Prism microSD capacity change.

Comments

5 comments

  • RBEmerson
    RBEmerson

    THE FOLLOWING MAY BREAK YOUR PRISM. SENA, OF COURSE, HAS NO REASON TO REPLACE A PRISM BROKEN BY USING OVER-SIZE microSD's! IF THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE

                      STOP NOW! DO NOT CONTINUE!

    IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL BELOW, STOP NOW!

    For anyone who wants to use a 64 Gb microSD, here's how it's done.

    First, the Prism uses FAT32 file system, and that's limited to 32Gb. But...there's a way around that. I've found two programs that will format to almost any desired device or partition size. Once that is done, the Prism will use that device (microSD) without a problem. Sort of.

    First, how to format the microSD. This cannot be done using the camera. This must be done on a PC. AFAIK, there is no Mac version of these programs.

    I recommend going to

    www dot ridgecrop dot demon dot co dot uk forward slash index dot htm question fat32format dot htm

    If this makes no sense to you, STOP NOW!

    On the first line of the page, where it says Note:, at the end of that line is the word "here", treated as a link. Use it to d/l the GUI version of the formatter. If you're good with cmd, use that version. It's all the same.

    Unzip the program into any convenient folder. Connect the microSD. Run the formatter. It will default to 32 Gb, but offer the actual size of the microSD. Pick that, of course. Do a quick format. Using the file explorer of your choice, add the folder DCIM at the root, and 100MEDIA one level down. Use all caps. At the root level, create a file called prism.bin. I used a simple text editor to create an empty file, and renamed it to prism.bin. 

    Eject the microSD from the PC and put it into the Prism - power off, of course. Power up the Prism. The microSD level icon will show an empty microSD (filled icon) - this is as it should be. Start using the Prism as usual. If done correctly, the control panel will show time advancing (video or time lapse) or increasing file count for single and burst modes. If none of this happens, try reformatting the microSD 32Gb. That works, try the formatter again, doing a slow format (very, very slow - it's 64Gb on an microSD, after all). If the microSD works in your PC, it should be fine in the camera.

    Do not format your microSD in the Prism. It can't format a microSD larger than 32 Gb. It won't create 32 Gb partition or anything else. You must format on a PC. Got that?

    If you've gotten to this point and are still confused about the above, killed your microSD, or bricked your Prism, don't blame me. I told you to stop if the instructions aren't clear to you. You're on your own, sport.

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  • RBEmerson
    RBEmerson

    If you survived the above without trauma, you're probably clever enough to say "but the batteries are only good for about half an hour". That's true but... you can use an external battery pack. IIRC Sena sells a small battery pack for big bucks (sorry, Sena, but $100 for a weanie battery pack? puh-leeze!). A famous auction site offers battery packs in the 50,000 mHa range. That's 50K mHa. Run a USB cable from your kick-butt-battery to the camera and film your day away.

                                                WARNING!

    Operating with a cable in the USB port compromises the Prism's water resistance.

    It's your camera, do what you want. I'm just saying...

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  • RBEmerson
    RBEmerson

    Oh my... looks like a security breach to me.

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  • RBEmerson
    RBEmerson

    I have a couple of adjustments to my comments above. First, the microSD icon on the Prism will, in fact, fill up, as it should. It will also show use more or less as it would with a 32 Gb microSD.

    I found that many USB cables won't stay in place, in the Prism's USB port, during a ride. About the only cable that does work reliably is the OEM cable from Sena. But they're to short to reach a battery tucked in a jacket pocket. The work-around is simple. Get a 4' (1.5 m) "extension cord" - male USB plug at one end, female USB connector at the other end. Plug the Sena USB cable into it and life is good.

    A day of riding does not produce one giga-large file. The camera writes a new file about every 50 minutes, 3+ G long. There's about a 10 second gap as the camera closes one file and opens the next file.

    The files fill the microSD. That is, the microSD doesn't just fill and then erase old files to make room for new files. OTOH, a 64 G microSD should last for two days.

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