Video/memory card problem with my new Mini 3 Pro

[Rich Z]

So I took my Mini 3 out for the second time today, and flew for 2.5 battery charges. Taking video the entire time at 4K/60fps. Wanted to check the range and was getting just over 3,000 ft, through the trees. Everything just seemed to be running like clockwork. RTH worked OK, and this is a breeze to fly.

I got back to the house and pulled out the memory card from the Mini, and tried to load the files onto my PC. Hmm. Not recognizing the card. "The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Do you want to format?" Well, no, I do NOT! Volume name of the card is "SDXC", if that means anything. PC wants to format it every time I put it into the system to try to look at the contents. Used two different card readers. And tried both my desktop and laptop PCs.

So I put the card back into the Mini, and no sort of error message popped up. Showing that the SD card is 119GB, with 67.9GB remaining available on the card, so it certainly thinks there ARE files on it. So I just recorded more video from the table, and the available file space dropped accordingly. So it certainly THINKS it is writing to that card. Even took a couple of photos instead of videos to see if they would show up. Pulled the card back out and tried to look at it on my PC. No go. Still doesn't recognize the format. For the record, the internal RAM is a Total of 1.25GB with 1.21GB remaining available. So it isn't writing files there.

Aircraft Firmware: 01.00.0320
RC Firmware: 01.00.0300
Flysafe Database: 01.00.01.27
App version: 1.6.6

So what the(Mod Removed Language)is going on? What am I doing wrong? Or doesn't this Mini 3 have error detection for the memory card, and doesn't really care if it is writing or not?

When I took my first flight, I just recorded normally, came into the house and downloaded the files normally. Then deleted the files from the card and put it back into the Mini 3 like it should be.

Oh, the memory card I am using is a SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB MicroSDXC UHS-1 |3| 4K UHD card. Yes, the card was in correctly I would think I would get some sort of error message if it wasn't.

Not going to be real happy with this if there is nothing I did wrong, and I just have to worry each time I take a flight not knowing if it actually captured the video or not. But I have till January 31, 2023 to return it to Amazon, if need be.

This is my first foray into DJI products. Hope it wasn't a big mistake. Up to this, I was thinking this is a pretty impressive animal. But now? Well, not so sure....

 

[rickmurray1989]

Did you format the card in the drone before you flew?

 

[Rich Z]

Yes. And as I mentioned, I flew the Mini 3 afterwards, and got successful videos, which I downloaded normally to my PC. I then deleted the files on the memory card, and put the card back into the Mini 3 for when I would fly it again. Which was today.

Or are you implying that I would need to format the memory card EVERY TIME before each flight?

 

[dirkclod]

Not necessarily but depending on what card your using it wouldn’t hurt

 

[FLDave]

So, the first time you deleted files from the SD card while the card was in the computer rather than deleting the files using the Fly app while the SD card was back in the Mini 3?

 

[dirkclod]

So, the first time you deleted files from the SD card while the card was in the computer rather than deleting the files using the Fly app while the SD card was back in the Mini 3?

The way I have Always done it. What’s wrong with that.
Just asking.

 

[Meta4]

This is my first foray into DJI products. Hope it wasn't a big mistake. Up to this, I was thinking this is a pretty impressive animal. But now? Well, not so sure....

You are having problems with your video card and are blaming the drone?
The issue is much more likely to be the card.
The obvious first thing to do would be to try a different card to see if that solves the problem.

 

[Meta4]

So, the first time you deleted files from the SD card while the card was in the computer rather than deleting the files using the Fly app while the SD card was back in the Mini 3?

It's the best way to ensure the card is cleared and ready for use.
Formatting in the computer ensures that your file numbers continue from the last file number created.
If you format in the drone, the file numbers start at 001 every flight.

 

[Tufargon]

It's the best way to ensure the card is cleared and ready for use.
Formatting in the computer ensures that your file numbers continue from the last file number created.
If you format in the drone, the file numbers start at 001 every flight.

That's good to know about the file numbers. I did not know that.

 

[FLDave]

The way I have Always done it. What’s wrong with that.
Just asking.

I don't know if there is anything wrong or not; I just wanted to clarify what happened. I generally delete from the Fly app. I think deleting from the Fly app would also delete any thumbnail files on the devise, but not sure if that happens.

 

[Rich Z]

So, the first time you deleted files from the SD card while the card was in the computer rather than deleting the files using the Fly app while the SD card was back in the Mini 3?

Yes, that is correct. The files were deleted while the card was in my desktop PC.

 

[Rich Z]

You are having problems with your video card and are blaming the drone?
The issue is much more likely to be the card.
The obvious first thing to do would be to try a different card to see if that solves the problem.

If the card is bad, why isn't the drone yelping when I put it back in and it thinks it is writing to it just fine when I go into record mode? And the amount of free space on the card is decreasing as the drone thinks it is writing files and taking up more space.

Granted, the card could be bad, but that would not solve the issue of the drone not being able to tell and notify the user that it cannot be written to. Would anyone want to take this drone out for maybe a once in a lifetime experience to be put on video under this kind of circumstance? Heck, I am disappointed enough at it is that I wasted a couple of hours just on my property flying it around and have nothing to show for it.

 

[Meta4]

If the card is bad, why isn't the drone yelping when I put it back in and it thinks it is writing to it just fine when I go into record mode? And the amount of free space on the card is decreasing as the drone thinks it is writing files and taking up more space.

Granted, the card could be bad, but that would not solve the issue of the drone not being able to tell and notify the user that it cannot be written to. Would anyone want to take this drone out for maybe a once in a lifetime experience to be put on video under this kind of circumstance? Heck, I am disappointed enough at it is that I wasted a couple of hours just on my property flying it around and have nothing to show for it.

It's unlikely to be an issue with the drone.
It's not a complaint that comes up in the forum.
If you don't try another card, you'll never eliminate the most likely and easily fixed potential cause of your issue.
If it's not the card, then you can investigate other options.

 

[Rich Z]

It's unlikely to be an issue with the drone.
It's not a complaint that comes up in the forum.
If you don't try another card, you'll never eliminate the most likely and easily fixed potential cause of your issue.
If it's not the card, then you can investigate other options.

OK, I will pull the same type card I am using in my Skydio 2 and try using that in the Mini 3.

But that will be sidestepping the issue of why the Mini 3 Pro apparently cannot DETECT a bad card in it's memory slot. The card I used was working fine the first time I flew the Mini. I have never had ANY device using SD cards that required they be formatted within the device each and every time you use it.

First I am going to format the supposedly bad card in the Mini 3 and see if it can write to it with readable files afterwards. If no, well yeah, the card just happened to go bad and in such a way that the Mini 3 could not detect it. Odder things have happened, I guess. If yes, well, SOMETHING had to have rendered the card unreadable in my PCs. So maybe I need to fly the Skydio 2 using it for a while and see what happens. In the meantime, use the card swapped from the Skydio 2 in the Mini 3 and see what happens then.

Honestly, though, the LAST thing I needed in my life is another headache right now. My wife has medical problems and this was to try to help take my mind off of that. The smartest thing I could do would be to just send the Mini 3 back to Amazon. So I will just have to see when the "be smarter" level is reached trying to troubleshoot this.

 

[Dronecation]

OK, I will pull the same type card I am using in my Skydio 2 and try using that in the Mini 3.

But that will be sidestepping the issue of why the Mini 3 Pro apparently cannot DETECT a bad card in it's memory slot. The card I used was working fine the first time I flew the Mini. I have never had ANY device using SD cards that required they be formatted within the device each and every time you use it.

First I am going to format the supposedly bad card in the Mini 3 and see if it can write to it with readable files afterwards. If no, well yeah, the card just happened to go bad and in such a way that the Mini 3 could not detect it. Odder things have happened, I guess. If yes, well, SOMETHING had to have rendered the card unreadable in my PCs. So maybe I need to fly the Skydio 2 using it for a while and see what happens. In the meantime, use the card swapped from the Skydio 2 in the Mini 3 and see what happens then.

Honestly, though, the LAST thing I needed in my life is another headache right now. My wife has medical problems and this was to try to help take my mind off of that. The smartest thing I could do would be to just send the Mini 3 back to Amazon. So I will just have to see when the "be smarter" level is reached trying to troubleshoot this.

I would recommend that you format the card in the drone when needed, instead of formatting in the computer. You don't have to do it after every flight seeing as your card is of high capacity. Just download after the last set of numbers you recorded on the previous flight to keep your number sequence.
If you use the card from the other drone you have, make certain to format it 'in the M3P drone' before using...

-M

 

[Rich Z]

OK, this is just odd.

I reformatted the SD card in the Mini 3 and took a couple of videos while sitting on the desk. Took out the SD card, put it into my SD reader on my PC, and the files were there, like they are supposed to be. Deleted just those files and the folder they were located within. Which is the way I have done it for years with every other device I have had using SD cards. Took the card out of my PC and put it back into the Mini 3. No yelps from the controller. So I took another couple of videos sitting on the desk. Pulled out the SD card and put it in my PC. Could not read the card and said it needed to be formatted. So even though the Mini 3 DIDN'T care about that, it pretended to be writing those video files to that card anyway without a hint of a problem.

So I took the SD card out of the PC again, and put it in the Mini 3. Reformatted. Took a video. This time I just hooked up a USB cable from my PC to the Mini 3. Now what is strange, is that when I took out the SD card and put it into the card reader on my PC, it only showed one new drive volume. However, using the USB cable, it would show two (2) drives, with the video files alone on the drive that did not show up when I physically moved the SD card to the PC.

Copied file, then deleted the file and it's folder with USB cable connected. Disconnected USB cable. Took a video. Removed card and put it into the PC. File is there like it should be, so the USB cable method of copying and deleting files did not corrupt the SD card that apparently happens when the SD card is removed from the Mini 3 and used in my PC via a SD card reader to delete the video files.

Deleted the SD card file and folder on the PC. Put it back into the Mini 3. Took a video. Hooked up the USB cable. SD card is corrupted. I could see the two drives, but could not access anything on them.

So apparently, at least for me, deleting video files from the SD card on my PC is somehow destructive of the SD card formatting. The really bad part of this is, however, that the Mini 3 does not know that the SD card being put back into it is corrupted, and pretends to write video files to it anyway. So you don't know those videos are gone forever till you try to read them from the SD card, whether from physically moving from the Mini 3 to the PC, or by hooking up a USB cable from the PC to the Mini 3.

So here is the $64 question. Is my Mini 3 Pro defective and I am the only one having this problem? Or is my standard procedure of copying those files from the SD card by physically moving it from the Mini 3 to my PC somehow unique, and no one else on earth does it this way and consequently just not seen this problem?

So boiled on down to lowest common denominator, is my Mini 3 defective, or am I the only one who has stumbled upon this bug or design flaw? It SHOULD NOT HAPPEN like this, as I have mentioned before, I have done file copies exactly like this with every drone I have ever owned, as well as uncountable cameras, camcorders, and whatever, for years.

All batteries are now depleted. Depending on what I hear from feedback here, I may just be packing this thing up and sending it back to Amazon and decide on a replacement if my unit is defective or a refund if this is a design/bug. So no need to charge up those batteries quite yet. If ever.

 

[Meta4]

So here is the $64 question. Is my Mini 3 Pro defective

Probably not, but until you eliminate the card as a suspect, you won't know.

and I am the only one having this problem?

Yes

Or is my standard procedure of copying those files from the SD card by physically moving it from the Mini 3 to my PC somehow unique, and no one else on earth does it this way and consequently just not seen this problem?

It's unlikely that it makes any difference which way you do things.
Cards are cheap.
Cards sometimes fail.
The card is the obvious suspect to eliminate before getting hung up on other things (that are much less likely to be the issue).

So boiled on down to lowest common denominator, is my Mini 3 defective,....

The drone is the least likely suspect.
Forget about it until you investigate other leads.

I may just be packing this thing up and sending it back to Amazon and decide on a replacement if my unit is defective or a refund if this is a design/bug. So no need to charge up those batteries quite yet. If ever.

I've said it several times already so I won't bother any more.

 

[Chunter]

I don't know if this will help but i've found if i switch the drone off whilst its still recording the files get corrupt, my other drones never had the same quirk, so i've taken to making sure recording is stopped before i power it off.
Could also be as simple as your sdcard slot/usb/reader is bad.
Sorry you're having a bad time though.

 

[Meta4]

I don't know if this will help but i've found if i switch the drone off whilst its still recording the files get corrupt, my other drones never had the same quirk,

That's not his problem and your files don't become corrupt.
They just haven't been closed properly.

Could also be as simple as your sdcard slot/usb/reader is bad.

It might be (unlikely) but that could be easily confirmed by testing to see if the issue happens with other cards too.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

So I took my Mini 3 out for the second time today, and flew for 2.5 battery charges. Taking video the entire time at 4K/60fps. Wanted to check the range and was getting just over 3,000 ft, through the trees. Everything just seemed to be running like clockwork. RTH worked OK, and this is a breeze to fly.

I got back to the house and pulled out the memory card from the Mini, and tried to load the files onto my PC. Hmm. Not recognizing the card. "The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Do you want to format?" Well, no, I do NOT! Volume name of the card is "SDXC", if that means anything. PC wants to format it every time I put it into the system to try to look at the contents. Used two different card readers. And tried both my desktop and laptop PCs.

So I put the card back into the Mini, and no sort of error message popped up. Showing that the SD card is 119GB, with 67.9GB remaining available on the card, so it certainly thinks there ARE files on it. So I just recorded more video from the table, and the available file space dropped accordingly. So it certainly THINKS it is writing to that card. Even took a couple of photos instead of videos to see if they would show up. Pulled the card back out and tried to look at it on my PC. No go. Still doesn't recognize the format. For the record, the internal RAM is a Total of 1.25GB with 1.21GB remaining available. So it isn't writing files there.

Aircraft Firmware: 01.00.0320
RC Firmware: 01.00.0300
Flysafe Database: 01.00.01.27
App version: 1.6.6

So what the(Mod Removed Language)is going on? What am I doing wrong? Or doesn't this Mini 3 have error detection for the memory card, and doesn't really care if it is writing or not?

When I took my first flight, I just recorded normally, came into the house and downloaded the files normally. Then deleted the files from the card and put it back into the Mini 3 like it should be.

Oh, the memory card I am using is a SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB MicroSDXC UHS-1 |3| 4K UHD card. Yes, the card was in correctly I would think I would get some sort of error message if it wasn't.

Not going to be real happy with this if there is nothing I did wrong, and I just have to worry each time I take a flight not knowing if it actually captured the video or not. But I have till January 31, 2023 to return it to Amazon, if need be.

This is my first foray into DJI products. Hope it wasn't a big mistake. Up to this, I was thinking this is a pretty impressive animal. But now? Well, not so sure....

Sounds like a bad or Fake card
I always get mine from DJI never had any problems
I always keep the last flight and erase the rest
Hope that helps