A129 Pro firmware

[evad]

I've had double-beep issue with Toshiba M203 256GB memory card so frequently lately, to the point where camera wasn't just "double-beeping", it was stopping recording altogether beeping non-stop until I manually resumed recording.

I've switched to Samsung Evo Plus 128GB couple of days ago and upgraded fw to v1.1 at the same time. Unfortunately, I've had double-beeps twice this morning (card isn't even full yet). So this annoying bug still persists.

 

[reverend]

@evad did you see any issues with parking mode files truncated after the card is full yet please?

I only got firmware 1.1 1015 on today - 0924 was a disaster for me with entire trips missing, I'm assuming due to a similar time issue you've already seen (although I had no evidence of wrong timestamps on the card).

I saw the camera entirely lock up at one point with the red light flashing quickly while in parking mode - button presses would beep but the camera needed rebooting to recover as even after starting the car it was locked up. Maybe some of it is to do with exFAT so we'll see how that goes. I only had 1 parking mode file truncated on a 256GB card so that's movement in the right direction (although it did entirely miss 12 hours worth of parking mode footage).

As you say I've already had the double beep as well although mine was in parking mode while I was getting into the car in the last 30 minutes.

 

[evad]

@reverend unfortunately I haven't got round to testing parking mode feature just yet. Hopefully do that early next week and will get back with my observations.

Apart from double-beeping and once that wrong timestamp issues, my sample A129 PRO unit is quite stable so far. I didn't experience freezing / lock-ups as you did. Perhaps that's because I don't use parking mode, but again - will try to check that out soon.

What memory card are you using?

 

[reverend]

@reverend unfortunately I haven't got round to testing parking mode feature just yet. Hopefully do that early next week and will get back with my observations.

Apart from double-beeping and once that wrong timestamp issues, my sample A129 PRO unit is quite stable so far. I didn't experience freezing / lock-ups as you did. Perhaps that's because I don't use parking mode, but again - will try to check that out soon.

What memory card are you using?

I've tried three now up to firmware 0924 but the versions were coming out that fast it's not really a proper test. When the releases slow down it will make it easier to see proper patterns (if any).

Sandisk 400GB - FAT32 h264

• Driving mode - very stable up to maximum h264 bitrate, didn't have the double beeping in 400GB of files.
• Parking mode - issues with truncated files when card is full. No obvious pattern.

Integral U3 256GB - FAT32 h264

• Driving mode - double beeping with larger than normal file then small file and missing footage before normal service resumes. Did see the issue with missing trips but seemed to settle down
• Parking mode - issues with truncated files when card is full. No obvious pattern.

Integral U3 256GB - exFAT h265

• Driving mode - double beeping after similar distances with missing footage. Camera missed trips completely.
• Parking mode - camera locked up on one occasion with 12 hours missing and red light flashing. The card did have 1 truncated parking file.

Lexar 64GB 633x U1 - exFAT h264

• Driving mode - worked well up to maximum h264 bitrate.
• Parking mode - all seem ok but the card wraps data too fast so the sample size is too small. It's probably still got the problem but the data gets overwritten quicker than I can check it.

I've gone to firmware 1015 1.1 with the Sandisk card in FAT32 with h265 to see how things go - I got the double beep in parking mode straight away but that card is full. I'm going to format it to exFAT and start afresh with 1015 and see how things go from here.

 

[TonyM]

I'm still running 0924. The beeps stopped - after I turned off the startup sound!

Since plugging the HK3 directly into the camera, rather than the GPS mount, the camera seems to be functioning much better. Using low bitrate I have no missed parking or normal recordings. The only curious thing is an occasional second or two lost between the low bitrate files.

 

[reverend]

Unfortunately I've always had the HK3 plugged into the camera :/

 

[OzAdam]

I'm still running 0924. The beeps stopped - after I turned off the startup sound!

Since plugging the HK3 directly into the camera, rather than the GPS mount, the camera seems to be functioning much better. Using low bitrate I have no missed parking or normal recordings. The only curious thing is an occasional second or two lost between the low bitrate files.

Unfortunately I've always had the HK3 plugged into the camera :/

Just throwing this out there, but it wouldn't be some kind of issue with the HK3 would it? Like dirty power or a slight voltage drop that is upsetting the camera?

Wonder if running the camera off the genuine Viofo supplied cigarette outlet power adaptor and cable would make any difference? Of course this would prevent the ACC auto switch into parking mode but just a thought.

 

[kamkar]

If i had any problems with a camera while driving, the things i would focus on would be the memory card and the power supply.
And fortunately i have a few of both so i would be able to mix it up to see if that's better, and i would have no problem driving for a day or two with a wire dangling ( illegally ) down the windscreen.

 

[TonyM]

Just throwing this out there, but it wouldn't be some kind of issue with the HK3 would it? Like dirty power or a slight voltage drop that is upsetting the camera?

Wonder if running the camera off the genuine Viofo supplied cigarette outlet power adaptor and cable would make any difference? Of course this would prevent the ACC auto switch into parking mode but just a thought.

I didn't get a Viofo power adapter with my test sample A129 Pro. I've been using my own 12v-to-USB adapter with similar or worse results.

 

[bigjezza]

My wife had the weird beeping thing today trying to switch out of parking mode. I’ve disabled the startup sound - fingers crossed that is what causes it

 

[reverend]

I'm still getting the random corrupted parking files on firmware 1.1 1015 when the card is full and looping - driving mode is absolutely fine as usual in max bitrate which is when you'd assume the HK3 and microSD are both working their hardest due to the camera pulling the most power and writing the most data (well apart from the odd double beeping which happens quite rarely to be honest in comparison to the parking mode issue).

@OzAdam - My car does have two batteries - main in the engine bay and a smaller secondary in the boot which is for start / stop. Maybe there is a fluctuation there but it's pretty hard to test with it just being in auto parking mode which I need the HK3 to test. It would probably be easier to run an action camera watching the A129 Pro when it's parked to see if it is rebooting etc as a start I guess.

 

[SR14626]

Has Viofo addressed this issue yet ? Any mention ? Guess we should wait a few more firmware updates or months before a purchase.

 

[Sparkyy]

im having an issue sometimes the camera restarts itself when i start the car after it has been parked a while. it is hardwired with the viofo 3 wire kit. my old A129 didnt do this, just switched to driving mode when the car was started flawlessly..

 

[reverend]

I swapped over to low bitrate parking mode and so far no truncated files in over 12 hours of constant recording. If it carries on like this it's an issue with auto prebuffered parking mode only for now.

 

[reverend]

I quite enjoyed this low bitrate parking file -

- the Audi driver swings her handbag into the car next door so the driver of the Mini gets out and gives her door a nice little push against the other. And not a word said between them

 

[OzAdam]

I swapped over to low bitrate parking mode and so far no truncated files in over 12 hours of constant recording. If it carries on like this it's an issue with auto prebuffered parking mode only for now.

Speaking of prebuffered parking mode, I have just set my A129 Pro up with the 3 wire Viofo hardwire kit. It doesn’t seem to sense motion that well from the rear camera. I can walk up to the rear of the car and wave my arms and it rarely triggers the prebuffered / motion detect recording - maybe once it worked. I even had someone walk past the back of the car (and I could see them in the live view) and that didn’t trigger any recording.

Simply walking past the front camera will start it however. Anyone else find the same? Parking mode motion sensitivity is set to high in this test. Cam switches over nicely with the 3 wire kit which is great (even when connected to the GPS mount). Running v1.1.

@viofo We could really do with some kind of alert that the camera has detected an impact or event during parking mode when we next return to the car like the Blackvue does. This, and the voice readouts is the only things I wish the A129 Pro had which is on the Blackvue DR900S.

 

[Rhody401]

I'm upgrading from 09/23 beta today. It has been just about flawless for the past month, no beeps since I upgraded to the 256gb Sandisk Extreme A2 card. I had maybe 5 or 6 beeps in a month, but I think it was related to the cable that goes to my rear camera. When it beeped, the rear camera picture in picture also flashed on and off. (or possibly due to a low power condition). It hasn't happened again in weeks, but i'll try it with the new FW version.

I'm also using it with the old Hardwire Kit that I received a week before Christmas, with my order of A129 duos. (and one of the rear cams from my A129Duo) For what it's worth, there is zero engine noise or whining in the audio/recording, as some reported with the older HWK.

Sometimes I wonder if some of the folks with the beeping are having issues with their memory cards keeping up? These things were tested in ideal conditions for a certain speed of a single stream of data, but we are technically sending TWO streams of data simultaneously to two different places. I wonder if that would eat a bit more bandwidth from what it says on the package of these memory cards? I could be wrong, but just a theory

Mike

 

[JayceOoi]

Hi guys, how to enable H.265 in FW1.1?

 

[Jeremy Wong]

Hi guys, how to enable H.265 in FW1.1?

A129 Pro will work hotter using H.265 compared to H.264. Save 10-20% file space only. Not worth.

 

[JayceOoi]

A129 Pro will work hotter using H.265 compared to H.264. Save 10-20% file space only. Not worth.

Want to test la. How to enable?