Brand new F750, 128 Gig Card and Firmware update

[Michael J]

Hello all!
I wanted to make sure I did this all in the right order.
I just got the F750. I have not booted it yet for the first time.
What is the order I should follow?

Should I boot it up with the 16 gig card that came with it first?
Do I have to format the 128 gig card in the unit or thru the computer?
Or just put the 128 card in the computer, copy over the files, then stick it in to update the firmware first?
Can this unit be powered off the laptop USB port or do you have to update the firmware while pluggeg into the car?

I purchased a 128 Gig Card from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0118LR9Z8
Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Kbezie]

Hey Michael,

I was able to just plug in a 64 GB card I bought on amazon and format it inside the dashcam. But as you may know, this may not work depending on the SD card. You don't need to be in the car to update it. If it updates in the dashcam, then I would copy the files to the formatted card and proceed with the updating the firmware.

Hello all!
I wanted to make sure I did this all in the right order.
I just got the F750. I have not booted it yet for the first time.
What is the order I should follow

Should I boot it up with the 16 gig card that came with it first?
Do I have to format the 128 gig card in the unit or thru the computer?
Or just put the 128 card in the computer, copy over the files, then stick it in to update the firmware first?
Can this unit be powered off the laptop USB port or do you have to update the firmware while pluggeg into the car?

I purchased a 128 Gig Card from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0118LR9Z8
Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Michael J]

How are you powering the unit if you are not inside the car?

 

[Dippy]

I would advise that you start with the SD card that came with the unit (branded 'Thinkware'?). Once you have seen it working, you can then write the FW update to the card and boot it again and it should update the firmware. Then once you know that the unit with FW update and original card is fully working, then you can try your 128GB card. This unit is designed that it stays in the car whilst the SD card is removed and taken to a computer for viewing videos and doing configuration changes or FW updates. However in my case I wanted to 'bench test' the unit prior to installation so I powered it from my jump-starter (integral battery) which has an aux socket.

 

[Michael J]

When you first put the "Thinkware" card in, does the F750 read anything from the card itself? In other words, does it do an initial firmware update or setup from the card?
Also, once you put the card in and it goes thru its process. and its now working OK. do you erase the card and copy over the new firmware? Or just leave the contents of the card and then copy over any additional files for the firmware update?
Now, after the firmware updates are all done, do I put the 128 gig card in and do I need to give it a command to format the card inside the unit? Or when I put the card in, it automatically formats the card for me?
Or do I need to get wifi working first and select A, B or C in my Android unit and order it to format?

 

[Wytwolf]

If you just bought the dashcam it may come with the most upto date Firmware. Check the manufacture date, Mine was in Sept 2015 and came with the latest firmware.

 

[Dippy]

The unit checks the card and if it finds a FW update it applies it. If the card is blank (e.g. having been formatted on a PC) then it will write config files to it.
You can either format it in the unit by pressing the format button or in a PC or Mac using the Dashcam viewer software.
Every few weeks the unit will give a voice message "regularly format the card..." at start-up. This will happen every time until the card is formatted.

 

[Kbezie]

@Michael J

Every few weeks the unit will give a voice message "regularly format the card..." at start-up. This will happen every time until the card is formatted.

I just got that message, using a 64GB Lexar card, and after formatting it using the dashcam "format" feature I would still get the same notification every boot up. So, I removed the SD card , plugged it into my PC using the micro SD reader provided and formatted the card from eXFAT to FAT32 using a custom FAT32 formatting software. Now, I don't get that annoying notification on every boot up

If you just bought the dashcam it may come with the most upto date Firmware. Check the manufacture date, Mine was in Sept 2015 and came with the latest firmware.

Yep my unit's manufactured date was Nov 2015 and it also came with v. 15. My advice would be to not update the FW and just update the Speed Cam data, unless you think your dashcam is not functioning correctly in which case you'll need to upgrade or downgrade.

 

[Junior76]

@Michael J

I just got that message, using a 64GB Lexar card, and after formatting it using the dashcam "format" feature I would still get the same notification every boot up. So, I removed the SD card , plugged it into my PC using the micro SD reader provided and formatted the card from eXFAT to FAT32 using a custom FAT32 formatting software. Now, I don't get that annoying notification on every boot up

Just wanted to say thank you for this info! I am new to this forum, picked up the F750 back on Monday with the 16gb. Seeing other posts and issues this week with upgrading MicroSD cards, different sizes, brands etc..and various "errors" ....it got a little crazy I admit. After reading your post, I did run out out Best Buy (That place drives me nuts, - no Lexar 64gb, but it showed they had the SanDisk 64gb on sale for 25 bucks on the website, same exact specs...so why not try it) Well, no shocker my local Best Buy...perhaps the worst in the Philly area didnt have it, They did have a 128GB SanDisk UltraPlus card with adapter for $55.99. Again, I'll try it, if it doesnt work..I'll return it. Got home, I see the 128GB was an ExFat format which is to be expected.

The link you posted, that didn't work for me, I guess the program was removed..? HOWEVER it led me to another small free program called "2Tware Fat32Format"
It saw the MicroSD card...the ExFat. One click, it turned it into Fat32. Now the true test, I installed it into the DashCam..no problem reading it, I formatted it..again no problems so far. I drove to a friends, a 29 mile trip..no errors.
Hope it stays that way...but so far so good! Thanks again, much appreciated!

 

[Clemaux]

Just wanted to say thank you for this info! I am new to this forum, picked up the F750 back on Monday with the 16gb. Seeing other posts and issues this week with upgrading MicroSD cards, different sizes, brands etc..and various "errors" ....it got a little crazy I admit. After reading your post, I did run out out Best Buy (That place drives me nuts, - no Lexar 64gb, but it showed they had the SanDisk 64gb on sale for 25 bucks on the website, same exact specs...so why not try it) Well, no shocker my local Best Buy...perhaps the worst in the Philly area didnt have it, They did have a 128GB SanDisk UltraPlus card with adapter for $55.99. Again, I'll try it, if it doesnt work..I'll return it. Got home, I see the 128GB was an ExFat format which is to be expected.

The link you posted, that didn't work for me, I guess the program was removed..? HOWEVER it led me to another small free program called "2Tware Fat32Format"
It saw the MicroSD card...the ExFat. One click, it turned it into Fat32. Now the true test, I installed it into the DashCam..no problem reading it, I formatted it..again no problems so far. I drove to a friends, a 29 mile trip..no errors.
Hope it stays that way...but so far so good! Thanks again, much appreciated!

Am I getting confused or are you? If you format a 128Gb card to FAT 32 you can only use 32Gb of it. Any more than 32Gb needs it to be formatted in exFAT?

 

[jokiin]

Windows will only format up to 32gb, other hardware or software don't have this limitation

 

[Clemaux]

Windows will only format up to 32gb, other hardware or software don't have this limitation

I am sorry but what you state is absolute rubbish. Windows, the operating system has no such restriction in fact. It is the FAT32 format used as a basic formatter by Windows that has this restriction. The user stated she had reformatted her 128Gb card with FAT32 and that all was okay. If she did use FAT32 as a format then the maximum she can utilise is 32Gb: the absolute maximum allowable under FAT32. The clue, you see, is in the name. There is no way, using the FAT32 format that she can use more than 32Gb of her 128Gb card. So she is either unaware of this or used something other than FAT32 to reformat her card?

 

[jokiin]

I am sorry but what you state is absolute rubbish. Windows, the operating system has no such restriction in fact. It is the FAT32 format used as a basic formatter by Windows that has this restriction.

perhaps I didn't explain that well enough to make it clear what I was talking about

Windows can read and write to FAT32 partitions larger than 32GB no problem, it can't format them FAT32 natively, you need to use third party software to format a card larger than 32GB to FAT32, Linux or MAC doesn't have this issue

The user stated she had reformatted her 128Gb card with FAT32 and that all was okay. If she did use FAT32 as a format then the maximum she can utilise is 32Gb: the absolute maximum allowable under FAT32. The clue, you see, is in the name. There is no way, using the FAT32 format that she can use more than 32Gb of her 128Gb card. So she is either unaware of this or used something other than FAT32 to reformat her card?

Formatting using something other than Windows own built in formatter cards larger than 32GB can be formatted FAT32, it is not limited to 32GB, the forum here is full of people running large cards FAT32

 

[Junior76]

Am I getting confused or are you? If you format a 128Gb card to FAT 32 you can only use 32Gb of it. Any more than 32Gb needs it to be formatted in exFAT?

No, the program I mentioned 2Tware Fat32Format had no problems formatting this into a FAT32 (When I bought the card, it was pre-formatted in ExFat...that format will not run on the DashCam)

I actually didn't even attempt the format built in Windows or Disk Utility on Mac (The El Capitan OS does give me some issues at times with formatting)
The card still works fine..no errors after all day use yesterday, some use today.

Only issue I'm having .. which is for another topic thread - hardwiring issue. (I did this today, it does have power, but lost the motion/parking feature for some reason)