GoCams and all GoLive models with firmware dates July 2023 or later send thumbnails to the app that are marked with an SD card symbol with a slash through it to indicate that there is a problem with the SD card. Either there is no SD card in the camera or there is a problem with it.
While this this feature does allow the camera to send photos without an SD card installed, it is not recommended to deploy your camera in the field without an SD card because it will limit several functions of the camera.
SD Error Icon on Photos
When there is an SD card symbol on the bottom left of a thumbnail or at the bottom left of the screen when viewing a photo, that means that the photo was taken and the thumbnail sent but the original photo was not written to the SD card. Therefore, you cannot request an HD photo or a video. The screen shot below shows several thumbnails with that symbol, then photos without it. The first photo without it is the photo with an F on the info strip that indicates that the photo was taken to confirm that the format worked.
When you view one thumbnail, it looks like this. Notice that the buttons for requesting the HD photo and video (if the camera is set to photo + video) are missing because those files were not written to the SD card.
The photo file numbers on the portal look like this. All of the photos that have the SD card error symbol on the app are numbered 1. The photo taken after the format command completed (outlined in blue) is numbered 1 and has an F on the info strip but no SD card error symbol in the app. The photos that follow are numbered correctly.
SD Error on Status Report
For these cameras that have SD card errors, you can check the camera's Status Report for information on the SD card.
On both examples below, “Error Detected” is shown for the SD card state. On the one on the left, "62MB Free" is shown. That means that there is no SD card in the camera or that the camera is unable to read the SD card. (Format has been requested.)
On the status report on the right, the camera is still able to read the SD card although there is a problem, then the free space on the SD card is reported but there is a serious problem with the SD card. (Format has not been requested.)
SD Card errors can be caused by:
- SD card is missing
- SD card is not seated in SD card slot
- SD card is seated but cannot be read by the camera
- SD card cannot be written to due to some write error
- SD card is locked
- SD card is larger than the camera supports (Over 32GB for GoCams, over 128GB for GoLive).
If the camera is still able to read the SD card and the error is being caused by something like a read/write problem with the SD card’s file system, then a Format command may fix the issue. If it does, you'll get a photo with an F on the info strip and the SD card icon will disappear from the photos.