A119 Firmware

[Tractor]

Probably the best bet is to try Viofo support. It's been quite a while since the V1 was supersede.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

@CaptureYourAction @viofo @OCD Tronic - Is it still possible to get an a119 v2 conversion kit? My v1 mount finally started acting up so I had to plug power into the side of the camera instead of the mount. The GPS is flaky but at least the camera itself works.

If it's cheap, I'd like to get 2 kits. The second one would hopefully allow me to add GPS to my old pre-production a119 that doesn't have GPS contacts at all.

Not sure. I never stocked the kits. If Viofo doesn't have any left, I may have some spare parts laying around that would convert it over. Pretty sure I wouldn't have enough parts to make two kits, but maybe one. I'll have to check.

 

[OCD Tronic]

@CaptureYourAction @viofo @OCD Tronic - Is it still possible to get an a119 v2 conversion kit? My v1 mount finally started acting up so I had to plug power into the side of the camera instead of the mount. The GPS is flaky but at least the camera itself works.

If it's cheap, I'd like to get 2 kits. The second one would hopefully allow me to add GPS to my old pre-production a119 that doesn't have GPS contacts at all.

We never had the V1-V2 conversion kits in stock. If I recall correctly factory had limited stock awhile ago and someone else had an exclusive on them at the time. Pretty sure they are all gone by now years later.

 

[Kremmen]

This all sounds like a perfect excuse to get a V3 to me

 

[Gibson99]

This all sounds like a perfect excuse to get a V3 to me

If it dies any time soon, I'll probably get an a129 to replace it, or if it's out by then, the street guardian DR.

@CaptureYourAction - I think all I'd need is the back cover with ribbon cable, and obviously the v2 GPS mount. Not looking for handouts, but if you have parts laying around, it might be nice to get them from you. I realize it's been a long time since the v2 came out and those kits were available, but didn't hurt to ask. Who knows, maybe after @viofo gets online he might see this and say he has a few kits laying around he wants to get rid of.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

If it dies any time soon, I'll probably get an a129 to replace it, or if it's out by then, the street guardian DR.

@CaptureYourAction - I think all I'd need is the back cover with ribbon cable, and obviously the v2 GPS mount. Not looking for handouts, but if you have parts laying around, it might be nice to get them from you. I realize it's been a long time since the v2 came out and those kits were available, but didn't hurt to ask. Who knows, maybe after @viofo gets online he might see this and say he has a few kits laying around he wants to get rid of.

Unfortunately, the only spare back I have is a little warped. Pretty sure it wouldn't allow for good contact with the pins/prongs on the GPS mount. Sorry, thought I had enough parts for at least one.

 

[Boogieman]

V4.01 is the current Viofo release. There are mods if you so chose. They can be found by following the MODS thread in the A119 forum.

I can only find version 4.0 on their official page for the A119?

VIOFO A119 V2 Car Dash Camera Firmware

The latest firmware for A119 is V4.0. You can download the attached files and update the firmware accordingly. Changelog: SDK Updated to the latest WDR performance improved Support. TS video format How to update: If your firmware is V1.1 ...

support.viofo.com

I currently have version 3.91 from 2018-07-30.
I cant find improvements for 4.0 vs 3.91 vs my version (as they dont list all FWs - aka from which FW they came when going 4.0).
I can just see that 4.0 improved as below, but maybe there was a version 3.95 between mine and 4.0? And where is 4.01?
SDK Updated to the latest
WDR performance improved
Support .TS video format

Can all FWs be flashed with the MOD FWs here on the forum - they havent "locked" the new ones (i.e. 4.0) somehow?

Thanks - this seems like a great place - I am about to install my A119 (have been in its box a year now so its kindof allready outdated with the A119S that arrived with swivel lens)
Boogie

 

[Tractor]

If you flash the 4.0 firmware it will report 4.01 once installed. There should be no problem using any of BCHobbyist's Mods. If you choose a Mod I recommend 6Rp which gives the best results. The improvements to 4.01 are tweaks and bug fixes.
It regards to being out of date you should look at the A119 V3 samples to the quality available now.

 

[Kremmen]

I'll second BCHobbyist 6Rp

 

[budster]

Hi, I've been off this forum for awhile and just now noticed that there's a newer firmware for my A119 V1 (4.0) than what I had before (3.9). I see that there's an option now in the latest firmware to record in TS format instead of MP4 and will change to use TS based on the recommendations from earlier posts in this thread. I understand the drawback of using TS is that there's currently no known software (or it's very hard to find) to use the GPS data on the TS files (I have the V1 GPS mount). So a program like Dashcam Viewer would not be able to use the GPS data from the TS files to show the route being driven on a map.

I just want to confirm if this GPS limitation with the TS format also means that the GPS coordinates would not be visible anymore when playing back the TS files on a program like VLC. I know with my MP4 files recorded on the A119, I could see the GPS coordinates, along with other information like speed and timestamp, burned into the video when playing back the files using VLC. Does using TS mean that I won't be able to see the GPS coordinates and speed when playing back files? What about the timestamp? I know I can test this all out later, but want to know what to expect.

Also, since I've been having power connection problems with the GPS mount recently (well known problem with V1 models), I'm wondering if there's any point to feeding power thru the GPS mount anymore if I'm going to be recording using the TS format (as opposed to feeding power directly to the dashcam to avoid the power connection problem). If I can still get GPS coordinates to be visible when playing back the video, then I'll continue to try to feed power to the GPS mount and use the zip tie/foam workarounds to have a better connection.

 

[mazinger]

What is the power connection problem? I have the V1 as well.

Is the dashcam turning on and off every 10 seconds something like that?

 

[budster]

What is the power connection problem? I have the V1 as well.

Is the dashcam turning on and off every 10 seconds something like that?

Yes, my dashcam kept restarting every few minutes or seconds. It's only an issue if you have a V1 and are using the GPS mount to feed power to the camera. After I connected the power directly to the dashcam, the problem stopped happening. This problem first happened to me a year or so ago, and I applied some thin foam to the side of the dashcam opposite of the metal contacts for the GPS mount, which solved the problem until recently. Maybe I'll try to re-apply newer foam and use the zip tie workaround, but if there's no benefit of using the GPS mount when recording using TS, then maybe I won't bother and would just then power the dashcam directly.

 

[budster]

Also, does loop recording time really matter anymore if recording using the TS format? There are recommendations to use a shorter recording time like 1 minute to minimize how much of a recording is lost in case there is any file corruption. But I'm not clear if those recommendations only apply if recording using MP4 since there is supposed to be no file corruption when recording using TS?

 

[mazinger]

I have V2 as well, and I used the extra foam tape that came with the dashcam applied to the V1.

Now, I just muted the beeping sound when it started restarting itself.

I got this V1 in 2017. Now, I am looking for the V3 for the replacement when the price dropped.

 

[EGS]

it is best to avoid connecting power to the GPS mount on the V1 models. Connecting directly to the camera is the strongest point of connection and the GPS will still receive power trough the camera and the camera will still get the GPS data as it should...

 

[mazinger]

I think my V1 restarted itself even the power cable connected to the camera.

 

[EGS]

Now I have the A129 pro and I decided to power directly to the camera instead the GPS mount, even though it is a better mount and supposedly there should not be any power issues. By doing that, I'm not losing any functionality and I'm eliminating any provability of power failure in the future caused by a faulty contact between the two parts.

 

[EGS]

I think my V1 restarted itself even the power cable connected to the camera.

You may have an additional issue then

 

[mazinger]

You may have an additional issue then

Time for an excuse to get a new one. Fortunately, I do not have to remove the cable already hardwired. I just need to detach the gps mount and install the new one there.

 

[EGS]

when I had power problems and constant restarts I opened the GPS module and I found the problem. There was a trace and a couple resistor bridges overheating and already charred part of the board where they are mounted.