Blackvue DR750LW firmware upgrade failure

[aaron2009kwok]

Cudgel,

Have you tried to download the lastest korean firmware? http://www.blackvue.co.kr/contents/sub3.asp ( #46 V1.012 )
(try to backup your existing config file and if the korean version does not work, try to copy version.bin and fdur from your existing config folder to replace those in the korean config folder). Hopefully, this can help your camera back to full working condition.


My camera came as in Chinese version so I back up the blackvue file, download an English firmware, copy part of original config files to the English config folder and flash the camera. It now works perfectly in English. What I believe most important is to have your original blackvue file backup before getting any upgrade or change of language. If anything goes wrong, just try to revert back to your original set up and try again.

Good luck to you all!

 

[aaron2009kwok]

Cudgel,

Sorry for the korean firmware number, it is now number 50 V1.013 update on June 4.

 

[Cudgel]

Cudgel,

Have you tried to download the lastest korean firmware? http://www.blackvue.co.kr/contents/sub3.asp ( #46 V1.012 )
(try to backup your existing config file and if the korean version does not work, try to copy version.bin and fdur from your existing config folder to replace those in the korean config folder). Hopefully, this can help your camera back to full working condition.


My camera came as in Chinese version so I back up the blackvue file, download an English firmware, copy part of original config files to the English config folder and flash the camera. It now works perfectly in English. What I believe most important is to have your original blackvue file backup before getting any upgrade or change of language. If anything goes wrong, just try to revert back to your original set up and try again.

Good luck to you all!

I did download Korean firmware 1.012 and it didn't work. I will download the latest one (1.013) that you mentioned and I will try copying my original version bin and fdur onto version 1.013 and see if that will fix it.

I will try it out sometime this week and I'll update this once I have tried.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[aaron2009kwok]

Cudgel,

Perhaps you can try one just the korean firmware 1.013 without copying the config files. If it does not work, you can then try to replace the config files etc. Good luck!

 

[Cudgel]

That's what I was thinking but I think I will hold off doing this. I don't want to be the guinea pig with the latest firmware upgrade. That's what got me in trouble in the first place.

Thanks and I will report back once I have tried what you had suggested!

 

[aaron2009kwok]

I will suggest to everyone that before you upgrade or change of language firmware, backup your original blackvue file or simply use a new micro SD to do the upgrade, keeping the original micro SD as it arrives with the camera. Anything goes wrong, just insert the original micro SD back to camera and revert to its original setting.

 

[vogman1]

I really appreciate everyone's replies,

Unfortunately, I think that Cudgel and my issue is slightly different. Our units got semi-bricked because we pulled the plug mid-way during a firmware update. I assume that most of the software is read directly from the micro SD card, but before that can happen firmware on the internal memory in the Blackvue must be read. I think that somehow the update messed up the internal firmware, and now we are not even able to boot properly to the software on the micro SD card, even if we have a fully functioning backup. I am still trying to figure out what the door symbol is that I keep getting after restoring to the Russian Firmware. It reminds me of the symbol that you get on a Mac, or Unix computer when you a boot to a drive without a System Folder.

I am traveling right now, but plan to do some more trials next week when I am back home. I contacted Blackvue, and they replied a week later, but I have to get the SN from the camera before they will help me.

Please if anyone has the exact symptoms that Cudgel and I have and were somehow able to fix it. Please do share. Thanks in advance.

 

[vogman1]

So after using the Russian restore and putting my 1.008 English backup on the microSD card, this is the most functionality I am able to get out of my Blackvue:

Recording works while the red light is flashing, but screen is unresponsive and the language is in Russian. If I try to replace the System Folder with any custom firmwares, or even upgrading to the latest 1.013, the Blackvue either freezes or says something in Russian and then freezes and upon examining the SD card, it the blackvue has completely erased the contents of the card except for a blank "record" folder.

Please, oh, please has anyone been able to fix this issue?

 

[Cudgel]

I still haven't had time to try out the newest firmware 1.013 or to try copying my original version bin and fdur to my current firmware but I noticed after 2 or 3 days, my camera's power light and white security light stays lit and is no longer flashing. I inspected the SD card files on my computer and noticed that sometimes it doesn't stay in parking mode (especially at night) but it gets switched on to normal recording mode so it's constantly recording. Maybe it's overheating and causing it to freeze?

vogman1, have you experienced this? If not, keep an eye out for it.

 

[dhavie]

Hi all. I am new here and I hope this will help. Buying in and from Korea, is a lock unit. Lock to Korean Version only. If you brought a English Version from Korea (B2B or other website except authorized online seller) it is a crack unit and covert from Korean to other language version illegally. A crack unit or I think BlackVue call "grey unit" will cause problem ( footage flickering and probably hanged). Any other language version can be converted by updating the firmware version from one language to another without problem but for Korean version, no way without problem arise
So, conclusion we cannot change the Korean Version to others language since the unit is lock to Korean Therefore, it is advisable to return the unit to the seller and ask for refund. And most important, don't buy BlackVue from any Korean B2B, or any seller from Korea except 2 authorized seller (one in Ebay and one in Amazon). Buy locally in you country. Pay a bit extra to have peace in your mind. I have the same condition with Cudgel. Sad to say but lucky me, I had been refund by the seller in Korea. Now I own a English Version brought in local Philippines BlackVue dealer.
Well, if you (Cudgel and vogman1) had manage to fixed the issue, please do share too.

 

[DJ_Cas]

You need to create a recover microSD with Acronis via this thread http://car-dvr.info/forum/index.php?topic=931.40

It's in Russian and need to pay 10$ for this recovery, but believe me it works ...

 

[Kevin613]

just got my DR750 back from RMA(rear camera brightness kept cycling from bright to dark), took about a month, and cost me around $20 for 2 way shipping to and from korea. When i got back my replacement unit(different S/N), it's firmware was 1.014(not latest), and the menu/voice are all in korean, and below are the steps i took to update the fw and convert it back to english. Note that flashing with English FW directly will not work (i've tried that), and may brick the unit (and i got lucky by not bricking mine, it got stucked in FW update mode speaking korean phrases that i dont understand, until i reformat my SD card).

1) Copy the content of your existing MicroSD card to your PC as a backup.
2) Format the MicroSD card in the Blackvue(korean firmware), and it will automatically populate the card with some Apps/installers and config file. Browse the content of the formatted MicroSD Card in PC, and keep a copy of \\BlackVue\Config\Version.bin
3) Download the latest 1.015 english FW from Blackvue.com
4) Format your MicroSD to FAT32 and extract the content of the downloaded file to the MicroSD card.
5) Replace the \\BlackVue\Config\Version.bin with the old one from step 2.
6) Install the MicroSD card into the BlackVue and power it up.
7) The unit will still show Korean Text, but the voice should be english saying that upgrading in progress, do not remove power.
8) Upon completion of upgrade, the unit will restart, and all menu and voice should be in English now.
9) Reformat the MicroSD from the Blackvue unit, and you're good to go.

 

[dhavie]

@Kevin613

Resolve? Looks like your cam is still Korean Version crack and installed English FW. Can you share the serial number? You may PM me.

Thanks

 

[Kevin613]

@Kevin613

Resolve? Looks like your cam is still Korean Version crack and installed English FW. Can you share the serial number? You may PM me.

Thanks

My issue is resolved, and my unit is fully English now, as it was before I send it back to seller.
Don't know where you get the story about cracked unit, and why would you want my SN?

 

[evqevq]

Just to update,
I sent it for repair, got back I think a refurnished unit, just after a few weeks, the touch screen failed, the image became blurry. Sent it back again.

Just got it last week, think now is a new unit. But image blurry again, Weird thing is, one the unit screen, the images are clear, but the recorded images are blurry. hardly can see the plate of the vehicle in front. Firmware is 1.015. *faint

 

[dhavie]

Don't know where you get the story about cracked unit, and why would you want my SN?

Well, I do have a unit before ( about 8 months ago - buy from a Korean B2B site), it is a English Version it claimed but box is Korean. After 2 days, the cam give me a flickering footage and I thought I messed up with the cabling. Bring it over to our region local retailer, they check the cable continuity is ok and use their front cam and it is ok. Then as request, they asked for the serial number, I gave them and a day later, they come back to me stated that was a crack Korean Version and advice me to asked for replacement or refund. Phew... I ask for refund and brought mine from my region retailer although is a bit expensive but at least I have peace in my mind.

 

[vogman1]

Decided to pop back in and see if there was any progress with this thread. Looks like our russian friends on the other forum haven't created an english specific recovery image, and it is still the old 1.007 firmware.

Unfortunately I bought my 750 from Amazon in the US, and tried to contact the seller but they didn't respond. I guess I am stuck with a partially bricked "grey" unit.

By the way, Cudgel, I did notice the same problems. My camera never goes into parking mode (still black screen). My only solution is to yank the power every time I get out of the car, or install one of the power magic pro's for one of the old Blackvue cameras. This is a horrible work around because I forgot to yank the power one time and almost ran my battery out over the weekend.

I'm really angry at Blackvue for selling separate "Korean" and international units. They are obviously exactly the same except for the firmware. The distribution channel is so horrible outside of Korea, that the only way to get one of these things is through the "Grey market"

 

[Cudgel]

Decided to pop back in and see if there was any progress with this thread. Looks like our russian friends on the other forum haven't created an english specific recovery image, and it is still the old 1.007 firmware.

Unfortunately I bought my 750 from Amazon in the US, and tried to contact the seller but they didn't respond. I guess I am stuck with a partially bricked "grey" unit.

By the way, Cudgel, I did notice the same problems. My camera never goes into parking mode (still black screen). My only solution is to yank the power every time I get out of the car, or install one of the power magic pro's for one of the old Blackvue cameras. This is a horrible work around because I forgot to yank the power one time and almost ran my battery out over the weekend.

I'm really angry at Blackvue for selling separate "Korean" and international units. They are obviously exactly the same except for the firmware. The distribution channel is so horrible outside of Korea, that the only way to get one of these things is through the "Grey market"

Hi vogman1,

Sorry but I actually haven't bothered trying different firmware version as I didn't want the unit to give me more issues. I've been able to live with what I have left with now.

My unit actually does go into parking mode and I noticed I need to take the microsd card out after 5 days or so (or when the card is almost full) and format it and re-install the original firmware every time. If not, I noticed my unit will keep re-booting or stay in parking mode even when I'm driving.

You also shouldn't need the Power Magic Pro because this unit already has it built in. Now I'm not sure if yours is working properly so check your settings in the Blackvue viewer on your desktop. After I installed my original firmware, my voltage cut off was set at 12v by default and it does work because my camera did shut off on its own a few time due to low voltage. I confirmed this by looking at the txt file under the "system" folder on the microsd card and it say my unit shut down due to low voltage at 11.9v.

As well, after I installed my original firmware, I'm stuck with whatever the default settings were so it doesn't matter if I make any changes (time zone, sensitivity, etc) because once I put the card in the camera, it will change them all back.

I feel your frustations and hopefully this might help a little bit.

Happy Holidays!

 

[vogman1]

So I finally decided to see if I could fix this or if I just needed to buy a new camera, and when I went to the Russian website, low and behold they have released a new recovery version v2. I loaded it just like V1 (following the instructions on the russian website) and used v13 of the english firmware (the latest is v15, but I didn't have it downloaded at the time). This worked perfectly! No need to change the language or anything as soon as I popped in a new microsd card it formatted with all the prompts in english. I then updated the firmware to the latest by loading the update on the microsd from my computer. I'm very happy. Well worth the $10 donation to the russian website to get this fixed. Now everything works perfectly 1 year after messing it up in the first place. Lets just say I will not be updating the firmware over the air from my iphone again.

 

[Cudgel]

So I finally decided to see if I could fix this or if I just needed to buy a new camera, and when I went to the Russian website, low and behold they have released a new recovery version v2. I loaded it just like V1 (following the instructions on the russian website) and used v13 of the english firmware (the latest is v15, but I didn't have it downloaded at the time). This worked perfectly! No need to change the language or anything as soon as I popped in a new microsd card it formatted with all the prompts in english. I then updated the firmware to the latest by loading the update on the microsd from my computer. I'm very happy. Well worth the $10 donation to the russian website to get this fixed. Now everything works perfectly 1 year after messing it up in the first place. Lets just say I will not be updating the firmware over the air from my iphone again.

That's great to hear vogman1! I'm going to browse it later when I have time and you had to donate again to download the new recovery V2? I hope I still remember how to do this. It's been a while!