SD Card Unreadable in Windows (Any solution yet??)

[Firejay27]

Just bought a brand new A2S from B&H with the RC Pro along with a new Sandisk 256 Ultra SD card. Charged everything, did all the firmware updates, checked all my remote settings, etc.. SD Card went from the packaging straight into the A2S and was immediately recognized. I set the default to the SD card and formatted the card as well as the internal memory to ensure everything was clean. Went out for it's first test flight today and flew about 45 minutes. Got home and put the SD card into my laptop and it said that the SD Card needed to be formatted.

I've seen several incomplete threads here regarding the same issue. Some say to format it in the PC and not in the drone as the "solution" however is there a real solution? Looks like this was reported several months ago and there has been at least 1 firmware update for the drone since the reports. Anyone know if there's been a real fix?

 

[Deleted member 103366]

What happens if you ignore the message saying the card needs to be formatted and try to open the card in windows explorer?

 

[Meta4]

Some say to format it in the PC and not in the drone as the "solution" however is there a real solution?

It shouldn't make any difference, whether you format the card in the drone or the computer.
A little testing on the desktop might be in order.
Format the card and shoot 10 sec of video and see what works.
Try another card if you have no luck with that one.

 

[Firejay27]

What happens if you ignore the message saying the card needs to be formatted and try to open the card in windows explorer?

That's where the must be format error comes from. Explorer sees that there is a card and assigns the drive letter but when you click on the drive it says the card isn't formatted.

 

[Meta4]

What happens if you ignore the message saying the card needs to be formatted and try to open the card in windows explorer?

Nothing .. you can't get past that message

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Nothing .. you can't get past that message

Ahhh, I must be thinking of something else then.
What about putting the card back in the drone and connecting the drone to the computer via USB?
Is wireless down loading possible with the Air 2s?
Or running recovery software on the card?
There's nothing to lose by arrempting,

 

[eEridani]

When you remove the SD card from the Smart Controller, it must be EJECTED. If not properly ejected files are not closed properly and you brick the SD card.

Look for DJI terminology "Pop Up" - somewhere in the SC settings around the Android storage settings. Might be near the file manager, too. Been a while. I decided it was no longer worth the effort to eject the SD and now use a USB stick to move files off the controller SD card.

ps: the Air2S may require a similar sequence; my Air2 doesn't but DJI isn't exactly consistent on all this.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't eject or un-mounting only apply when the device is powered up?

 

[PAW]

Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't eject or un-mounting only apply when the device is powered up?

I believe you're right. I have never had an issue with removing the card after shutting the drone down. My preferred way to move files to my PC.

 

[Dave Maine]

To be clear, if you power the drone down while recording, or still writing to the card, the file will not be closed properly and it will be unreadable with the format card message.

The card often can be made readable by putting it back in the drone, powering the drone up, and keeping it powered up for a minute or so so that it has time to properly close the file.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Sorry, I am pretty certain that that is incorrect, yes the 'unclosed' video will not be playable but I am fairly certain the card can be read and think the other videos are playable. I have 'shut down before stopping' myself a few times and do not remember it rendering the card unreadable.
Yes your fix works for the 'shut down before stopping' situation.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

When you remove the SD card from the Smart Controller, it must be EJECTED. If not properly ejected files are not closed properly and you brick the SD card.

Look for DJI terminology "Pop Up" - somewhere in the SC settings around the Android storage settings. Might be near the file manager, too. Been a while. I decided it was no longer worth the effort to eject the SD and now use a USB stick to move files off the controller SD card.

ps: the Air2S may require a similar sequence; my Air2 doesn't but DJI isn't exactly consistent on all this.

If you read the OP, he wasn't talking about the SD card in the SC, only the SD card in the A2s

 

[eEridani]

If you read the OP, he wasn't talking about the SD card in the SC, only the SD card in the A2s

To quote the OP:

Just bought a brand new A2S from B&H with the RC Pro along with a new Sandisk 256 Ultra SD card. ​

I don't want to argue this. I'm just expressing my personal experience with the controller screen recordings and aircraft camera video recordings. Since the OP mentions the SD in context with the RC... but then I have never been good reading minds.

The aircraft is better than the SC, but I have lost aircraft video recordings more than once, more than one occasion. It seems the fancy recordings needing post processing in the aircraft are especially bad - and there's really no way to know for sure when the aircraft or the controller is done with the post processing.

The SC is especially bad for leaving garbage uncollected. On the SC, unless ejected the files on the SD are in an unknown state. I've tried this countless times, and it is repeatable enough I now only use a USB stick with the SC.

I now do a conscious long pause after stopping a recording before I start powering anything down.

But it is DJI, so perhaps I was a victim of a bad release that was replaced a few hours later. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Meta4]

I don't want to argue this.

The OP said nothing at all about a card in his controller, so there's no need to go on about it.

It seems the fancy recordings needing post processing in the aircraft are especially bad - and there's really no way to know for sure when the aircraft or the controller is done with the post processing.

What videos need "post processing in the aircraft"?

 

[Firejay27]

UPDATE:
So I connected the drone to my PC and it didn't see the SD card but did see the internal memory.
Pulled the card out and put it in my desktop reader and formatted it to exFAT and put it back in the drone. Reconnected the drone to my desktop and it now sees both the internal memory and the SD card. Did a test video of 20 seconds again and a few photos with no issues. Also used the Fly app on the RC Pro to grab the files from the drone and bring them down to the remote (probably never do this again because I don't see the point but it worked).

Didn't have time to try formatting in the drone again or initiating the format while the drone was connected to the desktop. I'll try that later. For now I'm just going to format on my PC.

 

[blackbirdsr72]

You will eventually have to format it in the drone or try another fresh card.

 

[Firejay27]

You will eventually have to format it in the drone or try another fresh card.

Whelp that did work either. Two brand new cards and both wouldn't format correctly while in the drone. Formatting from my computer then putting it back into the drone when needed looks like the best way to go at this time. Didn't try formatting in the RC Pro but might try that next.

 

[ScottTX]

I typically leave the uSD card in the Drone and copy the files over the Drones USB-C connection. I format in the drone as well.

 

[Meta4]

Whelp that did work either. Two brand new cards and both wouldn't format correctly while in the drone. Formatting from my computer then putting it back into the drone when needed looks like the best way to go at this time. Didn't try formatting in the RC Pro but might try that next.

What you've explained isn't normal.
You need to try some different cards.

 

[blackbirdsr72]

Whelp that did work either. Two brand new cards and both wouldn't format correctly while in the drone. Formatting from my computer then putting it back into the drone when needed looks like the best way to go at this time. Didn't try formatting in the RC Pro but might try that next.

If it does not format in the drone, send the drone back to DJI. It is definitely faulty.
BUT, if you are trying to format the card when the drone is actively connected via its USB-C port (to your PC or alike), nothing will work properly.