Hey Gang, just curious about this. I tried using the default format on my PC and no dice. Do you need special software to do it?
Andrew I have instructions for my Mac. On a Windows machine you will need to do it from the command prompt. I think the command is Format but there is further command line info that will do it in FAT. Good item to use google on. Especially with all of the various forms of windows
Thanks Gary, could I get those instructions for the Mac, have access to one of those too Quick question regarding Micro-SD Flight logs. At what point does the log begin, upon plugging in the battery? Gyro initialization? Motor start? Take-off?
After power is applied and the MK stack senses that you are flying. Won't start if you don't have a GPS fix. Format the SD card Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard from this article. Make sure your disk is named MAKERBOT or substitute your choice of name in the command. Run the Terminal application and type the command diskutil partitionDisk /Volumes/MAKERBOT 1 MBRFormat "MS-DOS FAT16" "MAKERBOT" 1G Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard First run: diskutil list this lets you identify the disk number for your SD card. I get a bunch of stuff, then I find this: /dev/disk2 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: FDisk_partition_scheme *1.0 GB disk2 1: Microsoft Basic Data MAKERBOT 1.0 GB disk2s1 So in the next command I use "disk2" as one of the parameters. Update as needed for whichever is your MakerBot SD Card disk number above. When I run this: diskutil partitionDisk disk2 MBRFormat "MS-DOS FAT16" MAKERBOT 1G I get this result printed to the Terminal window: Started partitioning on disk2 $<3>Unmounting disk $<3>Creating partition map $<3>Waiting for disks to reappear $<3>Formatting disk2s1 as MS-DOS (FAT16) with name MAKERBOT $<3>Finished partitioning on disk2 /dev/disk2 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: FDisk_partition_scheme *1.0 GB disk2 1: DOS_FAT_16 MAKERBOT 1.0 GB disk2s1 diskutil partitionDisk disk2 MBRFormat "MS-DOS FAT16" Disk2 2G
The logging to the SD card starts when the motors are running, the GPS has at least got the current date (which is used to form the file name -- on prior to current firmware, there used to be a requirement to have a valid 3D fix) and the throttle exceeds a value of 40% (well, the number 40 features in the code and I'm not sure whether it's 40 on a scale of 0-100 or what -- no comments in the code). But the intent is "if you be at this throttle setting, then you be flyin'....." It continues logging (on the latest firmware) a second or so after motor stop. Andy.
Hey guys, I'm running 10.8.4 on my mac, and I worked through your code, and it seems to have formatted the disk (although the mac immediately told me it couldn't recognize it), and when I run diskutil list it shows up as a FAT16 4GIG disk (which is bigger than I thought FAT16 could be.) Anyway, I put it in the copter slot and it sees nothing. What am I doing wrong? My card was never functioning in the system so I'm in that space of "I don't know what I don't know..."... Any help would be greatly appreciated. Steve
OK, So I've solved my own question. When I bought the system I had two mini sd cards (there was nothing to tell me what that they were different. So, One was a 4Gig card, and the other 2 Gig. I used the above line commands on the wrong card the first time, and the partition size was the problem. So I saw the 2Gig card, went in, formatted it, put it in copter, restarted copter and it came up. Thanks for the forum everyone, it's so helpful.
Yeah, there's a FAT16 file system limit on the microSD card so that the max microSD size is 2GB. That's still a huge amount of flight log data. I use a small piece of PVC electrical tape around the exposed edge of the microSD card and on to upper/lower surface of the Navigation Control board as a safety mechanism so that when I crash (not if), there's a high chance that the microSD will stay with the aircraft. Andy.
I'm not sure if I'm posting this correctly but I wanted to sign up just to say thank you to Gary for posting a simple solution that worked! My SD is under 2G so your instructions were perfect for me. I was formatting a card for a Sigma SD9 camera that can't format cards anymore for some reason, and found the same incorrect instructions online in multiple forums. Yours was the one that worked
Yeah, I was impressed too, Gerri. Nice to see someone using the Forum Search feature (or Google). Andy.