mini4 pro SD card transfer via card reader changed due to software update

[Dronerock]

I recently added a Mini4 pro to my drone collection of Mini2, Mini 3, Air2S and Mavic 3. To transfer files on all my drones I have found the easiest way to download photo and video files is to put the SD card in a I-phone card reader and plug it into my I-pad , open photo album scroll down to the DEVICES AND CLICK ON THE SD card. The files from the SD card then are displayed for saving in my library.
shooting some video and photos with the M4-pro I attempted to carry out the nor transfer procedure that I used with my other drones to upload my photos. No matter what I did, I could not get to download files as I had done previously. Having exhausted all avenues , I felt the drone was faulty and after confirming with a DJI chat line expert the best thing to do as the drone was only purchased 2 days ago was to return it and have it replaced as he also thought it had a faulty SD card pick up of the recorded files..
To cut a long story short, the salesman I was speaking to when I brought it back to the retailer said he knew what had happened. He said following the latest software download, he had similar problems with his drone and he solved it by going to files and opening that when the card reader was plugged in. Then going to the SD card section and clicking that. All the files from the card reader come up and then press save and the photos and video then get sent to the photo album as they should be.
‘So for some reason this upgrade has stopped the files from being directly transferred to the photo album as I could do previously, now requiring this additional step.

 

[Mark_Y]

Was this due to a Mini 4 pro update or an Iphone update?

 

[MS Coast]

I'm confused about the process you used in the past to transfer files from the drone to the computer. Were you leaving the card in the drone or placing it in a card reader attached to your computer? Were you using the Quick Transfer feature?

I'm using the latest update on my Mavic 4 Pro and all is working well. No problems with the update. I remove the SD card from the drone and put it the computer's card reader and copy and paste the files to a folder on the computer.

 

[mobilehomer]

I'm confused about the process you used in the past to transfer files from the drone to the computer. Were you leaving the card in the drone or placing it in a card reader attached to your computer? Were you using the Quick Transfer feature?

I'm using the latest update on my Mavic 4 Pro and all is working well. No problems with the update. I remove the SD card from the drone and put it the computer's card reader and copy and paste the files to a folder on the computer.

Obviously, he's using a Mac. Apple can't handle the new DJI long file names for photos or video.

 

[MS Coast]

Obviously, he's using a Mac. Apple can't handle the new DJI long file names for photos or video.

Yes, as he stated. Did the file naming convention change with the recent app and firmware update?

 

[rickmurray1989]

Obviously, he's using a Mac. Apple can't handle the new DJI long file names for photos or video.

Yes, Macs can. I use Macs and I have no issue with the long filenames.

 

[Dronerock]

Was this due to a Mini 4 pro update or an Iphone update?

Nothing to do with I-phone. Can still carry out my normal way of transferring drone SD card to my I-pad with other drones that hadn’t required the new upgrade required for the Air3 and M4 pro. The new M4 pro drone was the only drone I uploaded the new program software and had problems with. The quick transfer was also giving me problems. It kept saying can’t transfer from the drone as the drone is bound to another source which I find a bit confusing and it won’t carry out the quick transfer to my uploading device. Iam not sure what the other device is about.

 

[Dronerock]

Obviously, he's using a Mac. Apple can't handle the new DJI long file names for photos or video.

Obviously, he's using a Mac. Apple can't handle the new DJI long file names for photos or video.

Nothing complicated. Take SD card out of drone. Put it in a card reader. Plug it into the I-pad. Open the photo library app on my laptop. Scroll down to devices and tap on where it says SD card. The files on the SD card are ready to be downloaded into my photo album, tap download and it then downloads and indicates if I want to keep files on the SD card or reformat it removing the recorded files. Take SD card out of card reader put it back in the drone ready for next recording requirement. Simple
With the new firmware update I now to achieve the transfer, I need to now open files and go thru a different procedure that I am discussing in this thread

 

[Dronerock]

Following up on this post, the M4pro drone was returned to the retailer who provided another drone to me as they agreed it was faulty. I proceeded to set up the new drone, which required the new software upgrade. After going thru the fairly tedious process of charging the new batteries, linking to my DJI account and unbinding the original drone I returned, I eventually went to fly he replacement drone. In the meantime, I had uploaded this new download on my Mini3 pro drone I have using the same SD card that was in the original Mini4 returned drone. I flew it and put the SD card in my card reader and plugged it into my i-pad. No problems, the files popped up in my photo album as they had in the pastas per normal.
In the meantime after everything was set up on the NEW drone, I again used the SD card that had successfully worked in the Mini 3 in the new Mini4. I started the engines and let it hover until the satellites were adding up. Suddenly it accelerated and headed rapidly forward flying with no control inputs as I tried to stop it. It was heading towards a tree and I at the last few seconds I managed to Imput an accent control and managed to avoid the impending collision with the tree. As it raised I seemed to regain control and it started reacting normally and I proceeded to record a video.Not sure what was going on here, and on another flight it seemed to be reacting normally without a repeat of this.
looking forward to downloading the video as per my preferred method to check if this new drone was working properly, I took the SD card out of the drone and plugged it into my laptop. To my dismay. SAME THING. It showed no files on SD card to be downloaded, Tear hair out, profanities and extreme frustration .
MUST BE THIS UPGRADE. Like previously it eventually can download by going to files, finding the files on the SD card downloading each individual file and then transferring to the photo album which is not my preferred method as it takes considerably more fiddling around. The quick transfer option didn’t work either. When I link the drone to my appliances it comes back saying the appliance is already linked to anorher appliance and transfer has failed.Is this another faulty drone. I give up.
NOT ENJOYING THE EXPERIENCEWITH THIS NEW DRONE AT ALL

 

[Meta4]

Suddenly it accelerated and headed rapidly forward flying with no control inputs as I tried to stop it. It was heading towards a tree and I at the last few seconds I managed to Imput an accent control and managed to avoid the impending collision with the tree.

This sounds a lot like a yaw error caused by magnetic interference at the spot where you powered up the drone.
You need to sort that out to avoid a serious issue that could wreck your drone.

looking forward to downloading the video as per my preferred method to check if this new drone was working properly, I took the SD card out of the drone and plugged it into my laptop. To my dismay. SAME THING. It showed no files on SD card to be downloaded, Tear hair out, profanities and extreme frustration .

.Is this another faulty drone. I give up.

No it's not a faulty drone at all, and neither was the previous one.
It's not caused by a software update either.
It's an Apple/Apple user issue.
The default app on your Apple device does not recognise the long file names that DJI is using in there recent models.
Use Finder and it will recognise the files and you can operate as you were doing previously.

 

[Dronerock]

This sounds a lot like a yaw error caused by magnetic interference at the spot where you powered up the drone.
You need to sort that out to avoid a serious issue that could wreck your drone.

No it's not a faulty drone at all, and neither was the previous one.
It's not caused by a software update either.
It's an Apple/Apple user issue.
The default app on your Apple device does not recognise the long file names that DJI is using in there recent models.
Use Finder and it will recognise the files and you can operate as you were doing previously.

I have downloaded the latest software upgrade into my Mavic 3 last night and flew it this morning. The SD card was transferred via the card reader directly to my photo site on my I-pad 12.5 pro without any issues. Its the new M4 pro that doesn’t seem to work here.

 

[Dronerock]

I have downloaded the latest software upgrade into my Mavic 3 last night and flew it this morning. The SD card was transferred via the card reader directly to my photo site on my I-pad 12.5 pro without any issues. Its the new M4 pro that doesn’t seem to work here.

Anyone else having these issues with the Mini4 pro

 

[Meta4]

I have downloaded the latest software upgrade into my Mavic 3 last night and flew it this morning. The SD card was transferred via the card reader directly to my photo site on my I-pad 12.5 pro without any issues. Its the new M4 pro that doesn’t seem to work here.

Anyone else having these issues with the Mini4 pro

That's because the Mini 3 pro uses the old shorter filenames eg: DJI_0042.jpg
But your new Mini 4 pro uses DJI's new longer filename format which gives filenames like this:
DJI_20231230163421_0042_D.JPG.

There's nothing wrong with the files.
The issue is that the default Apple app that you are used to using doesn't recognise the new long filenames.
If you use Finder, that will work and your problem will be solved.

 

[Dronerock]

My I-pad I use all the time which is very useful for keeping and editing drone photography doesn’t have finder on it. My comments now are directed to DJI, WHY HAVE THEY INTRODUCED THIS COMPLICATION which seems to have added extra layers to download my vids and photos.

 

[Meta4]

My I-pad I use all the time which is very useful for keeping and editing drone photography doesn’t have finder on it.

I'm not an Apple user so I can't tell you where to find Finder.
But that's what Apple users have been doing to solve the issue you are dealing with.
It's nowhere near as difficult as you are making out.

My comments now are directed to DJI, WHY HAVE THEY INTRODUCED THIS COMPLICATION which seems to have added extra layers to download my vids and photos.

Why do some Apple users have so much difficulty with the most minor issues?

 

[MS Coast]

My I-pad I use all the time which is very useful for keeping and editing drone photography doesn’t have finder on it.

I'm not an Apple user, but I can find Finder. Move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen and look in the pop-up menu for the two-toned happy face icon that looks like Salvador Dali might have sketched it.

 

[Blurk62]

Just joined here, hello all from the Netherlands and a Happy New Year!

Are you aware that you can connect your Mini4 pro directly to your "laptop" (MacBook ?) without even switching it on? You can import new files directly into Photos. Filenames on macOS are limited to 255 characters and 1024 chars for the full path so there should not be any issue with long names. Neither should it be an issue on your iPad. However (the big however), in order to recognize photos on an external device like an SD card both the macOS Photos program and the IOS Photos app expect the following standard naming convention that (probably) ALL photo camera manufacturers use or it won't see them:
There should be an DCIM directory in the root. Under DCIM there can be one or more directories of exactly 8 characters, starting with 3 numbers (e.g. 100_DJI4). That means the DJI_001 directory won't be recognized. Files in these directories should be exactly 8 characters and have a recognizable extension (.DNG is not recognized)
This doesn't have to be a big problem because when you connect you M4P to your MacBook(?) and start Photos it will still be recognized under Devices. It will show something like "No Photos". Using the Import menu you can point to the DJI directory on the SD Card or internal memory and select what you want to import into the Photos Library. It will even warn you if you select something you already have imported before. On IOS you can use the Files app but it is a pain if you want to upload multiple files.

 

[MS Coast]

Are you aware that you can connect your Mini4 pro directly to your "laptop" (MacBook ?) without even switching it on?

I read about that a while back and tried it - drone with power off connected as an external storage device via USB to my my Dell PC laptop. Several times the computer shut down for no apparent reason after the connection was made.

Has anyone else has that happen?

 

[BigAl07]

I read about that a while back and tried it - drone with power off connected as an external storage device via USB to my my Dell PC laptop. Several times the computer shut down for no apparent reason after the connection was made.

Has anyone else has that happen?

I was having issues with mine similar to what you're describing. The unit was brand new and I was convinced that it was faulty from DJI. As a "IT hunch" I changed the cable and all of the problems went away and now it connects and access all files (internal and SD storage) flawlessly.

Just for fun, I just tried my original cable again and it started CHARGING the aircraft but would not access the storage. When I clicked on File Explorer (windows here) it would lock up. I switched cables to a high quality cable I use for my SSD drive and it immediately opened File Explorer and I was able to easily browse all files on the aircraft.

YMMV

 

[MS Coast]

I was having issues with mine similar to what you're describing. The unit was brand new and I was convinced that it was faulty from DJI. As a "IT hunch" I changed the cable and all of the problems went away and now it connects and access all files (internal and SD storage) flawlessly.

Just for fun, I just tried my original cable again and it started CHARGING the aircraft but would not access the storage. When I clicked on File Explorer (windows here) it would lock up. I switched cables to a high quality cable I use for my SSD drive and it immediately opened File Explorer and I was able to easily browse all files on the aircraft.

YMMV

Thanks for the suggestion and best wishes for the new year. It appears that I have a different problem. I tried three very heavy duty cables and had the same result - computer shut down.