Format Card message - and now I can't open the Menu

[CountryBumkin]

I got a message on the screen this morning while driving to work that said "Format Card", then a another message popped up saying "All Data will be Lost - Okay or Cancel". I toggled to the "Ok" and pressed the button to accept or enter. Nothing happened. Should I see a message saying "Format Started" or such? I figured it is formatting.

A few minutes later the "Format Card" message came up again. This time I selected the "Cancel" choice. Nothing happened.

A few minutes later the "Format Card" message came up again. I selected "Ok" but still nothing appeared to happen.

When I got to work, I wanted to manually format the card. I tried to open the Menu, but it does not open. The Record light is off. When I press the Menu button it beeps, but the Menu does not open. I powered down then powered back up but still can't open the menu.

Any ideas as to what is going on?

I am using the microSD card that came with the unit. It has been working fine. I removed the SD card on Friday to review the recordings on my computer and they looked fine. Maybe something got messed up when I reinserted the SD card - but it did appear to be working fine this morning for the first 15 minutes of my commute, up until the Format message came up.

 

[alexsoll]

maybe the memory card died.
Try formatting in a digital camera (low-level formatting),
if the result does not change, then most likely the card in the scrap

 

[DT MI]

...I removed the SD card on Friday to review the recordings on my computer and they looked fine.....

Is your computer a Mac? They are known to create havoc with anything that is not 'Apple Approved'.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Sounds like a bad card

 

[jokiin]

sounds like a card problem, can try a full format in the PC and then format in the camera afterward and it might be ok

 

[CountryBumkin]

On the way home tonight, I was having a new problem. The unit would power up for a second then shut down. The "Power" and "Mic" lights came on but unit shut it self back off before the SG logo screen came on. I thought maybe the cigarette lighter plug was loose so I unplugged and re-plugged a few times. Finally after five attempts it stayed running. I went into the menu but couldn't find the Format Card item (and I didn't have the manual with me) so I just left it recording. When I got home I looked up the format instructions. I went back out to car to try and format but now it won't stay powered up. If my power plug is acting up I need to fix that first.

Could a flaky SD card cause a power up problem too? If not, then something is wrong with my cigarette lighter plug (which is weird because I haven't had any problem at all with the camera until I removed the SD card on Friday and reinstalled this morning). I'm thinking maybe removing and reinstalling the card messed up something with the SD card contacts.

I'll try again later but the "Trick or Treaters" are going to be coming soon - so I may need to wait until tomorrow.

My computer is a PC running Win10 x64

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I've seen bad cards cause boot loop/stuck logo before. Rule that out if you can next.

 

[CountryBumkin]

I'll try to get a nice clean format first, then I'll report back. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

See how it behaves with no card inserted too when it's acting up.

 

[jokiin]

Could a flaky SD card cause a power up problem too? If not, then something is wrong with my cigarette lighter plug (which is weird because I haven't had any problem at all with the camera until I removed the SD card on Friday and reinstalled this morning). I'm thinking maybe removing and reinstalling the card messed up something with the SD card contacts.

when you took it out did you remove the camera from the car or just took the card out?

if you do find there's some problem with the power adaptor just let us know and we can arrange a replacement for you

 

[DT MI]

...I'm thinking maybe removing and reinstalling the card messed up something with the SD card contacts....

It's possible. I had a 'one time only' issue some time back right after putting a card in the camera where I got the 'Insert SD Card' message. All I did was take the card out and reinsert it and all has been OK since.

 

[CountryBumkin]

I just got into the camera's Format menu. I hit "Format Card" > "Okay", then the screen said "Please Wait" and then it jumped back to main camera view. Does a format take about 1 second?

Should there be a confirmation message - like "Format complete" or "Format In Process"?

Sorry - I just noticed there is a question I missed. I did not remove the camera, just the SD card.

 

[DT MI]

I just got into the camera's Format menu. I hit "Format Card" > "Okay", then the screen said "Please Wait" and then it jumped back to main camera view. Does a format take about 1 second?

Should there be a confirmation message - like "Format complete" or "Format In Process"?

Yes. No acknowledgement of status or completion.

 

[jokiin]

only takes a second or two, if a card is bad though that won't show up in camera as it only rests the file allocation table so if there are still issues best to test the card in your PC using h2testw which can be downloaded from the support page of our website

 

[CountryBumkin]

Everything is working normally this morning.
No errors or format messages driving into work. It looks like the card format fixed it.

 

[jokiin]

Everything is working normally this morning.
No errors or format messages driving into work. It looks like the card format fixed it.

just keep an eye on it and let us know if any anomalies at all