A129 Pro firmware

[OzAdam]

The problem with the beep problem is that not everyone is experiencing it.
Besides myself, there are quiet a few users that never had the beeping issue.

I have the A129 Pro Duo running the 256GB WD Purple surveillance SD card and haven't heard beeps for many months. I did have a couple randomly in January this year since getting my dash cam in September 2019. No issue for several months now. Everything just works (recording wise) without issue on FW 1.1 at this point of time for me.

SD card hasn’t been removed since January and is looping.

 

[tarkus]

I have the A129 Pro Duo running the 256GB WD Purple surveillance SD card and haven't heard beeps for many months. I did have a couple randomly in January this year since getting my dash cam in September 2019. No issue for several months now. Everything just works (recording wise) without issue on FW 1.1 at this point of time for me.

SD card hasn’t been removed since January and is looping.

What kind of recording resolution, bitrate and parking mode do you use?

 

[Florin1up]

A lot of factors come in to play about the beep problem.
One thing for sure is the beeping indicates recording error,
and for the most cases, it is when the card is full trying to erase data to make space for new recordings.
Too much heat, not enough power, slow card erase speed will contribute to the beeping recording error.

I am experiencing as other people here, the same problem: after card gets full, it doesn't record anymore. This is my case:
- second camera installed, bitrate high, parking mode on with 3fps , 10 minutes loop recording, FW version 1.7T
- using 256 Gb microSd samsung EVO
- No problems until card gets full. If I format the card (low level) will work again until gets full.

What I checked and tried so far:
- I increased the size of recording file to 10 minutes (so when will erase a record will make more space than erasing a small size file)
- I Created a sepparate partition on SD card thinking that if some part of the card is not used, will help.
- Airconditioner blowing cold air over the camera, temperature was ok, error still appeared after card was getting full. Then, I turned off the air flow when card was just formatted, camera was getting very hot but no errors.
Nothing solved this issue so far.

Is there any way of implementing a longer delay so the camera have more time to erase the recordings from SD card? I would't mind if I would have a gap of few seconds between recordings (at least it would continue instead of doing nothing)

I was looking after a SATA to microSD card adapter so I could plug somewhere "hidden" a 2.5 inch hard drive or an SSD which has better read/write performances but I could't find such adapter so far.
I may try to do a small microcontroller circuit which would detect when camera is not recording and "press" the button.

 

[ty04]

Just installed an HK3 to get parking mode to (hopefully) work more reliably. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem the V1.7 20200417 firmware works with HK3 (my set up works with a regular A129 so it is software related).

Which beta firmware works with HK3 parking mode? And it’s safe to flash an older firmware, right? Yes it is.

update: I tried all versions of beta firmwares (v1.2-1.7 and every version of each) and none worked with the HK3. Only v1.1 I got working with the HK3. Is this the case for everyone?

 

[programatix]

Just installed an HK3 to get parking mode to (hopefully) work more reliably. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem the V1.7 20200417 firmware works with HK3 (my set up works with a regular A129 so it is software related).

Which beta firmware works with HK3 parking mode? And it’s safe to flash an older firmware, right? Yes it is.

update: I tried all versions of beta firmwares (v1.2-1.7 and every version of each) and none worked with the HK3. Only v1.1 I got working with the HK3. Is this the case for everyone?

I'm using HK3 and it powers the dashcam properly. It can also go parking mode. Note that most beta firmware has 90 seconds delay after you switched off your car before entering parking mode. This is very true for version 1.7T.

My dashcam came preinstalled with version 1.3 and it goes to parking mode immediately. I'm currently using this version. My card is Samsung EVO Plus 512GB.

I connect the HK3 to the GPS.

However I'm facing infinite beeping alert after it enter parking mode (low bitrate) during day time (at 9am?) and it won't record. This happen 7 out of 10 times. Unplugging and replugging the power when car is off will reboot it and enter driving mode. It records fine. Weirdly, there is no issue with parking mode at night.

I'm also facing issue where the dashcam turns itself off in parking mode at daytime. Presumely due to temperature because it records the whole night for 12 hours without turning off. But if I turn the car on and leave it for half and hour without air conditioning, it never turn itself off. So, perhaps the auto turn off by temperature is only happening in parking mode.

I'm currently going to test plugging the HK3 directly to the dashcam and see if the issues remains.

Note: My A129 Duo (not Pro) works flawlessly with the HK3 plugged into the GPS module.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

 

[ty04]

Note that most beta firmware has 90 seconds delay after you switched off your car before entering parking mode.

Thank you, I did not know that. Just tried again with the 20200604 v2.0 firmware and yes there is a delay. I’m glad I don’t have to use v1.1 anymore haha.

 

[programatix]

Thank you, I did not know that. Just tried again with the 20200604 v2.0 firmware and yes there is a delay. I’m glad I don’t have to use v1.1 anymore haha.

Where did you download version 2.0?

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

 

[ty04]

Where did you download version 2.0?

A129 Pro v2.0 20200604

 

[programatix]

A129 Pro v2.0 20200604

I downloaded and compared the binary with version 1.7T and it is identical. Wrong link?

Update: I found out that there are multiple versions of 1.7T from https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a129-pro-firmware-links.42229/. I then checked the 1.7T links I received from Viofo support and found that there are differences in the binaries. Before this I totally thought that they are the same and the Viofo support mistakenly sent me a new link to the same binary. Viofo should increment the versioning.

 

[ty04]

I downloaded and compared the binary with version 1.7T and it is identical. Wrong link?

The camera and app reports it as v2.0. Maybe @viofo is going to make this the official release?

 

[programatix]

I'm currently going to test plugging the HK3 directly to the dashcam and see if the issues remains.

Plugging the HK3 to the GPS module and directly to the dashcam body show no difference in operation. Whatever issues I'm facing when connected to GPS module also show themselves when connected to the dashcam USB port. So I think I can safely rule out "input power port" as the source of my issues. I'm getting confused on this topic because I'm seeing a lot of comments and youtube videos saying that we must connect the HK3 directly to the dashcam USB port.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Plugging the HK3 to the GPS module and directly to the dashcam body show no difference in operation. Whatever issues I'm facing when connected to GPS module also show themselves when connected to the dashcam USB port. So I think I can safely rule out "input power port" as the source of my issues. I'm getting confused on this topic because I'm seeing a lot of comments and youtube videos saying that we must connect the HK3 directly to the dashcam USB port.

That was for earlier manufactured models. Anything being manufactured now can use either port.

 

[AlexTan]

A129 Pro v2.0 20200604

Is this Official 2.0?

 

[TonyM]

A129 Pro v2.0 20200604

Did you get that link direct from Viofo, or is it on DCT somewhere?

 

[jokiin]

Did you get that link direct from Viofo, or is it on DCT somewhere?

they posted the link here somewhere a day or so ago

 

[TonyM]

they posted the link here somewhere a day or so ago

@viofo can we have a sticky or updated post at the start of this thread with the latest FW?

 

[TonyM]

Initial observations on V2.0 Low Bitrate Parking Mode
I ran my A129 Pro for a few hours indoors, powered by a USB charger. The camera switched to low bitrate after a few minutes without movement.

- When there was a visual motion detection trigger, the camera switched to full bitrate for 5 minutes, then went back to low bitrate

- When there was a physical g-sensor trigger, the camera continued recording in low bitrate but moved the video to the RO folder

There were no random beeps or missed recordings.

I am continuing the desktop test today. I will re-install the camera in the car and test it with HK3 soon.

 

[Nigel]

- When there was a visual motion detection trigger, the camera switched to full bitrate for 5 minutes, then went back to low bitrate

Does that introduce any gaps in the recordings, or can you concatenate all the video segments to give a seamless result?

 

[TonyM]

Does that introduce any gaps in the recordings, or can you concatenate all the video segments to give a seamless result?

There's a 2-3 second gap when switching from low bitrate to full bitrate, and the same again when switching back to low bitrate (not 6 seconds as the time stamp suggests)

 

[Nigel]

There's a 2-3 second gap when switching from low bitrate to full bitrate, and the same again when switching back to low bitrate (not 6 seconds as the time stamp suggests)

Pity it can't make use of its memory buffer!

The old low bitrate mode is variable bitrate and does increase the bitrate when there is a lot of movement, not much on the A129, but significantly on the A129 Pro. (Need to use Bitrate Viewer or equivalent to see what happens within the files.) So I'm wondering if this new system is actually an improvement, given that a 3 second gap just as something comes into view could miss the important bit?