A129 GPS failed...

[Black_Valkyrie]

Hi - looking for assistance as Viofo support was useless. My a129 now reports No GPS whether plugged into base or camera. This ended up costing me a ticket in traffic court. Customer support said "oh just buy another one". Kind of insulting and to make it worse the link they sent on Amazon they are sold out.

Is there a fix beyond "just buy another"?


Their terrible attitude really doesn't make me feel too great about ever being their customer or getting my friends to buy a129s.
Regretting my purchase.

 

[StrayCam]

Sorry to hear you got a traffic ticket for excessive speed. I'm not sure of the best thing to do to get your A129 to correctly reflect speed/gps. I would think Viofo support would have suggested a camera reset. - Perhaps they already did. ???

One of the worst things about Viofo is dealing with their "customer support dept."; but overall their cams are good and give good bang for the buck.

Have you already tried a factory reset? - I don't know how likely it is for the GPS mount to go bad; you might consider getting another on Amazon just to eliminate that possibility. If it wasn't the problem, you could simply return it.

If you stick with Viofo-dual, you might consider the A129 Plus... I don't know if the Plus works with the regular A129 rear camera...

Good luck sorting things out.

 

[Nigel]

This ended up costing me a ticket in traffic court.

You can always accurately calculate the speed from the image, and that should be more acceptable to the court than a GPS which is definitely not guaranteed to be accurate.

Is there a fix beyond "just buy another"?

I assume that it is out of warranty to get that response, in which case it is probably the correct answer, even if it was not presented in quite the right way for Canadian politeness!

It is possible that there is a problem with the contacts in the mount, in which case a good cleaning with some form of contact cleaner (solvent of some sort) might help. I think this is quite likely.

It is possible that the GPS module itself has died, which would be unusual but definitely possible. New GPS mounts are available at not much cost.

It is also possible that something inside the camera has failed, I think this is the most unlikely option, but possible.

I suggest cleaning the mount contacts, on both sides of the connection, if that doesn't work, follow the Viofo advice!

Their terrible attitude...

Attitude does not translate easily!

 

[Black_Valkyrie]

I didn't get a ticket for excessive speed so thanks for the assumption. The date was scrambled since the unit had lost GPS sync so the judge refused to allow the footage even though it showed the officer lying.

Viofo never even asked if it was in or out of warranty but were very proud to point out it is only 3 months rendering all these units essentially without a warranty anyways.

 

[Nigel]

The date was scrambled since the unit had lost GPS sync

So the GPS receiver works, but gets a poor/no signal?
Or doesn't work at all?

Has anything changed since it was working well, such as a new car, or new piece of electronics on the windscreen of the car?

Viofo never even asked if it was in or out of warranty but were very proud to point out it is only 3 months rendering all these units essentially without a warranty anyways.

Even with a 3 year warranty, yours would still have expired?

 

[StrayCam]

Sorry to have inferred you were driving too fast. - And how sad to find out that your video footage failed when you needed it most.

Btw I think it's one thing to replace a unit that's "out of warranty', but quite another to get a technical question answered by the Company that you bought your product from... I know it's like pulling teeth trying to get "technical support" from Viofo, even when your device is under warranty. -. One hears various reasons for that... one is they just don't understand the type of English you are using... lol.

Luckily there are many helpful members here on this forum who normally give advice on solving Viofo issues.

 

[Black_Valkyrie]

So the GPS receiver works, but gets a poor/no signal?
Or doesn't work at all?

Has anything changed since it was working well, such as a new car, or new piece of electronics on the windscreen of the car?


Even with a 3 year warranty, yours would still have expired?

If it was a 3 year warranty I'd be covered and nothing has changed. It just says "No GPS".

Has anyone dismantled the GPS unit before?

 

[Nigel]

It just says "No GPS".

It has lost communication between camera and GPS module.

Has anyone dismantled the GPS unit before?

There are 4 screws in the bottom (side that goes against the glass), then the bottom pulls off...

If it was a 3 year warranty I'd be covered and nothing has changed.

You posted a photo of it on Aug 20, 2018 and it is now 2022.