I was just in Colorado and had the Drone up to record a friends wedding.  The wedding took place at the top of a mountain and brought the drone up to record. I thought it was recording and was able to snap a couple pictures and when I brought the drone down to transfer the video to my Mac the pictures were there but the 3 video files were created but no video in the file and showed 0 kilobytes. I checked the SD positioning and the light was red. I took it out and put it back in and it turned green again. The SD card slot has the green light when it takes off and will disconnect and turn red as soon as it gets airborn.
I have tried blowing in the slot, cleaning the mini SD card with an eyeglass cloth, putting the SD card in gently for the green light but still everytime it leaves the ground it turns red making it unable to record any video. I tried multiple times throughout the vacation to make it work and still will not record. I can however take the same SD card out and use it in my GoPro I just purchased with no issue so I know there is nothing wrong with the actual card.


My question is, do you think there is something wrong with the slot on my drone or could it be since I used it for the GoPro, it may have changed the formatting of the card only for the GoPro? I only have the one 128GB Mini SD so I have not tried a different SD card yet. My wife bought me the drone last year in September so it is not even a year old and still well within warranty.

Anyone have any ideas?

Hi SweetLouScanner, we apologize for the inconvenience. Just for you to isolate the issue, you can try first to reformat the SD card then check or try a different SD card. If the issue is still there, please send us the aircraft for analysis by clicking the link https://repair.dji.com/repair/index. Online repair request is only available for North America region, if you are in Canada, please call our hotline.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-7-5 10:58
Hi SweetLouScanner, we apologize for the inconvenience. Just for you to isolate the issue, you can try first to reformat the SD card then check or try a different SD card. If the issue is still there, please send us the aircraft for analysis by clicking the link https://repair.dji.com/repair/index. Online repair request is only available for North America region, if you are in Canada, please call our hotline.

Hey Natalia,

Does the warranty cover shipping costs? If so what are they

SweetLouScanner Posted at 2018-7-6 09:18
Hey Natalia,

Does the warranty cover shipping costs? If so what are they

Yes, once the shipping label is generated shipping cost back and forth is covered by DJI. This also applies to non-warranty drone as long as you are going to send the aircraft on our facility. Hope this helps you!

Before you send your equipment in for repair, post the exact type of the SD you're using, the Phantoms are quite sensitive and it sounds very much like it is the card that is not up to the task of recording movies.
You could try to record as "HD:1280×720 24/25/30p @30Mbps" this might work and will show if it is the card. If you have no other issues you might end up sorry that you send it in.

Thank you both for your responses and help! I really appreciate it it and will get back to you on the SD card brand and also try the reformatting and let you know what happens before I send it in

If a different card doesn't work, or a reformat of current card (128GB may not be support on some Phantoms), need to check the FAQ, you can also try resetting the camera in the Phantom.  Do this via the camera settings tab, should be towards the bottom.  

Also make sure you format the card in the drone.  I have a lot of problem with DJI products Mavic, Spark and Phantom, with cards that were not formatted in the drone, instead via windows or mac, mac being worse.  

Paul C

paul2660 Posted at 2018-7-8 03:03
If a different card doesn't work, or a reformat of current card (128GB may not be support on some Phantoms), need to check the FAQ, you can also try resetting the camera in the Phantom.  Do this via the camera settings tab, should be towards the bottom.  

Also make sure you format the card in the drone.  I have a lot of problem with DJI products Mavic, Spark and Phantom, with cards that were not formatted in the drone, instead via windows or mac, mac being worse.  

The P4A and P4P support 128GB cards. As the pictures was present the card and filesystem seem to be working, most likely the card is simply not up to the task of film recordings.

KedDK Posted at 2018-7-8 16:25
The P4A and P4P support 128GB cards. As the pictures was present the card and filesystem seem to be working, most likely the card is simply not up to the task of film recordings.

Agree, card possibly a copy or too low a spec.

My solution is very simple, cheap and works perfect

My solution is very simple, cheap and works perfect

Just a tip: If you move files from the SD to your PC/MAC instead of using a copy this can cause your Phantom to stop recording ot the micro SD next flight. You will need to format the card again to get it to work correctly, which you can do in the DJI Go app under the camera settings.
I use these in my P4A https://www.sandisk.com.au/home/ ... rds/extreme-microsd they are great and you can pick them up on sale sometimes.

edit: i have rewrote this to be less confusing.

DarkZero Posted at 2018-9-24 17:59
Just a tip, if you move files from the SD on your PC after a flight the drone will stop recording to the SD. You will need to format the card again to get it to work correctly.I use these in my P4A https://www.sandisk.com.au/home/memory-cards/microsd-cards/extreme-microsd

That is not true, I do that all the time. But a copy is safer than a move or cut.

Geebax Posted at 2018-9-24 20:28
That is not true, I do that all the time. But a copy is safer than a move or cut.

It happened to me and the only way to fix it was to format the card in the drone (computer format probably would have been fine too) from the research i did the drone rights an index file and some others onto the SD card that are hidden and when it goes to record it stops after 10 seconds.

Its a tip, don't state something isn't true just because you have never experienced it.

DarkZero Posted at 2018-9-24 20:39
It happened to me and the only way to fix it was to format the card in the drone (computer format probably would have been fine too) from the research i did the drone rights an index file and some others onto the SD card that are hidden and when it goes to record it stops after 10 seconds.

Its a tip, don't state something isn't true just because you have never experienced it.

I am saying it is not true because I have been doing it for 3 or more years now and it does not happen. If you simply read the SD card on a computer, it does not write anything to the card. But, as I said, do not 'cut' files off the card, that is an entirely different story.

But you are correct about the hidden files, the aircraft fills up those hidden directories with rubbish that will eventually fill the card, because they do not scavenge the files. For that reason, it is wise to format the card every two or three flight sessions to preserve the full capacity of the card.

Geebax Posted at 2018-9-24 21:02
I am saying it is not true because I have been doing it for 3 or more years now and it does not happen. If you simply read the SD card on a computer, it does not write anything to the card. But, as I said, do not 'cut' files off the card, that is an entirely different story.

But you are correct about the hidden files, the aircraft fills up those hidden directories with rubbish that will eventually fill the card, because they do not scavenge the files. For that reason, it is wise to format the card every two or three flight sessions to preserve the full capacity of the card.

That is what i said mate, go back and read what i wrote. I am talking about moving (cutting from the card) to the PC/MAC will cause issues without formatting the SD next time you go to record. I learnt the hard way on this beautiful day on a river and it wouldn't record for more than 5 seconds.

A bit of searching on google and forums and i found a post response from DJI which led me to join this forum.

Again a tip for the OP.

DarkZero Posted at 2018-9-24 21:35
That is what i said mate, go back and read what i wrote. I am talking about moving (cutting from the card) to the PC/MAC will cause issues without formatting the SD next time you go to record. I learnt the hard way on this beautiful day on a river and it wouldn't record for more than 5 seconds.

A bit of searching on google and forums and i found a post response from DJI which led me to join this forum.

Well, blow me, yes your original post is clearer now you have edited it. Good onya sport.

Geebax Posted at 2018-9-24 21:43
Well, blow me, yes your original post is clearer now you have edited it. Good onya sport.

Sorry about that, my brain rushes out words and i miss them when explaining stuff and it usually comes out very vague because i thought i already said them but i didn't. But we were both on the same page... if i was a world leader i think i would have accidentally caused WW3 by now ha ha

will stop posting on the OP now, his reminders will be huge thinking he has heaps of help ha ha