A139 Pro constant reboot loop

[ssq574]

I purchased (2) A139 Pro units for my vehicles and hardwired them using the Viofo hardwire kits. Both units are using Viofo SD cards and worked fine for about a week. One of the units started acting up and now is just constantly powering down and rebooting before it even gets to the announcement that the camera is recording. Record and Mic light come on and then it reboots. I have tried swapping the cameras in the vehicles to check that it wasn't an issue with the hardwire kit and the same unit keeps rebooting. I also tried swapping the SD cards and same issue. I even tried installing the new firmware but no change to defective unit. Is there a way to hard reset the unit directly on the camera unit? I can't access it through the app to reset.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe I got a bad unit???
Thank you.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I purchased (2) A139 Pro units for my vehicles and hardwired them using the Viofo hardwire kits. Both units are using Viofo SD cards and worked fine for about a week. One of the units started acting up and now is just constantly powering down and rebooting before it even gets to the announcement that the camera is recording. Record and Mic light come on and then it reboots. I have tried swapping the cameras in the vehicles to check that it wasn't an issue with the hardwire kit and the same unit keeps rebooting. I also tried swapping the SD cards and same issue. I even tried installing the new firmware but no change to defective unit. Is there a way to hard reset the unit directly on the camera unit? I can't access it through the app to reset.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe I got a bad unit???
Thank you.

What a bummer, sorry for your malfunction. This is why I bench test dash cams for about a week before I install them in my car, so I can catch any potential problems like this. But most people are so excited to get them installed, and try them out which is understandable.

It sounds like you may have a “lemon”, or a power starvation issue. If this was happening to me I would remove it from the car, and try to duplicate the malfunction running the camera off a power bank, or USB power brick.

When I was initially testing my A139 Pro I found that a standard 5 Watt power brick (Apple iPhone) would cause the exact malfunction you describe. I had to use a 10 Watt power brick to get it to work properly.

Oh yeah, you did not mention if you are using the 1, 2, or 3 channel configuration. Whatever configuration you are using that is malfunctioning try to duplicate that with the INCLUDED 12ft USB Type-C power cable, and a 10 Watt USB power brick, or a USB power bank that is capable of 3.1 Amps @ 5 Volts just like the INCLUDED Viofo USB power adapter/charger.

Just to be clear you are using the two A139 Pro’s in two separate vehicles right? Not the same car correct.
-Chuck

 

[rcg530]

Sorry to hear you're having a problem with one of your A139 Pro dash cameras. You can press-and-hold the "Video Protect" and "Wi-Fi" buttons and that should cause the A139 Pro to restore the default firmware settings.



The VIOFO app was recently updated (at least on Android and possibly iOS as well). The HDR setting was adjusted to support a new HDR timer feature (like the A119 Mini has). The problem is that the firmware for the A139 Pro (even the latest version of v1.0_1217) does not work correctly when the "HDR" setting is set to "Auto". Please make sure you don't use any setting other than "On" (Default) or "Off" for the HDR setting. The previous versions of the VIOFO app presented the "HDR" setting as a toggle switch (On/Off), but now it presents a single selection droplist of "Off", "On" (Default), "Auto".

 

[ssq574]

What a bummer, sorry for your malfunction. This is why I bench test dash cams for about a week before I install them in my car, so I can catch any potential problems like this. But most people are so excited to get them installed, and try them out which is understandable.

It sounds like you may have a “lemon”, or a power starvation issue. If this was happening to me I would remove it from the car, and try to duplicate the malfunction running the camera off a power bank, or USB power brick.

When I was initially testing my A139 Pro I found that a standard 5 Watt power brick (Apple iPhone) would cause the exact malfunction you describe. I had to use a 10 Watt power brick to get it to work properly.

Oh yeah, you did not mention if you are using the 1, 2, or 3 channel configuration. Whatever configuration you are using that is malfunctioning try to duplicate that with the INCLUDED 12ft USB Type-C power cable, and a 10 Watt USB power brick, or a USB power bank that is capable of 3.1 Amps @ 5 Volts just like the INCLUDED Viofo USB power adapter/charger.

Just to be clear you are using the two A139 Pro’s in two separate vehicles right? Not the same car correct.
-Chuck

Thanks for the info. Yes I am using 2 separate A139Pros in 2 separate vehicles. One have the front and rear camera configuration and the other has the front and interior. It doesn't matter which vehicle the "bad" unit is used in, it acts the same.... I am using the Iphone app.

 

[ssq574]

Sorry to hear you're having a problem with one of your A139 Pro dash cameras. You can press-and-hold the "Video Protect" and "Wi-Fi" buttons and that should cause the A139 Pro to restore the default firmware settings.

View attachment 63780

The VIOFO app was recently updated (at least on Android and possibly iOS as well). The HDR setting was adjusted to support a new HDR timer feature (like the A119 Mini has). The problem is that the firmware for the A139 Pro (even the latest version of v1.0_1217) does not work correctly when the "HDR" setting is set to "Auto". Please make sure you don't use any setting other than "On" (Default) or "Off" for the HDR setting. The previous versions of the VIOFO app presented the "HDR" setting as a toggle switch (On/Off), but now it presents a single selection droplist of "Off", "On" (Default), "Auto".

View attachment 63781 View attachment 63782 View attachment 63783 View attachment 63784

Thanks for the info,
I tried the hard reset by pushing the 2 buttons simultaneously but that didn’t solve the issue.
I guess I will have to contact VIOFO directly. Of course it happens to be the Chinese New Year so it will be at least a week before I hear back from them.

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Have you tried using the supplied cigarette lighter charger and cable to try to remove the hard wire kit from the equation?

 

[ssq574]

Have you tried using the supplied cigarette lighter charger and cable to try to remove the hard wire kit from the equation?

Yes, I have tried the cigarette lighter charger, swapped units in the vehicles with known good hardwire kit and swapped out SD cards..

 

[DoubleDawg]

There is a Reset button on the left side next to the mic. See item 16 on the diagram.

 

[Mtz]

Are you sure you are using the original Viofo cigarette lighter charger?
Do you have the same problems if using only the front camera with the original Viofo cigarette lighter charger?

 

[rambodtm]

Are you sure you are using the original Viofo cigarette lighter charger?
Do you have the same problems if using only the front camera with the original Viofo cigarette lighter charger?

It wont matter if he is using the original charger, or an aftermarket one, as long as the current rating and quality of the charger is good enough!

 

[Mtz]

It is matter very much. The A139 Pro charger is a special one and also the new batch of HK4

 

[rambodtm]

It is matter very much. The A139 Pro charger is a special one

I'm sorry, but no its not. There's plenty of aftermarket USB chargers that are fine for it. All you need is one that supplies enough current, and filters out voltage fluctuations, of which there are many available.

 

[Mtz]

You are very wrong. Better ask Viofo about their special charger and stop fighting with me, a person who had the first A139 Pro sent outside China. In China were 2 samples at Viofo, the third was sent to me in 2022 and the fourth was sent to UK. Then other samples went to other persons from this forum in USA and other countries. Days or weeks later.
Why? Because I was the first tester of Viofo ever, before their first dashcam was created.
But this is not important who was first, but is important who had the correct information.
I will not waste my time again with you on this subject, no need to reply. Go to obtain the correct information.

 

[rambodtm]

You are very wrong. Better ask Viofo about their special charger and stop fighting with me, a person who had the first A139 Pro sent outside China. In China were 2 samples at Viofo, the third was sent to me and the fourth was sent to UK. Then other samples went to other persons from this forum in USA and other countries. Days or weeks later.
Why? Because I was the first tester of Viofo ever, before their first dashcam was created.
But this is not important who was first, but is important who had the correct information.
I will not waste my time again with you on this subject, no need to reply. Go to obtain the correct information.

So if it's soooo special, what is different about it compared to every other charger? And why do aftermarket chargers work absolutely fine with the 139pro? You are either confusing it with the hardwire kit, or you're just confused in general, because you just dont make any sense. USB C, is USB C. As long as the power rating is good enough, it WILL work on an aftermarket charger!

 

[marcusb]

I can't imagine Viofo made a "special" USB power adapter that is not USB spec that you must use with the A139 Pro... Except that it may provide more amps than previous adapters they've offered, but theres nothing magical about that.

That said, if you're having issues with a power source other than the provided one, testing with the included adapter is probably a good idea.

 

[Mtz]

That said, if you're having issues with a power source other than the provided one, testing with the included adapter is probably a good idea.

Sometimes is too late, the camera is already damaged. Underpower is destroying a dashcam in time.
I really don't understand the fight against an idea to use the original items when they are already included in the package. How can a man be happy if he is using an aftermarket product if he already have the original product?

USB power adapter that is not USB spec

So what is the USB spec.? 0,5A? Do you want to power a 3CH 4K dashcam with 0,5A and 2.5 meters of USB cable?
Why a dashcam manufacturer should make a dashcam to work with an 0,5A USB spec.? A dashcam is not an USB device so it must not follow the USB spec but only the data transfer to a PC. Yes, when a dashcam is connected to a PC it should offer the data from the SD card by receiving just 0,5A USB power. We can see the USB data cable from Viofo is a short one and I never hear about any dashcam which is not working when connected to a PC because it was created by breaking the USB specs.

 

[marcusb]

Sometimes is too late, the camera is already damaged. Underpower is destroying a dashcam in time.
I really don't understand the fight against an idea to use the original items when they are already included in the package. How can a man be happy if he is using an aftermarket product if he already have the original product?


So what is the USB spec.? 0,5A? Do you want to power a 3CH 4K dashcam with 0,5A and 2.5 meters of USB cable?
Why a dashcam manufacturer should make a dashcam to work with an 0,5A USB spec.? A dashcam is not an USB device so it must not follow the USB spec but only the data transfer to a PC. Yes, when a dashcam is connected to a PC it should offer the data from the SD card by receiving just 0,5A USB power. We can see the USB data cable from Viofo is a short one and I never hear about any dashcam which is not working when connected to a PC because it was created by breaking the USB specs.

USB c spec allows up to 3 amps. No where did I say 0.5 amps... You keep implying viofo is doing something special that no other manufacturer is doing.

As far as not using the original, I don't know why you wouldnt in this case, but an adapter that provides sufficient power should be fine, assuming the adapter is well made and there are plenty of well made adapters available.

 

[VIOFO-Support]

I purchased (2) A139 Pro units for my vehicles and hardwired them using the Viofo hardwire kits. Both units are using Viofo SD cards and worked fine for about a week. One of the units started acting up and now is just constantly powering down and rebooting before it even gets to the announcement that the camera is recording. Record and Mic light come on and then it reboots. I have tried swapping the cameras in the vehicles to check that it wasn't an issue with the hardwire kit and the same unit keeps rebooting. I also tried swapping the SD cards and same issue. I even tried installing the new firmware but no change to defective unit. Is there a way to hard reset the unit directly on the camera unit? I can't access it through the app to reset.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe I got a bad unit???
Thank you.

Sorry about that, Could you please contact us directly by the below?

Submit a ticket

support.viofo.com

 

[chrmnxpnoy]

I am having the same exact issue. My A139 Pro is also constantly rebooting. Tried different power cables, tried disconnecting the interior and rear cameras, tried different microSD cards to no avail.

What was the resolution?

 

[SooksVI]

I'm having this same issue all of a sudden. I sat back in my car and noticed the smell of burning or hot electronics, then the camera kept rebooting. The temperature outside was 98f but I'm sure it was actually hotter. The camera now only records in single channel. This is the most troublesome camera I've owned. I'm thinking to just switch back to a Vantrue camera