Format or Erase an SD Card

Owned by Stephanie Mulqueen
Last updated: Sept 25, 2024 by BrightSign TechDocs
4 min read

These steps will erase all the contents on the selected storage.  Back up any data you want to keep before proceeding with the steps below.

To format or erase your SD card, refer to the following sections based on whether you are on a Windows system, macOS, BrightSign with BSN.cloud, or BrightSign without BSN.cloud:

Windows

mceclip1.png
Image 1

  1. Connect your SD card to your computer using an adapter if necessary.

  2. Open File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer) by holding the Windows key and tapping E on the keyboard, or running Explorer from the Start Menu. The SD card should appear as a drive letter in File Explorer

  3. Right-click the drive letter and select Format (see Image 1).

  4. Choose exFAT - if using OS/firmware lower than 6.2.94 or using a Series 2 or older player, choose FAT32 (Default) or FAT

  5. Select Start and then format.

  6. Once the process is done, eject the SD card. It is now safe to remove the SD card from the computer.

macOS

Screen_Shot_2020-01-08_at_4.14.21_PM.png
Image 2

  1. Connect your SD card to your computer using an adapter.

  2. In macOS X Finder, go to Utilities (Go > Utilities or ⇧⌘U) and open Disk Utility.

  3. Choose the SD card entry from the left.

  4. Select Erase from the top of the window (see Image 2).

  5. Choose ExFAT - if using OS/firmware lower than 6.2.94 or using a Series 2 or older player, choose MS-DOS (FAT).

  6. Click the Erase button.

  7. Once the process has finished, click the eject icon next to the SD card on the left to unmount. It is now safe to remove the SD card from the computer.

BrightSign Player on BSN.cloud

In the player's remote Diagnostic Web Server (rDWS), the player can reformat the card:

  1. in BrightAuthor:connected, go the Device List in the Network section.

  2. Select the gear next to the player to open the rDWS (see Image 3).

  3. Select the Diagnostics tab.

  4. Select Disable in the Disable Autorun section and confirm you want to disable the autorun.

  5. After the player reboots, go to the Diagnostics tab in the rDWS and select Format Storage in the Storage Formatting section.

  6. Select SD as the Storage and exFAT as the File system. If using OS lower than 6.2.94 or a Series 2 or older player, choose FAT32 instead of exFAT.

  7. Select Format. If you need to make changes to the SD card contents, like adding autorun.zip to apply configuration files or a third-party CMS application, do so now.

  8. To get the player to notice the change to the card, reboot the player in the Control tab of the rDWS or power cycle it.

BrightSign player (not on BSN.cloud)

If you can connect to the player's Diagnostic Web Server (DWS), the player can reformat the SD card:

  1. Open a web browser on the same local network as the player and connect to
    http://playerIPaddress/index.html.

    • If you cannot connect, check the IP address, firewall, and network security. 

    • If you have not connected to the player's DWS successfully in the past, the player may have been configured with its Diagnostic Web Server disabled.

  2. Replace playerIPaddress with the player's LAN IP address. 

    • If you don't know your player's LAN IP address, you can get it from the player's Properties in the BrightAuthor Manage tab, or from the information screen displayed when the player is powered up without storage inserted.

    • If you were previously using a third-party CMS, the Diagnostic Web Server may have been relocated to a different port number, like 8080, in which case the URL to connect to would look like
      http://playerIPaddress:8080/index.html

  3. If prompted for a Username, use admin

  4. If prompted for a Password and you have not previously set a password for the DWS, try the player's serial number in UPPERCASE.  If the serial number does not work, try blank (don't enter a password).

  5. In the Diagnostics tab, go to the Disable Autorun section and click Reboot.

  6. Reconnect to the player's DWS after the player reboots, then select the Diagnostics tab.

  7. Select Format Storage in the Storage Formatting section, then select SD as the Storage and exFAT as the File system - if using OS/firmware lower than 6.2.94 or using a Series 2 or older player, choose FAT32 instead of exFAT. Select Format.

    • If you need to make changes to the SD card's contents, like adding autorun.zip to apply configuration files or a third-party CMS application, do so now.

  8. Reboot the player in the Control section or power cycle it to apply the changes.