A129 Pro firmware

[Nath]

Image of the heatsink i posted weeks ago Ok, on the way.

Isn’t hat heatsink design pretty rubbish? Not an expert but to me covering the copper with something else will mean the heat will get trapped in the void below it.

Even if the cooler wasn't there the copper increases the surface and transfers the heat to even larger surface of the shield (you know, many heatsinks are made with copper heatpipes and thin aluminium fins)
This is pretty common actually. Most manufacturers would even use just a thermal pad ("gum") for such distance but the copper pad is more effective conducter (used Novatec chipset can get pretty toasty ). It's about 2-3mm thick peace and the shield is really thin - the only downside could be so much transitions with thermal paste (again, nothing uncommon)

And there are even some manufacturers who doesn't care about thermal pads. *cough* Blackvue

 

[IAmATeaf]

I wasn’t talking about the use or not of copper or aluminium. I’m talking about the copper then being covered by the aluminium and that between the copper and surrounding area you’d effectively end up with air voids which from the picture look like they may be trapped by the aluminium.

With the chip getting hot, those air voids would also get hot and with no easy path to vent would mean that the entire area would heat up.

 

[Nigel]

And there are even some manufacturers who doesn't care about thermal pads. *cough* Blackvue

That is why their 4K uses a bitrate only suitable for 1080 resolution, while I've had 80Mb/s out of the A129 Pro!

Even using a thermal pad, the A129 Pro wouldn't work, thermal pads are a lot better than air, but still a very long way from copper.

 

[Nigel]

I’m talking about the copper then being covered by the aluminium

The aluminium is required to stop EMI radiation from the processor escaping into other electronics, without it the GPS, wifi, bluetooth etc would have problems, and other devices in the car. The air voids inside are not a problem, yes they get hot, but the heatsink will keep everything cool enough.

 

[Trueweltall]

The heatsink does not keep the A129 Pro cool enough by any means. If I park my car in the sun the camera shuts off within 10 minutes being in parking mode. I have posted before how the unit is 160+ degrees in the shade of my garage on a cool Florida day.

 

[remati]

So the A129 Pro Duo is my first dashcam and I got it hardwired installed this past weekend. After a few drives I am glad to report there are no issues! My question is in the new beta firmware does Viofo let us change the recording format in parking mode? From what I have been reading in these forums is that 4k + 1080p recording seems to overheat in parking mode in the summer sun but a few people are saying 1080p + 1080p seems to be ok.

 

[Nigel]

My question is in the new beta firmware does Viofo let us change the recording format in parking mode?

Not with the standard firmware unless you go into the menu every time you park! I suggest you use it for a while with the firmware it came with to make sure everything is working properly. Soon there will be an official firmware update, but we will have to wait and see what features end up in that update, if Viofo think that an automatic change to 1080 in parking mode is desirable then it may be included, but I don't think the difference is huge and there are other ways of making it run cooler, so wait and see what arrives.

 

[LeoeL]

Blind message:
"Don't you think too much timed has elapsed to publish a firmware to fix the beeps problem?

 

[DAP]

Blind message:
"Don't you think too much timed has elapsed to publish a firmware to fix the beeps problem?

The time it takes to fix a bug is not predictable. It is not always easy to understand the problem, and the problem must be properly understood before you can properly fix a bug. You can only predict how long something will take when you fully understand what must be done.

 

[EGS]

The time it takes to fix a bug is not predictable. It is not always easy to understand the problem, and the problem must be properly understood before you can properly fix a bug. You can only predict how long something will take when you fully understand what must be done.

I agree!. 8 months after the official release is way to early to understand the problem and fix a bug. There fore, once again, too early to launch another oficial perhaps more stable fw update to the general public.

 

[IAmATeaf]

The time it takes to fix a bug is not predictable. It is not always easy to understand the problem, and the problem must be properly understood before you can properly fix a bug. You can only predict how long something will take when you fully understand what must be done.

There’s properly understanding and then there’s getting into bed and having its babies.

Given the wealth of information just here in these forums I can’t understand why an advertised feature that many justified as a reason for choosing this model is taking so long to fix.

My thinking is they are working on something else so minimal effort being put into fixing the issues.

 

[xiongguoy]

The problem with the beep problem is that not everyone is experiencing it.
Besides myself, there are quiet a few users that never had the beeping issue.

It is hard to solve a problem that cannot be reproduced predictably, less so for a problem that not all are experiencing.

A lot of factors come in to play about the beep problem.
One thing for sure is the beeping indicates recording error,
and for the most cases, it is when the card is full trying to erase data to make space for new recordings.
Too much heat, not enough power, slow card erase speed will contribute to the beeping recording error.

Unlike magnetic media which can just overwrite existing data, flash media needs to erase old data before new data can be 'flashed' in.
Erasing flash media is also the part that takes the most power.
Erasing is also the slowest process. A manufacturer may claim a 30MB/s write speed, but the erase speed may be only 10MB/s

 

[IAmATeaf]

Yes you are right, I am over simplifying and when there are multiple variables at play then it does make things immensely harder to track and fix.

 

[LeoeL]

Many people (and I) reported beeps just after the SD format.
I only say dashcams have only a purpose: RECORDING. If they fail they are not good.

 

[ScriptKiddie]

I tried 1080p, 1440p, 4k, 4k 21:9, park mode on and off, exfat, fat32. Nothing happens diffrent.

If i do not format sd card beeping is not gone.

 

[programatix]

I found version 1.7T to be too unstable

1. It keeps on beeping during drive if card is FAT32. exFAT seems to fix the issue.
2. Auto detection parking mode keeps resulting in corrupted video especially for the rear cam.
3. If HK3 hardwire kit is set to 11.8V cut off point, the dashcam will run up to 12 hours and more. The interface still shows that it is recording but it is not writing to the card anymore. Then when the car is started, it continues to Driving mode, but it also doesn't write any recording to card even though the interface indicates that it is recording. A manual restart will resolve the issue.

I reverted back to version 1.3 and found that it support exFAT.

 

[LeoeL]

I used exfat since 1.1

 

[Nigel]

I reverted back to version 1.3 and found that it support exFAT.

Don't use exFAT with 1.3, you will lose files.

 

[programatix]

Don't use exFAT with 1.3, you will lose files.

Thanks for the warning. Formatting the card from the dashcam will change it back to FAT32.

Well, after reverting back to version 1.3, and after following Viofo support advice, I changed the parking mode to low bitrate. Now I'm encountering a new issue. In driving mode, it records properly with no issue whatsoever. However when it switched to parking mode, it keeps beeping and the recording keeps restarting without end. I can't even go to the menu. The card is already formatted as FAT32.

I took out the sdcard and using the sdcard adapter that came with the Viofo Pro, and plugged into my PC. Run H2testw for 7 hours+ with 17.5MByte/s (I think it's the limit of the USB2 adapter) and there is no error.

 

[tarkus]

Still getting regular beeps while driving here. Please fix this viofo!