CF-100 Firmware update instructions

[Gibson99]

I had a hard time finding this so I'm posting it here for everyone to use. All credit goes to @niko.

FIRMWARE


Latest firmware / PC Viewer / User Manual you can find HERE

Instruction on "how to upgrade firmware" is HERE


1. Download the “CF100Update.tar” file
2. Format SD card
3. Put the downloaded file “CF100Update.tar” into the root of SD card
4. Connect rear camera before updating the device (before connecting power)
5. Insert SD card to the front camera and connect the power
6. Upgrade will start automatically (※It takes up to 5 min)
7. 2 LED on -> Blinking -> LED off -> The voice guide “Upgrade will be started” -> Blinking -> The voice guidance “Rebooting now” -> The voice guidance “Two channel recording is getting started”
8. Upgrade complete


P.S. - I realised strange "issue" after following an upgrade instruction. After firmware upgrade the rear camera was not recording. So, I disconnected rear camera, started main unit ( front camera ) and left it recording for about few minutes, then disconnected a power source. Waited 10-15 sec. Connected rear camera to main unit, started again CF-100 and rear camera was recording. I am not sure if it was some glitch, or maybe it's the right way to so called "reset the brain of dashcam" after firmware update, but just in case I am sharing this trick in case you will be in same situation like me.

The only thing I will add is that I tried to do the update using an old Crucial 2gb card, and it did not work. The camera turned on, then turned back off and did not do anything that Niko describes in step 7. I'm gonna try again using a 16gb card and I expect it will be fine.

 

[Gibson99]

worked fine using a 16gb class 10 card.

another note though - it will reboot SEVERAL TIMES while upgrading to M1.3. mine rebooted twice, and i thought it was stuck in a loop, but this is apparently NORMAL! when it's done with the upgrade (after at least 2 reboots) it will actually say "UPGRADE IS COMPLETE" and reboot... and start to upgrade again. then if you have the back camera connected, it will say REARVIEW CAMERA UPGRADE COMPLETE and reboot again... and start recording. so just be patient, let it reboot however many times it wants to. once it's finished, it will say TWO CHANNEL RECORDING IS GETTING STARTED. that's the only way you'll know it's really done. expect the entire process to take about 10-15 minutes including all the reboots.

I can confirm that firmware M1.3 now records while searching for GPS. In the video, you can hear it say "2 channel recordings are getting started" and then about 45 seconds later (while sitting in park in my driveway) you can hear it say GPS IS CONNECTED in the video, see [GPS] appear in the lower right corner, and also see it update the timestamp if it's incorrect. Mine has had GPS unplugged for over a month due to the bug where it won't record while searching for GPS, so there's no way it had any useful stored GPS info. so getting a fix in 45 seconds is pretty impressive, IMHO. that's a good improvement. rear camera looks perhaps a little brighter, but also a little more grainy. won't know for sure till i drive it and get some actual footage outside my driveway, but for now i'm just glad to see the GPS issue apparently resolved.

Edit: other small changes noted - in the lower right there are various version numbers. before the upgrade, they were [F2.11][R3.0.0] and [M1.2]. after the update, they are [F2.11][R3.2.0] and [M1.3_EN]. I'm guessing those are (F)ront camera, (R)rear camera, and (M)ain DVR firmware version numbers. And as was noted in another thread, the shutdown sound is a small music sound rather than a voice. I have not checked to see if parking mode voice prompts have changed, but the "car DVR is getting started" and "2 channel recordings are getting started" is still the same. I haven't timed it, but the cold boot time of about 15 seconds seems to be the same as well. This may be a hardware limitation of the TI chipset or something the designers don't want to compromise on - they may be allowing 15 seconds to make 100% certain that the supercaps are fully charged before starting any recordings.

 

[jokiin]

You'd be glad to see that fixed, no recording until GPS gets signal is a deal breaker bug by anyone's standards

 

[Gibson99]

You'd be glad to see that fixed, no recording until GPS gets signal is a deal breaker bug by anyone's standards

absolutely was a dealbreaker. thankfully gps was external so i was able to unplug it and still have functional 2ch recordings. Only reason i got the GPS add-on was because it came with the bundle i bought. if i could have got it without gps for cheaper, i would have. gps is "nice" but not absolutely necessary, especially since this camera doesn't put any GPS info in the video track itself. All you see is [GPS] down in the corner. the actual gps (and accelerometer) data is embedded in a sub-channel, probably similar to subtitles/captions, and the only time i've seen them used is in the official Blacksys player software... which unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired.

I downloaded a copy of the blacksys player from their site while i downloaded the firmware. i can't install it on my work PC but will try it later on my wife's, to see if they've added any features. check out the 3rd or 4th post in my install post (in my signature) for my thoughts on the blacksys software.

 

[niko]

I am glad you have sorted out FW upgrade and shared tips.
I still have CF-100, but dont have time to re-test it again with new FW, so if at one stage you will have time to share whats new comes with latest FW.

 

[Gibson99]

perhaps. i didn't really save much footage from it before since (thankfully) nothing eventful happened. and since you already had videos and screenshots in your review, i didn't see the need to duplicate your work.

another factor is that since the original install of the camera, i've changed the headlights from standard halogens to HID - 35w, 4300k (i despise blue headlights). so the night footage in front will look different anyway, so it won't be a very good comparison.

 

[Gibson99]

I am glad you have sorted out FW upgrade and shared tips.
I still have CF-100, but dont have time to re-test it again with new FW, so if at one stage you will have time to share whats new comes with latest FW.

really the only differences i've noticed have been the GPS bugfix and the shutdown sound is no longer voice - it's just a little musical chime. Maybe they ran out of room in nvram and had to sacrifice a voice prompt to make more space for actual code. i don't mind though - since mine's wired up for parking mode, i hardly ever hear the shutdown sound. Oh, it does get a GPS fix VERY fast now, even on a cold boot after it's been turned off for more than a day, so there's no stored data to help get a fix. Always less than a minute as long as i'm not underground or in a garage.

 

[molson.david]

I just installed a new firmware and as stated above the dashcam rebooted twice before finalizing the update.
Q: do I need to install a new firmware again if I upgrade to a new 64GB card or simple formatting on PC should be enough?

 

[Gibson99]

no need to update the firmware again - it's stored in the camera itself, independant from the removable card.

i also highly recommend formatting any card directly in the camera you plan to use it in, no matter what kind of cam it is - dashcam, camcorder, digital still, etc.