A119 V2 locks up in my Tesla.

DAP

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Location
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Dash Cam
Two Viofo 129 PRO cameras and a Tesla Model 3 4 Channel
I have an A119 V2 running FWBA119_MOD-6Ro_v4.00+26Mbps+Enhanced+Dice.
This camera was working fine in my last car.
I'm finding that the camera is always locked up when driving home from work.
The camera starts fine in the morning, but I think the 12V in the car never shuts off during the day due to the sentry mode being on.
My old car was never on for more than about 2 hours at a time, but the Tesla will leave the camera running for 10 hours at a time.
I'm guessing that if the camera is left running for long enough it locks up.
I changed the screen saver to off yesterday, and today I found the camera on with a still picture of the parking lot stuck on the screen (wave my hand in front of the lens and nothing changes).
If I pull power and wait for it to shut off, then plug it in again, it starts working again.
I wonder if there is some kind of watchdog feature in the processor that could be implemented to force the camera to re-boot if it locks up.
 
When was the last time you formatted the card? How old is the card?

Maybe try the stock firmware for a few days to see if it still does it.

Also, by turning off the screen saver, your adding more heat. I would keep the screensaver turned on.
 
3 1/2 Things
1. Lucky dude you have a Tesla. :cool:
2. 26Mbs overheating processor as it is sitting in a static environment. (Just a guess here) As @CaptureYourAction suggests reset firmware to @viofo recommendations.
3. If you want to keep the version of firmware, get a timing circuit, find a fuse (do they have fuses still) that looses power when the car is "off" - not in use, and run that to the dash cam usb supply. The timer could be set to say 1 minute after you leave the car and drops the power.

3 1/2 There might be a setting in all that Tesla programming that can override the cigarette lighter (ancillary power connector)? without the need of the circuit I just mentioned. Or you already have a builtin usb that you use, again see if there is an option to shut it off when parked.

Look forward to your solution being posted.

Cheers.
 
3 1/2 Things
1. Lucky dude you have a Tesla. :cool:
2. 26Mbs overheating processor as it is sitting in a static environment. (Just a guess here) As @CaptureYourAction suggests reset firmware to @viofo recommendations.
3. If you want to keep the version of firmware, get a timing circuit, find a fuse (do they have fuses still) that looses power when the car is "off" - not in use, and run that to the dash cam usb supply. The timer could be set to say 1 minute after you leave the car and drops the power.

3 1/2 There might be a setting in all that Tesla programming that can override the cigarette lighter (ancillary power connector)? without the need of the circuit I just mentioned. Or you already have a builtin usb that you use, again see if there is an option to shut it off when parked.

Look forward to your solution being posted.

Cheers.
1. Mostly bad luck. my old car swallowed its turbo. There was no luck involved about the choice for the new car, there was no real alternative.
2. The weather has not been hot in Mountain View, so I don't think it has been overheating. Also the car has overheating prevention enabled. The air conditioner will turn on before the car gets extremely hot.


The camera is wired into the cigarette lighter circuit. This turns off when the car is parked in my garage, but remains on when sentry mode is on.
The software in the car is very thoroughly locked down, worse than Apple in that regard. There are no options with respect to when the cigarette lighter is powered. That would be a nice feature to have as sentry mode does not need to be augmented with the dash cams.
 
So you're probably looking at a DIY in-line switch to manually kill the power.

But, I thought these dashcams turned off into sensor controlled parking mode after a short period of no movement. From what you're saying yours is staying permanently recording ?
 
So you're probably looking at a DIY in-line switch to manually kill the power.
Should find the cause of the problem and eliminate it, not find a cure for the result.
 
I looked at the video recorded by the camera. Friday, the recording stopped at about 1:40 PM, and did not restart until I power cycled the camera when I left work.
On Saturday, the last file was while I was driving between stores. That makes me think it might not just be the fact that the camera has been running too long.
I really wish there was a better way to debug these cameras.
 
And have you tried a different memory card? That one may be wearing out...
 
I looked at the video recorded by the camera. Friday, the recording stopped at about 1:40 PM, and did not restart until I power cycled the camera when I left work.
On Saturday, the last file was while I was driving between stores. That makes me think it might not just be the fact that the camera has been running too long.
I really wish there was a better way to debug these cameras.
You raise a good point that no one here will like (over generalising here) you say "I wish...to debug"
An option added to the dash cam when placed in "debug" mode will record to a structured csv /text or similar, file, file names date and time stamps and error codes the camera may be throwing. @viofo what do you think. Could help @viofo trouble shoot easier. BTW I just copyright that information. Implement it and I'll expect a payment per unit or negotiate an agreement, not being funny here and it applies to all dash cam makers or software modifiers.

@DAP you haven't mentioned or I missed it, have you reverted back to @viofo firmware solely for testing purposes?
 
I have not yet tried a new card or the official firmware. I have very little time to work on this, and I am still gathering information about the behavior.
Today it was not locked up on my drive home.
It bothers me that people expect that a bad memory card can crash & lock up the camera. Why can't the camera detect that the memory card is bad and report an error message? That would be much better behavior than locking up. In my view, if a camera locks up due to a bad memory card, the camera is at fault. The camera should be able to detect the fault and report an error. Failure to do so is a bug.
 
It bothers me that people expect that a bad memory card can crash & lock up the camera. Why can't the camera detect that the memory card is bad and report an error message? That would be much better behavior than locking up. In my view, if a camera locks up due to a bad memory card, the camera is at fault. The camera should be able to detect the fault and report an error. Failure to do so is a bug.
Normally the camera will detect a memory card problem and stop recording, some cameras with a "slow card" message, yours with a few beeps. Don't think it can manage all types of memory card error though, so while investigating the cause of the problem, a change of memory card is a sensible test to do.

From your description, your problem does seem a bit unusual, so some investigation is required.
 
Today, after work, I got to my car to find the camera beeping every couple of seconds, but with no error message on the display, and not recording. It worked again after power cycling.
 
Some times you might have to re-flash the firmware. This is the next stage after checking for problems with the SD Card.
 
Today, after work, I got to my car to find the camera beeping every couple of seconds, but with no error message on the display, and not recording. It worked again after power cycling.
I get that same beeping error when I have forgotten to put the memory card back into the camera. In your case it is obvious the card is in the camera but it does make me wonder if the card for some reason was not available to the software.

Placing the delay startup on the A119 V2 might remove this problem if it needs time to start correctly. I have no idea what a Tesla does when it "starts" but there might be a power drop or surge (I highly doubt it but worth considering) that interferes with the dash cam.
Another possibility but a long shot is there may be very high energy noise (EMF) from the battery pack/s (conditioners) that interfere with the dash cam.

While you mention time is against you at the moment it would really help to have a base to work off. e.g. @viofo released firmware.
Replacing the memory card. Please for the test stay away from Sandisk. I use them for everything else except the Viofo dash cam. It might be there is many counterfeit ones out there.

Look forward hearing how your issue pans out.
 
Started beeping with no error message while I was driving home today. I really wish there were error messages.
 
Tried a different memory card (had to order one), Still locks up.
 
Have you gone back to the factory firmware yet from the Viofo website?

If not that should be the first thing you do next.
 
Are you still running it 24x7 due to the Tesla wiring ?
 
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