Being able to capture and record bird eye view is a huge excitement of flying a drone. That’s why most people use to bring their drone as a family member for vacations. Actually, that ability is such a blessing for many industries and uses. The SD card inside the drone is so important when talking about storing and transferring captured images and recordings.
I have seen many people who have reported in forums that, their drone not recording to SD card. This is really sad because that’s the most common way of transferring captured images and videos from the drone and it’s a huge problem for a drone user.
Because of that I was wondered about this issue and started researching why the drone not recording to SD card and ways of fixing them. Then I went through many forums, articles, and conversations and was able to figure out what are the reasons that cause this issue and how to fix it. Hopefully, this article would help you to fix your issue.
Why drone not recording to SD card.
In most cases, drone not recording to SD card because of SD card partition glitches and firmware issues of the drone. Other than that, if the writing protection feature of SD card is activated would stop adding new data.
Because there are some issues that cause this problem, I would like to discuss the reasons and fixes one by one. So that way it would be easy for you to understand why the drone not recording to SD card and fix it.
Reason 1: SD card space partition issues and invalid file system.
SD card space partitioning or slicing means creating one or more regions in the SD card to manage each region separately. That’s the first step when you install the SD card for the first time. Proper space partition is so important for storing data in every storage device. If there is no proper disk partition on the SD card or glitches in the disk partition, you won’t be able to store data.
Solution: There are two ways of fixing SD card improper partition. One of them requires software and another one can be performed only using your PC.
Option 1: Perform disk partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard.
- Step 1: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard and install it.
- Step 2: Insert the SD card into the PC.
- Step 3: Open the MiniTool Partition Wizard application and inspect the SD card drive in the list.
- Step 4: Then right-click on it and select “Delete All Partitions” and Apply it. It would delete all the partitions.
- Step 5: Once it is done, Right-click on the SD card driver and select “Create”.
- Step 6: Then choose “FAT32” as the file system from the dropdown menu. Also, select “64KB” as the cluster size.
- Step 7: Then hit “OK” and wait until the process is done.
- Step 8: When it’s done go to the SD card and create the three folders naming “Video”, ”Photo” and “tmp”. Then insert the SD card into the drone and check whether the problem is fixed.
Option 2: Format the SD card.
Formatting an SD card deletes all the partitions and performs a new partition process to use. But you won’t be able to change the current file system if your SD card has an invalid file system. But if you follow the first option you would be able to file system. If you have a data backup you are ready to go.
Connect your SD card to your PC and enter the File Explorer. Then right-click on the SD card driver and select the format option. Wait a few seconds until it’s done. After that insert the SD card into the drone and check drone is storing images and videos on the SD card.
Reason 2: Outdated firmware or firmware bugs.
Firmware is the software that manages all the actions inside the drone, including storing data on an SD card. So if you haven’t updated your firmware for while it might have outdated and causing this kind of issue. Also, bugs in current firmware could cause this.
Solution: If you haven’t updated firmware for a while, no exceptions you would have to update it to the latest. If you are facing this issue after updating the firmware, the current firmware might have some bugs. Therefore revert the firmware to the recent one.
Reason 3: SD card Write-Protected feature is activated.
If you need to connect the SD card to the drone using an adaptor, you should check whether the Write-Protected switch is on. when this feature is turned on, the SD card won’t permit changing data and storing new data. You can fix this issue by removing the writing protection.
Solution: Usually, the upward switch position removes the write protection feature and the down switch position activates the write protection feature. Slide the lock upwards and insert it into the drone and check whether the drone is storing data now.
Reason 4: Damaged SD card.
If your SD card has been corrupted and damaged because of some action, it also could cause this issue. The often action we do that cause SD card damage is pulling out the SD card without ejecting it. Even though you are not sure about your sd card is damaged, try repairing the SD card using the Windows command prompt. It won’t harm the SD card.
Solution: As I mentioned before you can fix a damaged SD card easily and free using the Windows command prompt.
- First, connect the SD card to the PC using an SD card reader.
- Open the command prompt by searching on the start menu “cmd”.
- Then type “chkdsk” and leave a space and specify the SD card driver letter and hit enter. For example, if your SD card driver is “D” you must type “chkdsk D”.
- Wait until the process is done. Once the process is finished, your SD card should be fixed and ready to go.
Reason 5: Viruses & Malware.
Virus infection is another reason that causes stopping writing data to the SD card. Usually, SD cards are virus-infected by inserting them into virus-infected devices. Some viruses won’t permit actions like recognizing the SD card or storing data on the SD card.
Solution: If your SD card is malfunctioning and you suspect that it’s virus-infected, you just need to scan the SD card using an antivirus program. Open the antivirus program of your PC and run a scan on the SD card. If you haven’t installed an antivirus program, look for good antivirus software and install the trial version and scan the SD card.
