A129 Pro firmware

[minc3]

Decided to try auto motion Detection parking mode in the latest v2.1 today. It works as per the previous v1.2T2 (last update i did).
However, I noticed the usual “double beep” no longer there when switching from parking mode to driving mode. Double checked sound setting and confirmed Its on for all. Probably @viofo can look into it, else could be hassle to check manually every time before I start to drive. The previous double beep is great as I know it has switched from parking to driving mode (those who dislike the beeps at least have the choice of turning it off).

Checked video clips via app where it’s great to have the separated folders available (locked, parking and etc). But from what I noticed all the video clips (including the parking clips) are in one file instead of separated as intended by viofo.
Meanwhile The settings made via the app appear to be different from what I made in the dashcam. I know it is recommended to do settings in the dashcam but it would be great if @viofo could get the app fixed. The apps version is 2.1.0 (iOS), the latest I can get via AppStore.

 

[LeJerk]

Since I bought the A129 Pro half a year back, I never actually drove my car at noon. A few days back, I made some long distance journeys and also did a few hours of drives at noon.

At around noon, with external temperature ranging from 32°C to 40°C, the dashcam keeps restarting from time to time at interval of 1 to 5 minutes.

During the long distance journeys, once it starts rebooting, it will keep on doing so until I exits the car. For example, it started rebooting at intervals at around 12pm, then will keep doing so until I reached my destination at 2pm. External temperature at mentioned above ranged from 32°C to 40°C, going up and down depending on whether there are clouds or not.

Weirdly, say if I made short distance drive (less than 20 minutes) where on entry, the external temperature was already above 35°C, the dashcam behaved nicely (no reboot). I have parking mode turned on.

I wonder if other 4K dashcams have this issue?

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

Yes, my A129PRO is not functioning correctly, and it may have to do with heat. I've been talking with VIOFO support since the middle of July and am wanting to return it for a different dashcam or get it replaced.

 

[Arese]

Checked video clips via app where it’s great to have the separated folders available (locked, parking and etc). But from what I noticed all the video clips (including the parking clips) are in one file instead of separated as intended by viofo.
Meanwhile The settings made via the app appear to be different from what I made in the dashcam. I know it is recommended to do settings in the dashcam but it would be great if @viofo could get the app fixed. The apps version is 2.1.0 (iOS), the latest I can get via AppStore.

Noticed the same thing on my end, all the files are located in the default folder.
Doesn't really annoy me because I like to have all my files placed in chronological order (parking mode videos included) that way it's easier for me to locate a footage I'm looking for based on a time.

However I've noticed an improvement when playing videos over wifi on my phone. Unsure of it's the new fw that improved things or an update of the app, but before with the v1.1 it was a pain to watch videos via my phone ower wifi, the video would be buffering and play a few seconds before buffering again so I ended up stopping using this feature. After updating to the 2.1 I tried and all videos played without any buffering!

My phone displays my internet speed and I noticed when streaming the video from the dashcam over wifi much higher speed around 5Mb/s while with the v1.1 I was getting dl speeds around 1.5MB/s.

Welcome improvement.

 

[Nath]

@Arese Viofo has updated old Novatek SDK 2014 to 2017 and definitely a Wifi driver. When i was testing my unit with direct access i saw many dropouts of Wifi, now it works rock solid.

 

[minc3]

Noticed the same thing on my end, all the files are located in the default folder.
Doesn't really annoy me because I like to have all my files placed in chronological order (parking mode videos included) that way it's easier for me to locate a footage I'm looking for based on a time.

However I've noticed an improvement when playing videos over wifi on my phone. Unsure of it's the new fw that improved things or an update of the app, but before with the v1.1 it was a pain to watch videos via my phone ower wifi, the video would be buffering and play a few seconds before buffering again so I ended up stopping using this feature. After updating to the 2.1 I tried and all videos played without any buffering!

My phone displays my internet speed and I noticed when streaming the video from the dashcam over wifi much higher speed around 5Mb/s while with the v1.1 I was getting dl speeds around 1.5MB/s.

Welcome improvement.

Not really annoyed but it would be great to be able to look into parking folder for parking file Alone while one can still scroll thru the entire thing in the default folder if he prefers so.

Wifi wise, i have been having flawless connection with v1.2T2. Super quick connection and fast stream via phone app.

However, today with the latest v2.1 (from Viofo website) the wifi decided to not connect / connect without internet / connected but keep dropping while i scroll thru the videos via app.

Just before someone ask, Yes, i did a complete reboot of the dash cam and my phone, unplug the dash cam power, on off wifi on both dash cam and phone, reset, forget network and reconnect and so on.
No idea why, and this is my first encounter of such problem. Always a fan of using the 5G connection.
Hope @viofo can look into it.

 

[Brunor]

The battery does not charge to the desired level. Maybe I'm just driving short distances, but I suspect I'm using a DVR a lot? Or which parking mode is the least energy-intensive?
I don't want to uncork the wires yet.

 

[DAP]

The battery does not charge to the desired level. Maybe I'm just driving short distances, but I suspect I'm using a DVR a lot? Or which parking mode is the least energy-intensive?
I don't want to uncork the wires yet.

How old is your battery? Unless you leave your car parked for days with the camera in parking mode, it is more likely that your battery is getting old and needs to be replaced than the small 10W draw of the camera is draining your battery. In my old car, the buttons on the remote were too easy to press. I spent two years unemployed and so the car would sit for days without being started. One of the buttons on the remote would open the trunk, but it would just unlatch but not open. This was just enough to turn on the light in the trunk (15 W), and this resulted in a dead battery several times until I disconnected that light. But it took at least 24 hours to drain the battery.

 

[Brunor]

How old is your battery? Unless you leave your car parked for days with the camera in parking mode, it is more likely that your battery is getting old and needs to be replaced than the small 10W draw of the camera is draining your battery. In my old car, the buttons on the remote were too easy to press. I spent two years unemployed and so the car would sit for days without being started. One of the buttons on the remote would open the trunk, but it would just unlatch but not open. This was just enough to turn on the light in the trunk (15 W), and this resulted in a dead battery several times until I disconnected that light. But it took at least 24 hours to drain the battery.

I don't have a blue battery that's so draining. But with incomplete charging does not work start-stop and webast. I want to know this because of short trips or DVR during downtime sufficiently discharges the battery. Is it worth plugging in a separate battery for parking mode?

 

[SawMaster]

For the usual lead-acid car battery, you must drive about 20 minutes to charge it well. This is not 100% but is enough. A good car battery should run a cam for 12 to 24 hours but this will shorten battery life some. Any car should be able to power a cam for about 4-6 hours with no problems. Either way, you need to drive that 20 minutes or more after every cam use. AGM type batteries will run cams longer and will need less time to charge, but you still need to drive to charge them after cam use.

If your engine starter runs slower than normal, then you are working the battery too hard and it will not last long. Each time it goes low this much, it will lose ability permanently, and using this way can ruin a new battery in months. Get a voltmeter (DMM). These are cheap and will allow more precise measurement. Your lead-acid car battery should never be drained below 12 volts, and much better to not go below 12.2 volts. AGM batteries can go down lower to maybe 11.6 volts.

Also cheap are small battery chargers around the 2 Amp level. If you have a cam running, you can leave them hooked up for days, but with no cam you should not leave a constant charging above 1 Amp. Using a small charger can eliminate the need to drive to keep the battery full and healthy. But if your battery is already damaged from over-use only a new replacement will fix it.

Phil

 

[Arese]

Not really annoyed but it would be great to be able to look into parking folder for parking file Alone while one can still scroll thru the entire thing in the default folder if he prefers so.

Wifi wise, i have been having flawless connection with v1.2T2. Super quick connection and fast stream via phone app.

However, today with the latest v2.1 (from Viofo website) the wifi decided to not connect / connect without internet / connected but keep dropping while i scroll thru the videos via app.

Just before someone ask, Yes, i did a complete reboot of the dash cam and my phone, unplug the dash cam power, on off wifi on both dash cam and phone, reset, forget network and reconnect and so on.
No idea why, and this is my first encounter of such problem. Always a fan of using the 5G connection.
Hope @viofo can look into it.

Actually, you are right.
It would be much better if the parking files and the locked files where added to the correct folder in the app.

Today an event occurred leading me to think that the issue is not with the app but the cam itself.

Earlier today I came back to my car which I had parked in the street and for the first time ever the cam was displaying the little yellow exclamation icon signaling that an event occurred while parked. I checked right away the footage with the app and as we've already discussed the file wasn't in the locked file folder. Now I realize how it would be handy to have locked files in the locked files folder for quick viewing.

Went back home and reviewed my card on my laptop and there were no files added in the RO folder! Based on this, I'm thinking that it's not the app that has an issue but maybe the issue is with the cam which is not placing locked files in the RO folder in the first place. I'm assuming the app is simply looking and displaying what's in the RO folder?

I found the footage that triggered the event icon as I can hear in the video the cam making 3 slow beeps.
But I don't know what triggered this as literally, nothing was happening at the moment. no cars passing by or pedestrian and of course no impact with the car. This is odd.

 

[Nigel]

It would be much better if the parking files and the locked files where added to the correct folder in the app.

I don't know about Apples, but in Windows you can sort your files by the "Attributes" so that all the RO files appear together, also in the details view of the folder, you can add a column for "Attributes" so that you can easily see which files were locked. This is far more convenient than having separate folders since you can also simply view all your files in time order if you want to do so.

 

[Arese]

I don't know about Apples, but in Windows you can sort your files by the "Attributes" so that all the RO files appear together, also in the details view of the folder, you can add a column for "Attributes" so that you can easily see which files were locked. This is far more convenient than having separate folders since you can also simply view all your files in time order if you want to do so.

Sure but that doesn't solve one major issue. The purpose of storing locked files into the RO folder is mostly to prevent the cam from recording over it when the cam loops.

Thats a basic feature of the cam, automatically locking important events and it seems it's not working the way it was intended.

Tomorrow I'll try to lock a file manually (by pressing directly on the middle button on the dashcam) to see if it locks the file

 

[Nigel]

If you get too many RO files then it may decide to loop the RO files, I haven't tested that with the latest firmware and I don't know what the limits are, but I think that is what should happen?

 

[DAP]

I don't know if FAT32 or exFAT support hard links, but hard links would be the ideal way to solve the issue of "protected" files. The files would be saved as usual in the main directory, and to save them permanantly, a hard link to the file would be made in the alternate directory. When the file in the main directory gets deleted in normal operation, only its link gets destroyed leaving the file in the alternate directory.
With this you still have a contiguous set of files in the main directory, and the saved files are also in the alternate directory with only one copy actually on the card. Deleting the file in one directory only removes its link to the file, and the file does not get deleted until it has been deleted in both directories.
edit: I just looked it up. Neither exFAT nor FAT32 support hard links. NTFS or EXT3 do support hard links.

 

[minc3]

Did some trip recently and I decided to try long hour motion detection parking mode with the latest v2.1 firmware (downloaded from Viofo website).

The switching between parking mode and driving mode works flawlessly for some few hours (3-6hrs). 1080p in parking mode did in fact solved the overheat issue while parked.

But problem occurs whenever i parked overnight with motion detection parking mode. The REC and MIC led lights are on as if its recording when i entered the car. Pressed the buttons trying to wake it up from screensaver mode but failed (same goes to after I started my car). Not responsive to anything except the beeps from the button i pressed. I have to disconnect the power connector to force restart.

Hopes that @viofo will look into it.

 

[viofo]

Did some trip recently and I decided to try long hour motion detection parking mode with the latest v2.1 firmware (downloaded from Viofo website).

The switching between parking mode and driving mode works flawlessly for some few hours (3-6hrs). 1080p in parking mode did in fact solved the overheat issue while parked.

But problem occurs whenever i parked overnight with motion detection parking mode. The REC and MIC led lights are on as if its recording when i entered the car. Pressed the buttons trying to wake it up from screensaver mode but failed (same goes to after I started my car). Not responsive to anything except the beeps from the button i pressed. I have to disconnect the power connector to force restart.

Hopes that @viofo will look into it.

Can you try to format the card, and set the low bitrate parking mode and test again?

 

[minc3]

Can you try to format the card, and set the low bitrate parking mode and test again?

Tested the said mode overnight and the issue doesn’t appear as of now.

Tried event motion detection again and so far so good. But realised that the motion detection seems to have some flaws. The sensitivity is set at medium. I noticed people walking passed my car or even standing in front of it could not trigger the motion detection.
I tried to wave my hand in front of the car but it won’t trigger it. I have to go as near as almost touching the lens in order to trigger it. Meanwhile Most of the parking video clips recorded appears to be recording randomly every 2-5min. Not sure why but the previous ver firmware’s event motion detection performed much better.

Again, kudos to @viofo decision of changing parking mode to 1080p did in fact prolonged the parking mode time (probably lower power consumption? Not sure but definitely better for me) and no longer switches off due to the constant freaking warm weather here in South East Asia.

 

[Gordohat]

Anyone know if there is any compelling reasons to move from V1.7T to V2.1 if not using parking mode and the WIFI improvement is not a big deal?

I would rather keep the warning beeps when there is frame loss in driving mode over these other fixes, unless there are significant improvements to diving mode, particularly issues causing frame loss. I know I can view the SD card files offline to determine if frame loss, but this is a bit onerous to have to do regularly. Also having the function of warning beeps for when frame loss occurs in in real time gives a much better sense of security that the camera is doing its job and recording.

The times I get double beeps seems to be when I pass certain locations where there are a lot of tree branches overhanging the road. It seems to happen at these same locations, so I think, as was commented on some pages ago, that the complexity of the video stream may be causing the camera to struggle in processing it.

 

[Cenker]

Is it possible to record 2K 60 fps with another rear camera ( Can i use any 2K 60fps front camera from viofo or any other brands as rear camera for A129 Pro's rear camera? ) if i buy only front camera (A129 Pro) ?

 

[DAP]

I'm rather pissed that the A129 Pro did not record an incident today. The 5 minute file that should have contained the incident was only 45 seconds long, and ended before the incident. The next file started 5 minutes after the previous file, so 4 minutes and 15 seconds was missing.
I did not hit the save on my Tesla because I assumed that the A129 Pro caught the incident, and by the time I had checked the Tesla data, more than an hour had gone by, and it had been overwritten.