Mavic Mini - SD card not recognized

[N321GO]

I got this about a month ago and am learning to fly it. That part is going well enough, but I can only record to my Android phone and not to the SD card. I've tried formatting it through the app which seems to go well enough, but still reports "No SD card present" or some such.

The Mini is supposed to record at 2k, but the files it writes to my phone are 1080p, even though that not what I selected under Camera Preferences.

Weird. Any ideas?

 

[eEridani]

You need to have the card in the Drone, power up the drone and the app, format it using DJI Fly.

 

[N321GO]

I maybe should have mentioned that I've already done all that.

 

[eyeonwings]

I maybe should have mentioned that I've already done all that.

When you format the card using DJI Fly, it should report the size of the card. What does that show?

 

[Kilrah]

Try another card.

 

[N321GO]

Try another card.

Done that too. I'll also mention that I've pulled the card and put it in my laptop which reads it correctly but has no files on it.

When I format it on the device, it uses FAT32, yes?

 

[eyeonwings]

When you format it using DJI FLY, what does it show?

 

[Kilrah]

When I format it on the device, it uses FAT32, yes?

It will format ExFAT at least if the card is 64GB or bigger.

 

[N321GO]

Done that too. I'll also mention that I've pulled the card and put it in my laptop which reads it correctly but has no files on it.

When I format it on the device, it uses FAT32, yes?

I really want to think that the device is working properly and I'm just not doing something right. Tonight when I get home, I'll check it out again.

 

[eEridani]

You also might be suffering the DJI SD Card obfuscation. There are several places that refer to an SD card; and sometimes they are wrong or misleading if you haven't done everything exactly according to DJI's way of thinking.

The drone has internal memory and an SD card, and selection of recording destination is under the DJI Fly app CAMERA settings; that is also where you FORMAT the drone SD card. You must have the drone and controller connected to access that menu [... in upper right of Camera View].

It might help if you also gave the card information: brand, capacity, speed, ...

 

[N321GO]

UPDATE: I finally broke out the only laptop I have any more, a ropey old Mac which I'm not very good at (gimme Windows any day). Picked up a USB device that can read an SD card and voila! There's everything!
I guess this is the DJI SD card obfuscation issue you were referring to earlier. So if they're stored on the card, how come I can't copy the raw footage to my phone? All I see on my phone is a 1080 representation of the 2K footage thats on the SD card, and DJI Fly reports no SD card installed? I'll send a screen shot next time I hook it up.

 

[Kilrah]

I think you're confused (and thus so are we) about which part of the app you're referring to when saying it reports no SD installed. Could be in the camera, view, in the album, refer to the phone's SD or the aircraft SD... So maybe make screenshots and post that if you can't describe where you see this.

 

[eEridani]

UPDATE: So if they're stored on the card, how come I can't copy the raw footage to my phone?

Because the phone can't see the drone. The DJI Fly app can communicate with the drone, but only when the drone is powered on and connected to the DJI Fly app. But the DJI Fly app does not have a file manager in it.

The way - I believe - most of us transfer video from the drone is taking the SD out of the drone and using a fast USB 3.x based SD card reader at our PC/Mac. I personally know of no other way of getting data off the drone. As a footnote, a typical phone has too little storage and processing power to handle the gigabytes of video a drone produces. I am using a pair of 256GB V30 SD cards, and I fill one up pretty easily, 54GB of 4k/30 video my last flight alone, and it takes several minutes to transfer those files to my computer's NVME disks at the SD card's limit of 160MB/s.

Here's a video - the transfer from this guys mini to his phone is about 3:46. He uses an SD to Lightning adapter, takes the SD from the drone and uses the phone's file manager to copy the files over. I suspect there is a similar adapter for microUSB or the new USB Type C. But, back to that phone limitation of 32GB or 64GB.

 

[N321GO]

Because the phone can't see the drone. The DJI Fly app can communicate with the drone, but only when the drone is powered on and connected to the DJI Fly app. But the DJI Fly app does not have a file manager in it.

The way - I believe - most of us transfer video from the drone is taking the SD out of the drone and using a fast USB 3.x based SD card reader at our PC/Mac. I personally know of no other way of getting data off the drone. As a footnote, a typical phone has too little storage and processing power to handle the gigabytes of video a drone produces. I am using a pair of 256GB V30 SD cards, and I fill one up pretty easily, 54GB of 4k/30 video my last flight alone, and it takes several minutes to transfer those files to my computer's NVME disks at the SD card's limit of 160MB/s.

Here's a video - the transfer from this guys mini to his phone is about 3:46. He uses an SD to Lightning adapter, takes the SD from the drone and uses the phone's file manager to copy the files over. I suspect there is a similar adapter for microUSB or the new USB Type C. But, back to that phone limitation of 32GB or 64GB.

Okay, well thank you for confirming that it's not me, it's them. At least my footage is safe.

 

[eEridani]

Looks like I forgot the link:

I watched the full video this time ... the DJI Fly app CAN copy the file directly to your phone, but watch the video.

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[Jimfed1]

Does the write speed of the card matter

 

[eEridani]

Does the write speed of the card matter

Depends on the video speed - consult the manual for recommendations. I had to upgrade from U1 in the controller to U3/V30 to get rid of stutter - so went V30 in the drone too because V30 easily supports 100MB/s. U3 was only marginal in the drone, worked at 4k/30 but 4k/60 was pushing it.

 

[Polarzak]

I also have this issue. Just got my Mini SE and bought the Samsung 32 EVO Plus that is recommeneded in the manual. The drone does not recognize it. Works fine in my Win PC, my phones, and my nikon camera. Along with a few other things, I am seriously regretting buying this drone.

 

[Bridgerphotographer]

I have the same problem just received a replacement mavric air from DJI only had problems with video , so i put the 128 SD card back in and format it . Went out shot good stuff came home and got on the i mac and a message , The disc incerted not readable by this computer , i tried everything thinkable even on my MBP had to down load from the drone direct to my phone.
So I took the card and formatted it MAC os extended jounald
now the drone wont even see the card to format it , keeps saying SD card not found. incert SD card

 

[Bridgerphotographer]

OK I found a work arround to this matter , Be it sandisk or samsung 128 GB SD care just would not show in the DJI air at all no matter how I formatted it or single partition.
The work arround is to put the card into another camera like a lumix and format it. then put it in to the drone and format it. take some photos and put it into the computer to check the computer see the files.

This has worked for me and all is ok. DJI need to look into this matter and why this is. Good luck.