Please help, I don't want to lose my photos/videos

Pipeliner_USA · May 10, 2017

The photos and videos were taken with my P4P on a SanDisk 64gb ExtremePlus. I stupidly didn't transfer the videos over to a folder right away because I right away started stitching the images and didn't want to tie up system resources. Now, my computer (Windows 10) is telling me that either it cannot locate the drive, or I must format the disk.

I am so nervous to try anything and lose all my work, which was 20 minutes or so of highly planned videos for an industrial client. What if I put the card back in the P4P and connect that to a PC directly?

tevek · May 10, 2017

I am thinking that you removed the micro SD card and used a card reader? If you haven't deleted the photos or automatically formatted the card as an action, they should still be there on the card. I don't have a card reader and plug the phantom straight into the PC, create a file, transfer, review and then delete the images from the card.

doktorinjh · May 10, 2017

As a last resort, you can use recovery software to get anything off of the card, to a point. Don't take any new photos or write to the card in any way, or you could write over the data.

Pipeliner_USA · May 10, 2017

So plugging my P4P directly into my PC via USB isn't showing any drives in my file explorer...I have the drone on. R/C is not involved. Should it just pop right up? Is there anything I do from within the app to save these files?

tevek · May 10, 2017

Pipeliner_USA said:
So plugging my P4P directly into my PC via USB isn't showing any drives in my file explorer...I have the drone on. R/C is not involved. Should it just pop right up? Is there anything I do from within the app to save these files?

It should pop up if your computer can read the card, I occasionally have to turn my P4 on/off to wake it up but it always works. You may have copies on the app which will generally be of a lower resolution and look at them via your PC through iTunes for iOS or android. There is a link somewhere for doing this and I'll look for it.
Think this it, you can review your flight logs and also look for footage/photos within your device.
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Meta4 · May 10, 2017

Pipeliner_USA said:
The photos and videos were taken with my P4P on a SanDisk 64gb ExtremePlus. I stupidly didn't transfer the videos over to a folder right away because I right away started stitching the images and didn't want to tie up system resources. Now, my computer (Windows 10) is telling me that either it cannot locate the drive, or I must format the disk.

I am so nervous to try anything and lose all my work, which was 20 minutes or so of highly planned videos for an industrial client. What if I put the card back in the P4P and connect that to a PC directly?

You are talking about simple digital files. They should be on the card unless you have either deleted them or over-written them.
Even if deleted, they should still be recoverable.
Don't waste time with a cable connection, just put the SD card in an adapter and put that in a computer to see what's on the card.
Other things to try: Look in the recycle bin, Try a different computer.

DanMan32 · May 10, 2017

Once in a while I get errors with USB connected storage. Usually these are temporary where disconnecting/reconnecting the storage (card reader in your case) fixes the problem. USB 3.0 ports on PCs are prone to have issues, especially with a hub. Try using a different USB port and directly into the PC (no hub).

Pipeliner_USA · May 10, 2017

So, I've tried 2 different computers loading the micro SD via a USB adapter (this is how I always do it). No luck, both tell me to format and in device manager I see error signs. When I place the SD back in the P4P and connect directly, nothing happens on my PC. Getting awfully nervous because of the planning that went into this gig and the scheduling changes on their part. Never have had issues moving media around like this. Ugh.

FlashBuddy · May 10, 2017

Agree with @DanMan32. I use a 3.0 hub. I put my SD card in a thumb drive adapter and plug it into the hub. Strangely it doesn't show up as a drive unless I plug it into one of the non-powered ports on the hub. Reboot and try try again?

Traveler · May 10, 2017

Pipeliner_USA said:
The photos and videos were taken with my P4P on a SanDisk 64gb ExtremePlus. I stupidly didn't transfer the videos over to a folder right away because I right away started stitching the images and didn't want to tie up system resources. Now, my computer (Windows 10) is telling me that either it cannot locate the drive, or I must format the disk.

I am so nervous to try anything and lose all my work, which was 20 minutes or so of highly planned videos for an industrial client. What if I put the card back in the P4P and connect that to a PC directly?

If your window 10 will not see any card anymore, here is the fix.

While windows is up and you have no files open (for safety), pull the power cord on the computer, then Plug the computer cord back in and restart the computer. Sounds crazy, but I found this fix after exhausting all other attempts to get my computer to recognize my removable drives.

Cheers

DanMan32 · May 10, 2017

If you do try a full power reset, press the power button on your PC when not plugged in. That will ensure there is no residual power on the power supply including the standby power.
Try a USB 2.0 only port.

There is a chance the SD card or it's format is indeed corrupt. You'll need disk recovery tools if that's the case if there's hope of getting any data back. FAT32 is prone to fat corruption.