SD Card Errors after Formatting/Use in Spark?

[Dodge DeBoulet]

I have a brand-new 64GB Sandisk SD card for my Spark and it was formatted in the Spark itself. If I record video to it using the Spark and then insert it into my laptop to review/copy it, Windows 10 reports that there's something wrong with the drive and it needs to be scanned/fixed.

I've done that, but the next time I save video to it the same thing happens again. I've run CHKDSK against it and it reports no errors, so I'm not sure what's going on here. The video I've recorded is playable whether I go through the Windows 10 fix process or not.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Here's the detail from the scan of the card:

Chkdsk was executed in read/write mode.

Checking file system on E:
Volume label is Data.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...

256 file records processed. File verification completed.

0 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...

366 index entries processed. Index verification completed.

0 reparse records processed.
0 reparse records processed.
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 27 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 27 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 27 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.

55 data files processed.
Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

102396 KB total disk space.
40424 KB in 100 files.
96 KB in 57 indexes.
2724 KB in use by the system.
2048 KB occupied by the log file.
59152 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
25599 total allocation units on disk.
14788 allocation units available on disk.

 

[Kendallfordguy]

You say that it's a 64 Gb card but the scan says total disk space of 102396 kb, that's only 102 Mb. Are you sure this scan is from the right card or drive?

 

[Andre Levite]

The Volume Label says "Data". Usually your photos and video are in a folder labeled DCIM. Are you sure Drive E: is the proper location for the SD card?

Both label and total disk space are suspect

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

So yeah ... that's weird. I didn't notice the size reported until you mentioned it. The output I posted above was from running the disk check using the "Tools | Error Checking" option from the context menu for the card in Windows Explorer. When I run chkdsk E: (the drive letter Windows assigned to the SD card) directly from the command prompt, I get completely different output:

C:\Users\Dodge>chkdsk E:
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume OL SPARKY created 12/30/2018 8:30 PM
Volume Serial Number is 0347-8B24
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
62,336,096 KB total disk space.
32 KB in 1 hidden files.
288 KB in 9 folders.
581,184 KB in 11 files.
61,754,560 KB are available.

32,768 bytes in each allocation unit.
1,948,003 total allocation units on disk.
1,929,830 allocation units available on disk.

This is purportedly a genuine Sandisk 64GB SDXC card ordered from and fulfilled by Amazon, not a marketplace seller. Here's the link. This weirdness has me thinking it might be either defective or a counterfeit, but I find the latter hard to believe since it wasn't a marketplace item.

 

[Andre Levite]

You said the video records to the card and is playable. And the SD card appears legit and had no disk errors when scanned. And when you swap drives the error message is actually coming from a drive other than the SD card.

Sounds like SD is fine. Maybe error lies between keyboard and the chair

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Ok, mystery partially solved. It looks like running "Tools | Error Checking" in Explorer isn't actually logging the output to Event Viewer. The output in my original post was apparently from an entirely different disk, and the date of the scan was September 23 of this year. I've looked for more recent chkdsk events but am not finding any. So next time this happens I'll be running chkdsk from the command prompt to see what I get.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

You said the video records to the card and is playable. And the SD card appears legit and had no disk errors when scanned. And when you swap drives the error message is actually coming from a drive other than the SD card.

Sounds like SD is fine. Maybe error lies between keyboard and the chair

Yes, PEBCAK in the sense that I upgraded to Windows 10 rather than a real operating system (which also excludes the fruit-flavored one).

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Yes, PEBCAK in the sense that I upgraded to Windows 10 rather than a real operating system (which also excludes the fruit-flavored one).

PEBCAK could be but Windows 10 has proven to be a very reliable operating system( I agree on the fruit flavored one ).

Open Windows Explorer (Win Key + E) and right click on the SD drive rather than rely on event viewer. It will also show the correct drive letter for the SD card. Click on the Tools tab and you can check the drive for errors. If you open the drive (card) and you should see a folder labeled DCIM. Your files will be located there unless you have taken Panoramas.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

PEBCAK could be but Windows 10 has proven to be a very reliable operating system( I agree on the fruit flavored one ).

Open Windows Explorer (Win Key + E) and right click on the SD drive rather than rely on event viewer. It will also show the correct drive letter for the SD card. Click on the Tools tab and you can check the drive for errors. If you open the drive (card) and you should see a folder labeled DCIM. Your files will be located there unless you have taken Panoramas.

Thanks, but finding the files wasn't the problem. The issue is that every time I insert the SD card into my laptop after using it in the Spark, Windows reports that the SD drive has errors. That's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of. When I choose the option to fix the errors from the tools tab, it appears to scan, then gives me the option to "Show Details." When I select that, it's not showing me what (if anything) was fixed ... it fetches an old event in Event Viewer that happened back in September and I can't find anything more current than that.

 

[Spark 317]

Thanks, but finding the files wasn't the problem. The issue is that every time I insert the SD card into my laptop after using it in the Spark, Windows reports that the SD drive has errors. That's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of. When I choose the option to fix the errors from the tools tab, it appears to scan, then gives me the option to "Show Details." When I select that, it's not showing me what (if anything) was fixed ... it fetches an old event in Event Viewer that happened back in September and I can't find anything more current than that.

I occasionally get the corrupt file prompt at times doing the same.
I just ignore it open up the files to be viewed.
I have been using the same sandisk Extreme Plus 64GB card from day one and only formatted it a couple of times both on the PC and Spark with no problems with the card.
I think it might be Windows thing and your card is ok.

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Try doing a full reformat. Be sure to copy the contents of your disk onto your computer first.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

In the Spark, or in Windows? I had originally formatted the card in the Spark.

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Do it in Windows. Do a full format, not a quick format. It will take a while

 

[McCloudSpark]

My 64G Sandisk gets the "there is a problem..." message but I ignore it and it always works just fine.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Do it in Windows. Do a full format, not a quick format. It will take a while

Just so you know, Windows 10 won't format anything larger than 32GB as FAT32 (my SD card is 64GB). The default is exFAT, and I'm not sure that's compatible with the Spark. The only other native choice is NTFS for an SD card that size.

I found a freeware utility, FAT32 Format, that purportedly does the job (it's formatting my SD card right now). 21 minutes remaining as I write this

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

My 64G Sandisk gets the "there is a problem..." message but I ignore it and it always works just fine.

I'm thinking that the problem might be that Microsoft doesn't officially support FAT32 on anything larger than a 32GB volume. If it continues to happen, I'm not going to worry about it.

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Just so you know, Windows 10 won't format anything larger than 32GB as FAT32 (my SD card is 64GB). The default is exFAT, and I'm not sure that's compatible with the Spark. The only other native choice is NTFS for an SD card that size.

I found a freeware utility, FAT32 Format, that purportedly does the job (it's formatting my SD card right now). 21 minutes remaining as I write this

Did this solve your problem?

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Did this solve your problem?

I don't know yet, but I'll find out later today. I haven't had a chance to test it, but will report back when I do.

Thanks!

 

[Barbara]

Had a similar problem with a cheapie drone I was flying. Turned out that occasionally I was not stopping the recording before powering the drone down. Thus the recording file was not being closed properly, and as a result the file was seen as corrupt and the SD card came up with errors.

Just a thought...

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Had a similar problem with a cheapie drone I was flying. Turned out that occasionally I was not stopping the recording before powering the drone down. Thus the recording file was not being closed properly, and as a result the file was seen as corrupt and the SD card came up with errors.

Just a thought...

Thanks, Barbara. I've had the issue even after short test flights where I started and stopped recording before powering down the Spark. Having it happen when powering down without stopping recording is certainly understandable, but I'm quite sure it's happening even when I'm doing everything right ...