F770 - Annoying "Alerts"

jdanham

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OK so I opted for this model and have configured all the important bits, but there is one major issue with respect to the voice `alert' reminding you to reformat to improve data integrity or something like that.

First of all this system is less than 2 days old and there is no earthly reason to be doing any media maintenance. Second, and absolutely the most annoying thing of all is that this `alert' repeats THREE TIMES in a row every time I start the car! This has to be a bug or the shop misconfigured something, but I wouldn't even know where to start to fix this.

And, on a similar vein, can anyone explain to me why I can't seem to suppress or turn down the master volume? I have made the change in setting setting volume to zero but it has had no effect on this or other informational messages. Why for example do they have to tell you every time you turn the car off that the mode of operation will change? All these messages should be user configurable because some of us read the manual and know what happens based on OUR configuration - so stop reminding me!!

Definitely not going to buy another Thinkware product based on these annoyances.
 
If you power up the camera and let it start recording, then press & hold the format button on the back of the camera for 5 seconds it will format the card and stop that message for 2-3 weeks. It's designed to prolong the life of the card and reduce the chance of corrupt files. All warning messages will override a Zero volume setting otherwise if the card did fail you wouldn't know! Same really with the mode change, i've spoken to many people who have heard that message whilst driving and it turns out they have a wiring issue, however without that notification they would have had no idea the camera wiring had an issue until an incident occurred and then they find it's been recording in parking mode. They may be a slight annoyance but it is there to protect the footage as much as poss :)
 
It's not helping. After the next engine start. it will tell you the same alert. I have the same problem, with two different memory cards (128 GB and 256 GB Sandisk). The original 32 GB Thinkware memory card died few months ago.
 
Can you look at the date on one of the recordings just after you start the car? Check the year to see if it's correct or in the future?
 
Last time I checked it, maybe 2 weeks ago, the date was correct.
 
There is a small 'watch type' rechargeable battery inside that may have failed. You can buy the batteries for a couple of euros however it does require soldering in and a complete taking apart of the camera to change it. Usually when this has gone you find the Year on recordings being in the future like 2106 and because this is well in advance of the format time you get the message most starts.
 
I read the other thread about it, but my camera is still in the 2 years warranty. My other problem is, that I'm from Slovakia, and I bought the camera from Amazon UK, so if I will waiting for the warranty service, it will take weeks, maybe a month or more.
 
The 2 Year Warranty only started from the 1st of May this year if it was bought before then it's still a 1 year warranty. Your right about repair times i suspect it would take a while. I think if i was in your shoes i would think about buying a battery and asking a Mobile Phone repair type shop if they could replace it for you. Will cost a bit but shouldn't be too much...

You could possibly stop the message by going into the SETTING folder on the memory card, you will see the Format_SD Card bin file, right click it and open with Notepad and it's YEAR MONTH DATE (e.g. 20181011) you could edit the year to something like 2200 and in theory it should stop the message. HOWEVER this wouldn't correct the date if that's wrong, and it would be advisable to still format the memory card from time to time but on a PC not in the camera (the camera would probably reset the year again).
 
Maddog1974, I know about BREXIT, but UK is still in EU, and there is an EUR directive 1999/44/EC which says, the warranty for goods sold in EU states is 2 years or more. I read about it, and I know, that people in UK for some reason don't know about it this directive, but it applies also for UK. This is for the legal side of the warranty problem.

The technical things: I know about that format date file, and it was correct when I checked it last time. If I will have time today, I check out the whole memory card, and everything again. Maybe the difference between the correct and wrong date/time is only few minutes or seconds, and that will hard to find out, but I have an idea how to check it.
 
The UK didn't take on that full directive, only parts of it and put it into our own The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 but i don't want to get into a discussion about that! Let me know how you get on as i'm curious....
 
Just purchased an F200D. Is this annoying announcement standard on all Thinkware cameras? That would be enough for me to return the camera as how discreet a camera is on the inside is a big factor to me.
 
The F200 range are a Format Free camera so they don't give the 'Format memory Card for data integrity' message every 3 weeks.
 
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