A139 Pro Stopped Recording Suddenly

[TonyM]

I was reading a post somewhere that said 1600p is more desirable that 2160p when specifically used for dash cams.
Because it chops off the top & bottom which is usually sky, and dashboard and those are not areas of concern, and since it uses less pixels the processor can work more efficiently resolving the middle area that is the most important.

It that why we have the 1600p option?

In theory, yes, and that's why I started out using the 1600p option.

In practice, I found the 1600p processing to be more aggressive than 2160p (example below with HDR OFF). I have not done the same comparison with HDR ON.

1. 4K30 (3840x1600) 53Mbps

2. 4K30 (3840x2160) 60Mbps

 

[wozzzzza]

this camera worth getting yet or wait for more improvements to come along you reckon?

 

[TonyM]

this camera worth getting yet or wait for more improvements to come along you reckon?

Some users are having reliability issues and I believe Viofo are working to improve the HDR, so it's probably worth waiting to see what happens

 

[Panzer Platform]

this camera worth getting yet or wait for more improvements to come along you reckon?

Some users are having reliability issues and I believe Viofo are working to improve the HDR, so it's probably worth waiting to see what happens

I've received this question more than a few times on the various YouTube videos I've made about the A139 Pro.
My response is; "You may want to wait until the A229 Pro Duo".
During my testing of the A229 during the 115F heat waves this past summer it did well.
I think the case design it is better suited to dissipate all the extra heat, (also only being a 2-channel helps a lot. lol)

 

[wozzzzza]

I've received this question more than a few times on the various YouTube videos I've made about the A139 Pro.
My response is; "You may want to wait until the A229 Pro Duo".
During my testing of the A229 during the 115F heat waves this past summer it did well.
I think the case design it is better suited to dissipate all the extra heat, (also only being a 2-channel helps a lot. lol)

i prefer a 4k as my next one though.

 

[wozzzzza]

"You may want to wait until the A229 Pro Duo".

i see this is not even available?? is this a new 4K one coming soon?

 

[Panzer Platform]

i see this is not even available?? is this a new 4K one coming soon?

There is no official release date, or details of the A229 Pro Duo.
I first publicly learned of its existence October 2022 from Mtz.
I would also speculate Viofo is working on STARVIS 2 IMX678 "pro" models of other popular cameras in their line up.
An A119 Mini Pro with IMX678 sounds fun. lol
-Chuck

 

[rambodtm]

No. It's been behaving itself lately.

4 times in 2 weeks is too much for any kind of dashcam fault

Just an update on this, and hoping someone from Viofo see's this.

I've changed a few settings, and it still does it. However, I've noticed it generally does it in exactly the same area of my commute home. This leads me to believe its a GPS issue. My money is on a slight drop in GPS at a particular point on my commute, and rather than just ignoring the drop in GPS, it seems to instantly go into parking mode, and then get stuck and doesnt record, requiring a reboot. So, a firmware glitch is what I'd go for. Sounds far fetched, but its the only thing that makes sense!

Also, I dont have the Viofo hardwire kit as it's got the stupid ferrite ring right where I dont want it, so I rely entirely on GPS. Parking mode seems to be fairly reliable in normal use, its just the glitch whilst driving!

 

[TonyM]

My money is on a slight drop in GPS at a particular point on my commute, and rather than just ignoring the drop in GPS, it seems to instantly go into parking mode, and then get stuck and doesnt record, requiring a reboot.

Have you checked and confirmed that it is actually changing to parking mode? The file names will have a 'P' at the end.

 

[kamkar]

i prefer a 4k as my next one

I am also interested in going to 4K, and actually even if its not the latest and greatest sensor, but i can do / say so as my personal wants from a dashcam are pretty relaxed.
BUT ! there are also other things i would like to see in my next 4K dashcam, and i am pretty sure i will not get those even if to me it make insane good sense.

So even if my wats are quite modest, even i still have to make do.

 

[kamkar]

An A119 Mini Pro with IMX678 sounds fun

Absolutely not to me, i would prefer a RACE dashcam, that support much higher everything.

Much higher bitrates.
Much higher storage volume. ( you need that if your dashcam crank out 2-3 GB every 3 minutes )
Much higher heat tolerance. ( well if you are going to run ultra high bitrates you also need to have a damn good cooling, as a + that would be useful during parking guard )
Much higher FPS too. Or at least a option for it, which would be useful if you put the camera in a actual RACE car.

 

[rambodtm]

Have you checked and confirmed that it is actually changing to parking mode? The file names will have a 'P' at the end.

Yes and no, thats the problem. If it WAS going into low bitrate parking, then I could almost live with it.

It says its entering parking mode, but it actually doesnt record anything, and just constantly beeps to say there's an error. Fortunately I can reach the USB whilst driving, so just unplug it, and reboot it, and all is well. Happening quite regularly now.

It would be interesting if anyone has the previous firmware to the latest, as I could try that to rule it out!

 

[kamkar]

I have only once experienced the suddenly and at random times beeping, this was testing the Zenfox T3 and i think we that tested it agreed upon it was a memory card error / incompatibility issue.
Sadly it have been a while so i can not recall if it was with every memory card i tried in that camera, but i dont think so.

 

[rambodtm]

I have only once experienced the suddenly and at random times beeping, this was testing the Zenfox T3 and i think we that tested it agreed upon it was a memory card error / incompatibility issue.
Sadly it have been a while so i can not recall if it was with every memory card i tried in that camera, but i dont think so.

I'd be very surprised if its a memory card issue, as I don't see how a memory card could cause the camera to go into parking mode. Some serious issues if it could though haha

 

[kamkar]

Yeah that is quite unique to me. And i have after all tested parking guard in a few systems by now.

If you are hardwired now ( using hard wire kit ) have you tried to use the regular power supply to see if it also go to parking guard using that ?

 

[Fragman]

Somewhat older thread, but having recording issues with the A139 Pro. Once my SD fills, it doesn't overwrite.

It just simply is not saving video after the card is full. It should overwrite but it doesn't; it stays full and records nothing at all, even though the Rec light is on and it gives audible confirmation as well when recording supposedly starts. BT Pushbutton doesn't save/lock the video either. The card currently in use is a Max Endurance 256GB that I have to format manually after it fills.

I found that it wouldn't work with my actual Viofo 256GB SD. No idea why but it refuses to format that card.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Somewhat older thread, but having recording issues with the A139 Pro. Once my SD fills, it doesn't overwrite.

It just simply is not saving video after the card is full. It should overwrite but it doesn't; it stays full and records nothing at all, even though the Rec light is on and it gives audible confirmation as well when recording supposedly starts. BT Pushbutton doesn't save/lock the video either. The card currently in use is a Max Endurance 256GB that I have to format manually after it fills.

I found that it wouldn't work with my actual Viofo 256GB SD. No idea why but it refuses to format that card.

Is looping on in the settings?

Try formatting with SDFormatter. Perform the full overwrite, no the quick format. After SDFormatter, place back in the camera and format again in the camera.

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

 

[Fragman]

Is looping on in the settings?

Try formatting with SDFormatter. Perform the full overwrite, no the quick format. After SDFormatter, place back in the camera and format again in the camera.

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

I have loop set to five min segments right now. I've tried others but no improvement was had.

Will perform a deep format and see what happens with the card. Really odd it doesn't seem to be working with the standard recommended cards. I plopped a Max Endurance back in and it formatted with zero issues. Yet to see if it overwrites or not. Kinda guessing this is more to do with a 256GB card; I ordered a Max Endurance 128GB to see if solves anything.

 

[zlo]

I started to have exactly the same issue this week. Updated the firmware to V1.1_0321 (no luck); waiting for the new max endurance SD card. I plan to attempt a Fat32 bit-by-bit formatting to see if that resolves the problem and will report back.

 

[Fragman]

I started to have exactly the same issue this week. Updated the firmware to V1.1_0321 (no luck); waiting for the new max endurance SD card. I plan to attempt a Fat32 bit-by-bit formatting to see if that resolves the problem and will report back.

Fwiw, I am also on that FW. Same issue. The same formatting was applied using a 256GB Max Endurance (using different cards for sample checking).

I checked my card today via PC and there were no recordings since it has filled back on the 17th. I missed three days' worth of recordings fml.

Viofo has not particularly responded to this issue in all of my communication with them. They are courteous and professional, but still claim it is not reproducible. No idea where to go from here though. MAYBE a 128GB, but that kinda defeats the purpose I bought it for in the first place.

I am either returning the DC to BBMC or getting a replacement that hopefully works. But in all honestly I don't have high hopes with the way @VIOFO-Support is responding to the issue (or rather, not responding).