A119 Firmware

[jokiin]

do you just rotate the cards or do you use them in some other device also?

what cards are you using?

 

[ember1205]

Typically, I will use a card until I take it out because I want to save something that I captured. I swap in a different card at the time I take out the card in question. After I retrieve the data that I want from the card, I put it back into the small carry case where I keep them, and it goes back into the truck.

I use these ONLY in this camera.

They're Lexar 64G cards. These, specifically: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B012PLSFH6

 

[dash1]

Typically, I will use a card until I take it out because I want to save something that I captured. I swap in a different card at the time I take out the card in question. After I retrieve the data that I want from the card, I put it back into the small carry case where I keep them, and it goes back into the truck.

I use these ONLY in this camera.

They're Lexar 64G cards. These, specifically: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B012PLSFH6

Interesting. Those are supposed to be well regarded for this purpose.

 

[ember1205]

I've been using them exclusively for about 18 months with this camera and never had an issue. This is why I immediately pointed the blame at the camera and not the card.

 

[jokiin]

Interesting. Those are supposed to be well regarded for this purpose.

They used to be a good choice, depends how old they are

 

[5Cowbells]

Why in the world does it completely erase the card when it fills up instead of simply deleting the oldest x number of files? 1, 2, 5.. whatever. There's no reason that it needs to completely erase the card when it near full.

One possibility: The A119 uses the file date and time to figure out which file to overwrite next when the card is near to full. If date/time for some reason defaults or is significantly inaccurate, the current file might be dated earlier than older files and consequently each new file gets overwritten by the Loop Recording function when the card is near to full. The last 6 seconds may have survived because you turned the camera off before the Loop Recording function timed out.

I've taken the cards out of the camera bunches of times and always had at least 6-10 files present. But, now that I think about it, I've -NEVER- seen a mostly full card even after driving for hours and hours. So, it apparently wipes the card when it's near full.

Based on what? I've never had an issue with these cards.

So, I ran a recovery program and it recovered a LOT of data (which was great). However, it seems that all of the MP4 files it was able to retrieve were from June of last year. I do swap cards in the camera periodically, so it doesn't alarm me that it found so many files from so long ago. However, this card has been in the camera for maybe a month or so. And it didn't seem to recover ANYTHING from any other window of time. Very odd.

And I've now basically completely lost faith in the camera's ability to be recording. I'll have to format the card and then check it periodically to see if the camera is functioning properly or not.

Six to ten files seems to me to be an abnormally small number of files for a full card, but that is dependent on the capacity of your card, the Loop Recording setting, and how many files are in the RO folder. For reference, I use 32GByte or 64GByte capacity cards and a 3 minute Loop Recording setting. Fake cards may be a small capacity card described as being a much larger capacity card. Running the H2testw test suggested by @Mtz should reveal if such is the case.

Viofo has stated that corrupted files can sometimes be repaired by playing them back in the camera. This would be time consuming for a large number of files, so maybe a recovery program is better. But you might give it a try.

I would recommend reformatting the card in the camera after you review and copy wanted files to a PC or other device. You need to clear out your RO files occasionally, or risk losing them - It is possible for them to be overwritten by new RO files when the card is full. I have good confidence in the camera as long as it is powered properly and has a good microSD card.

 

[Gibson99]

Another thing is that when you put the card in a computer or other device, windows/Linux/macos/Android/etc will write stuff to the card, often in hidden folders. Sometimes, especially in Linux and Mac, the files you tried to delete in the computer will actually be moved to a separate hidden folder on the card named trash or trashbin or something like that, and the files will still take up space on the card, and unless you turn on a specific option in the file manager program on the computer, you won't see this folder/files. That could easily explain why it only had one or two files when you stopped.

This hidden stuff is is also why the default in the camera used to be to nag the user to format the card any time the camera detected that the card had been modified outside the camera.

 

[DAP]

I have had bad luck with Lexar cards in dashcams. I had two 128 GB cards, one is now completely dead, and the other was causing memory errors every 20 hours or so. I no longer use them in dashcams.

 

[5Cowbells]

I recently ran across this interesting post relating to the general maintenance of microSD cards: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/all-data-will-be-erased-cancel-ok.30674/#post-361069.

 

[SawMaster]

Lexar used to be one of the best for cams, but around 18 months ago reports of problems began emerging and the consensus was that Lexar had cheapened the manufacturing process As they are no longer in the removable memory business it's now a card brand to avoid.

Phil

 

[Mtz]

Based on what? I've never had an issue with these cards.

On this:

I've taken the cards out of the camera bunches of times and always had at least 6-10 files present.

and on this:

Six to ten files seems to me to be an abnormally small number of files for a full card

How you recovered files from 9 months ago which were not showed on a card I don't understand. Your card is good for sure, just not try to use my advice to test it with the most recommended program in the world.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[ember1205]

How you recovered files from 9 months ago which were not showed on a card I don't understand. Your card is good for sure, just not try to use my advice to test it with the most recommended program in the world.

enjoy,
Mtz

I don't understand, either. It's like the camera somehow got stuck in some odd loop where it could only write to a portion of the card, and only a couple of files at a time or something odd.

I will be checking to see what sort of data the card currently holds, and will re-format again to be sure that nothing odd from external access is creating issues.

FWIW, my question of what the "you've got fake media" comment stemmed from was sincere. My history with this card is that it works fine. I have an issue that is clearly "one-off", and the comment immediately comes out that it's fake without citing anything that led to that conclusion. But, now that you've responded with even more condescension instead of helping me understand, I'll stop trying to learn and just accept everything I'm told.

 

[Gibson99]

I don't understand, either. It's like the camera somehow got stuck in some odd loop where it could only write to a portion of the card, and only a couple of files at a time or something odd.

I will be checking to see what sort of data the card currently holds, and will re-format again to be sure that nothing odd from external access is creating issues.

FWIW, my question of what the "you've got fake media" comment stemmed from was sincere. My history with this card is that it works fine. I have an issue that is clearly "one-off", and the comment immediately comes out that it's fake without citing anything that led to that conclusion. But, now that you've responded with even more condescension instead of helping me understand, I'll stop trying to learn and just accept everything I'm told.

Firstly, mtz's native language is not English, so there's that. Second, using h2testw (link in my signature) is a very simple test to perform to rule out that possibility. The symptoms you describe are the same/similar to what long time users like us have seen - both personally and what others have reported here - when someone had a fake or failing memory card. So that's why the suggestion was made. immediate dismissal is also quite common when testing is suggested - I was guilty of it myself the first time I had a card die on me. "I've never had a problem before" isn't a good enough reason not to test a card. That's kinda like saying "hey these tires have 100k miles on them and I haven't had a problem with them before", and then acting surprised when you suddenly hydroplane or have a blowout. Memory cards DO wear out, especially in devices like dashcams where the card is constantly being overwritten. Reading from a card doesn't wear it out, so a card can last for ages in a cell phone or similar device. write cycles kill cards, and dashcams are, by design, something that will eventually kill a card.

 

[ember1205]

@Gibson99 - very reasonable explanation, and I appreciate you taking the time to post it.

I guess I left out details on my side as well... I'm quite familiar with SD cards and solid state media in general. I understand the P/E ratings and how/why devices wear out over time. This particular card is one of four that I have owned for about 18 months or so and has been "put through the rotation" a few different times. Although, rotation isn't really the right term because there's no pattern to when I swap cards, why, or to which one. The fact that I recovered a number of videos from this card dating back over 9 months indicates how little it has been used over that time because it has only been back in the camera for about 6-8 weeks. In that time, I've logged about 1,000 miles as the truck has spent a LOT of time parked at the airport while I've been traveling.

So, in my mind, the likelihood of failure is basically zero because the card hasn't gotten used and there definitely has NOT been enough use to cause any wear or failure as of yet.

 

[Mtz]

Thank you @Gibson99 for understanding my poor english and using your time to explain more detailed why is needed a test with that program. I am helping people on forums from more than 12 years and I learned that when an user is asking for support but he is not doing the necessary steps to stop helping him. Maybe some other people want to waste their time.
No h2testw test = No more support

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

So, in my mind, the likelihood of failure is basically zero because the card hasn't gotten used and there definitely has NOT been enough use to cause any wear or failure as of yet.

brand new cards can fail, they don't need to be old

 

[Gibson99]

Yep, the card that died on me had been used in my smart phone for about 6 months, basically just storing mp3s and photos taken with the phone. Put it in the dashcam and it died within a couple months.

Now, when I pull my cards every month or so to clear out RO files and such, I run h2testw to make sure the card isn't degrading or starting to fail. Best to find out about it "on the bench" as it were, instead of in the car, where many dashcams do not give you any warning till you go to retrieve an important video and find it's not there.

The way I found my dead card was similar to your description here. My wife told me to check her camera because some idiot ran a red light and she almost hit him. Checked the card, and the newest file was 3-4 days old. Nothing had been saved in the last 3-4 days, even though the car had been driven daily, and the camera made its normal startup noises and behaved as if nothing was wrong the whole time.

Just make sure you have everything you want to keep off the card before running h2testw, since you need to format it first to allow it to test the full capacity of the card.

 

[mealto]

The way I found my dead card was similar to your description here. My wife told me to check her camera because some idiot ran a red light and she almost hit him. Checked the card, and the newest file was 3-4 days old. Nothing had been saved in the last 3-4 days, even though the car had been driven daily, and the camera made its normal startup noises and behaved as if nothing was wrong the whole time.

One of the biggest benefit of going with the A119 is that there is an audible warning when there is something wrong and the card is not writing properly. Does your wife have the A119? I a little more concerned now if her cam was indeed the A119.

 

[ember1205]

brand new cards can fail, they don't need to be old

That's true. Electronics fail at initial startup or when they first receive power of some sort due to quality issues with the product out of the box. If they work the first time, they tend to work over and over again without issue so long as there isn't something that's experiencing "wear" (like the cells in a SD card). So, in the case of memory cards, they either fail right away, or after providing the expected usage. Occasionally they fail in between, but not that commonly.

Since my card worked out of the box and was working properly for short periods when it was in use, I have no reason to believe that it wasn't working properly all along and should be continuing to do so.

One of the biggest benefit of going with the A119 is that there is an audible warning when there is something wrong and the card is not writing properly. Does your wife have the A119? I a little more concerned now if her cam was indeed the A119.

I've heard that "beep" happen a few different times over the 18 months I've had the card. Once, it went on until I formatted the card - clearly something corrupted or was causing a significant issue. The other couple of times, it was a single beep never to occur again for thousands and thousands of miles. Absolutely no way to know why it was beeping, either. When I pulled the cards and inspected them, they appeared to be working properly and there was a few dozen files on the card including all of the mileage most recently driven.

 

[radier]

Stop making off topic in this thread.