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SD card cannot be read by Windows 10, but it works OK in the drone

MisterMagoo8691

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Hi folks. Today, after my fifth flight, I removed my SD Card from my Mavic Air 2 (as I normally do), I plugged it into my Windows PC... and I've got this error message: "Warning: you need to format the disk in drive J: before you can use it".

I ran CHKDSK, and it said "Corruption was found while examining the boot region.". Full result at the end of the message.

I then tried CHKDSK /F (in Admin mode, of course), but it could not fix it: "An error occurred while examining the boot region."

The funny thing is that if I plug the SD in my Mavic Air 2, I can see pictures & videos, I can play them, I can download them on the connected iPhone... but the SD is not readable at all from my Windows PC.

Thankfully I've been able to recover all pictures & videos using a recovery software (Recuva): all files were there, in perfect shape. The tool was able to recover all of them in a snap.

But I am definitely concerned now. The SD is a brand new SandDisk Extreme 128Gb, v30 A2 Class 3. Now I will format it before each future flight, but I am afraid it could not be enough.

Any idea about a possible reason for this terrifying experience?

Bye!
A.-

P.S. below the result of CHKDSK:

C:\Users>chkdsk J:
The type of the file system is exFAT.
Windows found errors on the disk, but will not fix them
because disk checking was run without the /F (fix) parameter.
Corruption was found while examining the boot region.
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has checked the file system and found problems.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.

124864640 KB total disk space.
2804096 KB in 89 files.
1664 KB in 13 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
256 KB in use by the system.
122058624 KB available on disk.

131072 bytes in each allocation unit.
975505 total allocation units on disk.
953583 allocation units available on disk.
 
Hi MisterMagoo8691 welcome to Mavic Pilots

Glad to see you got your files back.
The error you got is a not that frequent an occurrence with SD cards but can happen from time to time for no apparent reason.
I always remove the card & transfer to my PC then format the card before replacing it in the drone, some prefer to format in the drone but I have never had a problem using the PC.
Rather than just deleting the files I format every time as I think this is the best way to minimise the possibility of errors developing.
 
Hi MisterMagoo8691 welcome to Mavic Pilots

Glad to see you got your files back.
The error you got is a not that frequent an occurrence with SD cards but can happen from time to time for no apparent reason.
I always remove the card & transfer to my PC then format the card before replacing it in the drone, some prefer to format in the drone but I have never had a problem using the PC.
Rather than just deleting the files I format every time as I think this is the best way to minimise the possibility of errors developing.


Too bad, I've been using CF/SD cards for years and years (I am a passionate photographer), I always used high quality cards, and it is the first time I live this... nightmare :)
 
From SanDisk:

If you see the same message after clicking on the drive in My Computer, it is possible the card reader is NOT functioning properly. Try using a different USB port on the PC or a different card reader. If there is NO message after using a different reader, the first reader is the cause of the error.

I’ve got the exact same SD card and formatted in the Drone. Haven’t tried looking at any files on my iMac yet, but will report if I see a similar issue trying to view the files. Not apples to apples I know.
 
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Working in the technology field I have seen a lot of hardware fail. It could be a hard drive, cd/dvd drive, thumb drive or SD cards. If you are using your computer to view or retrieve your files then by all means format it with that computer. Not sure what you are using to get your files but get more then one device to use to get them. I have several thumb drives to get my files from a SD card. I have had to delete drivers for SD readers and reinstall to get them to work correctly. Never had to do that for thumb readers.
 
Ughh... I hate dealing with SD cards. Honestly rarely have good luck with them ...

Also as a hail mary there are other file explorers you could use instead of Windows explorer, like Freecommander or XYplorer. Try recuva if you are really desperate for the files, or put in an android cellphone or tablet then mount it from the phone, then after you retrieve files format to fat32 or exfat with a partition manager of fat32 utility. NTFS and Exfat suck so much for SD cards.. but with 4k we have no choice, unless you want split videos
 
Ever since I got the MA2, whenever I plug an SD card into my laptop I get an error that the disk is damaged and needs to be repaired. It always repairs fine. I have not had any data loss. I always format the SD card prior to flight (In the DJI Fly app). I use the same card(s) that I used in my Mini, which never gave me this issue. It's a minor annoyance, but it's definitely specific to the MA2, at least compared to the Mini. I have several cards, they are all brand new.
 
Ever since I got the MA2, whenever I plug an SD card into my laptop I get an error that the disk is damaged and needs to be repaired. It always repairs fine. I have not had any data loss. I always format the SD card prior to flight (In the DJI Fly app). I use the same card(s) that I used in my Mini, which never gave me this issue. It's a minor annoyance, but it's definitely specific to the MA2, at least compared to the Mini. I have several cards, they are all brand new.

That's very common, I would not worry about that at all. Possibly the drone's cache files are in the same format as the SD cards boot files and are getting read. If you absolutely want to get rid of the message, try switching between exfat and ntfs. I just would not recommend hitting "repair files" unless you've backed up the SD card. I usually backup the SD card to my 5TB external drive after every flight just for piece of mind
 
That's very common, I would not worry about that at all. Possibly the drone's cache files are in the same format as the SD cards boot files and are getting read. If you absolutely want to get rid of the message, try switching between exfat and ntfs. I just would not recommend hitting "repair files" unless you've backed up the SD card. I usually backup the SD card to my 5TB external drive after every flight just for piece of mind

It hasn't been a problem, but I can't access the data on the card until I let Windows "repair" the card. Doesn't matter which card I use (I have a Sandisk and a couple of Samsung Evo), also I had to get a new laptop last week as my old one blew up, and the same thing happens on the new laptop (which has a built-in card reader as opposed to the USB one I used on the other laptop) .. so the common denominator is the MA2. Not a big issue for me, but it's worth noting that this happens.
 
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It hasn't been a problem, but I can't access the data on the card until I let Windows "repair" the card. Doesn't matter which card I use (I have a Sandisk and a couple of Samsung Evo), also I had to get a new laptop last week as my old one blew up, and the same thing happens on the new laptop (which has a built-in card reader as opposed to the USB one I used on the other laptop) .. so the common denominator is the MA2. Not a big issue for me, but it's worth noting that this happens.

When the popup comes up, you don't have to select "repair now", just select "do not repair" and it goes away. This is not specific to the MA2, lots of other devices have this same issue as well. When non windows devices read the data off of that SD card, sometimes they leave cache files which confuses windows explorer. It does not necessarily mean something is wrong, just something has changed.

Maybe you could post a screenshot of the message you are getting?

PS: There are many variables, not just your SD card reader, be it internal or external, it might make a difference but intra device connectivity will never be flawless unfortunately, we just try to make it work using standard protocols but things will always be glitchy
 
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When the popup comes up, you don't have to select "repair now", just select "do not repair" and it goes away. This is not specific to the MA2, lots of other devices have this same issue as well. When non windows devices read the data off of that SD card, sometimes they leave cache files which confuses windows explorer. It does not necessarily mean something is wrong, just something has changed.

Maybe you could post a screenshot of the message you are getting?

PS: There are many variables, not just your SD card reader, be it internal or external, it might make a difference but intra device connectivity will never be flawless unfortunately, we just try to make it work using standard protocols but things will always be glitchy

I'm not worried about it... just posting this as info that may be related to the OP.
 
I get a message that something is damaged on the SD card nearly every time I put it in my Laptop (windows 10) Mini or regular card. I always ignore it and out of the thousands of times I've put any card into the computer I have never had a problem reading the files.
 
I have recently been seeing the same problem of my Windows 10 PC prompting that the Sandisk Extreme MicroSDXC U2 A3 128GB card used in my Mavic Air 2 must be formatted before I can continue. I thought I had stumbled upon a card possibly going bad on me when in comparison to 5 other MicroSDXC cards of various capacities and either exFAT or FAT32 format, only this one card was failing to work after use in the MA2. But, as I've since proceeded on with using another 128GB card of the same type, that issue again appeared. For sake of comparison, I just flew 2 more brief flights, one with a Samsung EVO Select Micro SDXC U1 64GB and the other a Sandisk Ultra Micro SDXC 64GB card. I saw no issues reading the cards at my PC.

So, this left me wondering if specifically the 128GB Sandisk Extreme card might just be a bit less compatible. Moving indoors and just performing static video/photo capture without arming the rotors, I tested all 5 cards I had available, and all 5 read properly at the PC without the prompt for formatting. With no reason to think the issue would be limited to actual flight video/photo capture, I repeated the same after arming the rotors and flying about 2 feet above the floor, doing the capture, then landing. Still, all 5 cards worked at the PC without issue. So, I'm stumped...quite consistently, I've seen failures of the 128GB Sandisk Extreme cards to be readable following a more typical flight, and certainly that would be a much larger volume of data than 30-second indoor flights, yet I've no idea why the volume of data written to a card would be a factor.

In any case, it seems the Mavic Air 2 isn't dismounting a card properly. That is my conclusion based upon the very simple solution I discovered: After ejecting the card from the drone and installing the card into my USB card reader (I have 3 different types, all giving the same results), I simply connect the card reader briefly to my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S8+), give it a few seconds to be detected, then remove the reader and proceed on to the PC, where the card is then seen correctly with all content intact. In other words, it seems the phone is mounting and then dismounting the card in a proper way to ensure the card remains readable; the MA2 does not.

Given I have been using the same pair of Sandisk Extreme 128GB cards ever since I got my Mavic Air 2 and never saw any issues with them until recently, I can only guess that one of the Mavic Air 2 firmware updates introduced this card dismount issue. I'm glad the solution is so easy, but I wonder if many others have seen the same problem? If so, perhaps my solution will save you some grief. I'm guessing the same result would be seen mounting/dismounting the reader from an iPhone but I don't know.

Cards tested:

[exFAT format]
2 - Sandisk Extreme U2 A3 Micro SDXC 128GB
1 - Samsung EVO Select Micro SDXC 64GB
1 - Sandisk Ultra U1 Micro SDXC 64GB

[FAT32 format]
1 - Sandisk Ultra Class 10 A1 Micro SDXC 32GB

Mavic Air 2 Aircraft & RC Firmware Version 1.00.0340
App Version 1.1.8
 
I use Windows 10. Regardless of whether formatted with DJI Fly or with the PC, I will get an error when I put the card back in the reader after recording with MA2, although I have never lost any data. I've used two different types of Sandisk 64GB cards (Ultra and Extreme) with the same result. I believe the info above by @Daryl_P might be correct that the MA2 is not dismounting/closing the card properly.
 
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In a Facebook group where I posted about this issue also, someone replied that a MicroSD card requires no dismounting process as long as a file write has been completed. I can believe that true, given how these cards are used in many devices where an "eject" command isn't required and the user can simply, and quickly, pull the card from the device...an operation that might present an issue with hard drives for example. While my verbiage might be incorrect, the essence of it was that I felt the MA2 was leaving something "undone" such that was affecting the card's readability at the PC. Since my testing indoors had failed to answer any of my questions, I performed 6 brief outdoor flights today, capturing a mix of 1-minute videos and multiple photos to each of 6 different cards. I then disconnected a few USB devices from my PC so that I could reconnect 6 different USB card readers, each with 1 of the cards installed, and saw no issues reading any of them and viewing their content.

All 6 cards were formatted by the drone (Android operating system) prior to flight, so my next question was whether a Windows-formatted card might be more prone to issues. So, I proceeded to format one of the 64GB cards only to see an error that a formatting could not be performed...yet another unusual problem. I then re-selected the drive associated with the card, only to once again see the "you need to format the disk" prompt. As I began moving cards around and exploring how each behaved on a different reader from where it was first installed, I started seeing more of the prompts to format the disk. Some cards moved "cleanly" between readers while some did not, but I couldn't conclusively identify the reason for that, and my only assumption is that the problems I'm seeing are more likely related to issues caused from having so many USB resources connected, notably card readers. A more typical configuration of my PC is that I've got USB hard drives and audio/video devices attached, with at least two multi-card readers, and that may still be a loaded-enough USB configuration that if USB card readers are a bit more finicky to handle, then maybe that is the root of the problem. So, I'll be certain to drop back to using only one reader at a time, and see if problems go away. It still leaves me to wonder why a consistent solution to the problem was one of reading the card with my phone before using it on the PC, but maybe however Windows "dirtied up" the card for reading, a different operating system just undid that.

So, I guess my final bit of advice is that if you should experience the problems discussed in this thread, consider your computer configuration and if you can reduce the number of needed USB devices, try doing that and see if your problems persist. If so, then my idea of reading the card with an Android phone/tablet or iPhone/iPad may be all it takes to make the card readable at a PC.
 
I had this issue and the reason that it happened is that I did not allow the drone to finish processing a long hyperlapse before turning off the drone. I reconnected the drone to the controller and opened up the app, went into the playback area and allowed the file to finish processing and then the computer read the card just fine.
 
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Too bad, I've been using CF/SD cards for years and years (I am a passionate photographer), I always used high quality cards, and it is the first time I live this... nightmare :)
i had this twice ,both times i had removed the sd card from the drone ,sandisk extreme pro 128 and a 64 ,both cardshave been tested and are genuine and ok. i now only transfer the data by plugging the drone into the pc,(no issues this way) i tried various recovery softwares and the one that worked both times perfect and got every file was wondershare recoverit. hoped this helps it did my i was gutted thought i had lost all my footage .
 
I think its Windows 10, personally, I use a Mac, and a couple SD cards in my MA2 and never ever in months have I had an issue with an error on either SD card... Just my 2 cents... maybe I am just lucky.
 
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It's possible MA2 is putting a signature in the sectors that identify the file format that Windows doesn't recognize. It could also be MA2 is designating an unusual cluster size. The only way to know is to do an analysis and comparison between an MA2 written/formatted card and one formatted by Windows but never written to by MA2.

I doubt it would be the video/photo files themselves. Windows should still recognize the file system even if the file(s) are corrupt.

Has anyone tried chkdsk from command prompt?
 
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