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MP4 file from Micro SD card won’t read

Surfnut

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Feb 23, 2019
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The title says it all really. I’ve tried a couple file converters. No joy. Any suggestions?
 
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The title says it all really. I’ve tried a couple file converters. No joy. Any suggestions?

It's actually not clear from the title...
Are you having trouble playing and viewing the video file or transferring it from SD card to computer hard drive?

Once it's on the hard drive I find VLC player app will play just about anything without the need for conversion. If that doesn't work you probably have a corrupt file or corrupt sector on card/disc. It happens. Pretty randomly.
 
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Thanks for the quick re
It's actually not clear from the title...
Are you having trouble playing and viewing the video file or transferring it from SD card to computer hard drive?

Once it's on the hard drive I find VLC player app will play just about anything without the need for conversion. If that doesn't work you probably have a corrupt file or corrupt sector on card/disc. It happens. Pretty randomly.
Thanks for the quick reply Andre. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. I’ve had no problem transferring it onto my pc desktop, I’m unable to get anything to play or load it though. Even if Vlc works, unless it converts it in some way, I still wouldn’t be able to use and edit it, would I? Just look at it?
 
Thanks for the quick re

Thanks for the quick reply Andre. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. I’ve had no problem transferring it onto my pc desktop, I’m unable to get anything to play or load it though. Even if Vlc works, unless it converts it in some way, I still wouldn’t be able to use and edit it, would I? Just look at it?

Pretty much any video editor will open and edit an MP4 file -- unless the file is corrupt -- and then it's pretty much hopeless. I suspect your file has become corrupted and that's why I recommended trying to play using VLC as a quick test to confirm.

It's possible it became corrupted during the transfer and you still have a good original copy on the SD card. You can always transfer that file to your HDD a second time.

You can also try a second video editor app or second computer before you give up on it. Good luck. Every once in a while I also get a random unusable video file.
 
The title says it all really. I’ve tried a couple file converters. No joy. Any suggestions?
You don't need to convert the file recorded on your SD card to play it.
Could you tell us what error or message you get when you attempt to play the file on your computer?
As Andre Levite mentioned above, you should try to play the file on a different computer, phone or tablet to confirm it is not corrupt. If it plays on some other device, then it is just a case of missing video codec in your computer.
 
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Pretty much any video editor will open and edit an MP4 file -- unless the file is corrupt -- and then it's pretty much hopeless. I suspect your file has become corrupted and that's why I recommended trying to play using VLC as a quick test to confirm.

It's possible it became corrupted during the transfer and you still have a good original copy on the SD card. You can always transfer that file to your HDD a second time.

You can also try a second video editor app or second computer before you give up on it. Good luck. Every once in a while I also get a random unusable video file.
Thanks Andre. I have tried working with the original on the card, but no joy there either. It’s definitely corrupted as nothing will open it. I will try Vlc though. I do find it quite worrying though, that footage I was confident I had got, I hadn’t. I’ve had friends ask me to do stuff for them, but after this, I might feel obliged to double up on another card as back up. That ll mean doubling up on batteries too though...
 
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You don't need to convert the file recorded on your SD card to play it.
Could you tell us what error or message you get when you attempt to play the file on your computer?
As Andre Levite mentioned above, you should try to play the file on a different computer, phone or tablet to confirm it is not corrupt. If it plays on some other device, then it is just a case of missing video codec in your computer.
Thanks Nilanjan. I get windows Media Player cannot play this file. The player might not support the file type, or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file. Bear in mind I’m opening them on my pc desktop in the same way I always do? I don’t have access to anything’s no else I can try loading it on unfortunately...
 
Try VLC as Andre said above.

VLC has repair capabilities (under file menu, as I remember).

Do you have one corrupted video file, or everything you record gets corrupted?
 
Thanks Nilanjan. I get windows Media Player cannot play this file. The player might not support the file type, or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file. Bear in mind I’m opening them on my pc desktop in the same way I always do?
I also use VLC mostly but I just tried opening one of my Spark SD card files with Window Media Player and it works. May be you are running an old version of the player. However, no one can tell for sure unless you can confirm that the file you are trying to open is not corrupt.
 
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Try VLC as Andre said above.

VLC has repair capabilities (under file menu, as I remember).

Do you have one corrupted video file, or everything you record gets corrupted?
Hi Imel. I d only recorded the one file. I’ve just tried Vlc and it wouldn’t even play on that :( I could not finish nd a Repair option anywhere...
 
I also use VLC mostly but I just tried opening one of my Spark SD card files with Window Media Player and it works. May be you are running an old version of the player. However, no one can tell for sure unless you can confirm that the file you are trying to open is not corrupt.
It doesn’t say File corrupt, just that it can’t open it. This particular file isn’t vital, it’s just knocked my belief in the Sparks ability to reliably deliver a little bit I spose, so I d kind like to find out now,, if there’s a way to recover it, rather than till it’s a more important one?
 
It doesn’t say File corrupt, just that it can’t open it. This particular file isn’t vital, it’s just knocked my belief in the Sparks ability to reliably deliver a little bit I spose, so I d kind like to find out now,, if there’s a way to recover it, rather than till it’s a more important one?

A corrupt file won't necessarily give you a specific pop up warning or error message. A corrupt file will behave exactly as you described - it just sits there unresponsive.

There are abundant file recovery tools. Many of the free ones are pretty weak. But even the more costly ones can be time intensive. Only you can decide if a particular file is worth the time and money.

Going forward your greatest ally for a mission critical shot is REDUNDANCY. I perform 5 or 6 takes of any important footage to guard against lost files. Assure proper composition and framing by reviewing cache file. I swap the SD card with each battery change. I only use high quality U3 speed cards like Samsung Evo or SanDisk Gold.

Any event that is a true one off and cannot be replicated may require a partner with a second drone or an assistant to view the SD files while still in the field.

That's how the experienced wedding photogs do it -- multiple camera operators each with multiple camera bodies, lenses, batteries, filters and storage media. And they take hundreds more shots then they expect to ever use.

It is far easier to take steps to prevent lost footage than it is to try to recover it later. Redundancy.

Cheers
 
It doesn’t say File corrupt, just that it can’t open it. This particular file isn’t vital, it’s just knocked my belief in the Sparks ability to reliably deliver a little bit I spose, so I d kind like to find out now,, if there’s a way to recover it, rather than till it’s a more important one?

I know it doesn't help you right now, but this is a very rare problem, I have read a LOT of DJI forum posts over 3 years and it's probably the first time I've heard of it.

I'd concur with the person that suggested trying a different microSD card.
 
I know it doesn't help you right now, but this is a very rare problem, I have read a LOT of DJI forum posts over 3 years and it's probably the first time I've heard of it.

I'd concur with the person that suggested trying a different microSD card.
Really? Well that’s encouraging to hear thanks :)
A corrupt file won't necessarily give you a specific pop up warning or error message. A corrupt file will behave exactly as you described - it just sits there unresponsive.

There are abundant file recovery tools. Many of the free ones are pretty weak. But even the more costly ones can be time intensive. Only you can decide if a particular file is worth the time and money.

Going forward your greatest ally for a mission critical shot is REDUNDANCY. I perform 5 or 6 takes of any important footage to guard against lost files. Assure proper composition and framing by reviewing cache file. I swap the SD card with each battery change. I only use high quality U3 speed cards like Samsung Evo or SanDisk Gold.

Any event that is a true one off and cannot be replicated may require a partner with a second drone or an assistant to view the SD files while still in the field.

That's how the experienced wedding photogs do it -- multiple camera operators each with multiple camera bodies, lenses, batteries, filters and storage media. And they take hundreds more shots then they expect to ever use.

It is far easier to take steps to prevent lost footage than it is to try to recover it later. Redundancy.

Cheers
Thanks a lot Andre. That sounds like great advice...
 
I have had that happen, Change out the SD Card and make sure it is high grade, that was my solution.
Thanks Reston. That’s one of the reasons I’m disappointed. I’m using a Sandisk Ultra, not some cheapo...(
 
When my drone had an unfortunate encounter with a tree, I had been recording video. In order to see what happened I transferred the file off the SD card. However, due to the accident the recording ended without the file being closed properly. So MP4 files write information at the end of the file and if the file is not closed properly, that information is missing and it cannot be played. That's what I found with VLC and other tools. My wonderful file was corrupted and so my only choice was to use an expensive MP4 recovery program. Wasn't worth it to me.

What I did find is that since I had set my DJ4 app to capture video from the transmission back to the RC, I did have a lower-res file that was closed properly and could be read. So if you haven't erased things, you might check on your phone/tablet's storage for the video copy there.
 
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Thanks Sir Thomas. This file wasn’t vital,I was more worried if it were to recur with a vital file, but I appreciate your comment...
 
If you power off your drone without stopping videorecording, corrupt file can happen.
DJI advice you to insert the card again, then power up your drone again.
Sometimes this will fix the file (file header is missing). Sometimes not.
Search google for "DJI corrupt file" and answers/free tools to fix the file is there..

Unless...its a faulty card.
 
If you power off your drone without stopping videorecording, corrupt file can happen.
DJI advice you to insert the card again, then power up your drone again.
Sometimes this will fix the file (file header is missing). Sometimes not.
Search google for "DJI corrupt file" and answers/free tools to fix the file is there..

Unless...its a faulty card.
Ok thanks Haggi :)
 

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