Format the SD Card?

[Horton]

Hey all, do you format the SD card? Why do this? also, if you have pic/ vids or the latest firmware on the card, will formatting it cause damage to the stored data?
Thanks

 

[msinger]

Formatting will erase everything on your card. You should really only have to do this one time via the DJI Pilot app. After that point, there is really no need to reformat again unless you want to easily remove everything without putting your memory card in a computer.

 

[Meta4]

There's no reason to have anything else but the video/photos you're shooting on your SD card when you're flying.
Formatting wipes the card clean and anything on it is gone.

There's some discussion about formatting cards from about half way through this thread.
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/what-is-file-index-mode-in-pilot-app.42390/#post-385859
Make up your own mind.

 

[msinger]

DJI does recommend you keep the firmware on the memory card though:
http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/How_to_Update_Firmware_en.pdf

 

[Horton]

There's no reason to have anything else but the video/photos you're shooting on your SD card when you're flying.
Formatting wipes the card clean and anything on it is gone.

There's some discussion about formatting cards from about half way through this thread.
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/what-is-file-index-mode-in-pilot-app.42390/#post-385859
Make up your own mind.

Thanks your your help. The sources on that thread are great.

 

[XcYZ]

Formatting doesn't delete the files on the card, in simple terms, it removes and writes a new 'table of contents' that says that the card is 'empty'. All the data is still sitting there but without reference. It can still be recovered with special software - unless new data is written to the card with the new 'table of contents'.

http://www.cardrecovery.com/recover_photos_from_formatted_card.asp

 

[msinger]

XcYZ, that is technically true. The same holds true if you manually delete single files. A recovery like that is only meant to retrieve files that were accidentally deleted though.

 

[edonovanl]

Formatting doesn't delete the files on the card, in simple terms, it removes and writes a new 'table of contents' that says that the card is 'empty'. All the data is still sitting there but without reference. It can still be recovered with special software - unless new data is written to the card with the new 'table of contents'.

http://www.cardrecovery.com/recover_photos_from_formatted_card.asp

Isn't that only true if you do a Quick Format, but not a full format?

 

[msinger]

I don't know if this applies to all operating systems -- but, Microsoft says the difference is just whether or not bad sectors are fixed:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/302686

This link says a full format rewrites the drive to help protect it:
http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2011/06/28/regular-vs-quick-format-in-windows-7

And, here's a more complete explanation:
http://superuser.com/questions/699784/what-is-the-difference-between-a-quick-and-full-format

 

[edonovanl]

I always do a full format anyway - takes longer but no big deal...if you really want it clean do a wipe disk

 

[4wd]

I like to format rather than delete when I start up after downloading anything I want previously.
The supplied card doesn't have space to record more than 3 or 4 flights.
Deleting only the video files is fine for a while but there are other hidden files eventually reduce the available space and might even cause other problems.
Always format in the camera via the app rather than in a computer.
The only reason they mention leaving the "bin in the root" is so any additional batteries get their firmware updated.

 

[Marcfly]

Hmm not sure now, why can t we simply delete everything on the SD card simply before transferring the files ? We can always check after to see the SD capacity remaining to spot hidden files if any ?