File corruption

[rainsipper]

Recently the footages saved to the SD card were all corrupted. They were not unreadable but I noticed some tearing and artifacts. The footages could be opened in iMovie but when iMovie processed the part of footage with artifacts it would crash. The artifacts were quite frequent, in a 4 minute footage it would have more than 15 occurrences.

I'm using Sandisk Extreme Pro A2 card, which would be more than enough to handle the writing. I tried using other cards, some Sandisk Extreme and got the same artifacts. Saving files to internal storage worked normally.

What can I do before sending my Air back to DJI?

 

[StantonZ]

I tried using other cards, some Sandisk Extreme and got the same artifacts. Saving files to internal storage worked normally.

This part tells me there's definitely something wrong with the "write" part of the drone memory card. Make sure there's no dirt/residue in the slot (could be difficult), but otherwise I'd send it back.

 

[NOLADG]

What happens when you save to the internal memory?

 

[rainsipper]

What happens when you save to the internal memory?

the footages are all intact

 

[DanMan32]

SD cards can go bad after a while. I had an Ultra I was using in my P3A go bad. Weird stuff once I filled it to a certain point. Was fine though just storing "static" files so I guess it couldn't handle sustained high rate writes.

 

[Fizzbang]

Corrupt files. Put thr so card back in the drone start the drone. Take a picture or short video. Stop recording before powering down the drone. Sometimes works if the files were corrupted because you did not stop recording before powering down the drone.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

I had a card go bad on me a couple of years ago. It would only take about 3 seconds of video before stopping. Photos were fine, it just wouldn't capture 4k video any longer.

 

[rainsipper]

I blew clean the card slot and recorded some video without flying. The footages were free from corruption. I'll try some actual flying later and see if the footages are ok captured from flights.

 

[STS-Mavic-Mini]

I blew clean the card slot and recorded some video without flying. The footages were free from corruption. I'll try some actual flying later and see if the footages are ok captured from flights.

Try formatting the card with the DJI app (don't format it on your computer).

 

[rainsipper]

Thanks for the advice. I did everything and there were still artifacts in the footages. Gotta take it back to DJI.

 

[STS-Mavic-Mini]

SD cards seem to be a weak point. I’m purchasing a new one today. I’ve been removing mine from the Mini and inserting in my PC to transfer files. Lately, the card has not properly connected on reinsertion to the Mini.

 

[rainsipper]

That's true but I tried a few cards and got the same result. The footages were only fine when the drone was shooting when it wasn't flying. Probably a main board issue. I hope not cos replacing the whole board will cost me a lot.

 

[DanMan32]

Have you tested with internal storage?

Never mind. Asked and answered in #4.

 

[rainsipper]

Took my Air to DJI today. The service rep had gone through the footages and surprisingly there were no artifacts. The guy encouraged me to leave the drone so they can have a check. It was free anyway so I complied.

On my way home I rethought everything and guessed it would be a faulty card reader, or Mac incompatibility (which is unlikely). I booted up my old PC laptop and plugged in my card reader. The card reader didn't work so I used another one. Everything suddenly worked and the footages were all free from artifacts.

Can't believe it's a faulty card reader.