Mobius dash cam problem

[Dashmellow]

Thank you. No doubt the higher resolution will be accompanied by a higher cost! Pardon my sarcasm.

\Well, it seems everything is more costly lately, no?

Of course, the Mobius has been on the market for about a decade and a new version would involve a newer more sophisticated DSP and whatever other components may be involved.

 

[Dashmellow]

Don't remember which were the symptoms, but I succesfully saved a Mobius motherboard by reflow-baking it in the oven (killing the mic in the process...but then I installed an external mic plug-in switch).

Glad to hear that worked. I found it easier to just buy a new board so I essentially had a new camera.

 

[JBR]

Don't remember which were the symptoms, but I succesfully saved a Mobius motherboard by reflow-baking it in the oven (killing the mic in the process...but then I installed an external mic plug-in switch).

Oh, I don't think so. The wife will kill me if it falls into whatever she's cooking.

 

[TonyM]

If Tony's ideas haven't worked, I shall have to buy a new camera. The one advertised on Car Camera Shop UK is only described as Mobius Action Camera and appears to be the same as the models I have. No mention of 'M1S'.
Of course, this will cost over £100 including capacitor (and mount, which I don't really need) and VAT! I suppose it's worth it, though. I might get the wife to buy me one for Christmas, if necessary!

From your photo of the interior, I believe you have the A2 lens Mobius 1? You can buy this camera-only from the official UK reseller Webbex for £60 (+£4 postage) :

NEW MOBIUS 1S LENS A2 1440P ACTION CAMERA MINI DVR – Webbex Mini DV Cameras

minidvcameras.co.uk

Hopefully the reformat will have sorted things for you. If not, wait a little while to see what the M1S offers. It has not been announced yet, so you won't find any details online.

 

[Matt_V939]

Oh, I don't think so. The wife will kill me if it falls into whatever she's cooking.

Seems there are other methods

 

[JBR]

From your photo of the interior, I believe you have the A2 lens Mobius 1? You can buy this camera-only from the official UK reseller Webbex for £60 (+£4 postage) :

NEW MOBIUS 1S LENS A2 1440P ACTION CAMERA MINI DVR – Webbex Mini DV Cameras

minidvcameras.co.uk

Hopefully the reformat will have sorted things for you. If not, wait a little while to see what the M1S offers. It has not been announced yet, so you won't find any details online.

That's exactly the same camera I have, but much cheaper than Car Camera Shop. Even with VAT, it would cost only £72 by my reckoning (plus postage). That's where I'll go if this one still won't work.

 

[JBR]

Seems there are other methods

Good idea! I can suggest that to the wife as an easier method of making cheese on toast!

 

[JBR]

Success!
Tony, having formatted the camera (to FAT32) using the utility as you suggested, I took it out to the car and plugged in as normal. Upon starting the engine, I could see the red LED at the back and the yellow LED underneath flashing slowly, as they should be. I left them recording for a minute or two, then brought the camera back indoors.

Connecting to the computer using a USB cable, I was able to view a clear recording. Incidentally, as you mentioned, connected to the computer in this way both of the LEDs are glowing steadily. Great news, and it saved me over £70, though I'd have gladly paid that if necessary.

An excellent camera which, obviously, only needed reformatting.
The only little niggle is that the time seems to be set at about an hour ahead of the actual time.
Thanks, Tony, and everyone else who helped, for your advice. I've had this camera for years (it's the older of the two) and was very pleasantly surprised to find that it now works perfectly again. I can't thank you enough.

 

[TonyM]

The only little niggle is that the time seems to be set at about an hour ahead of the actual time.

You can easily reset the date & time using mSetup. Look for the option on the first page.

 

[JBR]

You can easily reset the date & time using mSetup. Look for the option on the first page.

Thanks. Yes, I thought the 'Sync date and time' button was on when I formatted the camera today. I'll do it again for both cameras later today. I suppose the time and date would be best set correctly in case of any legal claims.

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm pleased to hear that you've got the camera working again @JBR. I'm a bit puzzled though.

My original advice was to reformat or replace your memory card along with the need to make sure the card was formatted with the correct File Allocation Table accordingly (exFAT or FAT32) .

Try reformatting the card or replace the card.

Whether you used the in-camera formatting routine with the camera connected to the computer with a data cable or a separate formatting utility on 32GB cards it should work to reformat in FAT32 either way by default but you replied that this advice didn't work for you.

Thank you, Dashmellow.
I have two more SD cards, both 32Gb, and which have/had earlier recordings from the camera and which can be played back perfectly. I have reformatted one and tried that in the camera, but the end result is the same: a constant red LED.

@TonyM essentially gave you the same advice about reformatting, so after re-reading this thread carefully I'm curious to know what exactly you did differently that got the formatting to work this time?

Again, I'm pleased to hear you got it sorted at any rate.

Success!
Tony, having formatted the camera (to FAT32) using the utility as you suggested

 

[JBR]

I'm afraid I don't know what I did differently this time. Yes, I did earlier reformat one of the cards (it must have been the one I reformatted again, as the other one still has some recordings on it), but I can't remember what I must have done differently. If I remember correctly, I must have used the same reformatting facility in the mSetup.zip facility.

On that point, whenever I have tried to open mSetup.zip from the Internet, Windows tells me that it is dangerous and I have to fiddle about with it and tell it to open anyway.

 

[Dashmellow]

Did the utility you used do a low level format? If so, that may the explain the success, especially if there were a problem of some sort with any of your memory cards.

I'm not sure what you mean by, "open mSetup.zip from the Internet"? mSetup.zip is a compressed archive you initially download from the internet, unpack and then install locally on your computer. There would be no need to "open it from the internet" each time. When you launch the software it does check for any available updates however. Is that what you mean?

 

[JBR]

Did the utility you used do a low level format? If so, that may the explain the success, especially if there were a problem of some sort with any of your memory cards.

I'm not sure what you mean by, "open mSetup.zip from the Internet"? mSetup.zip is a compressed archive you initially download from the internet, unpack and then install locally on your computer. There would be no need to "open it from the internet" each time. When you launch the software it does check for any available updates however. Is that what you mean?

I'm not sure exactly what a 'low level format' is. The format I did was offered on the software which opens when I click mSetup.zip - the Mobius ActionCam Configuration Utility/Tools.
In fact, this is exactly what I'd like to do: to 'unpack' mSetup.zip so that I can install it locally on my computer, especially as it is something that I expect to use quite often.
I apologise for my being less than conversant with some of the intricacies of accessing this software. Ideally, I'd like to simply click a saved programme in order to use it. An additional problem is that Windows thinks the download is 'unsafe', for some reason.

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm not sure exactly what a 'low level format' is. The format I did was offered on the software which opens when I click mSetup.zip - the Mobius ActionCam Configuration Utility/Tools.
In fact, this is exactly what I'd like to do: to 'unpack' mSetup.zip so that I can install it locally on my computer, especially as it is something that I expect to use quite often.
I apologise for my being less than conversant with some of the intricacies of accessing this software. Ideally, I'd like to simply click a saved programme in order to use it. An additional problem is that Windows thinks the download is 'unsafe', for some reason.

When you click on a Zip file it should unzip and present you an installation file in a new folder that you then install on your PC.

What Is Low-Level Format and How to Low-Level Format SD Card

Do you know what low-level format is and how you can achieve this for your SD card? In this article, you will find the answers you seek.

recoverit.wondershare.com

 

[TonyM]

In fact, this is exactly what I'd like to do: to 'unpack' mSetup.zip so that I can install it locally on my computer, especially as it is something that I expect to use quite often.

Download the mSetup ZIP file from here: http://www.mytempfiles.info/mobius/index.html



Inside the ZIP archive is a single file, which you can extract to any location you want:




I have an mSetup folder within my Documents folder. This is where I copied the mSetup.exe file:



Now you can double-click on this to run the application, or create a shortcut in your start menu for example:

 

[JBR]

Ah! Thank you both. Done that, and it's much quicker and easier to open now.

 

[JBR]

I'm sorry to report that my problems are not over!
My wife went out in the car today with both cameras connected and each having lights which flashed slowly, which I think is normal.
Unfortunately, although both recorded the journey correctly, the playback is jerky - stop-start all the way through.
When I plugged each camera into the computer, the yellow light was flashing rapidly, which wasn't the case yesterday when I had reformatted one of them.
I'd be grateful for any suggestions of what has gone wrong and what I could do to make these work properly again.

 

[Dashmellow]

This sounds like a memory card problem or playback problem on your computer.

Are you trying to play the videos directly from your camera or the memory card plugged into the computer? If so, you need to copy the video files from the memory card to a folder on your hard drive and play the video clips from there.

Also, multiple yellow flashes can mean there is no SD card inserted in the camera or the card is full or the card is not formatted correctly. Perhaps something is corrupting your memory cards even after reformatting them? How old are they?

I might consider trying a brand new factory fresh memory card at this point.

 

[JBR]

Thanks for getting back to me, Dashmellow.
Yes, I was trying to play back the recordings through the camera. I hadn't realised that this wasn't possible. I do now, of course!
I took out the SD card from the camera and inserted it into the laptop. Great news: it played back perfectly.
I have also formatted both cards again and inserted them into the two cameras. When I plug into the computer using USB, the lights on each illuminate correctly - both steady.
I assume now that both should work correctly.
I'll have a short drive round tomorrow and see if the recordings are good, but will remember to put the cards into the computer rather than plug in the cameras.
Incidentally, is it best when formatting the cards to do that directly in the computer or is it OK to do it within the cameras via USB lead?
Thanks again for your help. Much appreciated.