After a flight do you format SD (after saving media)

[Bob001]

I have the M2P with the DJI Smart Controller and I believe the only files loaded onto the drone SD card are the shots (or videos) taken. I got tired real fast of pulling the aircraft SD card each time I wanted to see my shots so I learned how to get them without doing that (read on). On the DJI SC (using an SD card in its slot), I move the days files from the DJI Gallery folder to a dated folder in the DCMI folder and leave them there. That way I have the days shots in a dated folder and a backup on the drone itself. I download the dated folders directly from the SC through a USB connection to my laptop for use.

So far, I haven't re-formated any SD cards other than the initial formatting when they were installed.

 

[Drone Master]

Opening and closing the SD door or the usb door in the Mavic too much can result in breaking the small pins of this door. Then it closes no so good any more and you will have to use tape. View attachment 97024

That is not a mini.
This is!,

 

[Dale D]

Wondering what the best way, after a flight, to do with the SD. Obviously save the pics and video, do you then format it? Noticed there is some large log files in there as well, are they any use if it was a successful flight? I know they are important if have a crash or problems.

Do you just delete the media manually, or format?

Thanks

for the past 3 years, I download SD card to desktop, then re-insert SD card into drone, and format drone on the DJI Go app. Never fails.

 

[midi459]

Wondering what the best way, after a flight, to do with the SD. Obviously save the pics and video, do you then format it? Noticed there is some large log files in there as well, are they any use if it was a successful flight? I know they are important if have a crash or problems.

Do you just delete the media manually, or format?

Thanks

formatting as a lot of these guts do ..is like formatting ur hard drive every time u use ur computer ..its alot of wear and tear u dont need and yes memory cards sticks etc etc do wear out with use ...just move every thing or delete .... the less u beat up ur memory card the longer it will last

 

[Drony_Drone]

formatting as a lot of these guts do ..is like formatting ur hard drive every time u use ur computer ..its alot of wear and tear u dont need and yes memory cards sticks etc etc do wear out with use ...just move every thing or delete .... the less u beat up ur memory card the longer it will last

Formatting just marks the whole disk, SD or HDD as available for use and in the right file system, FAT32 etc.

It is a lot like just deleting stuff off it. Formatting doesn’t make more wear and tear on the SD.

I was asking more as formatting deletes everything off the SD not just the media, leaving log files, system files from the MM.

 

[GadgetGuy]

There is no reason at all to format all the time the card.

There is also no reason not to!

 

[GadgetGuy]

formatting as a lot of these guts do ..is like formatting ur hard drive every time u use ur computer ..its alot of wear and tear u dont need and yes memory cards sticks etc etc do wear out with use ...just move every thing or delete .... the less u beat up ur memory card the longer it will last

Not true. It's only a quick format, not a sector by sector format.

 

[dbyantis]

Wondering what the best way, after a flight, to do with the SD. Obviously save the pics and video, do you then format it? Noticed there is some large log files in there as well, are they any use if it was a successful flight? I know they are important if have a crash or problems.

Do you just delete the media manually, or format?

Thanks

I make sure I format the card using the DJI app, that way I know it is formatted for the drone, not my computer, just in case there are subtle differences.

 

[ssvdh66]

coming from a photography background,I format before every flight with DJIgo

 

[old man mavic]

coming from a photography background,I format before every flight with DJIgo

just so not to confuse others i believe you mean before the first flight of the day until you have flown as many batteries as you have ready ,if you formatted before every flight you would be deleting the previous data each time

 

[Maxxpsoft]

Yes, memory cards should be formatted now and then, but it doesn't have to be very often. If you format it every time you empty it, you will perform write operations to the same part of the memory, which shortens it's life span. So that would actually in the end cause corruption instead of fixing it.

Yes I copied that from google but it say what I think better than I could.

 

[Bob1956]

I use the Mavic's download cable. My short fingers find it very tough to get that sd card in and out. First download to the computer. If the footage is a keeper it goes to an external drive. The final edited product might stay on the laptop. But the sd card gets formatted very soon after with the app.

 

[GadgetGuy]

just so not to confuse others i believe you mean before the first flight of the day until you have flown as many batteries as you have ready ,if you formatted before every flight you would be deleting the previous data each time

Not if you also swap cards every time you swap batteries, like a professional who knows not to put all his eggs in one basket, especially an airborne basket!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, memory cards should be formatted now and then, but it doesn't have to be very often. If you format it every time you empty it, you will perform write operations to the same part of the memory, which shortens it's life span. So that would actually in the end cause corruption instead of fixing it.

Yes I copied that from google but it say what I think better than I could.

Not true. The GO 4 format is only a quick format which only erases the index file and creates a new blank one. The prior flight data is not touched until it is overwritten as needed.

 

[old man mavic]

Not if you also swap cards every time you swap batteries, like a professional who knows not to put all his eggs in one basket, especially an airborne basket!

good point

 

[Drgnfli]

If you don't reformat the card when you dump it the next time isn't the older files in what you dumped the
next time ? Like have duplicates .

I am sure that my MP uses different numbers on pics & videos all the way up to "DJI_ 9999.jpg" then it starts the count over again...

 

[old man mavic]

I am sure that my MP uses different numbers on pics & videos all the way up to "DJI_ 9999.jpg" then it starts the count over again...

you can choose the numbering system in the app you can have it reset to zero or continuous after you have formatted

 

[Meta4]

So many myths and misunderstanding about memory cards.

formatting as a lot of these guys do ..is like formatting ur hard drive every time u use ur computer ..its alot of wear and tear u dont need and yes memory cards sticks etc etc do wear out with use ...just move every thing or delete .... the less u beat up ur memory card the longer it will last

Formatting your SD card just writes over the file allocation table.
It's just another read/write cycle and most cards these days are made for 100,000 read/write cycles, you could reformat your SD card every day for 273 years.
Formatting your SD card won't wear or damage it.

If you format it every time you empty it, you will perform write operations to the same part of the memory, which shortens it's life span. So that would actually in the end cause corruption instead of fixing it.

SD cards have circuitry to manage wear-leveling, that is, spread out writes over the storage media evenly to avoid "hot spots"—pages that are written too frequently and therefore failing early.

btw .. Format your card in the drone or in your computer, wherever is convenient for you. It makes no difference.

 

[Meta4]

I am sure that my MP uses different numbers on pics & videos all the way up to "DJI_ 9999.jpg" then it starts the count over again...

It will if you select Continuous as the File Index Mode in the app settings.
Otherwise it will restart at zero

 

[BushWacker]

Personally I use 2 cards, mainly so I don't forget and take off without one in the AC. I format them both in the AC first to make sure they are compatible with the device. Then when I take out the one in the AC after a flight I stick the empty one in right then. Now you have the one with data free to use on your computer, I then Move the files from the card to a hard drive and the card is now empty again and still formatted for the device. I do backup my hard drive to another hard drive every so often so as not to lose the data on the hard drive. I rarely need to format the cards again. I have used this method for years as a photographer using DLSR cameras and can sometimes go for years before needing to format the cards but occasionally they do go bad and can be saved by formatting them again.