SD Card obliterated. - iFly Owners Q&A - iFly EFB

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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Owners Q&AiFly Owners Q&ASD Card obliterated.SD Card obliterated.
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1/8/2022 11:10 PM
 

I had my 740 running on my desk.  Updated the backup SD cards via iFly Connect.  I then figured I'd update the SD card in the 740.  I pressed the button on the side of the 740, got the "Shutting down in..." window, pressed the shutdown button.  Removed the SD card, and put it in my desktop.  iFly Connect says it can't find an SD card.  Make sure the card is inserted.  So I pull it out, make sure it's not locked (it wasn't, and shouldn't have been, but...).  Reinsert.  Still can't find the card.  Check file manager and it says there's no information on the SD card.  I click on properties, but it can find no file system.  The only option I have is to format the card, which will erase all of my old data, layouts, etc. 

Any other options, ideas?

 

 
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1/9/2022 7:15 AM
 

I assume that you tried reinserting it into the 740, and it also doesn't find anything on the SD card?  If so, then it does sound like the card contents are toast, and even the card itself may not be salvageable.

Without the resources of a data forensics lab, there will probably be no answer to why the data was lost.  Events such as yours are not common, but they do happen occasionally. Here's an example that sounds very similar to your experience:  https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4104264

 
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1/9/2022 4:41 PM
 

Given the questionable condition of the card, I'd buy a new one, fornat it, then copy all the contents from your back-up card to the new one. IIRC, this has worked for me in the past, but it's been years now so ...

 
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1/9/2022 5:02 PM
 

Yes, tried it again in the 740, and it couldn't find the program.  Have tried several times to read it with the desktop, even let it rest over night.  Still no luck.  Looks like I need to get a new card.  What's the minimum sized card to run iFly and hold all the associated personal information (flight plans, waypoints, flight tracks, etc.)?

 

 
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1/9/2022 6:52 PM
 

User data (flight plans, custom waypoints, etc.) take up a negligible amount of space.  Also, unless you're puling SD cards from a museum, the base iFly software will probably fit on the smallest card you can find with room to spare.

The primary size driver for your card is going to be how much of the available aviation data you want to download.  There's a big size difference between carrying around just the VFR data for Arkansas or Idaho vs. all the VFR+IFR data for the entire USA.  

You mentioned that you have backup cards (plural).  You could just use one of those and be done with it.  But if you want to replace the card you lost and want a guide to what size you need, pop one of those backup cards into your PC, right-click on its drive letter in Windows Explorer, and select "Properties" to see how much space is being consumed on it.  (If you want to see the maximum space iFly can consume with data, then update one of those cards with the entire USA dataset and then check its Properties.)

If I recall correctly, the SD card must be formatted in FAT32, which has a maximium capacity limitation of 32GB, so any card bigger than that will just have unusable/wasted space on it.  If you're buying something new, 32GB cards are easy to find for under $10 so there's little financial benefit to trying to get anything smaller to save money.  If you're scrounging around in the miscellaneous computer parts shoebox in your closet, just look for something big enough to hold at least what you see saved on your other backup cards.

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Owners Q&AiFly Owners Q&ASD Card obliterated.SD Card obliterated.