Incorrect date causing 'regularly format memory card for data integrity' error

secretlone said:
May I ask if this battery is the same one that is used on the F750? My camera is finally experiencing the date/time issue and when I emailed Thinkware, they basically said the internal CMOS battery has stopped working and offered me 40% discount on a new upgrade since the model is now discontinued.. I’m going to try and fix it myself since I’ve onlythis camera for 2 years and I’m not ready to fork out another $400!

thanks in advance!
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yes it is
 
CZroe said:
I used that one to successfully repair my Thinkware F750 almost exactly a year ago:
74222937513e2dc94b491621324b4bb6.jpg
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Thank-you!! Does it matter if the brand is Seiko? I've been looking on eBay and Amazon...and there non-branded ones listed for sale...does it really matter what brand it is?
 
secretlone said:
Thank-you!! Does it matter if the brand is Seiko? I've been looking on eBay and Amazon...and there non-branded ones listed for sale...does it really matter what brand it is?
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It doesn't matter. Even those weren't actually Seiko. They were just saying that it works as a replacement battery for some Seiko watches.

Good luck! 🙂
 
I also have problems with my F750 camera with F770 FW.
Every time I start my car I get the message that I need to format the memory card.

'regularly format memory card for data integrity'​


What have I done to solve the problem?

-Format performed by pressing format on camera.

-Via Thinkware App with Wifi format card

-Checked the recordings on the card and the date is correct.

-Card removed from camera and format tried on PC, but card is not recognized via USB card reader.
Tried on several computers, but no success.

What else can I do to solve this problem?

It drives me crazy
 
try another card , cos it's not normal that your pc doesn't recognise it
(it might just be the card reader that is the problem)

if no problm with the card then seems it's the internal battery
 
Thanks for fast reply..

I forgot to mention that I also used several card readers.

I am now going to buy another card and let you know if this was the solution to the problem.

Now the camers FW 1.00.06.

Is it advisable to upgrade to FW 1.00.08?

Can I just insert the card into the camera and format it for first use?
Or do I need to put an FW on the card?
 
i would:

- try to format the new card in the pc to make sure you don't have the same problem
- then put card in camera & format
- test if camera now works
- if it works, download new firmware & upgrade

- note: even IF the camera stil gives the "format message" you can upgrade.
the camera will definitely work, but it's just harder to find the images in case you need them, because the dates are all mixed/wrong

the "format card" message does NOT mean that the camera no longer works.
the camera just looks at the (wrong) date and thinks it's been a long time since you last formatted.

as described in the thread, you can change the internal battery yourself. But it requires some guts, and you should be prepared to take the risk (to brick the camera)
if you don't feel confident, then just take it to an electronics repairman & have them do it.
However, make sure you familiarise yourself on how to open the camera & where the battery is located, so you can guide them on the process


PS: Misschien kan je hem naar Philips brengen, die zitten toch niet ver weg 🙂 🙂 🙂
 

egonvdv​

I''ll have to wait for the new SD card and follow the steps you mentioned.

@Philips is helemaal weg uit Eindhoven, Datum weergave in de opnames is nog goed,dus ik denk dat het de SD kaart is,omdat hij niet meer te benaderen is via de pc.

We gaan het zien,let you know
 
egonvdv said:
i would:

- try to format the new card in the pc to make sure you don't have the same problem
- then put card in camera & format
- test if camera now works
- if it works, download new firmware & upgrade

- note: even IF the camera stil gives the "format message" you can upgrade.
the camera will definitely work, but it's just harder to find the images in case you need them, because the dates are all mixed/wrong

the "format card" message does NOT mean that the camera no longer works.
the camera just looks at the (wrong) date and thinks it's been a long time since you last formatted.

as described in the thread, you can change the internal battery yourself. But it requires some guts, and you should be prepared to take the risk (to brick the camera)
if you don't feel confident, then just take it to an electronics repairman & have them do it.
However, make sure you familiarise yourself on how to open the camera & where the battery is located, so you can guide them on the process


PS: Misschien kan je hem naar Philips brengen, die zitten toch niet ver weg 🙂 🙂 🙂
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I have had it over-write footage it should not have because it had the wrong date and could not reliably tell what footage was the oldest. Ended up losing footage of people trying to break into our vehicles as a direct consequence of this glitch.
 
What I did to shut mine up was manually change the format date in the .bin file on the card. Once the gps connects, it updates the rtc so there are only a couple files in the morning that are out of date. As long as the camera has power during parking mode, it keeps the rtc correct. Now I need to make a card for updating the daylight savings garbage. I really wish daylight savings would go away and stay constant, don't care what cycle stays.
 
that wasn't the case for me. when the internally battery died, the camera would always start with the same date/year, i think it was 1970.
even with GPS connected, it would never get the right date during the drive
so @CZroe has a point about files being overwritten, as in this case new files might have the exact same dates as older ones ...
 
Fixed the problem.

By surprise the SD card was now recognized ,only after many attempts with several card readers.
  1. Format in PC
  2. Then start Thinkware viewer and format the card again
  3. Installed in my camera and started up without the irritating message.

Now all works fine again!
 
Yeah i am also against daylight savings. with all the looking at phones now people get plenty of light.
 
egonvdv said:
thinkware singapore put me in touch with a company in the UK: https://chameleoncodewing.co.uk/

they will replace the batteries free of charge. you only have to pay postage fee to them,
and cameras are returned for free.

so to anyone with the same problem, i would definitely advise to do this, rather then trying to change the battery themselves,
as it can be a risky business as you can see from previous posts.
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Hi, is there some official way to do it, or how can we arrange this thing? I'm from Slovakia but I bought my F770 in UK, and probably it will be easier for me to send it to UK, like doing this battery changing by myself.
 
sorry i don't follow you...

i posted how to proceed in the post that you replied to ...?
 
I work for Chameleon Codewing in the UK and have changed several batteries, a vast majority of them when the unit is about 4/5 years old with literally a couple done under warranty. The battery is one of these and does need unsoldering / resoldering. Not too bad to do as long as you have some knowledge, worst case im sure a mobile phone repair shop could do it if you took them the replacement battery.


Sorry to say what you Quoted above about returning them to the UK should never have been said by TW Singapore! We are just a TW Distributor and won't be paying return postage costs for units we didn't sell!
 
that's strange, as i contacted the company & they did did confirm it.
though in the end i decided to risk it and do it myself...

edit:

just found the email exchange from 2019 with Clive Johnson
it was about 2 cameras actually; de F750 & F770, which i'd bought on amazon & ebay.
it was confirmed they would replace both batteries ......

((btw i only now noticed that it's the same company / email address as thinkware UK where i bought my latest U1000 🙂 ))
 
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egonvdv said:
edit:

just found the email exchange from 2019 with Clive Johnson
it was about 2 cameras actually; de F750 & F770, which i'd bought on amazon & ebay.
it was confirmed they would replace both batteries ......

((btw i only now noticed that it's the same company / email address as thinkware UK where i bought my latest U1000 🙂 ))
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Ah OK, Clive is our Thinkware EU man as he is multilingual i suspect we had sold those units in question so we would try and look after them 😉
 
WeedeaterDM said:
What I did to shut mine up was manually change the format date in the .bin file on the card. Once the gps connects, it updates the rtc so there are only a couple files in the morning that are out of date. As long as the camera has power during parking mode, it keeps the rtc correct. Now I need to make a card for updating the daylight savings garbage. I really wish daylight savings would go away and stay constant, don't care what cycle stays.
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What change did you make to the format date in the bin file? Did you set it way off in the future or something else? Thanks
 
If you open the 'format time' bin file with Notepad you will see it's just a year, month & date as mentioned if you change the year to years in the future and then save that file it may stop it.

Do you think you have a faulty RTC battery or do you just want to stop the 3 week warning?
 
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