DR970X Plus 2CH - GPS issues

[danlat1415]

I've had the DR970X Plus (2CH) for 2 days so far and the GPS hasn't connected at all.
It says 'youve not been driving today's and doesn't show the vehicles current location.

I have the CM100LTE (not the newer CM100GLTE) connected.

I replaced my DR900X Plus which was just a straight swap out (left existing cables/setup in place).

There is nothing interfering with the camera/GPS and my previous DR900X Plus in the exact same position with same cables/setup worked fine.

I've checked all the setting on the dashcam settings but I still can't get it to connect to GPS.
I've turned the setting off, saved, then back on again - but no luck.

I know the DR970X Plus Box version requires the newer CM100GLTE (with GPS antenna) when using LTE - but I thought the DR970X Plus (standard) had built in GPS?

Anyone any advice on how I can get it to work?
Or is anyone else having the same issue?

 

[danlat1415]

I will try disconnecting the LTE module to see if that's causing an issue.
I'm concerned that having it plugged in turns off the camera's GPS, thinking that any LTE module connected would be the newer CM100GLTE which has GPS built in which could take over (like the DR970X Plus Box version).

I have the CM100LTE (UK edition). They currently don't sell the CM100GLTE in the UK.
I did get one free with my order, but as I already had an LTE module, I immediately sold the extra module in order to reduce the price of my overall purchase....

Makes me wonder if that's a possible reason why Blackvue currently offer these modules free with DR970X Plus orders at the moment...

 

[danlat1415]

Nope, disconnecting the LTE module makes no difference for me.
Still no GPS connection

 

[danlat1415]

I still have this ongoing issue.
Awaiting for a further response from Blackvue. They initially came back asking if my simcard was 4G....
It was the simcard that came with the Blackvue LTE module. The LTE Cloud access works fine as I can connect remotely and live view whilst someone is driving the car.

But it doesn't give me the current location, the mileage/speed isn't displayed and the time is out of sync by about 9-10 minutes ahead of what it should be.
I've changed the time zones, set daylight savings, but none of what I choose sorts the issue.

There is no way of syncing the time
There is no way of factory resetting the dashcam
There is no way of testing the GPS - only allowing GPS access in the 'privacy' setting, and GPS location recording in the Video setting.

 

[rcg530]

There is no way of syncing the time

A DR970X-2CH Plus unit I'm testing had a time value about 4 minutes into the future. It would never reset backwards even after obtaining a GPS signal. Pittasoft support suggested that I prepare an empty SD card to swap into the dash camera after it obtained a GPS signal. I was told to wait for the dash camera to get a GPS signal, power it down, swap in the empty SD card and then power it up. That actually worked to correct the time value in this dash camera.

I was told that the dash camera will never allow the time value to go backwards since that may result in one or more video files with the same filename. By using an empty SD card it will allow the time to go backwards to get in sync. Of course, this requires the unit to get a GPS signal in the first place.

This DR970X-2CH Plus dash camera takes nearly 10 minutes and/or 8 miles of driving to get a GPS signal on a reliable basis. The first 5 to 10 minutes of my trips in that vehicle with that dash camera will not have any GPS info recorded in the video. The first screenshot is from the start of a recent trip and the first time the GPS info showed up in the video was 10 minutes later (second screenshot). I've observed this behavior with multiple BlackVue dash cameras and in two different vehicles.

There is no way of factory resetting the dashcam

There's no single step/operation to get back to the factory settings, but there is a multi-step process. This is a topic I pursued with Pittasoft support a couple of years ago. Pittasoft support kept telling me that reloading the firmware using the manual method would "reset" the settings. The "manual method" is downloading the firmware zip file, copying the "BlackVue" directory and its contents to a blank SD card and booting the dash camera with that SD card. After numerous emails showing Pittasoft support that approach did not actually reset anything, they finally agreed that there was no way to reset every setting to their default value in one step. That's where the multi-step process was used to achieve the desired result.

If you use the BlackVue desktop software and use the "SD Card Viewer" part of it, you'll be able to view/change the dash camera settings. You can go to each of the tabs (for each section of settings) and click reset on that page and then click save on each tab to save those changes to the card's copy of the firmware settings. After you've reset all of the settings in the various sections/tabs, you can exit the program. When you boot the dash camera with that SD card, it will pickup the settings from the SD card. Like I said, not the easiest way to do it, but it can be done.

 

[danlat1415]

Thanks.

Yes that's a good idea about the time sync, if only I could get GPS working.

 

[danlat1415]

Blackvue suggested I try updating the firmware and sent me the link;

DR970X Plus Firmware - Multilanguage

This is the firmware for BlackVue DR970X Plus Series (1CH and 2CH models). Platforms: Windows / Mac OS X Languages: English Arabic Chinese Dutch Finnish French German Indonesian Italian Japanese Norwegian Polish Spanish Thai Vietnamese For installation, follow the firmware installation...

blackvue.com

They appear to be completely unaware the actual download button doesn't work and file was pulled offline??

I've asked them to check and see if it's a website issue or if the firmware was pulled, and give the reason. If it's safe, I've asked for a copy

 

[rcg530]

Blackvue suggested I try updating the firmware and sent me the link;

DR970X Plus Firmware - Multilanguage

This is the firmware for BlackVue DR970X Plus Series (1CH and 2CH models). Platforms: Windows / Mac OS X Languages: English Arabic Chinese Dutch Finnish French German Indonesian Italian Japanese Norwegian Polish Spanish Thai Vietnamese For installation, follow the firmware installation...

blackvue.com

They appear to be completely unaware the actual download button doesn't work and file was pulled offline??

I've asked them to check and see if it's a website issue or if the firmware was pulled, and give the reason. If it's safe, I've asked for a copy

I've been asking Pittasoft why they removed the v1.001 firmware for the DR970X-2CH Plus dash camera. They won't respond to that question.

 

[danlat1415]

Blackvue support got back to me about the firmware.
They say they were unaware that the website link was taken down?

They gave me an alternative download link for the firmware;

Jane (BlackVue)

Mar 20, 2024, 12:25 PDT

Hello, dear customer.

Please test this link.

Copy of dr970x-plus-v1.001-eng.zip

drive.google.com

Thank you.

Regards
Jane

 

[danlat1415]

Whilst the download button doesn't work on the main website, the download count (number of downloads) is still going up, so shows it's still available.
It was on 87 yesterday, and 93 today.

DR970X Plus Firmware - Multilanguage

This is the firmware for BlackVue DR970X Plus Series (1CH and 2CH models). Platforms: Windows / Mac OS X Languages: English Arabic Chinese Dutch Finnish French German Indonesian Italian Japanese Norwegian Polish Spanish Thai Vietnamese For installation, follow the firmware installation...

blackvue.com

 

[danlat1415]

You can't fault Blackvue's direct warranty service.
Excellent.

I contacted them about my GPS not working, they agreed to return it - they sent pre-paid shipping label and arranged courier (from UK to Seoul).
They said to just send the front and rear camera and the micro SD card. I DIDNT need to send the mounts or the cables if already fitted to the car.

They received the return within a couple of days and have now contacted me to confirm receipt and;

Kim R (BlackVue) Mar 28, 2024, 19:16 PDT Hello Daniel, We received the faulty camera. Instead of repairing it, we are sending you a replacement camera (unopened, new) with the serial number ############## (DR970X-2CH Plus 64GB) and tracking number: DHL Tracking Number: ########

That is excellent service, and also means that I got to keep all the cables and both front and rear screen mounts - and now they're sending out a full brand new unit with everything included.

Unfortunately it's a 4 day holiday weekend in the UK so I won't get it until Tuesday.

 

[danlat1415]

Full new replacement received from Pittasoft.

Unfortunately the same issue.
Time is 12 minutes out of sync on dashcam (ahead) and so far the GPS has not connected at all in the last 24 hours.

My DR900X Plus connects to GPS straight away without any issues.
On the DR900X Plus in the firmware settings you have the options to set the time yourself, or sync to GPS time, so at least if it's out of sync you can manually fix it.
There are NO time settings on the DR970X Plus other than setting time zone and daylight savings time on/off.

I need GPS to work to real time track driver location. I can see live video, but not location


We've only done short trips so far, so will continue to monitor this and hopefully get a connection at some point. If it does, I'll try your trick of putting in a blank SD card to correct the time once GPS connects

 

[danlat1415]

Has anyone outside of the US got any of the newer DR970 Plus variants and got working GPS?

The DR970 Plus is currently not yet available in UK retailers so I bought from Blackvue direct.

I am concerned that they've changed the GPS set up in the camera which is having issues that they're not yet fully aware of as it's currently only got a small release reach.
I know people in the US are having minor GPS issues (time out of sync and taking considerable time for the GPS to connect)
But I'm concerned that those in Europe or UK may have a bigger issue that's not yet aware of.

I've had 2 DR970X Plus from Blackvue, and so far neither of them connect to GPS at all, even after a long drive.


The US uses the GPS system, whereas the EU and UK use GNSS system.

The term 'GPS' is widely regarded to mean the same thing, but in reality is actually a US owned system.



I've flagged it with Pittasoft and will await to see their response.

 

[danlat1415]

Just to conclude this thread - the GPS has now finally connected after 3 days and is showing on live view (on the third day He was risen...)

The time is still out of sync - but I can now do the blank SD card swap method and hopefully get it sorted.

There were cheers at the office when the live view maps suddenly pinged into action.

 

[danlat1415]

Thank you @rcg530 for the time sync SD card suggestion.
I've done it and it works - the camera is now fully in sync.

I had tried to see if there was a lazier option by just formatting the SD card within the camera and rebooting, but that didn't work.
I got a spare SD card, formatted using Blackvue PC Viewer, turned off the camera and swapped the SD card over, loaded up the camera 'initialising SD card', waited for it to fully load up, then turned back off and put the original card back in (I formatted that too just to be safe), and now the time is fully in sync, even to the correct second.


GPS is still a sketchy though, like with other people, taking a long time to connect part way through a journey.

 

[JasonAz]

Has anyone outside of the US got any of the newer DR970 Plus variants and got working GPS?

The DR970 Plus is currently not yet available in UK retailers so I bought from Blackvue direct.

I am concerned that they've changed the GPS set up in the camera which is having issues that they're not yet fully aware of as it's currently only got a small release reach.
I know people in the US are having minor GPS issues (time out of sync and taking considerable time for the GPS to connect)
But I'm concerned that those in Europe or UK may have a bigger issue that's not yet aware of.

I've had 2 DR970X Plus from Blackvue, and so far neither of them connect to GPS at all, even after a long drive.


The US uses the GPS system, whereas the EU and UK use GNSS system.

The term 'GPS' is widely regarded to mean the same thing, but in reality is actually a US owned system.



I've flagged it with Pittasoft and will await to see their response.

No issues here. GPS connects before I move off. Bought it shortly after you highlighted it (annoyingly missed the extra 10% code).

I now have the issue of trying to get a decent sim deal for the cm100lte. Seems genuine data only plans are few and far between and they want to pull your pants down. What data allowance should I be considering?

If I rig up the cm100lte, is there still the option of connecting to WiFi when in the 'garage'? I remember this being an option on my 750S, but it looks like it is only LTE OR wifi and not a combination on the 970 plus?

 

[danlat1415]

Thanks - hopefully the GPS connection improves as time goes on and it syncs up quicker.


If you got the CM100G LTE (Global) with the DR970X Plus direct from BlackVue (as I did), then the CM100LTE doesn't come with a SIM and you'd need to obtain your own.

I already had a CM100 LTE (UK version) which comes with a Vodafone Smart Devices SIM - with is £4/month for 40GB data only. No price increases.

As I already had the UK version that came with a SIM, I sold the Global version to recoup some costs.

Id recommend considering selling yours and getting a UK version just for the SIM, or try and source your own data only SIM.

Vodafone used to offer the SIMs separately/directly - but stopped a few years ago as they went into deals with manufacturers to be the main partners to include SIMs with devices.

Other options would be to contact Blackvue UK to see if they can source a UK Vodafone SIM, and find a company that would accept returns of used items with a certain timescale and get the SIM package from there (unofficially).


Yes you can use both the LTE module for Cloud access, but also set up one Hotspot for it to connect to.
I have WIFI at the parking location, so it connects to that when parked close to it, otherwise it uses the LTE module.

 

[JasonAz]

Thanks - hopefully the GPS connection improves as time goes on and it syncs up quicker.


If you got the CM100G LTE (Global) with the DR970X Plus direct from BlackVue (as I did), then the CM100LTE doesn't come with a SIM and you'd need to obtain your own.

I already had a CM100 LTE (UK version) which comes with a Vodafone Smart Devices SIM - with is £4/month for 40GB data only. No price increases.

As I already had the UK version that came with a SIM, I sold the Global version to recoup some costs.

Id recommend considering selling yours and getting a UK version just for the SIM, or try and source your own data only SIM.

Vodafone used to offer the SIMs separately/directly - but stopped a few years ago as they went into deals with manufacturers to be the main partners to include SIMs with devices.

Other options would be to contact Blackvue UK to see if they can source a UK Vodafone SIM, and find a company that would accept returns of used items with a certain timescale and get the SIM package from there (unofficially).


Yes you can use both the LTE module for Cloud access, but also set up one Hotspot for it to connect to.
I have WIFI at the parking location, so it connects to that when parked close to it, otherwise it uses the LTE module.

Great, thanks that's good news on the WiFi. Useful for pulling files each day when I park up onto my UnRaid server.

Yeah, that's the issue I have - got the free global one so down to sourcing own Sim. Buying a UK one / selling the global one is not an option - just doesn't seem to be the market to move this on. Both BlackVue and Vodafone have already given the thumbs down to getting a V-Sim. So it's down to getting the best deal I can, none of which are great!

 

[danlat1415]

I contacted Vodafone to see if I could source for UK Smart SIMs and pass them on to anyone who needed one.

Unfortunately they said that they stopped producing the Smart SIM 2 years ago.
A number of smart devices manufacturers bought bulk stock of the last of their SIMs and have been including with some of their devices ever since.
So the only places you're able to get them is from the manufacturers/resellers of the devices who bundle the remaining V-SIMs in circulation.

 

[danlat1415]

If anyone in the UK who ordered and got a free CM100GLTE (Global) and want to sell, please PM me.

I want to test if this will have any impact on my GPS issues, as the CM100'G'LTE has an additional GPS module within it for the DR770X box dashcam users (which had an external GPS module).
Blackvue support don't think it will make any difference, but I want to try everything I can, even if it's a long shot.

I got one, but sold it straight away as I already had the UK version (CM100LTE) which doesn't have the additional GPS module within it.