Corrupted Movie Files Won't Play

[Just Mark]

Hi there, Everyone:

Just got my drone about 10 days ago.

I shot 23 short test videos over a period of three different days and it looks like 8 of them are corrupted and unplayable.

I have tried downloading several programs for "fixing" .mov files, and unfortunately none have been able to fix the files yet.

The file sizes of the corrupted videos ranges from 37mb for the smallest to 310MB for the largest.

I was recording at 1080p at 30fps

I am using the micro SD card that came with the drone.

I took a handful of photos (jpg format) and they all came out perfectly.

This is a refurbished drone (refurbished by DJI) which I bought through B and H, who are pretty reputable. So if they say it was refreshed by DJI instead of some guy who fixes drones in his garage, I would tend to believe them.

Everything seems fine about the drone except for the corrupted video files.

I guess it could be a bad SD card, or could it be my phone, which is kind of a piece of junk? (Alcatel Fierce XL)

I hadn't SD formatted the card first before shooting some video. I just formatted it now and am charging the batteries and will go out and shoot some video later today as well.

Any thoughts on this???

 

[flyNfrank]

The video usually only become corrupt due to not selecting the stop record before powering down the Aircraft. Is that what happened in your case?

 

[Yvan]

Excuse me.
I am new to this forum and I don't see how I can post a question.
Would you help me please ?
Yvan

 

[Just Mark]

The video usually only become corrupt due to not selecting the stop record before powering down the Aircraft. Is that what happened in your case?

It MIGHT have happened once or twice, but I doubt it would have happened all 8 times.

Most of the time I was just shooting short clips (about 10 seconds long). I will test again this afternoon just to make sure that I start and stop recording video correctly.

Otherwise, she flies like a charm.

 

[Meta4]

Excuse me.
I am new to this forum and I don't see how I can post a question.
Would you help me please ?Yvan

Yvan ... go to the sub-forum most appropriate for your question and look near the top right for the Post New Thread link.

 

[Meta4]

I shot 23 short test videos over a period of three different days and it looks like 8 of them are corrupted and unplayable.
I guess it could be a bad SD card, or could it be my phone, which is kind of a piece of junk? (Alcatel Fierce XL)

Is the problem with your files or what you are playing them on (more likely)?
Copy the files to the hard drive of a computer and see how they play.
If necessary, download VLC media player and try that.

 

[flyNfrank]

It MIGHT have happened once or twice, but I doubt it would have happened all 8 times.

Most of the time I was just shooting short clips (about 10 seconds long). I will test again this afternoon just to make sure that I start and stop recording video correctly.

Otherwise, she flies like a charm.

I've flown the Phantom 2 & 3's and I still do it on occasion. The big thing use to be when someone crashed this would happen and at best, the last 20-30 seconds would be lost from the file and not recoverable.

There use to be a trick that is probably no longer used, but if you put the microSD card back into the slot and powered on the aircraft, and app, and powered back down it would sometimes finish writing to the file.

I also was able to use a app that repaired mp4 files, and it also worked, sometimes. I'll see if I can find the name of that app and post back here for you. Btw, it works by using the end of a good file and copies it to your bad file.

 

[Just Mark]

Is the problem with your files or what you are playing them on (more likely)?
Copy the files to the hard drive of a computer and see how they play.
If necessary, download VLC media player and try that.

Hi there, Meta4, and thanks for your input.

Yes, I have copied them to my local hard drive.

And yes, I have tried to play them (with no success) in VLC, Windows Media Player, Quicktime player, DIVX Player, Prisim video file converter, Windows Movie Maker, AVIdemux, and sony Catalyst Browse.

All of them say they can't open the file(s) because they are corrupted or unsupported file format.

 

[Just Mark]

I also was able to use a app that repaired mp4 files, and it also worked, sometimes. I'll see if I can find the name of that app and post back here for you. Btw, it works by using the end of a good file and copies it to your bad file.

Thank you for the note.

Please do let me know.

I did try handbrake, yodot, remo repair (which might be the one you are thinking of, because it compares the corrupt filed to a good file), and neither of those worked, either.

 

[P3A_Demon]

I've flown the Phantom 2 & 3's and I still do it on occasion. The big thing use to be when someone crashed this would happen and at best, the last 20-30 seconds would be lost from the file and not recoverable.

There use to be a trick that is probably no longer used, but if you put the microSD card back into the slot and powered on the aircraft, and app, and powered back down it would sometimes finish writing to the file.

I also was able to use a app that repaired mp4 files, and it also worked, sometimes. I'll see if I can find the name of that app and post back here for you. Btw, it works by using the end of a good file and copies it to your bad file.

Plus 1 on putting card back in the bird. I had recent crash and the battery came part way out thus damaging the last recording. Put the card back in, powered up and the file now plays. In my case it did change the file date to something like 12/1/16.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[flyNfrank]

I couldn't find the exact app but I'm almost positive this is a newer version of it. It's called "MP4Fix Video Repair Tool".

Link: MP4Fix Video Repair Tool - Android Apps on Google Play

 

[Richard R]

Hi there, Meta4, and thanks for your input.

Yes, I have copied them to my local hard drive.

And yes, I have tried to play them (with no success) in VLC, Windows Media Player, Quicktime player, DIVX Player, Prisim video file converter, Windows Movie Maker, AVIdemux, and sony Catalyst Browse.

All of them say they can't open the file(s) because they are corrupted or unsupported file format.

I had a similar problems thought my bird was broke. Turns out it was the adaptor that I was using to inset the micro SDcard into my Mac. It was a cheap one that came with one of my smaller drones and apparently didn't have the quality to transfer the data correctly. I now use the adapter card that came with another, high quality SD and have had no more problems.

 

[Pharm]

Just to relieve one of your worries: your phone, regardless of how good or how crappy, has nothing to do with what's recorded on the sd card.

 

[Just Mark]

Just to relieve one of your worries: your phone, regardless of how good or how crappy, has nothing to do with what's recorded on the sd card.

Thanks!

One thing to scratch off the list of possible causes.

 

[Just Mark]

I had a similar problems thought my bird was broke. Turns out it was the adaptor that I was using to inset the micro SDcard into my Mac. It was a cheap one that came with one of my smaller drones and apparently didn't have the quality to transfer the data correctly. I now use the adapter card that came with another, high quality SD and have had no more problems.

Thanks for the note.

Can you tell me the name / make of the Micro SD to SD adapter you are using?

I don't know if my phone has a Micro SD slot (kind of think it doesn't), but in theory, should I be able to insert it into my phone and at least play the videos and be able to tell if it is the MicroSD adapter or the files?

 

[Just Mark]

So I just did another test:

I shot 34 clips ranging from about 20 seconds to about 2 minutes.

32 of the 34 seem to be ok, while 2 of them APPEAR to be corrupted. I transferred them to my hard drive and they can't be opened.

So I put the SD card back into the drone and the DJI Go app said: No SD Card

The battery was real low (only 10%) so I change the battery in the drone and this time it read the SD card.

The two files that DIDN'T work when I transferred them to my computer DID work when I play them in the DJI GO app and sd card is in the drone, but...

There is SOME corruption to the files. There is no time length displayed when I play those two files using the DJI Go app play function(with the SD Card in the drone).

Does playing the files when using the DJI Go app play the CACHE files? Or does it play the actual files?

The CACHE files that were downloaded to my phone ARE fine. They are 720p MP4 files and they are fine.

But using the DJI GO app, I downloaded the full files (.MOV files, not .mp4 files) into my smartphone, and they won't play in my smartphone, either. (I found them in the DJI Albums folder on my smartphone).

I guess the next step is to buy a new MicroSD card and see if that helps???

Any recommendations on which MicroSD card to get?

(Oh and I am certain I did not turn off the power to the drone while I was still recording.)

Thanks again.

 

[Falcon900]

So I just did another test:

I shot 34 clips ranging from about 20 seconds to about 2 minutes.

32 of the 34 seem to be ok, while 2 of them APPEAR to be corrupted. I transferred them to my hard drive and they can't be opened.

So I put the SD card back into the drone and the DJI Go app said: No SD Card

The battery was real low (only 10%) so I change the battery in the drone and this time it read the SD card.

The two files that DIDN'T work when I transferred them to my computer DID work when I play them in the DJI GO app and sd card is in the drone, but...

There is SOME corruption to the files. There is no time length displayed when I play those two files using the DJI Go app play function(with the SD Card in the drone).

Does playing the files when using the DJI Go app play the CACHE files? Or does it play the actual files?

The CACHE files that were downloaded to my phone ARE fine. They are 720p MP4 files and they are fine.

But using the DJI GO app, I downloaded the full files (.MOV files, not .mp4 files) into my smartphone, and they won't play in my smartphone, either. (I found them in the DJI Albums folder on my smartphone).

I guess the next step is to buy a new MicroSD card and see if that helps???

Any recommendations on which MicroSD card to get?

(Oh and I am certain I did not turn off the power to the drone while I was still recording.)

Thanks again.

Yes, a new card is the next step in trouble shooting the issue. A different card reader might help also. The one I just bought is a Lexar reader that is truly less than the size of your thumb. I comes with a 64 GB card. You can see it here at B&H. It works fine in my new P3P.
Also, try a different USB port on the new computer. One of the USB ports on my new MacBook Pro was bad resulting on corrupted files when I tried to write to an external HD on that port.

 

[Just Mark]

Yes, a new card is the next step in trouble shooting the issue. A different card reader might help also. The one I just bought is a Lexar reader that is truly less than the size of your thumb. I comes with a 64 GB card. You can see it here at B&H. It works fine in my new P3P.
Also, try a different USB port on the new computer. One of the USB ports on my new MacBook Pro was bad resulting on corrupted files when I tried to write to an external HD on that port.

Thanks for the suggestion to try a new card and for the link to BandH.

So just to confirm, this hasn't been a "known issue" or anything like that where the Phantom line has a reputation of corrupting video files for no reason, has it???

 

[flyNfrank]

I take it you didn't try the app I posted a link to?

 

[Just Mark]

I take it you didn't try the app I posted a link to?

I tried it and unfortunately it did not seem to work.

It says, "All data recovered,"

But when I try to preview the file, it says, "Unfortunately, MP4Fix has stopped."

You have to pay a small amount (like US $4) to actually "play" the app, but if the app crashes while trying to preview a file, I am not to inclined to pay for the full version.