About ready to throw in the towel... (card errors from hell)

[Florida Dashcam]

There have been some talking of MAC computers leaving some invisible stuff on the card, i think the general advise is that if people use a MAC to view the files on the memory card it is advised to do a in camera format after that.
So to me that mean using the MAC to DL and put the new firmware on the card are out of the question, but doing it on the PC should be fine, just make sure the card have ben formatted in the camera or on the PC first.

Format the card using SD card formatter and then pop it into the camera. Camera will prompt that the card needs formatting, wait for the OK and Cancel options dialog to appear and then select OK. Once formatted transfer the latest firmware to the card and see if it flashes successfully.

Tried both of these solutions as well as:

Try formatting the card in to camera, then immediately power down the camera and try my instructions again.
The camera really does not like your card for some reason. Using a MAC to download and transfer the file could be an issue too. There have been other MAC user who have issues updating. Do you have access to a PC?

I did this one through my wife's Windows laptop, and it did not work or make any difference as far as how the camera is acting. Still running into the same issue.

 

[Florida Dashcam]

If you don't mind my asking, where did you purchase your two cards?

I purchased my cards through an Amazon merchant called US Ecozone.

I think I may have just found my problem. I found this horrible review on their Amazon reviews section that reads as follows:



I'll admit, I knew the card was $20.96, but maybe I should have been more observant. I've already tossed the packaging hook-line-and-sinker, so there's no use in trying to return it now. I will leave a bad review and purchase a new card from a more known seller with better ratings. This should have been a red flag for me, and know I feel I have egg on my face.

How do people get away with basically scamming people out of their money with information that is false from their product title and description?

I am a top rated Amazon reviewer, which means my reviews hold weight and will appear above other reviews.
I am going to tear this place apart and report their store.

And then I'm going to get over it and get something I actually paid for.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

So you bought both Samsung cards there? Price is about right for 64GB card, so I don’t think that’s a flag, but there are lots of fake cards floating around. Get one sold and shipped by Amazon. The SanDisk Ultra A1 (must say A1 on the card) and Samsung EVO Select (and Plus Card) have been solid in the Viofo cams.

 

[Caerus]

Sorry to hear that you might have got hit with fake microSD cards. Try running h2testw https://www.raymond.cc/blog/test-an...b-flash-drives-bought-from-ebay-with-h2testw/ on your cards and see if it completes without failure.

Since there are so many fakes out there, these are a few rules I ALWAYS follow when buying microSD cards.

1) I try to stick to big box stores. Costco or Best Buy are usually my go to places. You may have to pay a bit more, bit it's peace of mind and you're ensured it will be the product you intended to purchase. Warranty/exchanges are easier as well. Best Buy is also good for price beating other places, including "Ships from and sold by amazon" when there are sales.
2) If there is a good sale from amazon, ensure it is always "Ships from and sold by amazon". They won't screw around with fakes. I don't even trust "Sold by _______ and fulfilled by amazon". Stick with amazon directly and never a 3rd party.
3) Avoid like the plague buying cards from ebay, aliexpress, or any other generic online retailer.

 

[Florida Dashcam]

Sorry to hear that you might have got hit with fake microSD cards. Try running h2testw https://www.raymond.cc/blog/test-an...b-flash-drives-bought-from-ebay-with-h2testw/ on your cards and see if it completes without failure.

Since there are so many fakes out there, these are a few rules I ALWAYS follow when buying microSD cards.

1) I try to stick to big box stores. Costco or Best Buy are usually my go to places. You may have to pay a bit more, bit it's peace of mind and you're ensured it will be the product you intended to purchase. Warranty/exchanges are easier as well. Best Buy is also good for price beating other places, including "Ships from and sold by amazon" when there are sales.
2) If there is a good sale from amazon, ensure it is always "Ships from and sold by amazon". They won't screw around with fakes. I don't even trust "Sold by _______ and fulfilled by amazon". Stick with amazon directly and never a 3rd party.
3) Avoid like the plague buying cards from ebay, aliexpress, or any other generic online retailer.

Thanks, but I already tried H2testW earlier in this thread and we determined that the card was not fake.
I was simply sold a 60mbps write speed card that was advertised as a 100mbps.
Whether it was a mistake or not, I have already thrown away the packaging.
I contacted the seller to let them know that I will be sending the item back without packaging, reporting their listing, and leaving bad feedback.

All of a sudden, my return has been accepted. Like magic or something.

Thanks for your advice, I will definitely take it.
A shame Amazon cannot control these people.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Thanks, but I already tried H2testW earlier in this thread and we determined that the card was not fake.
I was simply sold a 60mbps write speed card that was advertised as a 100mbps.
Whether it was a mistake or not, I have already thrown away the packaging.
I contacted the seller to let them know that I will be sending the item back without packaging, reporting their listing, and leaving bad feedback.

All of a sudden, my return has been accepted. Like magic or something.

Thanks for your advice, I will definitely take it.
A shame Amazon cannot control these people.

Amazon basically automatically accepts returns. Whether they fulfill it or not, it’s Amazons decision, unless it’s well past the return period. Even then, Amazon will do as they please. Whether it’s a fake or not, there is something odd with them and your camera certainly does it like them. You tried the older SanDisk Ultra (non-A1) card and your camera seemed to operate normally, so hopefully once you get another card you’ll be good.

 

[Florida Dashcam]

Amazon basically automatically accepts returns. Whether they fulfill it or not, it’s Amazons decision, unless it’s well past the return period. Even then, Amazon will do as they please. Whether it’s a fake or not, there is something odd with them and your camera certainly does it like them. You tried the older SanDisk Ultra (non-A1) card and your camera seemed to operate normally, so hopefully once you get another card you’ll be good.

Good to know. Will buy one from Best Buy and post my results here.

 

[Nigel]

Good to know. Will buy one from Best Buy and post my results here.

I suggest you try something other than Samsung, maybe the Sandisk Ultra A1. There is something odd about recent Samsung U3 cards, they normally work fine in Novatek based cameras and most people are very happy with them but since you have had issues...

 

[Florida Dashcam]

I suggest you try something other than Samsung, maybe the Sandisk Ultra A1. There is something odd about recent Samsung U3 cards, they normally work fine in Novatek based cameras and most people are very happy with them but since you have had issues...

I'm interested in just doing that but Viofo advises against using Sandisk cards.
Should I take the risk?

 

[old4570]

Fake cards usually only give issue when the device tries to write over true capacity ..
I found a lot of the software that tests cards to be less than spectacular ..

Best way is to just fill the card with data till you either fill it or get an error ..
DVD or movie files work great . So if the card takes the correct amount of data then its ok , if not ..
I bought some cheap 32Gig cards that topped out at 8gig .. And your cam with might S*** itself when it tries to write past the cards true capacity ..
At the very least corrupt the card ..

I have tried to correct the capacity hack , but no go . It's very interesting what they are doing with Memory cards USB sticks .. ( Massive security problem )

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I'm interested in just doing that but Viofo advises against using Sandisk cards.
Should I take the risk?

They are probably referring to the older Ultra series. They should be avoided. The new A1 Ultra series have been fine so far in dash cameras. Just be sure your buying the Ultra that says A1 on it.

 

[Caerus]

I use 128GB Sandisk Ultra microSD cards. I have them in my A118 (original) and A119S. I also have it in my S7 Edge which works for both 1080p 60fps and 4K video recording. I also have one in my Nintendo Switch . That card literally has not failed me for anything I have put one into!

I know there are people who say not to use Sandisk cards in dashcams, but I haven't had a single problem putting them in everything. For me they just work.

 

[Lola]

Not trying to tell you what to do, but if it was me I would buy from best buy and just get 1 card, different from what you were using, the SanDisk Ultra's A1's haven't been on the market as long as some of the others, so less chance of getting a knock off card. However take the brand name with a grain of salt, these days the forgers can duplicate faster then the Brand original factories.
Whatever you do be sure to come back to this original thread you created and lett everyone about the outcome of your NEW card. This will go a long way in helping others with the same super frustrating problem you are facing.
Good luck and let us know.

Forgot to tell you, Best Buy will match any price you will get that's cheaper, like from Amazon. Amazon's not a bad place, it's just that their business model is not as secure as Best Buy, it is what it is!

 

[Florida Dashcam]

Sorry it's taken so long - I just got around to Best Buy and purchased the UHS1 A1 100mbps 128GB Sandisk mini sd card.

I got home, plugged my camera into the wall socket, formatted the card. I then walked to my computer and plugged the camera in. I pulled open the sd card and dropped in the A119S.bin file onto the root of the card and ejected. I plugged my dash cam back into the wall and it doesn't go through any update process. It tells me I need to format the card. Reluctantly, I formatted the card. It started recording and then stopped after 2 seconds with "MEMORY CARD ERROR" on the screen.

I have not seen anyone from Viofo or the store I bought it from chime in on this issue.

I'm tired of dealing with this issue without resolve and I want a reliable dash cam without problems - this dash cam is giving me a headache.
I am giving this issue another 48 hours and then I am returning the dash cam and the memory card, and I'll be starting totally over, probably minus Viofo, and I really don't want to pushed to do that because I have read only good things about Viofo, but in my history with them I have also only gotten two dud dash cams.

 

[Caerus]

Sorry it's taken so long - I just got around to Best Buy and purchased the UHS1 A1 100mbps 128GB Sandisk mini sd card.

I got home, plugged my camera into the wall socket, formatted the card. I then walked to my computer and plugged the camera in. I pulled open the sd card and dropped in the A119S.bin file onto the root of the card and ejected. I plugged my dash cam back into the wall and it doesn't go through any update process. It tells me I need to format the card. Reluctantly, I formatted the card. It started recording and then stopped after 2 seconds with "MEMORY CARD ERROR" on the screen.

I have not seen anyone from Viofo or the store I bought it from chime in on this issue.

I'm tired of dealing with this issue without resolve and I want a reliable dash cam without problems - this dash cam is giving me a headache.
I am giving this issue another 48 hours and then I am returning the dash cam and the memory card, and I'll be starting totally over, probably minus Viofo, and I really don't want to pushed to do that because I have read only good things about Viofo, but in my history with them I have also only gotten two dud dash cams.

Couple questions.

Is the name of the file FWA119S.bin or just A119S.bin? The file name needs to be exact.

When you're plugging the camera into the wall, what cable and what power adaptor are you using? When I was initially testing my A119S in the car and used the same wiring/power adaptor as my old A118 that was already installed, I got a memory card error. The power adaptor supplied 5V2A, which was plenty, so I swapped to the included cables in the box that came with the A119S. It then booted up just fine and started recording.

When you're plugging it into the wall, are you using the included A119S cables? I use the shorter one, as the longer cable is installed in the car. Also, are you using an adaptor that provides enough power? For example, if you're plugging into a built in USB port on a power strip, it may not be enough juice.

When I update firmware I don't follow Viofo's instructions.

*If it's a brand new microSD card (when I got my Sandisk Ultra 128GB A1) I first format the card in my PC using a card reader, default settings, right click, format.*

1) Plug microSD card into camera
2) Plug camera into my phone charger (Samsung S7 Edge power adaptor) using the provided viofo short usb cable.
3) Format microSD card in camera
** If there is a problem at this point, try booting without a card in the camera, and resetting to default settings. Then unplug, and begin at step 1.
4) In the menu, reset camera to default settings, wait for reboot
5) Unplug camera
6) Remove microSD card, place in card reader, plug card reader into PC
7) Drag and drop FWA119S.bin into root directory
8) Eject card from PC, place microSD card back in camera
9) Plug camera into phone charger using provided viofo short usb cable
10) Camera should update and reboot
11) In the menu, reset camera to default settings, wait for reboot
12) Setup camera settings as desired

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Sorry it's taken so long - I just got around to Best Buy and purchased the UHS1 A1 100mbps 128GB Sandisk mini sd card.

I got home, plugged my camera into the wall socket, formatted the card. I then walked to my computer and plugged the camera in. I pulled open the sd card and dropped in the A119S.bin file onto the root of the card and ejected. I plugged my dash cam back into the wall and it doesn't go through any update process. It tells me I need to format the card. Reluctantly, I formatted the card. It started recording and then stopped after 2 seconds with "MEMORY CARD ERROR" on the screen.

I have not seen anyone from Viofo or the store I bought it from chime in on this issue.

I'm tired of dealing with this issue without resolve and I want a reliable dash cam without problems - this dash cam is giving me a headache.
I am giving this issue another 48 hours and then I am returning the dash cam and the memory card, and I'll be starting totally over, probably minus Viofo, and I really don't want to pushed to do that because I have read only good things about Viofo, but in my history with them I have also only gotten two dud dash cams.

So the camera is recognizing the card if it lets you format it then transfer the firmware file to it. Are you using the supplied short Viofo cable to transfer the file and power the camera during the update? Are you powering the camera directly and not through a GPS mount? Have you tried a different wall adapter? I have one Apple wall adapter that does not like to power dash cameras for some reason even though it's supposed to supply 1A.
I assume the firmware file is already unzipped?

 

[borik]

you (not you Caerus personally) must have a simple multimeter like this:

and you will learn why some devices using different cables and the same charger take forever to charge.

 

[Florida Dashcam]

Couple questions.

Is the name of the file FWA119S.bin or just A119S.bin? The file name needs to be exact.

When you're plugging the camera into the wall, what cable and what power adaptor are you using? When I was initially testing my A119S in the car and used the same wiring/power adaptor as my old A118 that was already installed, I got a memory card error. The power adaptor supplied 5V2A, which was plenty, so I swapped to the included cables in the box that came with the A119S. It then booted up just fine and started recording.

When you're plugging it into the wall, are you using the included A119S cables? I use the shorter one, as the longer cable is installed in the car. Also, are you using an adaptor that provides enough power? For example, if you're plugging into a built in USB port on a power strip, it may not be enough juice.

When I update firmware I don't follow Viofo's instructions.

*If it's a brand new microSD card (when I got my Sandisk Ultra 128GB A1) I first format the card in my PC using a card reader, default settings, right click, format.*

1) Plug microSD card into camera
2) Plug camera into my phone charger (Samsung S7 Edge power adaptor) using the provided viofo short usb cable.
3) Format microSD card in camera
** If there is a problem at this point, try booting without a card in the camera, and resetting to default settings. Then unplug, and begin at step 1.
4) In the menu, reset camera to default settings, wait for reboot
5) Unplug camera
6) Remove microSD card, place in card reader, plug card reader into PC
7) Drag and drop FWA119S.bin into root directory
8) Eject card from PC, place microSD card back in camera
9) Plug camera into phone charger using provided viofo short usb cable
10) Camera should update and reboot
11) In the menu, reset camera to default settings, wait for reboot
12) Setup camera settings as desired

Hello,

Yes, sorry for not being so specific.

The file is "FWA119S.bin". It comes as a bin, and if I double click it, it produces another file with the extension CPGZ. If I click that file, it produces another identical .bin file with the same name and a (1) after it.
I have been leaving it as it is downloaded, simply as ".bin" per the suggestion. I have not changed the name.
I downloaded it from Viofo's support page.
I am using the short cable provided by Viofo as well as my iPhone plug adapter which shows to be a 5V1A. (Could this be the problem? I figured, so used a 5v2A, still no luck)
I am plugging in this adapter to a few different outlets around my house (direct, no power strips)

I followed your instructions to a T, and I still am unable to get the camera to not display the "Please Format SD Card" error message.
The red REC light does not blink. The camera starts up as normal and simply displays the error.
If I reformat, nothing changes besides the error goes away and I get all 0's on the top right.
Unable to record still.

 

[borik]

If I reformat, nothing changes besides the error goes away and I get all 0's on the top right.
Unable to record still.

use a windows computer to download a utility to format a card to a FAT32 file system (click on a picture to start downloading), re-download the .bin file on a windows computer and copy it to SD card, then try to update the firmware on a camera, and please let us know what happens.

 

[Florida Dashcam]

use a windows computer to download a utility to format a card to a FAT32 file system (click on a picture to start downloading), re-download the .bin file on a windows computer and copy it to SD card, then try to update the firmware on a camera, and please let us know what happens.

I'm willing to do this but wondering why I cannot use a formating program on the Mac to do the same thing.

My goal is for the card to be readable by a Mac so that I can edit these files later.
If I format it to be Windows only, that may render this impossible, no?