Learning Center

LiDAR & Mapping is locked, offline or fails

The LiDAR & Mapping card is locked, it says Internet Required, the download finds no coverage, the boundary is refused, processing fails, or your saved fields have vanished. Most of it comes down to the one-time unlock and doing LiDAR work on internet, not on the module Wi-Fi.

  • Full Automation Kit
  • Guidance Only Kit
  • Ditch Assist Lite
  • DIG™ Kit

In the app Home › LiDAR & Mapping

LiDAR & Mapping (the app's name for LiDAR Drainage Mapping) downloads public elevation data and builds drainage layers on the tablet. It needs two things: a one-time unlock from a real Ditch Assist® kit, and internet while you draw and generate. The control module, DIG and Reach networks have no internet, so prepare fields at the shop or house, then take them to the field.

Before you start

  • Be somewhere with internet: farm or house Wi-Fi, or a phone hotspot. The module, DIG and Reach networks have none.
  • Know roughly where the field is and how big it is (800 acres at most per field).
  • Android basics (the Wi-Fi list, the tablet's Settings app) are in Tablet basics, with pictures.

Time: 2 minutes for the quick checks. Preparing a field takes a few seconds to a few minutes once it works.

Quick checks first

  • This install has connected once to a real control module or DIG module, or has an activated Ditch Assist Lite receiver.
  • The tablet is on farm Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot with internet, not the module or Reach network.
  • The field boundary is under 800 acres and its edges don't cross.
  • Ditch Assist is allowed All files access in Android (how to check).
LiDAR & Mapping, start to finish Five steps. While the tablet has internet: 1, draw the field boundary on the map, up to 800 acres; 2, the app fetches public LiDAR elevation data, USGS 3DEP in the US or NRCan HRDEM where it covers Canada. No internet needed from here: 3, the tablet itself works out flow lines, depressions and ponding and saves them with the field; 4, the Drainage Planner turns the flow lines into a drainage plan you save; 5, in the field on the control module Wi-Fi, add the layers from Map Layers, and Levee, Contour Tiling and Contour-Guided Terracing use the saved LiDAR DEM. LiDAR & Mapping Needs internet Draw the field Up to 800 acres 1 Fetch LiDAR Public elevation data 2 No internet needed Tablet maps the water Flow, low spots, ponding 3 Plan drains Drainage Planner 4 Use it in the field Layers and saved DEM 5

Draw the boundary and fetch the LiDAR while you have internet. The app builds the layers on the tablet, then the field works offline.

  1. Draw the field. Tap its corners on the map, up to 800 acres. Steps 1 and 2 need internet: farm Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot, not the control module.
  2. Fetch LiDAR. Public elevation data: USGS 3DEP in the lower 48 states, NRCan HRDEM where it covers Canada.
  3. Tablet maps the water. Flow lines, depressions and ponding are worked out on the tablet and saved with the field. Nothing is sent away.
  4. Plan drains. The Drainage Planner turns the flow lines into a plan you save.
  5. Use it in the field. No internet needed. Add the layers from Map Layers, again after each app restart. Levee, Contour Tiling and Contour-Guided Terracing load the saved LiDAR DEM.

Find your symptom

Tap the line that matches what you see. It opens with the causes, most likely first. Check tells you how to spot the cause. Fix tells you what to do, one step at a time.

The LiDAR & Mapping card is locked“LiDAR & Mapping is for Ditch Assist owners”

This install hasn't been unlocked yet Most likely

Check: Is it a fresh install, a new tablet, or a reinstall? The unlock belongs to the app install, not to you.

Fix: unlock it once, with your kit.

Full Automation or Guidance Only Kit:

  1. At the machine, join the control module's Wi-Fi (a name starting DitchAssist, password 12345678) in the tablet's Wi-Fi list.
  2. In Ditch Assist, tap any workflow card on the Home screen, for example Ditching.
  3. Tap the green Connect button. Once Controller Connected shows a green tick, LiDAR & Mapping is unlocked for good.

DIG™ Kit: connect to the DIG module once the same way. Ditch Assist Lite: activate your Reach (Activate Ditch Assist Lite). The locked message only describes the control module, but an activated receiver unlocks it too. The simulator and a Bluetooth GPS don't unlock it.

Then, back on internet Wi-Fi, tap the LiDAR & Mapping card (bottom right of the Home screen).

Home screen: nine workflow cards in a grid; Ditching is top left and LiDAR & Mapping, Field Prep, is bottom right.
  1. A workflow card. Tap one and connect once to unlock.
  2. LiDAR & Mapping. Bottom right. Opens the field tools once unlocked.
It says Internet Required, or you can't draw“Internet Required” · “Offline — connect to internet to draw”

Elsewhere you may see Internet Required for LiDAR: LiDAR DEM download needs internet. Controller WiFi usually has no internet…

The tablet is on a module or Reach hotspot Most likely

Check: Open the tablet's Wi-Fi list (how) and read the network marked Connected. DitchAssist…, MECU_Ditch_Dig… and Reach:… networks have no internet.

Internet Required window: LiDAR Mapping fetches elevation data from a cloud service, with Back to Home and Retry buttons. 1
  1. Retry. Tap it once the tablet is on internet.

Fix:

  1. In the Wi-Fi list, tap your farm Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot to join it. (If the app offers Disconnect Controller, tap that first.)
  2. Go back to Ditch Assist.
  3. Tap Retry.

Do this before you go to the machine.

Weak or no internet

Fix: Move to better coverage and tap Retry.

The download finds no LiDAR“No 3DEP LiDAR coverage in this area.” · “No HRDEM LiDAR coverage in this area. HRDEM only covers parts of Canada.”

Public LiDAR doesn't cover this field Most likely in Canada

Check: 3DEP is the US source; HRDEM covers parts of Canada only. No LiDAR coverage in this area. means nothing was found on Auto.

Fix: If the field is in Canada and the source was set to US, run it again with LiDAR source set to Canada (HRDEM). If there's still nothing, survey the field with the receiver, or import a GeoTIFF or point file in Levee & Contour.

The boundary is in the wrong place

Fix: Check you drew over the right field.

The boundary is refused“Boundary is N ac; max is 800 ac.” · “Polygon edges cross. Adjust your boundary.”

Over 800 acres

Check: The size readout at the top left of the map turns red and adds (over 800 ac limit).

Prepare Field map with a large field outline. The size readout at the top left is red: 4 vertices · 950 ac (over 800 ac limit). A dark bar along the bottom reads Boundary is 950 ac; max is 800 ac.
  1. Red size readout. Over the 800-acre limit.
  2. Message bar. How big it is, and the limit.

Fix:

  1. Tap Undo, the third button down the right-hand column. The last corner disappears.
  2. Tap new corners closer in, until the readout is under 800 ac and black again.
  3. Bigger field? Outline it in two halves, one after the other.

The outline crosses itself

Fix:

  1. Tap Undo until the corner that made the lines cross is gone. Or tap Clear (under Undo) to start over.
  2. Tap the corners in order around the field, so no two edges cross.

Too few corners or no name

Check: The app says Boundary must have at least 3 corners. or Enter a field name.

Fix: Draw at least 3 corners. In the window that opens, type a field name, then tap the run button (Run Selected in Prepare Field). Steps: Prepare a field.

The download fails“Could not reach the elevation server. …”

No internet, or the government server is busy Most likely

Check: The detail often says WCS fetch failed after 3 attempts: …. The app tried three times.

Fix: Check the tablet has internet (not the module Wi-Fi) and try again in a minute. If the server is down, try later.

The server sent back nothing usable

Check: The app says The elevation server returned an empty raster. or Could not decode the elevation file.

Fix: Run it again, try the other LiDAR source, or draw a smaller boundary.

Downloaded, but the layers weren't made“Processing failed: …”

In My LiDAR Fields the field shows Job failed (DEM retained). The elevation data is kept on the tablet for support.

The drainage calculation failed on this field

Fix:

  1. Try once more.
  2. If it fails again, send your logs and call support. The kept elevation lets them see why.
  3. Or delete the field and prepare it again later.

Low-memory tablets struggle with big fields: see The app closes or freezes.

My LiDAR Fields is empty, or Prepare Field sticks on Saving layers…“Saving layers…”

Fields you prepared before are missing from My LiDAR Fields, or a new Prepare Field gets to Saving layers… and never finishes. No error appears. It often happens after the app was reinstalled.

Android All files access is denied Most likely

Check: While All files access is off, Ditch Assist opens Android's All files access page every time it starts. Without it, the app can't open the LiDAR field list in Documents/DitchAssist/lidar-fields/.

Fix:

  1. If a window is stuck on Saving layers…, press the tablet's Back button to close it (how).
  2. Close Ditch Assist fully (how to close an app).
  3. Open Ditch Assist again. Android's All files access page opens.
  4. Tap the switch next to Allow access to manage all files. It turns on.
  5. Tap the back arrow at the top left. Ditch Assist carries on starting up.
Android All files access page for Ditch Assist 1.5.4: a back arrow at the top left, and the row Allow access to manage all files with its switch off at the right.
  1. Allow access to manage all files. The row in the middle of the page.
  2. The switch. Off (grey) here. Tap it to turn it on.

The same setting from the tablet's Settings app, and what else it fixes: Files won't save.

A portal map or KML overlay is gone after restarting the app

Overlays aren't kept between sessions in v1.5.4

Check: Image overlays (including an owner-portal map.zip) and KML layers added with the + in Map Layers last until the app closes. LiDAR & Mapping fields are different: they're saved and come back from My LiDAR Fields.

Fix: Add the overlay again each session from Downloads. See Overlays gone after restart.

No satellite picture on the map in the field

The imagery wasn't cached before you went offline Most likely

Check: On the module Wi-Fi the tablet can't download map tiles. During Prepare Field you may have seen Satellite imagery cache failed. LiDAR data was saved.

Fix: At home on internet, open LiDAR & Mapping and run Cache Satellite Imagery (or Prepare Field) for the field. Or pan over the field on the map while online. See Offline imagery.

The background is set to None

Check:

  1. Tap Settings, the fourth button down the right-hand column.
  2. Scroll down a little to the MAP box and read Default Background.
Settings scrolled a little way down: the MAP box with Default Background and a drop-down reading Satellite, then the DRAIN-IQ and IMPLEMENT boxes.
  1. Default Background. In the MAP box.
  2. The drop-down. Satellite, US Imagery or None.

Fix: Tap the drop-down and pick Satellite or US Imagery.

The LiDAR elevation check shows nothing“No LiDAR elevation at this point.”

No saved elevation for that field

Check: The elevation-check map button only appears once a LiDAR field with its elevation data is saved.

Fix: Pick the right field in Select LiDAR Source, or prepare the field's LiDAR again. See Check ground elevation from LiDAR.

A drainage plan is dimmed“Unavailable — field data missing”

Its LiDAR field was deleted or is incomplete

Fix: Prepare the field again. Or remove the plan: press and hold it (long-press) and tap Delete. See Drainage planner.

Still not fixed?

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