BlackVue 650 2 Ch freezes after 1 minute operation - solution

Hassi

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Dash Cam
BlackVue DR650GW 2 ch
Hi

I have decided to share this issues and solution, as I spent several hours over several days to rectify it. I am now wondering if this is an issue more MAC users have seen?

Below is my two email to Pittasoft:

Initial issue:
I have a two month 650 2ch cloud version dash cam. Recently it has been acting a bit unstable. I believe this started as I upgraded to firmware 2.05, an upgrade that went easy. As firmware version 2.06 and 2.07 were released i tried to upgrade again. First of all it would not upgrade via the iPhone app (yes I have the latest version), I then tried via the computer it would not take that either. After these failed attempts the camera simply starts, start one recording, then states "restarting" during which the camera freezes with blue and orange light constantly on. It takes 1-2 minutes until it restarts, hence I eventually managed to download firmware version 2.06 onto the camera, which it accepted and installed. However, same issue is still there; restart and freezes. I have tried to re-install version 2.06 without luck, nothing happens except for some of the attempts have the following message "wrong camera type/model". I have now tried to update to firmware version 2.07 via the computer, but simply gets "SD card error" or something like that (yes i have formatted in MS DOS FAT - same way i did when i updated to firmware version 2.05)

Pittasoft recommended the usual formatting and update excersice, and positively enough suggested to send them the config files to troubleshoot. Meanwhile I found the root cause, my reply to Pitasoft below:

Solution:
I have now identified the issue. I noticed that the camera always started fine, but then about a minute after restart it froze. I did not manage to install new firmware via the App nor via newly formatted SD card from Mac. I then restarted my old Windows PC, formatted the card, copied the windows download files to it, and reduced the video quality prior to installing new hardware. The update now went well. The camera apparently functioned perfect. But only the latest recorded files were available on the card. I reformatted the card in the Blackvue, same issue persisted (i.e. only the last recorded file showed up in the app). I then again formatted the SD card in windows, I then noticed that of the 16GB only 200MB was available and formatted. No matter what I did, I did not manage to get access to the remaining space on the SD card. Googling the issue I found a solution to reformat the card via a latent windows program in DOS. Regaining the full capacity of the card, all now works perfect.

I believe the following has happened:
  • As part of trying to update to firmware 2.006, the SD card was formatted on MAC (MS-DOS FAT). This rendered the card useless, leaving only 200MB available for storage (all though everything looks fine on the MAC - full storage capacity)
  • The camera would not take the update, and the freeze issue started
  • The Blackvue does not react to a too small storage capacity ,and starts to record until SD card is full - and then freezes
  • As mentioned, full storage capacity is available on MAC - however Windows shows only 200MB storage capacity, and the rest of the card is not available to store data. It seems like the file system on the BlackVue is more alike windows than MAC (although both claim to be FAT32 partitioning)

Am I correct in assuming that you must use the BlackVue Viewer interface when formatting the SD card on MAC? If yes, the requirement is not very well described in user manual nor on your home page.

I also assume that the Blackvue camera is not sufficiently tested against cards formatted on MAC, and does not support this operating system well. Apparently, there is a major difference in formatting the SD card on MAC vs Windows. It can also be noted that cards larger than 32GB is not possible to format to FAT32 without a 3rd party software - this issue must be described in your firmware upgrade tutorial.

Improvement suggestions:
  1. the Blackvue camera should be enabled to recognize whether sufficient storage capacity is available. If SD card is wrongly formatted, hence too low storage capacity, the Blackvue should state so as an error message and not record.
  2. update via MAC OS must be better tested by PittaSoft, and not leave the testing to the users. (Counting the download of latest firmware you can see that more than 96% of the users are using windows as their operating system)
  3. If formatting via the Viewer is an absolute requirement, it must be stated as part of your user manual and tutorial


Hope this observation aids in a better user experience for others, and myself in the future.

_______
 
Hei Hansi.

I always format the card using a PC, the MAC can be used but unsure how.

Afterwards the MAC is used to read files, delete files and also edit the config.ini.

N.
 
Hi
For last 4 firmware updates I've used Mac and BlackVue Viewer to format SD card, no problems at all.
 
OK, when I press format it opens Disk Tools.

Perhaps you will share?

N.
 
Perhaps you will share?

Yes, it opens Disk Tools. Then you choose your SD card, Erase and choose MS-DOS (FAT) format, all done.
At least thats what I do.
 
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