[SOLVED] GPS Failing ... Capacitor dead? (WiFi on was causing issues!)

OK, so let's be clear about what is happening here... One of the advertised features of the A129 is WiFi, but if you try to use it then other functions of the camera will fail. That certainly changes my view on the reliability of the A129.

Is this a design flaw? Will there be no solution to this problem except for substituting a different brand and/or model of dash cam?

Is there anyone here who can please respond to this issue before any more of us buy this dash cam?
Its not really a problem. There is no reason to have wifi turned on while driving.
 
Its not really a problem. There is no reason to have wifi turned on while driving.

I would agree, but ... these problems arose because I forgot to turn off WiFi.

I KNEW leaving WiFi on was not a good option, but mistakes happen.

The sad thing is, most people don't archive their videos, and don't check each drive in Registrator Viewer, which shows up both the issues very quickly.

The GPS issue is not critical, in my opinion, as it generally only lost position for 1 second at a time.

The shut down corruption, however, is highly critical. It is the one time when the last video recorded may be the most important piece of video to your wallet, and possibly your freedom.

I think the best way to fix this issue, is to simply turn off WiFi when the camera shuts down.
 
Its not really a problem. There is no reason to have wifi turned on while driving.

What you are saying is that it is not a problem for you. That does not mean it is not a problem for others. Some of us may wish to utilize WiFi access while the car is motion.
 
The shut down corruption, however, is highly critical. It is the one time when the last video recorded may be the most important piece of video to your wallet, and possibly your freedom.

I think the best way to fix this issue, is to simply turn off WiFi when the camera shuts down.

We human beings are prone to failure because we are not machines. No matter how hard we try, we will at times forget to turn off WiFi in order to work around a shutdown problem with the dashcam -- because we are human. The only reliable solution here is to address the problem with the machine. And given the opportunity to choose between a dashcam with this type of problem or without, I know which choice I would make. Do you ever want to lose a video file which may be the only proof of your innocence in an insane world?

(Prelude89, this question not meant for you. You already seem to get the true value of a dashcam in the car, and how we need it to working reliably at _all_ times.)
 
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I would agree, but ... these problems arose because I forgot to turn off WiFi.

I KNEW leaving WiFi on was not a good option, but mistakes happen.

The sad thing is, most people don't archive their videos, and don't check each drive in Registrator Viewer, which shows up both the issues very quickly.

The GPS issue is not critical, in my opinion, as it generally only lost position for 1 second at a time.

The shut down corruption, however, is highly critical. It is the one time when the last video recorded may be the most important piece of video to your wallet, and possibly your freedom.

I think the best way to fix this issue, is to simply turn off WiFi when the camera shuts down.
I think your problems with the wifi are unique. For me and most other users, leaving the wifi on just degraded the resolution a bit. I did not experience any issues with the GPS or shut down corruption.

I agree though that it would be nice for Viofo to notify in the manual that wifi should be left off while in use for best performance.
 
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What you are saying is that it is not a problem for you. That does not mean it is not a problem for others. Some of us may wish to utilize WiFi access while the car is motion.
You might want to look into a different dashcam then. But honestly, you shouldn't be using the wifi while the car is in motion anyways, we already have enough texting/distracted drivers killing people as is.
 
You might want to look into a different dashcam then. But honestly, you shouldn't be using the wifi while the car is in motion anyways, we already have enough texting/distracted drivers killing people as is.

OK, you convinced me. I'll buy something else instead.

WiFi radiating from the dashcam is invisible to the human eye. It doesn't block my view out the windshield. And there are other uses for it beside what you can currently imagine.
 
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Most or should i say many that use wifi, for some strange reason use it so they can have a "almost live" stream going on a phone or tablet.
This baffle me cuz you can see far better with your own eyes out the windscreen or in the mirror / turn head behind you, so really it is strange, and also illegal here as it would be looked as a video playing on screen visible to the driver.
Here it is just barely they will allow sattelite photos on NAV units / APPs instead of the conventional MAP look.
But i must admit my old 4 channel analog system i did use the AV out from the dashcam as sort of a screen saver on my 7" head unit, i also tried to drive my car by looking at the screen, and this is highly dangerous even for a person with some skill in FPV controlling RC vehicles of a few kinds ( cars + quadcopters )

As a tester i do use wifi on testing new cameras to put a maximal thermal load on the unit, but this is just for a few longer drives in the start, after that and APP functionality testing i turn off wifi and set the LCD screen of the camera have that to the usual 3 minute timeout instead of always on which i also use to generate heat.

And of course it seem on most dashcams wifi on lower the bitrate, which really are already low enough without wifi on.
 
I think your problems with the wifi are unique. For me and most other users, leaving the wifi on just degraded the resolution a bit.

Are you sure? I wonder how many people check there footage? How many people take their card inside, and view the first file, see it's OK, and conclude the camera and card are still in good order?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Viofo for this situation, as the number of people who both have WiFi on, and view their trips in something like Registrator Viewer, which clearly showed these 2 issues, would be quite small.

This is why I have suggested Viofo should be doing some testing on this.
 
I'm going to do the unusual here by quoting myself from a different thread -- simply because I can imagine several various uses of the dashcam wifi feature, also including being able to keep an eye on your children/passengers in the back seat without having to look backward while you are driving forward. And of course my specific use...

I run an automated archival system that operates in near real time. And I've used it with various dashcams from other manufacturers too. When I pull into my driveway, I leave my dashcams powered on for a short while and an automated system archives videos onto my storage server. And because wirelessly accessing video files stored on dashcams directly can be very slow, I have a laptop under the seat in the car that can pull videos from the dashcams as I'm driving. After a video file is closed on the dashcam, the laptop starts downloading it. And then those buffered files on the laptop can be very quickly transferred to the storage server when I arrive at home. -- All of this occurs without any input from me (except having had to build it), so why would I want any device that needs for me to press a wifi button on and off every time I enter or leave the car?
 
I never use wifi personally, not at home for computers ASO, and never with my phone at home or out.
The only radio waves i like a lot are the ones i need to control my RC toys.
I actually feel like i die a little inside every time i touch my phone, so of course i have made sure it don't ring often as only 10 have my number, so i touch it on average 5 minutes every week in total.
And yes i know i am very special on this matter too, and it can be a issue, like today where i choose a checkout line that was only for credit card or paying with phone, and i don't do either of those.
 
Are you sure? I wonder how many people check there footage? How many people take their card inside, and view the first file, see it's OK, and conclude the camera and card are still in good order?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Viofo for this situation, as the number of people who both have WiFi on, and view their trips in something like Registrator Viewer, which clearly showed these 2 issues, would be quite small.

This is why I have suggested Viofo should be doing some testing on this.

Prelude89, I believe we seem to take a similar viewpoint on the value of reliable dashcam recordings, but unfortunately some others may not be able to imagine the potentially harmful results of a dashcam recording failure that occurs at exactly the wrong time. And your observed case is particularly troubling because there is a good chance of a car's electrical system being damaged in a serious car crash, after which your Viofo A129 may fail to save the recording of the accident upon losing its power because you forgot to press the WiFi button on it before impact. Then if you know you were not at fault in a serious accident in which people were injured or killed, how could you possibly prove it?!
 
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I have had issues with the last files being corrupt when trying to down load them to a tablet using WiFi having installed a new camera last Saturday. Viofo were interested in how long the cameras power light remained illuminated after removing the power source which is about six seconds. They also suggested that the video could be viewed on the camera which they can. I have had the WiFi continually turned on so will see if turning it off solves the issue.

It is my intention to hard wire the camera this Weekend.
 
Having the WiFi turned OFF solved the problem of the last clip before disconnecting the camera from being corrupted. It also enables the camera to begin filming more rapidly when turning the camera on.
 
Having the WiFi turned OFF solved the problem of the last clip before disconnecting the camera from being corrupted. It also enables the camera to begin filming more rapidly when turning the camera on.

So then it is now confirmed that multiple people are having problems with losing the last video file when power is removed from the dashcam.

Viofo, is this a permanent issue with the dashcam hardware or will it be able to be fixed via a new firmware? Are the capacitors not storing enough power to complete proper shutdown upon power removal?
 
Viofo, is this a permanent issue with the dashcam hardware or will it be able to be fixed via a new firmware? Are the capacitors not storing enough power to complete proper shutdown upon power removal?

Not sure if this could be fixed in firmware. There might be enough juice in the capacitors to have the WiFi on for 20% of the shutdown sequence, as the camera disables the WiFi until restart, but I can't see any other way around this issue.

I doubt this issue would be limited to Viofo though. Other manufacturers using similar hardware ought to be experiencing the same issue, unless they have bigger caps in their camera.

The problem for you, jdct, is that your system not only wants the WiFi turned on, but a device connected to it, and receiving a data stream, which will likely suck even more from the capacitors.
 
should be able to

OK, so how do we get the right someone to look into this problem for a potential fix via a firmware update?

Because I'm not very happy about losing the last saved video file upon shutdown. One of these days I might really going to need it!
 
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