SPEC NERDS LISTEN UP: How to Get the Best SD Card Performance on TX16s with EdgeTX

There will be charts, and data. Buckle up.
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#RCVideoReviews #opentx

[@RCVideoReviews]

During the live stream I stated the transfer speeds as xx Megabytes per second and I should have said 0.xx Megabytes per second. All of the copy times were SUB 1 Megabyte per second.

[@CesarGomes1978]

I'm getting back to the hobby after 15 years... From a Hitec Eclipse 7 to a Radiomaster TX16s. Thank you for your content, it's helping me to get updated and I'm enjoying a lot.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Awesome. Glad to help. Welcome back.

[@ssrattus]

Best Edge TX resource channel! Thanks!

[@RCVideoReviews]

You're welcome. Thanks for the comment.

[@old-rcplane-phart]

I learned a ton from this channel! Picked up on everything & set up almost 30 planes from these videos. 1st day was 🤯. 2nd day, better. Yesterday (3rd day), it all clicked 👍😁! I sold a rektum ix20se for $500, got the ag01 tx16s. Love the tx16s! Rektum is absolutely over-priced trash, imho

[@RCVideoReviews]

Welcome to the dark side.

[@ronaldcobbs5260]

Thanks. Very useful content. I've always had difficulty with the SD card in the tx16S. You fixed that for me.

[@RCVideoReviews]

You're welcome!

[@jimmydoolitle3764]

Just bought your recommend sd card. Followed your instructions and my Radiomaster running EdgeTX no longer stutters. Plus it's GUI is snappier just like you said. You see. This is just yet another one of the many reasons I am a Patreon to your wonderful channel. Thanks.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Glad to hear it! Always makes me smile when I know the video content is helping people out.

[@williamcox3852]

Nice information John. Makes our job to format these cards the right way. Keep up the good work.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Thanks Bill. Appreciate the kind comment.

[@BlizzardActual]

Thanks for this. I just reformatted the cards for my TX16S and my Pocket to drop the AU sizes from 32k to 4096. I'm using Sandisk Industrial 8GB cards, btw. My reasoning when I bought them was that I wanted the most reliable card I could reasonably get, because I figured a difference in read/write performance might not be noticeable, but I'd definitely notice if my card stops working.

[@crash_gordon]

I'll be darned. When I upgraded to 2.8, I started getting choppy audio on the first wav track that would play when I switched to a model. I assumed it was a 2.8 bug. After swapping to a good SD card and formatting it as you suggested, everything plays smoothly.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Nice! Tell your friends, I’m here all week.

[@Ingles1266]

Once again Obi-Wan to the rescue... worked perfect, thank you!!

[@RCVideoReviews]

You're welcome!

[@davedave6565]

Really good info, thank you.

[@RCVideoReviews]

You bet!

[@kosolhirunsri8599]

Good info, Thank You.

[@alantoseland6629]

Hi John, very interesting information. Followed your instructions to the letter and found things have improved. Now I've noticed that when I go into the menu, everything seems to load in the right order. PS don't worry about Spock and Jim, they were both down the pub last night and seem OK 😂

[@RCVideoReviews]

Good! Glad the information helped you get your radio running more smoothly.

[@ralph_sports]

John nice tip! I got my TX16s a few days and I will buy a new SD Card and do this procedure, because Iam with the original SD Card yet. Thanks!!!

[@RCVideoReviews]

You're welcome.

[@Wim_Snor]

Good information. Nerdy, but very usefull. Since I am a nerd, I will follow your advice, thanks!

[@RCVideoReviews]

You're welcome.

[@derektran9404]

One thing is for applications like this you want to look at application rated SC Cards. That rating is meant for SDs being used as static memory for a device such as a phone, Raspi, or in this case, TX.

[@gerryherman7420]

Thanks!

[@RCVideoReviews]

You bet! Thanks for hitting the tip jar.

[@fredaw61]

Good advice. I do have a question. After I switched the SD card content to 2.9.0 My radio is slow to power on, so is this due to the partition and block size? I have 8gig Gigastone.

[@zira_fluff4105]

Interesting analysis. My ELRS equipped TX16S came with a no-name 512MB microSD card. Using the windows command line tool diskpart, I was able to see that RadioMaster has the 512MB card configured for FAT and with a 16KB block size. I'm suspect that the EASEUS utility, which I don't have currently installed, would show the same information. Now I'm really curious about the no-name SD performance. Will run some tests (backup SD card first of course!)

[@VernStarr]

One of the best things i did to speed up my overall backup/restore times was to delete sound files for languages I don't use. They're by far the largest part of the default SD card load you download for EdgeTX. Since i only fly quads and only use a fraction of the available English sound files, I could probably go even further and curate the files down to only the ones i actually use (low battery, telemetry lost, etc). I don't know if it impacts in-radio performance but it definitely makes a massive difference when I am backing up the SD card to a folder on my PC.

[@VernStarr]

So it was a little tedious but I went through and deleted all the sound files I don't need and the total SD card contents are now under 7MB. I couldn't get the EaseUS program to allow me to delete or create partitions on the SD card without buying a license first (so much for the free version I guess) so I used the "Disk Management" function built in to Win10. I deleted the primary partition and created a new one with only 256MB and 4096 byte allocation units. Copying the entire SD card contents to my backup folder now takes less than 15 seconds. I don't know if there's an in-radio performance boost but it seems like it's doing well. No startup/shutdown sound stutters and the ELRS LUA script opens maybe a little quicker than before. I have my radio set to automatically connect as a USB drive when I plug in the cable, and Windows now mounts it pretty much instantly.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Nice work!

[@DaveNorthWest]

Wonder why the firmware for the TX16S's doesn't have a format sd feature with base folders and some files to make Edge work with minimal shit?

[@thereallucci]

Great video! I tried to format a 16 gig sandisk ultra and place all my copies Boxer files on it using the partition and formatting method in the video. When I installed the SD card in the Boxer it is showing “No SD”. I tired the card in Fat32 format and Fat just to see and still not working. I placed my old SD in and it works like a charm. Any ideas?

[@MaxPower-zp7wy]

I'm having an issue in the UK trying to buy a customised version that gives me an option for LBT European Firmware and not FCC. The link RM sent me has options for LBT or FCC but doesn't allow me to customize it. I have two colour choices. When I look for TX I can fully customise the LBT or FCC options aren't there ??? Help

[@Retset]

Very useful (I watched because you mentioned it in the recent pilot jam btw). Weirdly, I checked my card and both it and every SSD in my W11 is on 512 byte sectors - not the default and certainly nothing I ever did. This is using System Information. I have a 16GB Panasonic C10/U3 in mine that is surplus from a camera. It mounts in 1-2 secs. I do sometimes get a stutter on startup but it's a custom sound that it is playing whilst booting so I forgive it that. Question: I still use Amber plus some custom sounds (never tried the Edge soundpack). Does this have any negative impact?

[@RCVideoReviews]

No negative impact using custom audio or Amber. That should be fine.

[@Retset]

@@RCVideoReviews Cheers! I'm off to see how that 70" Slick flew now. I love my EF 48" Extra and can only imagine how lovely a 70" EF machine is!

[@sgilb9471]

Thanks for this video, and all of the research and testing behind it!! Your conclusion was to use a 4GB partition. But early in the video you made the point that 256MB is really plenty. So, why not go with a smaller partition? 512MB is probably plenty big, and would mount faster, right? You showed that block sizes larger than 4KB are bad. But what about smaller block sizes? Are there gains available with smaller block sizes? One other little point: When you were surprised how quickly the 128GB card mounted...I think it was because you actually plugged in a 2GB card - NOT a 128GB card.

[@RCVideoReviews]

At the end of the video I said I wold probably try an even smaller partition. Smaller block sizes reduce windows copy speed.

[@henryhartsfield4574]

I have a question about the Radio Master TX 16S when I first got it I didn't know I was doing ended up deleting a lot of model blanks I think I'm up on like 40 something now is there any way to get these back? Thanks!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Model blanks?? I'm not sure I follow.

[@modelmanmark]

Great video John however I don't recall you mentioning the obvious question. Are there any disadvantages in just leaving in the supplied 256mb SD card?

[@RCVideoReviews]

As I said in the video, the generic cards are markedly slower in file operations with windows.

[@Invid72]

I have a Boxer Max and the startup time was slower than I saw for others online. When I swapped out the SD Card for another one I had lying around (64GB Samsung - WAY overkill, but it's what I had that wasn't in use) my startup time was dropped by 75% or more. The cards Radiomaster ships are pretty poor quality.

[@ThLDQ]

Hi John. This video is very interesting on the Windows side. But what on the Tx16S side ? How does the card size, the format, the cluster size affect the radio ?

[@RCVideoReviews]

Since the F4 can buffer 4KB per USB request/reply, that is the best size to use. Anything smaller and Windows slows down substantially, and you don't gain anything except more efficient storage consumption on the card which isn't really meaningful given the paltry amount of space required for Edge. 4KB is the right size. Ideally the smallest partition will be the fastest.

[@ThLDQ]

@@RCVideoReviews Will the radio make any difference between a 4 k formatted card and a 32k formatted card ? That is the question

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yeah, it gets really choppy using 32k block size for audio and images. It's a pretty bad experience TBH.

[@CamdenWallraff]

Funny enough, I've never managed to do anything to the SD card while it's in the radio, so I ALWAYS take it out and put in the computer whenever I change files, then put it back in the radio flash updated firmware via the downloaded files. Would I need to do anything special in this case? (Fwiw, i have a 32gb sandisk)

[@RCVideoReviews]

Still follow the guidance in the video for best performance while actually in the radio which is where the proper formatting is needed for best performance.

[@titusandrew946]

How big of a card do I need for 15 models? Also I’m pulling a syntax error when trying to make a model with my zorro. Any clue why?

[@RCVideoReviews]

The stock card is more than adequate for 15 models. Regarding the syntax error, please join discord and ask there.

[@frisos3944]

Can you format the card while in the tx, or do i have to buy a card reader?

[@RCVideoReviews]

You can format it while it's in the radio.

[@terrordactyl4425]

As I have the Eachine TX16S I presume this will be ok for it as well?

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yes. Same hardware under the shell.

[@BenFist]

Hi, do you think this is also optimal for the Radiomaster Boxer? Or should I leave the card as it is? Greetings

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yes. Same CPU family which means it'll have similar communications bus parameters.

[@RCVideoReviews]

www.utmel.com/compare/STM32F427VGT6--4859968-vs-STM32F407VGT6--4812882

[@BenFist]

Thanks for the quick response!@@RCVideoReviews

[@fredaw61]

I also looked on my 256mb card that is saying the card is full and I do not see any zip files.

[@RCVideoReviews]

There's a free tool called Treesizefree for Windows. There are also free tools for Mac if you use Mac, but the name escapes me. Download one of these tools that can help you figure out what's taking up all the space on your card. A stock/basic install of EdgeTX with audio files is something like 25MB. So you have LOTS of space left on a 256MB card.

[@fredaw61]

@@RCVideoReviews thanks, I will have to look into that. I use a PC with Windows 10. Normally I extract all files to a folder on one of my drives. I don’t notice any duplicate files.

[@kenimhof9333]

How can I determine the existing block size?

[@RCVideoReviews]

I haven't found a way to identify the existing blocksize. So I just choose to be deterministic about it. Backup, Partition, Format.

[@kenimhof9333]

@@RCVideoReviews , Okay, but what block size should we use for BetaFlight logging?

[@RCVideoReviews]

No idea, I didn't test for BF logging or the MCU's on which logging takes place. This video is specific to the TX16s and EdgeTX.

[@BlizzardActual]

In Windows you can use the DiskPart command line utility for this. After selecting the appropriate volume, the "filesystems" command will display the allocation unit size, and it will also list the filesystems and au sizes that you can use on the volume if you wish to format it, which you can also do with DiskPart.

[@kenimhof9333]

@@BlizzardActual Excellent Information. Looks like SD Card Formatter, which is recommended for BlackBox Logging is FAT with 32K allocation table.

[@bcflyer99]

Mine came with 128mb

[@flapslafferty7805]

I installed the free version of the easeus program and it performed the first function of deleting the existing partition on my 32GB SanDisk Ultra SD card. Then when I set it up to re-partition the drive for only 4GB, easeus puts up a window to upgrade for $40 to the paid version before it will go any further. Now I just have an unpartitioned drive that Windows 10 can't even format. Any ideas, John?

[@dozdogcatcher]

Don’t use Windows!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Sounds like you have the wrong version. Mine has never asked for money. It pops up an ad at the end asking me to upgrade, but it lets me perform all of the functions just like I showed in the video. Make sure the title of the window is "EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition"

[@2nir2]

You don't need any extra software. Just define the volumes you want in windows disk management

[@RCVideoReviews]

Windows disk manager does not give full control over allocation table configuration. It is linked to volume size just like the standard formatter.

[@2nir2]

@@RCVideoReviews​ I don't think understand you completely. I was able to set the partition size, block size and file system type using windows disk management tool. I set up a 4GB FAT32 partition with 4KB blocksize on a 64GB SD card that way. Is that any different than what you did?

[@ronaldcobbs5260]

Thanks!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Thanks for hitting the tip jar.