Cam switches to low bitrate 1080p in parking mode and not exiting parking mode when driving (HK3 not used)

johnson_

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I fried my first HK3 hardwire kit (red+yellow on positive and black on negative = magic smoke from the converter/voltage selector box) so I've been using a jump pack to test buffered parking.

My current settings are 4k resolution at maximum bitrate for the front and Auto Event Detection for parking mode. Since I don't have the 3 wire setup, the camera switches to parking mode after 5 minutes of non movement like it should.

Is it normal for the camera to switch/save the parking files in 1080p low bitrate? I updated the firmware from 2.1 to 2.2 before when I first got the camera so I know if that's normal operation. Not single video review mentioned it.

How is the camera normally designed to switch back into driving mode? I noticed that when I leave the store and get on the highway, the unit is still stuck in parking mode recording at 1080p low bitrate. I've had to make it a habit of "rebooting" the unit each time I come back from grocery shopping to make sure it goes back into driving mode.
 
The 1080p thing is set by design since firmware v2.0+ (if i recall correctly, you can check A129 Pro firmware thread), the reason for that is to prevent overheating. Somebody claimed here in one of threads that it's possible to set 4k via settings again but i'm not sure about it.

Not exiting from parking mode some users reported as well but the camera will/should switch eventually after some time. How exactly do you provide power to the camera?
 
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If you do not have a hardwire kit, turn off parking mode. I do not have a hardwire kit, and with parking mode enabled, I saw the behavior you are seeing. Turning off parking mode fixed that for me.
 
If you do not have a hardwire kit, turn off parking mode. I do not have a hardwire kit, and with parking mode enabled, I saw the behavior you are seeing. Turning off parking mode fixed that for me.
But it should work even without HK3. I was using my A129Pro without HK3 initially and it was working "fine" (except since one moment it started to exit parking mode based on movement in the image :D )
 
Parking mode works without the "Parking mode" switch enabled. I don't think the menu item name is accurate. It seems that "Parking Mode" option causes the camera to pay attention to the wire to detect parking mode. Without it on, Motion Detection still works to switch in and out of parking mode.
 
The 1080p thing is set by design since firmware v2.0+ (if i recall correctly, you can check A129 Pro firmware thread), the reason for that is to prevent overheating. Somebody claimed here in one of threads that it's possible to set 4k via settings again but i'm not sure about it.

Not exiting from parking mode some users reported as well but the camera will/should switch eventually after some time. How exactly do you provide power to the camera?
Sorry for the late reply. I've been under the weather and I haven't driven the car since last week because of mechanical issues.

I read a dozen or so pages of the firmware thread and it doesn't look like it's an option to change it from 1080p.

I was/am providing power either by cigarette lighter (constant) or a jump pack. I received a new HK3 hardwire kit over the weekend and install when I get a chance. Ideally I would like to use buffered parking mode if I'm parked for long periods (8 hours at work) and have the option to leave the camera recording at 4k while going to the store or running errands.

From reading that thread I might've had a major issue with no beeping warning me of SD card error that would've gone unnoticed and chalked it up to a first time glitch. I had parking mode enabled during working hours and when I left I made sure that it was still recording (solid red REC light, blinking light on LCD) and halfway home I was testing the Bluetooth remote. I didn't hear a shutter sound like you normally would hear but the yellow triangle light came on. I tried a few more times and still didn't get a shutter sound. When I got home I noticed that the whole afternoon drive home wasn't recorded. At the same time I had some playback issues and unmounted/mounted the SD card. When I tried to get back in the computer said that the card needed to be formatted and upon further diagnosing I found that the file system had been wiped/deleted. I could still see the files using recovery software but couldn't repair the card itself.


If you do not have a hardwire kit, turn off parking mode. I do not have a hardwire kit, and with parking mode enabled, I saw the behavior you are seeing. Turning off parking mode fixed that for me.
I'm still at the testing phase with this camera. I park in an underground garage and find parking mode useful since there's very little activity throughout the day and so far it's capturing 45 second clips as it should. If it's a firmware issue of not going back to driving mode when it senses the car moving above a certain speed then I'll have to make sure to reboot the unit for the time being.
 
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I'm still at the testing phase with this camera. I park in an underground garage and find parking mode useful since there's very little activity throughout the day and so far it's capturing 45 second clips as it should. If it's a firmware issue of not going back to driving mode when it senses the car moving above a certain speed then I'll have to make sure to reboot the unit for the time being.
The bit about not going back into driving mode is exactly the thing that got fixed by turning off "parking mode". As I stated earlier, I believe that menu item is miss-named. Turning off "Parking Mode" does not turn off parking mode. Instead it stops paying attention to the hard wired extra input that tells the car when to go into parking mode, and instead pays attention to the motion detection. If you don't believe me, it is not going to take much time for you to test this yourself.
 
I'll give that a try. I haven't used parking mode with the hardwiring kit yet. I've been powering it via the cigarette adapter or power bank.
 
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