As a new drone flyer of a mini 3 Pro I’m having problems seemingly downloading some scenes from the SD card. Yesterday I shot 4 and when it came to downloading onto the laptop it only downloaded 2 of them or so I thought. The day before it missed 1 scene and the day before that 2 scenes. On checking the downloads on the laptop it shows the scenes but won’t play them. Looking in File Explorer I see a SRT file alongside the video clip but in some areas the video clip is missing. I know that SRT files are text files so don’t understand why they are there.
I re-format before I reuse the card.
My question is can anyone explain my problem and come up with an answer please? It’s frustrating today the least as I’m on holiday at the moment and not able to get the footage I want. I’ll also add that I’m a newcomer to video also.
I am thinking that you might have been videotaping these bad files and had not ended the taping and landed the drone and then shut the drone down without stopping the video. It’s possibly that the drone did not write the end of file properly and without that to tell the computer how long the file is and the end of the file, the computer will not load it.
You can test my hypothesis but taking your drone outside, launch the drone, point it at you and video tape yourself, then without stopping the video. Land the drone and turn it off. Do this several times and see if any or all the videos work.
That’s all I’ve got…
Good Luck!
Thanks LoudThunder I’ll try that. Been looking to see if I can post a screen shot of the files in File Explorer that might explain better what I’m talking about but perhaps I haven’t been a member long enough to earn those privilages yet.
Incessant rain here today so spent some time on those SRT files and realise they give the info on flight data. That’s one problem solved at any rate.
Well, you should be able to do this on the kitchen table, just do not take off, just turn the drone on, turn on the video, then just shut the drone done, do it several times to make sure you do not stop the video before shutting the drone down…
Wouldn’t I run the risk of corrupting the SD card if I left the recording on and then closing the front down?
Well, yeah, that was what I was asking in the beginning, remember, this was the very first thing I thought that might have happened…
“I am thinking that you might have been videotaping these bad files and had not ended the taping and landed the drone and then shut the drone down without stopping the video.”
But if you are positive that you always stopped the video before shutting the drone down then this that is not your problem.
Worse case, you have to reformat your MicroSD. When the MicroSD is in the drone, you activate the reformat from the app… You do this in the Camera Menu, under Storage. I reformat my card every few months. To clean up any bad file and other junk…
If you have any unsaved video, photos, flight files out there save them first…
But like I said, the only thing I can think of is that you did not properly close the video file…
Thank you taking the time to help me, its much appreciated.
I’m not 100% sure that I closed down the video before turning drone and RC off. Beginners’ confusion possibly.
However, I’ve done as you suggested (after reformatting the card) and although they show on the card when I open them on the laptop when I try to import them it comes up with the message 'Import partially successful Failed to import out of 4 items from sd xc (d) etc . The number of files varies, this morning none would import.
Might it be the laptop, it’s fairly new so the drive isn’t full by a long way.
I’ve also tried the sd card from the RC but with the same result. Possibly I’ve damaged the cards, I don’t know. I’ve ordered 2 new ones so whatever the problem is I hope it doesn’t happen again.
I know that any file used by a computer has a Header Record and it carries identifying information for the data. It can include a date, an identifier, descriptor (type of file…), etc…
The file also contains an End Record or Trailer Record and this records is usually what is call Null Data string (255 in binary).
You’ve seen windows warning you not to turn off yur computer when it is writing or copying files. When this happens the file was only partly written and the computer did not find a Trailer before it foung another header. Since the file cannot be read and the computer will often crash or give an error when reading a file…
So, try to make it a habit to always stop the video before shutting off the drone.
If you think your MicroSD card is bad, there is some relief if you bought the MicroSD Card. All brand name MicroSD Cards are lifetime guaranteed, When I crashed my mini 2 a years ago, a truck ran over it and crushed it. The battery looked more like a gramham cracker than a battery. The MicrosSD card did not work afterwards either. Luckily it was not cracked or the warranty would have been voided as abuse…
I posted about this on another Web Site…
You know, besides removing the card from the drone to read the files, you can also do a quick transfer and the data is transferred to your device by Bluetooth or WiFi…
And if you want athe data directly onto your computer, Leave the card in the drone, Turn on the Drone, then plug the drone into your computer by the cable. The computer will read it just like a thumb drive or any other plugged in device…
The reason that you have to turn the drone on first it that if you do not, the drone goes into Recharge mode to recharge the battery and the computer cannot see the card…
Good Luck
That was an interesting read, thank you. The link you posted was interesting too. I see one member recommended formatting the Sd card in the computer so I might try that when the new ones arrive.
Another member suggested it wasn’t worth his time to send the failed card back under the lifetime warranty and I agree if there is just one but potentially I have 2 so I might consider it.
Final thought, since you are flying a Mini 3 Pro, you might want to also join the MavicPilots Web Site (the link I included previously…) It is a very active DJI Web Site and if you peruse the web site, you will find many Sub-forums, even one for Mini 3 Pro flyers like yourself, there are sub forum for news, for photography, for videos and so much more…
If you do join, be sure to check in through the “Pilot Check In” sub forum and introduce yourself… If you have questions that are generic in nature use the General Discussion area, you will find the most knowledgeable folk in the specific areas…
Excellent idea. I’ve just done that and said hello too.