident, dock is powered off
Logs remain available for up to 48 hours
If an incident occurs during an active operational day with multiple flights scheduled, logs can be lost within hours, not days. Fetch logs from the affected dock before proceeding with any further operations.
If you are unsure whether logs are still available, attempt to fetch them regardless. Do not assume they are gone.
Both dock logs and drone logs must be collected for every incident. DJI will not proceed with an investigation until all logs are provided.
When to Collect Logs
Collect device logs whenever an incident cannot be explained by a known external cause — such as a network outage or misconfiguration — and where DJI error codes alone do not account for the observed behaviour. Below are the few categories.
Flight and physical incidents Any crash, hard impact, sideways takeoff, or uncontrolled movement at any phase of flight. Also includes cases where the drone fails to arm or lift off — for example, a brief LED signal followed by no motor start, or motors spinning briefly and then stopping without the drone leaving the dock.
Abnormal landing or return behaviour Drone lands outside the dock, at an unintended location, or at a designated safe landing site when it should have returned to the dock. Also collect logs when RTH or RTDS is triggered but not completed, when RTK precision landing is not used during the return sequence, or when the drone stays in the landing state for an unusually long duration.
Link and communication loss RF link drops mid-mission causing RTH, relaunch failure, or inability to reconnect. Video feed loss where the feed does not recover after the link is restored. Drone becoming unresponsive to commands during flight, or the flight log stopping mid-route without a clear platform-side explanation.
Dock hardware issues Dock enclosure not opening or closing at the expected point in the mission sequence. Charging module anomalies or errors. Dock camera failures with active health warnings in the dashboard.
Power and state anomalies Drone remaining powered on after mission completion, powering back on after being shut down, or exhibiting any unexpected power-state behaviour that does not correlate with a commanded action.
Storage and data issues Dock storage full and unable to auto-clear. Media not uploading to the cloud for an extended period. Device log uploads consistently failing.
NFZ and geofence events Drone becoming unresponsive to commands near an NFZ boundary, or an NFZ breach occurring during manual flight.
Accessing the Device Logs Tab
Log in to your FlytBase operations dashboard.
Go to "Device Management" and navigate to the specific device for which you want to fetch logs.
Click on the "Device Logs" tab.
How to Download Device Logs?
To download the device logs, follow these steps:
Upload the logs from your device to the cloud.
Download the logs from the cloud to your PC.
Do not operate or fly the drone while logs are being uploaded — this may interrupt the upload and require the process to be repeated.
Upload logs from your device to the cloud.
To upload the logs from your device to the cloud, refer to the following steps given below:
Click on the "Upload Logs" button located at the top right corner.
Choose either single or multiple logs for the drone and dock, available based on timestamps. Filter easily by Timestamp or size.
Once you've selected the desired logs, click 'Upload'. The logs will then be uploaded to the Cloud.
Only one component — Dock or Drone — can be uploaded at a time. Complete the Dock upload first, then repeat the process for the Drone. Do not close the page until each upload is confirmed complete.
Files larger than 4 GB may fail to download in a single attempt. In such cases, split the logs into smaller time ranges and upload them separately.
Downloading logs from the Cloud to your PC
After clicking on the 'Upload' button, check the status of the log bundle being uploaded to the cloud on the "Device logs" window and see the total number of logs stored there.
Data to View
You can easily view and filter device logs and send them to hardware manufacturers. The following information is available within the "Device Logs" window:
Timeframe: The timeframe between when the logs were generated by the drone and the docking station.
Type: Indicates whether the logs are from the drone or the docking station.
Upload Status: Indicates the status of the log being uploaded on the cloud.
No. of files: The total number of bundled logs being downloaded for either the drone or the dock.
Actions: You can either download the logs or cancel the upload to the cloud.
Expected Behaviour
While the drone is executing a mission, you won't be able to retrieve the device logs for either the drone or the docking station.
However, once the drone lands on the docking station, and both the drone and the dock are online at that moment, you will be able to access the logs.
In Idle State, only the dock stays online and therefore you would see logs for the dock and not for the drone. Here, you would have to 'Power On' the drone through the maintenance window and then fetch the logs.
To fetch the logs for a particular hardware, ensure that it is online. The best practice for downloading the drone logs is to Power-ON the drone from the maintenance window while it is inside the docking station. This way, both the drone and the dock will be online, and you can retrieve the desired logs.
What to Share with FlytBase
The log link alone is not sufficient to open an investigation. Always include the following details when submitting a support ticket.
Incident Information
Exact time of the incident — precise to the minute
Local timezone — must be the dock's deployment timezone (for example: EST, CST, UTC)
Description of the fault — be as detailed as possible and include:
What task was being performed at the time — mission, manual flight, RTH, RTDS, etc.
What exactly happened and what the actual impact was
Events or actions that occurred leading up to the issue
Whether the issue occurs every time or was a one-time event
Supporting References
Device log link — generated from the Device Logs section of the FlytBase Dashboard
Flight ID — from the FlytBase Flight Logs for the affected flight
Timestamp window confirmation — confirm that logs were fetched covering 1 hour before the incident, the incident window itself, and 1 hour after
Screenshots or screen recordings — if available, include these to help correlate logs with the observed behavior
The timezone field is the most commonly missed detail and causes the most delays in investigation. Always report in the dock's local deployment timezone, not UTC or your local timezone unless the dock is deployed there.
Sending them to the hardware manufacturer
After the respective logs are downloaded for the particular timestamp, you can send them to the hardware manufacturer directly or send them to us at support@flytbase.com.
To learn more about your device firmware and how to remotely upgrade it, refer to the following documentation for further information:
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