A129 Collision Footage Lost...

[HonestReview]

@teefdoc , just ignore @HonestReview

Ya that's right... ignore the fact that these instances are often attributable to ignoring supported memory cards or improperly installing / setting up dash camera..

Yep.. Dumb advice... I've never had a problem and I own two of these cameras.

 

[HonestReview]

Sorry my post wasn't very clear. The 1:50 long footage starts from when I switched my ignition on in my garage, and ends when I just came to a stop at a good distance behind the truck, which is waiting at a stop sign. My car was still in "D", and the stop was brief, so I don't think the dash cam was switching to parking mode. After all I've had no problem with the cam until this incidence. The next clip I could find was the 0:13 clip, which starts some seconds after the impact. Both of these clips were regular clips recorded in full bitrate. The clip after this 0:13 clip was recorded in low bitrate parking mode, as I switched off my ignition to interact with the other driver.

Sorry by "buffered clip", I didn't mean buffer mode, I meant that the clip containing moments immediately before and after the impact was missing. In this case, there is a gap of 12 seconds. I flipped through the footages on the dash cam around 30mins later, but I couldn't find the impact clip. I initially thought, oh, that clip must have been moved to a safe folder ("RO folder"), however there was no such folder created when I read the microSD card on my PC.

1. Did you inspect the card using a computer?

2. What memory card do you use in your device? Sd cards like Sandisk Ultra Plus are not supported and will cause random freezing of camera or erratic behavior. I found this out the hard way as that's what I had handy at the time of purchase. After reading forum, I saw why I had problems, and that this card wasn't supported.

Don't know the technical explanation behind the issue, but I do know that replacing the Sandisk Ultra Plus with a Sandisk A2 Extreme has been rock solid.

 

[HonestReview]

FYI: When I say have a problem, I did have gripe about tint, but there was no overcoming the camera + tint. factor Tint blocks light and the CPL caused refraction. I griped but in the end, the issue is my end, not cameras. Less light = Harder time getting a clear picture at night. Simple as that.

 

[jdct]

When we need video footage, it's often not to be found and then everyone who frequents this forum writes it off as a one time thing -- again and again and again and again.

I misspoke earlier. Perhaps it would be more fair to say that "some people who frequent this forum write it off as a one time thing -- again and again and again and again." My apologies to everyone else who has not posted three times in a row on this specific topic since my above statement was made.

 

[HonestReview]

I misspoke earlier. Perhaps it would be more fair to say that "some people who frequent this forum write it off as a one time thing -- again and again and again and again." My apologies to everyone else who has not posted three times in a row on this specific topic since my above statement was made.

You just said the same thing over.....Again, do you now what SD card OP uses? If he has camera setup Properly? Hard to make a blanket statement without knowing the facts....

The Viofo A129 is rated as a very reliable camera. It's not to say that these cameras don't have hardware issues. There are threads about the lens being improperly focused and getting a dud camera. It happens. But the large majority are just fine. So unless OP has had regular issue with his unit, then chances are the problem lies with the OP.

Without knowing what SD card he uses, he might be using one that isn't well supported. Or he could have an issue with how camera is powred by the cell link battery, since his isn't hard wired if I recall.

 

[teefdoc]

I use a Samsung EVO plus 128gb. I remember reading that the microSD card should be reformatted every 2months or so, but I haven't done it since April.

My A129 is hardwire to the cellink battery with the HK3 kit, then the cellink is hardwired to the car battery. When the car's running, the cellink is bypassed, and the dash cam is directly powered by the car battery. I'm pretty sure the connection is correct, as I followed instructions from Blackboxmycar and other users on this forum, and I have never encountered any problems with the system until now.

I tested my dash cam just now by slapping it with my ignition on. It did show the triangular caution symbol, and the impact clip was saved in the RO folder, the way it was intended to be.

Based on everyone's inputs, I think there are two possibilities:

1) The dash cam or the memory card glitched out after the impact. Instead of creating a RO folder and relocating the trimmed impact clip to the folder, the clip was deleted all together for some reason.

2) perhaps the dash cam did momentarily lose power due to the impact and failed to write the impact footage to the memory card. However the capacitor was able to prevent it from fully turning off, so I didn't hear a start up tone.

Thanks for all your help. As much as I hate to say it, I think all I can do at this point is to reformat my microSD (after backing up everything), update my firmware, and hope this really was a "one of" incidence.

 

[TonyM]

Most of this is attributable to user error and not a faulty camera.

A. User didn't hardwire their camera properly so parking mode doesn't work.
B. Firmware 1.5 and earlier didn't support buffered parking mode. So if you used motion detection, it wouldn't capture the event prior to the impact.
C. I recommend all users enable low bitrate parking mode. It's far more reliable. Even taking into account firmware 1.8 with buffered parking mode.
D. User doesn't follow recommendations and utilize a memory card that isn't supported. For instance, I had a Sandisk Ultra and camera would freeze at random. On a Sandist A2 Extreme 128 and 256GB, never once had a problem.

Let's try to help @teefdoc rather than assume user error

 

[TonyM]

The 1:50 long footage starts from when I switched my ignition on in my garage, and ends when I just came to a stop at a good distance behind the truck, which is waiting at a stop sign. My car was still in "D", and the stop was brief, so I don't think the dash cam was switching to parking mode.

You have 3 minute loop duration. The camera should not end a file at 1:50 when you come to a stop. Does your car have auto stop/start?

I suggest you do a test by doing the same thing again. Switch on the ignition, then drive a bit and come to a stop at less than 2 minutes. See if the camera mode changes, or the recording ends.

 

[HonestReview]

I use a Samsung EVO plus 128gb. I remember reading that the microSD card should be reformatted every 2months or so, but I haven't done it since April.

My A129 is hardwire to the cellink battery with the HK3 kit, then the cellink is hardwired to the car battery. When the car's running, the cellink is bypassed, and the dash cam is directly powered by the car battery. I'm pretty sure the connection is correct, as I followed instructions from Blackboxmycar and other users on this forum, and I have never encountered any problems with the system until now.

I tested my dash cam just now by slapping it with my ignition on. It did show the triangular caution symbol, and the impact clip was saved in the RO folder, the way it was intended to be.

Based on everyone's inputs, I think there are two possibilities:

1) The dash cam or the memory card glitched out after the impact. Instead of creating a RO folder and relocating the trimmed impact clip to the folder, the clip was deleted all together for some reason.

2) perhaps the dash cam did momentarily lose power due to the impact and failed to write the impact footage to the memory card. However the capacitor was able to prevent it from fully turning off, so I didn't hear a start up tone.

Thanks for all your help. As much as I hate to say it, I think all I can do at this point is to reformat my microSD (after backing up everything), update my firmware, and hope this really was a "one of" incidence.

1. So when you drive, does the camera record in normal mode (No "P" symbol)? And when you park and shut off engine, does camera beep and enter "P" mode?

2. Sounds like your memory card was the issue. I'm not sure if the Samsung Plus 128GB EVO is a supported card. By by the fact you only have a 1 min 50 sec video, instead of a 3 minute, is clear evidence the card glitched. I use the Sandisk A2 Extreme and never had an issue with recording.

Some Possibilities:

A. Your card is developing bad sectors (run a check disk on it). Thus, it glitched and failed to record if one of these sectors had been reached when trying to record
B. I'm not sure formatting will make a difference, but you can try...I've run my card for months and months and no problems at all.
C. The SD card isn't support (Someone else must answer this. I don't know)

 

[HonestReview]

You have 3 minute loop duration. The camera should not end a file at 1:50 when you come to a stop. Does your car have auto stop/start?

I suggest you do a test by doing the same thing again. Switch on the ignition, then drive a bit and come to a stop at less than 2 minutes. See if the camera mode changes, or the recording ends.

I'd bet my money on a bad SD card that is developing bad sectors or Unsupported SD Model (Anyone else run Samsung Evo Card?).

 

[jdct]

@TonyM 's advice is solid. Also, if @Nigel happens to chime in, he often has good advice too. And there many others here too who have not yet contributed that can help you to avoid the problem happening again if you work with them.

 

[TonyM]

@TonyM 's advice is solid. Also, if @Nigel happens to chime in, he often has good advice too.

Thanks, but I know a lot less than quite a few others around here. I'm just trying to offer some helpful advice.

 

[SawMaster]

By by the fact you only have a 1 min 50 sec video, instead of a 3 minute, is clear evidence the card glitched

Not necessarily- you'd get the same effect if power were temporarily lost. If the loss was momentary, the cam may (or may not) have shown a re-boot cycle. This is something I'm experiencing with a different cam and a bad PS connection: the cam LED goes out, the connection is remade quickly, there is no re-boot shown on the screen but the LED comes back on- and there's a both a shortened file and a gap in the recording as has happened here. Something similar could have occured with the card itself in the socket.

Sorry this brings us no closer to a solution but I didn't want us to eliminate looking into a real possibility. Unless the card shows bad when tested I'm inclined to think this was a power-loss issue myself but I can't prove it.

Phil

 

[HonestReview]

Not necessarily- you'd get the same effect if power were temporarily lost. If the loss was momentary, the cam may (or may not) have shown a re-boot cycle. This is something I'm experiencing with a different cam and a bad PS connection: the cam LED goes out, the connection is remade quickly, there is no re-boot shown on the screen but the LED comes back on- and there's a both a shortened file and a gap in the recording as has happened here. Something similar could have occured with the card itself in the socket.

Sorry this brings us no closer to a solution but I didn't want us to eliminate looking into a real possibility. Unless the card shows bad when tested I'm inclined to think this was a power-loss issue myself but I can't prove it.

Phil

Which is why I suggested OP run a full scan disk on the drive to check for bad sectors. Also, SD Card incompatibility could also be the issue, too. As I stated before, I had a Sandisk Ultra Plus which caused erratic behavior including causing the camera to freeze or stop recording. Which it is important to know if anyone here successfully uses a Samsung Evo without issue. Otherwise, I suggest OP utilize a card that is known to work.

 

[jdct]

I use a Samsung EVO without any issues. And as teefdoc 's Samsung EVO was recording both before and after the event, it would appear that his Samsung EVO works with the A129 as well. Though admittedly I haven't tested it with a truck backing into my car, so maybe I should find a truck driver willing to help me test it that configuration.

 

[teefdoc]

You have 3 minute loop duration. The camera should not end a file at 1:50 when you come to a stop. Does your car have auto stop/start?

I suggest you do a test by doing the same thing again. Switch on the ignition, then drive a bit and come to a stop at less than 2 minutes. See if the camera mode changes, or the recording ends.

My car does have auto start/stop, however, the dash cam never switches to parking mode until I switch off the ignition.

 

[teefdoc]

Which is why I suggested OP run a full scan disk on the drive to check for bad sectors. Also, SD Card incompatibility could also be the issue, too. As I stated before, I had a Sandisk Ultra Plus which caused erratic behavior including causing the camera to freeze or stop recording. Which it is important to know if anyone here successfully uses a Samsung Evo without issue. Otherwise, I suggest OP utilize a card that is known to work.

I just ran the error check feature on windows, doesn't seem like there's any problem with my microSD.

 

[teefdoc]

I just did the following experiment: I unplugged the dash cam when the recording duration is at 1:50, then quickly plugged it back in to simulate a momentary power loss. When I checked the clip, the full 1:50 was recorded. This means that on that day, if the power was cut off the moment my car got hit, my first clip would've recorded everything up to the point immediately before the impact. However, my clip ended many seconds before the impact.

Maybe I'm just extremely unlucky and my dash cam disconnected at the worst timing possible haha... Or perhaps there is a complex interplay of many different factors leading to this unfortunate loss of footage.

EDIT: I dont know much about eletronic engineering, but the dash cam LED's were flashing after I unplugged the cable for the experiment, does that mean the cam was writing the final seconds of the footage onto the SD card, using energy stored in the capacitors? If thats the case, perhaps the dash cam's capacitors malfunctioned momentarily due to the impact when my car was hit, so the few seconds before the impact weren't written. Honestly at this point I don't expect to be able to recover the footage, I just want to ensure it doesn't happen again. Perhaps I should request for a replacement unit.

 

[jdct]

My car does have auto start/stop, however, the dash cam never switches to parking mode until I switch off the ignition.

@teefdoc : I think there is one piece of information that would help that I didn't see in any of your posts and it may be relevant as your car does have the stop/start engine feature. Did your car move forward in any of those 12 missing seconds? It might have moved backwards a bit as a result of the impact, but does the position of the car in the last frame of the earlier video match the position of the car in the first frame of the later video?

Because if your car moved forward in that lost time, then the engine starting part of the stop/start feature would have been engaged, and a momentary voltage drop from powering the starter motor could possibly have triggered the low voltage cutoff built into the HK3 hardwire kit. If such a condition occurred, there are potential solutions available. At what cutoff voltage is the HK3 hardwire power supply set?

 

[teefdoc]

@teefdoc : I think there is one piece of information that would help that I didn't see in any of your posts and it may be relevant as your car does have the stop/start engine feature. Did your car move forward in any of those 12 missing seconds? It might have moved backwards a bit as a result of the impact, but does the position of the car in the last frame of the earlier video match the position of the car in the first frame of the later video?

Because if your car moved forward in that lost time, then the engine starting part of the stop/start feature would have been engaged, and a momentary voltage drop from powering the starter motor could possibly have triggered the low voltage cutoff built into the HK3 hardwire kit. If such a condition occurred, there are potential solutions available. At what cutoff voltage is the HK3 hardwire power supply set?

Doesn't seem like my car moved upon reviewing the footages. My cut off is set at the lowest setting, 11.8V I think? I haven't had any problems with power supply to the dash cam, since my Cellink battery is always at 100% when I leave the garage (I don't use parking mode in my garage), and the car battery should be pretty sufficient since I use a dedicated external battery.