Troubleshooting on-camera storage

Scenario

1. Here is an example of logs from an Axis camera showing various errors including "read only" errors.

Errors from Axis' logs:
<WARNING > Jan 18 08:35:13 axis-00408c9465a1 indexer[798]: (database_list_entity_internal:3319) DatabaseError : SQLite error: (14) unable to open database file
<WARNING > Jan 18 08:35:13 axis-00408c9465a1 indexer[798]: Entity list failed: SQLite error: (14) unable to open database file
<WARNING > Jan 18 08:35:13 axis-00408c9465a1 indexer[798]: (database_count_recordings_by_recording_id:1889) DatabaseError : SQLite error: (14) unable to open database file
<WARNING > Jan 18 08:35:13 axis-00408c9465a1 indexer[798]: Failed to get total recording count: SQLite error: (14) unable to open database file

2. Testing SD card on another PC reveals no errors.
3. Putting SD card back into camera still not working, even after reboot.
4. New error in logs: "invalid cluster chain".

<CRITICAL> Jan 18 08:34:48 axis-00408c9465a1 kernel: FAT: Filesystem error (dev mmcblk0p1)
<CRITICAL> Jan 18 08:34:48 axis-00408c9465a1 kernel: fat_get_cluster: invalid cluster chain (i_pos 0)
<CRITICAL> Jan 18 08:34:48 axis-00408c9465a1 kernel: File system has been set read-only

5. Ran "chkdsk /f" and made sure that firmware was 5.40 and above. Issue was resolved.

Actual Cause

In the case of Axis cameras, sometimes Axis mounts these disks as read-only due to errors.

Solution

Run chkdsk to fix it.

Recommendations

1. Use SanDisk brand of SD cards.
2. Use the Ext4 filesystem. (Change to Ext4 filesystem in web-GUI of the camera or via VAPIX.) When running FAT filesystem, SD card stability can be an issue after power failure.

See Also

• (Edge Storage) How to set up on-camera storage for AXIS cameras for recording redundancy