DVR-207 SD Card Seems Bad

[RickReichert]

I've had the DVR-207 since May 2013, and it has never worked right. It records for a while, then either hangs (black screen) or keeps recording but creates gibberish file names. To be able to troubleshoot here at home rather than in the car, I built up a 12-volt source using an old ATX computer power supply and a female 12-volt socket with in-line fuse. I suspect the problem is with the Transcend 32gb class 10 memory card. Today I tried an old 2gb SanDisk Ultra II Class 4 card and it seems to be working. I haven't checked for gaps between 2-minute segments, but at least the DVR-207 hasn't hung and overwrites the memory when it fills up, as it should. I sent an email today to estore009 asking to return the 32gb Transcend card for replacement with something that works. I'll post again when I hear back from them. I'll also try other SD cards to see if they will work.

 

[jokiin]

slower cards are often better in this model

 

[RickReichert]

I've had the DVR-207 since May 2013, and it has never worked right. It records for a while, then either hangs (black screen) or keeps recording but creates gibberish file names. To be able to troubleshoot here at home rather than in the car, I built up a 12-volt source using an old ATX computer power supply and a female 12-volt socket with in-line fuse. I suspect the problem is with the Transcend 32gb class 10 memory card. Today I tried an old 2gb SanDisk Ultra II Class 4 card and it seems to be working. I haven't checked for gaps between 2-minute segments, but at least the DVR-207 hasn't hung and overwrites the memory when it fills up, as it should. I sent an email today to estore009 asking to return the 32gb Transcend card for replacement with something that works. I'll post again when I hear back from them. I'll also try other SD cards to see if they will work.

Using the ATX power supply setup, I did a test on a Transcend 80x 1gB SD card today. Works fine. Records and loops correctly.

 

[RickReichert]

I've had the DVR-207 since May 2013, and it has never worked right. It records for a while, then either hangs (black screen) or keeps recording but creates gibberish file names. To be able to troubleshoot here at home rather than in the car, I built up a 12-volt source using an old ATX computer power supply and a female 12-volt socket with in-line fuse. I suspect the problem is with the Transcend 32gb class 10 memory card. Today I tried an old 2gb SanDisk Ultra II Class 4 card and it seems to be working. I haven't checked for gaps between 2-minute segments, but at least the DVR-207 hasn't hung and overwrites the memory when it fills up, as it should. I sent an email today to estore009 asking to return the 32gb Transcend card for replacement with something that works. I'll post again when I hear back from them. I'll also try other SD cards to see if they will work.

Yesterday I also tried an ATP 4gB SD card, Class 10. It also worked fine. I also re-formatted the Transcend 32gB Class 10 card to FAT32 with 32kB sectors. I'll test that one next.

 

[RickReichert]

slower cards are often better in this model

If this is true, why are the Class 10 SD cards being bundled with this unit?

 

[jokiin]

If this is true, why are the Class 10 SD cards being bundled with this unit?

ask the seller

 

[RickReichert]

Yesterday I also tried an ATP 4gB SD card, Class 10. It also worked fine. I also re-formatted the Transcend 32gB Class 10 card to FAT32 with 32kB sectors. I'll test that one next.

Using my home test setup mentioned above, I did an 8+ hour test of the Transcend 32gB SDHC Class 10 SD card. It recorded 2-minute segments fine for about 2 hours and 40 minutes. After that, all files were corrupted and they would not open. It now appears that this SD card is not compatible with my DVR207. Last night I did an 11-hour test using a 2gB SanDisk Ultra II SD card, Class 4. It recorded all 2-minute segments fine, and it looped correctly all night long.

 

[RickReichert]

I've had the DVR-207 since May 2013, and it has never worked right. It records for a while, then either hangs (black screen) or keeps recording but creates gibberish file names. To be able to troubleshoot here at home rather than in the car, I built up a 12-volt source using an old ATX computer power supply and a female 12-volt socket with in-line fuse. I suspect the problem is with the Transcend 32gb class 10 memory card. Today I tried an old 2gb SanDisk Ultra II Class 4 card and it seems to be working. I haven't checked for gaps between 2-minute segments, but at least the DVR-207 hasn't hung and overwrites the memory when it fills up, as it should. I sent an email today to estore009 asking to return the 32gb Transcend card for replacement with something that works. I'll post again when I hear back from them. I'll also try other SD cards to see if they will work.

I got an email back from Vicky at estore009, saying that yes, I could return the Transcend 32gB card and they would replace it. However, she wanted it sent registered air mail. This would cost approximately $15 - just not worth it. Nov 16 note: I sent the card back via regular international air mail ($1.30), and Vicky at estore009 immediately refunded the cost of the SD card to my PayPal account. Excellent customer service!

 

[Gabolinche]

Last night I did an 11-hour test using a 2gB SanDisk Ultra II SD card, Class 4. It recorded all 2-minute segments fine, and it looped correctly all night long.

With this camera I've been using a 32GB SanDisk Ultra Class 10 with no problems whatsoever. Haven't tried any other cards so I can only vouch for the only one I've tried.

 

[RickReichert]

With this camera I've been using a 32GB SanDisk Ultra Class 10 with no problems whatsoever. Haven't tried any other cards so I can only vouch for the only one I've tried.

Thanks for the info. I've been hoping others would let me know what SD cards they've had success with. Have you used the SanDisk card for more than just a quick check? Just curious, since your member info shows a 207GS "stored for future use". The Transcend worked fine for a couple of hours, then quit. So the only way to tell if a card is good or not is to let it run for several hours through multiple loop cycles. In any event, thanks for your comment!

 

[Gabolinche]

Have you used the SanDisk card for more than just a quick check? Just curious, since your member info shows a 207GS "stored for future use".

Yeah, sorry about that. I used the SanDisk for about 3 months with no problems. Didn't even bother to format it once a month like its recommended. My usage was for recording a total of about 30 daily minutes kilometers of driving, so you might consider me a "light" driver.

I initially got the DVR-207GS to experiment with dashcams. After 3 months, I got hooked on the idea so I decided to upgrade and invest in a Panorama2.

EDIT: I incorrectly specified 30 minutes instead of 30 kilometers. My daily driving takes about 90 minutes. In any case, with the 32GB card I was recording about 1 week of history before the older files started being overwritten. You might say the card went through about 14 complete loops without any hiccups.

 

[RickReichert]

Yeah, sorry about that. I used the SanDisk for about 3 months with no problems. Didn't even bother to format it once a month like its recommended. My usage was for recording a total of about 30 daily minutes kilometers of driving, so you might consider me a "light" driver.

I initially got the DVR-207GS to experiment with dashcams. After 3 months, I got hooked on the idea so I decided to upgrade and invest in a Panorama2.

EDIT: I incorrectly specified 30 minutes instead of 30 kilometers. My daily driving takes about 90 minutes. In any case, with the 32GB card I was recording about 1 week of history before the older files started being overwritten. You might say the card went through about 14 complete loops without any hiccups.

Sounds good. I'll try the SanDisk Ultra Class 10, per your link in another post. And thanks for the link to the Panorama2. Looks like a great upgrade!

 

[RickReichert]

Just finished a 9-hour test of an ATP ProMax SDHC 4gB Class 10 SD card using my home test setup. It worked fine. It went through about 6 loops, and the last 2-minute video looked as good as the first. Just FYI to any viewers of this post.

 

[RickReichert]

Here is a photo of my ATX power supply setup. Provides stable 12vdc to the DVR-207 automotive power plug.

 

[RickReichert]

Yesterday discovered software for testing memory cards and USB sticks: "h2testw 1.4". I downloaded it from Softpedia and tested the Transcend 32gB SD card I received from estore009 with my DVR-207. The Transcend card failed the test. I'm guessing this is a "gray market" SD card, since I've never had any other SD card fail, ever. I emailed Vicky asking to return the Transcend card for credit or replacement. She emailed back saying it only has a 2-month warranty. I emailed back reminding her that the eBay ad for the DVR-207 with Transcend 32gB card states it has a one-year warranty. We'll see what happens. This is my first experience buying directly from China. I won't do it again if estore009 doesn't make this right. On the plus side, the DVR-207 has been working flawlessly with a 4gB ATP ProMax Class 10 SDHC card installed.

 

[RickReichert]

I mailed the defective Transcend 32gB SDHC class 10 card back to Vicky at estore009, and emailed the post office receipt to her. She promptly refunded the cost of the SD card to my PayPal account. Wonderful customer service! She also asked for the software "h2testw 1.4" that I used to test the SD card, so that she could give it to her supplier. It tests both USB sticks and SD cards, and is available from Softpedia.com. It writes a series of 1gB files to the media, then reads them back to insure it works. The Transcend SD card I had failed at about 22gB, and the transfer speed was never more than about 4mB/second - very slow. I highly recommend both estore009 and this software. After several months of headaches with the DVR-007, it seems to be working flawlessly now. I'll post again after I get a different SD card. I'm thinking of getting the SanDisk Ultra, per recommendation from Gabolinche above.

 

[RickReichert]

I got an email back from Vicky at estore009, saying that yes, I could return the Transcend 32gB card and they would replace it. However, she wanted it sent registered air mail. This would cost approximately $15 - just not worth it.

See my comment above. A refund was made to my PayPal account by estore009. Great customer service! Thanks, Vicky!!!

 

[CheckYourLights]

I'm glad things worked out for you. estore009 is a preferred eBay seller, and it is good they took care of the issue. I have always used Sandisk cards in everything including my DVR-027 until a few months ago.

When I bought a G1W to replace my 027 I tried a Sandisk card, but I had memory issues with it. Oddly enough it was going from Sandisk to Transcend that fixed the issue for my G1W, but every camera is different.

Before i kind of retired my DVR-027 I was all Sandisk. I used to leave it on for a day or two at a time with a 32GB card in with no issues. They also work well in my Vico TF2 witch runs almost constantly and there is a mico in my WF1 as well as my GS8000 before it melted the card.

 

[RickReichert]

I'm glad things worked out for you. estore009 is a preferred eBay seller, and it is good they took care of the issue. I have always used Sandisk cards in everything including my DVR-027 until a few months ago.

When I bought a G1W to replace my 027 I tried a Sandisk card, but I had memory issues with it. Oddly enough it was going from Sandisk to Transcend that fixed the issue for my G1W, but every camera is different.

Before i kind of retired my DVR-027 I was all Sandisk. I used to leave it on for a day or two at a time with a 32GB card in with no issues. They also work well in my Vico TF2 witch runs almost constantly and there is a mico in my WF1 as well as my GS8000 before it melted the card.

I'm now thinking that maybe estore009 got a bad batch of SD cards from their supplier. Today I checked the ATP 4gB ProMax Class 10 SD card using H2TESTW and it passed with flying colors. Write speed was 8.5mb/s, and read speed was 19.1mb/s. The Transcend 32gB card I had only wrote at about 4.5mb/s maximum, and failed the test about 2/3 of the way through, so I really don't know what the read speed would have been. Just a defective SD card. I've ordered an 8bG SanDisk Ultra card and will test that when it gets here. I'd like to have 3 or 4 of the 8gB cards so if an event does happen that I want to keep, I can swap out cards and keep on going. The DVR-207 is finally fun and easy to use.

 

[RickReichert]

I bought an 8gB SanDisk Ultra SD card from Best Buy. checked it with the h2testw software and it performed well. Write speed was 14.4 mB/s and read speed was 19.2 mB/s. I installed the 8gB card in the DVR-207 and ran it on my home test rig yesterday afternoon. The first time through it stopped at 2 hours 30 minutes, probably when the card was full. The DVR-207 had shut down instead of looping. I did not format the card before using it, so maybe that caused the glitch. I checked the SD card - the video was fine right up to the last. I put the card back in and ran it overnight. It worked fine, looping about three times. So now the DVR-207 and new 8gB card are in the the car, undergoing field testing. I'll post again in a few days.