Hello, I'm having a lot of problems with SD cards. I started with 3 audiomoths and 3 kingston SDHC 1 cards 32GB, all three worked and I got data back after my field work days. The second trial of 4 days, one produced no audio recordings and the other recorded for one day and then stopped after that. One worked fine and I have data, this SD card is still working well in the devices. Both these SD cards, the one that produced no data and one day worth of data have data on them but I just cannot delete anything from them, it takes minutes to delete one file and they now do not record anything when I put them in the audio moths, they flash red for a minute as if they are recording then stop for about 20 seconds and when you put them in to check the data there is nothing on them. I have a sandisk ultra 64GB SDXC1 that refuses to be recognised by the devices, it just flashes green and red and I just brought a Toshiba SDHC 10, this is even stranger, it flashes and records for one minute each time for put it in and set it on custom or default and then just stops recording, although the red light flashes faintly still. Its not the audio moth as im getting the same results what ever device I put them in, its the cards. What am I doing wrong, I formatted them first and Im only recording at 48 khz. Help me what am I doing wrong!!!
top of page
To see this working, head to your live site.
12 Comments
bottom of page
Hi Jenna, Which software are you using to format the cards? They need to be formatted to FAT32 format - this probably won't be the default option. Can you send a screenshot of the settings?
Alex
I'm trying on my pc normally but also downloaded and did it on a piece of software but that didn't work either, it said it formatted but it didnt. They must have corrupted in the devices because they were fine when I out them in.
Hi Jenna, It looks as though these two cards have corrupted in some way. How are you re-formatting them? Andy
The remaining data I have on the two kingston cards just wont delete either, its taking about 6 hours to delete the 270 files on one card but then when I plug it back in the files are back there again, so strange!
Hi Andy, The two kingston wont reformat. I tried the two kingston card and the toshiba at 8 and 16 and the kingston ones flash red as if they are recording but when I put them in the computer there are no recordings, at these khz I dont get the flashing then long 20 sec pause, they flash constantly but still nothing to show when plugged in. The toshiba one does not even flash red to show its recording and again nothing when plugged in. The other kingston I have that is the same is working perfectly at 48khz
Hi Jenna, MS-DOS means "Microsoft-Disk Operating System". Can you try reformatting one more time and record at a lower sample rate (of 8kHz or 16kHz) with the cards that are not working? Your SD cards are class 4, so it could be that your SD cards are too slow to record at 48kHz. Andy
Hi, The battery is full, 4.1 or 2 v. I have tried reformatting them again on the quick option and the slower option. I have https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0046XAROG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-MicroSDHC-MicroSD-Adapter-PFM032U-1DAK/dp/B00CIR00J4. One of the kingstons works still and the other two dont and this toshiba one I just brought and havent used does not work but as I explained above records for one minute then stops. I'm at a loss with what to do because I have tried reformatting. I dont think I have lost data I think it is just not recording. Im formatting to FA32, I dont kno what MS DOS means in your description online. Thanks. Jenna
Hi Harry, The main issue with using SDXC cards (above 32GB) is that the default reformatting isn't FAT32. This is the required format for AudioMoth. However, if you require capacity over 32GB this can be achieved using a third party tool e.g. (http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm). This tool reformats bigger microSD cards to FAT32.
Jenna - If you want to re-use an SD card that has been filled, we recommend always re-formatting it to make sure all segments of the SD card are erased correctly. Just deleting the files is sometimes not enough. If you think you have lost important data on the card this can usually be saved using your PC's disk utility software. Andy
Harry - without the hardware to test - I'd say it's to do with the difference between SDHC and SDXC hosting - long story short looks like (from your experiance) if you reformat a SDXC (over 64Gb SD Card) with FAT32 the hardware can read volumes over 32Gb - which is good to know :)
So do I now read correctly that cards larger than 32GB are not likely to work? So, eg a sandisk 256G is not likely to work? In that case not very good for me as I am running 128G already, end even these tend to fill fast in ultrasonic work. This is really quite critical information. According to the papers and specs the batteries are expected to last to fill the larger cards.
David is right about the the cards needing to be 32GB or less. First thing to check is battery life. What format are you reformatting the SD cards to? Can you send us a link of the specific SD card you are using?
waiting for mine to arrive, so this is theoretical... sd cards have to be 32Gb or less so the 64 is a non starter. I'd check the battery voltages, to eliminate write errors due to low voltages. Might be worth doing a low level format to ensure there are no errors in the file allocation table,