Failing SG9665GC V2?

[Trick]

What i'm finding with mine, is that if I remove the camera from the car to test it/change the firmware. Then power it at my desk with a 5V USB wall adaptor (phone charger etc), then the camera will work perfectly when reinstalled in the car for 10 days or so before falling over again with the startup issue.
It's not the power cable in the car as like @Dashmellow I've recently replaced it with a brand new one.

 

[jokiin]

What power cable did you replace it with?

 

[Trick]

The one that came with the camera.

 

[jokiin]

So you were using different power supply previously?

 

[Trick]

Yes, I bought a Nextbase hardwire kit when I originally got the SG9665GC, which I've used successfully until the other week, when I swapped it for the one that came with the camera. This 'swap' looked as though it had worked, but 10 days later the camera started the odd behaviour again.
I brought the camera in to roll back the software a version this past weekend. After reinstalling it in the car it is now working perfectly again, but i'm expecting it to start failing at some point next week. I've worked out a plan with @niko to get the issue resolved, but i'm trying to help you guys understand what's going on in the hope you can identify whats failing and maybe offer a fix to others affected or at least use the information to prevent it happening in future designs.

 

[jokiin]

I'm not familiar with their hardwire kit but assume that it was running for some time on that already yeah?

 

[Trick]

Yes, over 2 years. It's very similar in design to the Street Guardian one with a 12-5V switching DC-DC converter 30cm or so upstream of the 12V input connection.

 

[jokiin]

Yes, over 2 years. It's very similar in design to the Street Guardian one with a 12-5V switching DC-DC converter 30cm or so upstream of the 12V input connection.

not familiar with theirs, there are two known problem models in the market but they cause failures after a much shorter time, nothing like 2 years that you've been using

 

[Trick]

It's certainly odd. I thought the problem was the Nextbase power supply, as after swapping it with the Street Guardian one, everything worked 100% again. So when I saw it fail again after 10 days I was pretty surprised. Then surprised again when I saw the camera working okay after changing the firmware this weekend, that was after powering it from a 5V phone charger.
Like I say, Niko has offered to look at the camera if i send it to him. I just wanted to do another round of tests and see it fail again before I dispatch it, in the hope it helps in the long run.

 

[jokiin]

Like I say, Niko has offered to look at the camera if i send it to him. I just wanted to do another round of tests and see it fail again before I dispatch it, in the hope it helps in the long run.

yes it helps, thanks

 

[Dashmellow]

I mentioned the other day in @Trick's thread about his similar SG9665GC V2 woes that I would describe the current situation with my unit. It is still not clear what exactly is going on but the problem, whatever it is, appears to be with the camera itself and not the cable and certainly not the power supply, having had the issues manifest with three different ones now.

Recently, the camera has been performing quite reliably even in the insanely bitter cold temperatures we've had here lately. One morning the camera booted up and ran just fine with the ambient temperature inside the cab of my truck at º-5 F (-20.55556º C).

Shortly after that, in more moderate temperatures the camera again booted up and began recording at which time I drove off and was on my way when about ten minutes into my journey I looked up at the camera and noticed that the REC indicator was on but no longer blinking. I pulled over to have a look at what was going on and discovered that the camera was frozen up, the screen was black and the buttons were unresponsive. As has been the case all along, after unplugging the camera for a few seconds and plugging it back in gets everything working normally again. Everything worked fine for the rest of the day. Upon returning home I reviewed the files from the day and discovered that the file where the camera had frozen up and ceased recording was corrupted and unplayable. In other words, whatever occurred happened mid loop. This failure is new behavior not reported earlier.

This situation is becoming untenable. It's one thing to have to manually reboot the camera once or twice a day until I am able to install a suitable replacement but having the camera freeze up and stop recording unexpectedly during my daily travels when I may not even notice is not cool.

The fact that this issue is intermittent and that it might not happen for days or even weeks on end is infuriating. I almost wish the camera would go ahead and just croak already.

 

[Dashmellow]

I haven't reported about my balky SG9665GC for quite some time but not because the problems have gone away. I basically limped through the winter with it because there wasn't much I could do in sub-freezing, snowy, winter conditions with no access to a heated garage.

Lately, the camera has a nasty habit of spontaneously rebooting for no apparent reason. The camera will work OK for as much as a week or more but then you'll be driving along and suddenly you hear the start-up chime as the camera reboots. At first I just ignored the issue because it seemed like a momentary interruption in recording but then I discovered that along with the spontaneous rebooting I will find long periods of missing footage, sometimes as much as half an hour. Unless I'm constantly checking the camera I have no way to otherwise know it stopped recording. I've determined that the issue is not due to a loose cable connection or power supply problem or anything like that. It's something internal to the camera.

Curiously, the original issues I first reported with start-up glitches, a blown out magenta hued screen image, and the boot screen that wouldn't go away all stopped (around the time I replaced the power cable) and evolved into the current problem.

I've been using a back up camera in addition to the SG9665GC so I don't risk a situation where something happens that doesn't get recorded but soon I will need to resolve this months long insanity with a reliable primary dash cam.

 

[Dashmellow]

You're awfully quiet @jokiin. You're usually all over threads like this where someone is having serious trouble with one of your products. You didn't respond to my last post about this back in February either. What gives? Where's the vaunted Street Guardian customer service you're noted for?

 

[jokiin]

You're awfully quiet @jokiin. You're usually all over threads like this where someone is having serious trouble with one of your products. You didn't respond to my last post about this back in February either. What gives? Where's the vaunted Street Guardian customer service you're noted for?

Not easy to diagnose without having the camera so can only look at some possible causes at this stage, power and memory are the two most common possible causes

if it's not something you can work out and run out of ideas then the other option is send it to Jon and we'll work it out

the offer to sort it out was never retracted, it still stands

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Not easy to diagnose without having the camera so can only look at some possible causes at this stage, power and memory are the two most common possible causes

if it's not something you can work out and run out of ideas then the other option is send it to Jon and we'll work it out

I guess I could send it to Jon (and would be willing to) but the unit is three years old

Actually, I've had my eye on the SGGCX2PRO as a worthy replacement for the GC.

 

[Dashmellow]

the offer to sort it out was never retracted, it still stands

OK, thanks! Much appreciated.

I'm trying one last thing that neither you or anyone else recommended and I hadn't previously thought of myself. This morning I downloaded and reinstalled the latest firmware. I did a lot of driving today and there were no spontaneous reboots. I will keep my eye on things and see what happens. If that doesn't work I'm finally going to throw in the towel and see about a new camera. We finally have weather that will allow me to do a new installation. At least I hope! Two days ago I woke up in the morning to find a winter wonderland outside my bedroom window with an inch of snow on the ground. Never ever seen that in the middle of May.

 

[Dashmellow]

Thanks Jon. Yeah, the SGGCX2PRO would probably be my choice but I was thinking about the upcoming two channel remote lens model you guys have been talking about. I was sure it would be available by now but apparently it's still not quite ready. In any event, maybe you'll be kind enough to offer me some sort of discount as I've noticed you've been offering to a couple of SG9665GC V1 and V2 owners in the last few weeks who have been reporting similar and in one case identical issues?

 

[jokiin]

let us know how you go, if there's still issues let me know and I'll arrange something with Jon

 

[Dashmellow]

let us know how you go, if there's still issues let me know and I'll arrange something with Jon

Thanks Ric.

 

[Trick]

Just wanted to say, since February I've had no issues with my camera at all. I did two things:
I made sure the memory card (one that had been in the camera when it failed) was properly formatted. I actually formatted it NTFS, so the camera was forced to reformat it to the correct type. At the same time I used an older firmware, I think 2 revisions earlier. The camera worked perfectly.
After a month or two, I updated the camera back to the latest firmware, I made sure it was a new download from the Street Guardian site, and not a copy i'd downloaded last year.
The camera continues to work great.