Mavic 2 Pro Recording Problems

[Duckster]

My 2 yr old Mavic 2 Pro has an intermittent recording problem. To all intents and purposes, it looks that it is recording ok. When downloading the data from the Micro SD card by using the usb cable and let te laptop find the card, it sometimes appears there is no data! I have replaced the sd card, Sandisk Extreme Pro, 64GB u3 A2 V30. Missed out on some great footage today. Very frustrated because it is hit and miss. I have re-formatted the sd card already several times. Sometimes it works and sometimes it tells me that the sd card contains no data and has to be re-formatted.
I will use the internal memory for the time being. Any ideas what is going on, or, what am I doing wrong.

 

[Kilrah]

Take the card out and put it in a reader? Always better than using built-in USB.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

moving the card to a reader etc. also saves wasting battery charge/life.
It also avoids the risk of damaging the USB port, the latter may not be as big a concern as with micro USB but...........

DONT FORGET to put the card back in the drone. .......oooops

 

[gope_73]

And dont forget to STOPP the Videorecording before shut down the copter.

 

[BDMavic505]

Is there a way to tell if the Video is actually recording to the Mini Card while recording. I've lost a few shots after I get into the reader because I can't tell off the smart controller if it's actually recording on to it.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Doesn't it display a recording length timer? Or show the empty space on the mSD card diminishing?

 

[BDMavic505]

Doesn't it display a recording length timer? Or show the empty space on the mSD card diminishing?

It showed the recorder ticking away but when I got home and loaded it onto my computer all it did was say there was a device error, admittedly I may have forgotten to format it for the drone but after I put it in the SC it said it was ready for use. Lost a lot of footage over that. Call me a newbie.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

What was the device error?
If you forget to stop recording before you switch the drone of the file may not be closed properly or something like that, and unplayable but all you often need to do to fix that problem is switch the drone on again. That assumes the card has not been altered in between the switch off and switch on.
For what it is worth I think I have only formatted one or two cards in a drone, all my other cards have been windows formatted to clean out the files from the tester I use (H2testw), I don't think I have reformatted any of them since that.

 

[BDMavic505]

What was the device error?
If you forget to stop recording before you switch the drone of the file may not be closed properly or something like that, and unplayable but all you often need to do to fix that problem is switch the drone on again. That assumes the card has not been altered in between the switch off and switch on.
For what it is worth I think I have only formatted one or two cards in a drone, all my other cards have been windows formatted to clean out the files from the tester I use (H2testw), I don't think I have reformatted any of them since that.

I am not at my desk but will try putting the card back in and turn on the drone to see if that works, great idea and thanks for sharing. I will come back to the thread and let you know if that works. . .

 

[EricJT]

It showed the recorder ticking away but when I got home and loaded it onto my computer all it did was say there was a device error, admittedly I may have forgotten to format it for the drone but after I put it in the SC it said it was ready for use. Lost a lot of footage over that. Call me a newbie.

I am confused....the SD card for recording goes in my M2P, not my SC. Why did you say "put it in my SC"?

I suggest you format the SD card when it is in the drone to ensure it is formatted properly.

 

[Duckster]

Thanks for all your feedback. I am pretty sure that it was recording correctly, can see the time. One potential problem, I did not stop the recording before shutting drone down. Also, I prefer to connect drone to laptop with usb cable, rather than remove sd card eveytime I like to download data. Something else I will try, a low level format by using the lappy.
Is it OK to use the laptop/pc to format the sd card. I normally use the inbuilt format command of the Smart Controller.
I have owned several DJI drones over the years, 2016 onwards, an I always have downloaded data via usb cable.
So, as suggested, will remove sd card and use a card reader to download data and stop the recording before powering down the drone. Will keep you posted.

 

[BDMavic505]

Well, I tried again today, looks like it's recording but when I look at the card it only shows the first 2 videos I ever recorded. I will try formatting and see if that helps.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Thanks for all your feedback. I am pretty sure that it was recording correctly, can see the time. One potential problem, I did not stop the recording before shutting drone down. Also, I prefer to connect drone to laptop with usb cable, rather than remove sd card eveytime I like to download data. Something else I will try, a low level format by using the lappy.
Is it OK to use the laptop/pc to format the sd card. I normally use the inbuilt format command of the Smart Controller.
I have owned several DJI drones over the years, 2016 onwards, an I always have downloaded data via usb cable.
So, as suggested, will remove sd card and use a card reader to download data and stop the recording before powering down the drone. Will keep you posted.

Powering off the drone while it's still recording will definitely corrupt the video, I've seen suggestions here that if you power the drone back up with the card still inserted it may close the file and give you a working video file but it's not worked for me.

I was going to suggest trying using internal recording only to see if there's any issues but I see you've already said you're going to do that in your opening post.

 

[umanbean]

Take the card out and put it in a reader? Always better than using built-in USB.

Exactly... Always better, for many reasons.

One potential problem, I did not stop the recording before shutting drone down.

There are Windows utilities (programs) 'out there' that will fix an improperly closed video file, and some players that will play them. I've read about them on PhantomPilots.com over the years, but never had the problem so don't have any names or links... but I'm sure the Great Googly can find them for you.

admittedly I may have forgotten to format it for the drone

The card does not have to be 'formatted for the drone'... nor in the drone. Formatted is formatted and AFAIK there is nothing special about the way the drone formats.

Micro SD cards (and other external storage too) come factory formatted in exFAT or (previously) FAT32, either of which is fine for use in the drone (exFAT strongly preferred because of larger file size allowed). A Windows PC can format an external SD in exFAT... don't know about Mac's, never laid hands on one, but I feel sure they'll do it too.

btw, NTFS format won't work in a drone...

 

[BDMavic505]

Exactly... Always better, for many reasons.



There are Windows utilities (programs) 'out there' that will fix an improperly closed video file, and some players that will play them. I've read about them on PhantomPilots.com over the years, but never had the problem so don't have any names or links... but I'm sure the Great Googly can find them for you.


The card does not have to be 'formatted for the drone'... nor in the drone. Formatted is formatted and AFAIK there is nothing special about the way the drone formats.

Micro SD cards (and other external storage too) come factory formatted in exFAT or (previously) FAT32, either of which is fine for use in the drone (exFAT strongly preferred because of larger file size allowed). A Windows PC can format an external SD in exFAT... don't know about Mac's, never laid hands on one, but I feel sure they'll do it too.

btw, NTFS format won't work in a drone...

Thank you for this, I am a novice but working on learning what I can and love the forum because I can learn from everyone's expertese.

 

[earlbalentine]

And dont forget to STOPP the Videorecording before shut down the copter.

I just finishing flying today and I assumed that it is auto recording the whole time I'm flying. I got home and didn't have any videos at all, just a couple accident photo shots of the helipad. Was I suppose to manually hit a record button or something. There's a button on the right top corner of my controller with a picture of camera and a red dot. Does this button toggle back and forth from Video or Photos or does it just a take a picture only?

 

[EricJT]

On my SC, the top left button starts and stops the video recording.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Was I suppose to manually hit a record button or something. There's a button on the right top corner of my controller with a picture of camera and a red dot. Does this button toggle back and forth from Video or Photos or does it just a take a picture only?

Assuming you are not joking. Yes you have to manually start and stop video recording.

If you are taking about a Mavic 2 Pro or Zoom see page 10 of the manual https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_2/20190124/Mavic_2_Pro_Zoom_User_Manual_v1.8_.pdf

If you are taking about a Mavic Air 2 see pages 8 & 9 in the manual. https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_Air_2/Mavic_Air_2_User_Manual_v1.6_enIII.pdf

 

[earlbalentine]

And dont forget to STOPP the Videorecording before shut down the copter.

I don't remember starting the video. I assumes it was recording automatically. I'm not sure if you push the record button on your phone or somewhere in the controller app? or the right top button that has a camera icon on it.

 

[Kilrah]

I don't remember starting the video. I assumes it was recording automatically. I'm not sure if you push the record button on your phone or somewhere in the controller app? or the right top button that has a camera icon on it.

Both do the job.