Faulty MicroSD card, and general compatibility?

Rabidcat77

Rabidcat77

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Location
Greer, South Carolina
Country
United States
Dash Cam
BlackSys CF-100
So I spent about an hour of wasted time this weekend trying to do "low level" formatting of the 16 GB microSD card that shipped with my CF-100. I had originally purchased a CF-100 about a month ago and installed it on my wife's car. She and I both love it so I got another for my car.

I was installing the 2nd one this weekend and hit a brick wall (no not literally) putting it in as the 16GB MicroSD card that shipped with it had errors and it wouldn't format in the camera. I tried various utilities recommended on this forum and even tried formatting on various Mac, Windows, Linux PC's I have. Nothing worked. I even tried a different SD card adapter, as well as via a card reader directly using the microSD slot. Finally I gave up so I grabbed an old class 2 16GB card from an old cell phone and got it to format OK. I was a little worried about video quality and the ability to record given the age and speed rating of the older media (it's a sandisk, got to love that brand) but so far so good after a days worth of driving and recording.

I'm going to swap out the 16GB anyway for a larger size, any recommendations? I'd like to go 32GB or 64 - I do like Sandisk but I know they are expensive, there's some good deals on Lexar, Verbatim, and Kingston cards but wasn't sure of compatibility with the camera. Other than the no-name "fake"brands out there I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd hate to have the wife do the "I told you so" by my cheaping out... :)
 
if you have it wired up for parking mode, i recommend the sandisk high endurance cards. i have a 64gb card in mine and it's been working great even in parking mode.

if not parking mode, then just get a cheap samsung evo 64gb. and be aware that when you insert ANY card over 32gb, it will complain of an sd card error. to fix it, just keep holding the emergency button till it asks to format the sd card (and then sometimes it'll again say "sd card has an error" then tap UP (right) once, and eventually it'll say it's formatting, then reboot and begin recording. after that you shouldn't have to do that again unless you format it in a windows computer, which will convert it back to exfat or NTFS... which case you'll have to format it in the camera again.
 
Yeah I don't plan to use it for parking mode, nor do I have it wired up as such. Thanks for the recommendation on the card and what to expect on inserting it in the unit and then formatting it. I appreciate it!
 
A shame that you got a faulty card, at least the camera is okay. If you fancy a little more than 64GB without spending a fortune, I use a PNY 128GB with no problems. This was almost the cheapest 128GB class 10 MicroSD available in the UK, I ordered from here:

http://www.kikatek.com/P700382/SDU12810HIGPER80-EF-PNY-MICRO-SDXC-HI

On a 128GB card, you can expect around 12 hours footage with 2 channels recording in your NORMAL folder before it loops. There are also Toshiba 128GB Exceria MicroSD's available in the same price range but the reviews made me lean more towards the PNY. No regrets here (also no parking mode, yet). You can probably get the same PNY card in the states for a good price, just make sure it's from a reputable seller.

TIP: Format your new 64GB and upwards card to FAT32 using a computer first before putting it into your CF-100, then format again in the camera. I did this and didn't get any error messages from the camera.

ANOTHER TIP: Some built-in card slots don't work very well with 128GB cards, mine slows right down and VLC actually has to buffer the video, a bit like watching YouTube on a really bad internet connection! I use a USB card reader which fixes this.
 
I have never actually formatted a card (above 32gb) as fat 32 in my pc. I've always formatted them in whatever device I intend to use the card in, whether it's my phone, action cameras, still cameras or dashcams.

No issues to report here.
 
I recently got one of these cameras as well and have found it to be more than a little troublesome. I cannot for the life of me get it to enter parking mode, even though it can clearly detect when accy power is switched on/off. the settings in the app/pc program don't seem to have any setting to actually enable "parking mode"

I also bought a 128GB Patriot SD card to go in it and have had nothing but problems. It worked the first time i plugged it in, then i took it out to check videos and settings and then it wouldn't write to the card at all. it would power on fine and read the settings from the SD card and act like it was working for about 5-10 minutes, then the lights go into a constant blink and it keeps repeating some message in Korean. I check the card and nothing from that session was written to it. I eventually got it to work again for about a week but then two days ago it stopped again with the same problem. I haven't been able to find any problem with the card itself on my PC
 
Parking mode should activate automatically providing you have it set to come on in the settings. Basically, it uses motion detection to switch between normal and parking modes, so if you set it to come on after 5 minutes, then it needs to detect no motion at all for a whole 5 minutes before it will switch to parking mode. It does this because there is no way for the camera to tell if you are feeding it ignition switched or constant power (for parking mode, it needs constant power). My 12v power socket switches off when I turn off the engine/ignition, so even if I had parking mode enabled, it would never work as the camera isn't fed any power at all.

Seems strange that you are getting a Korean message, maybe you could try installing the latest English firmware?

Have you checked the 128GB Patriot SD card with H2TestW? Was the card completely empty and did you allow the test to fill and verify the entire 128GB? Does the camera work okay with the stock MicroSD card?
 
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Ive got the camera plugged into my truck's Aux power port that stays on even when the key is off. Ive seen it show in recorded video when the key is switched off it detect that accy is off because the voltage drops from 14~ to 12~ i beleive i set motion/parking for 30 seconds but it was still just recording everything last time the card worked.
I havent tried H2TestW but i did try loading the card with files on my PC and was able to fill it to within 200mb of being completely full (i don't have any other movie files that small). The stock SD card and a 32GB SD card i also tried had no issues.
I think I might already have the latest FW, but im not sure. I didn't see anything that looked newer
 
Nemesis158 said:
Ive got the camera plugged into my truck's Aux power port that stays on even when the key is off. Ive seen it show in recorded video when the key is switched off it detect that accy is off because the voltage drops from 14~ to 12~ i beleive i set motion/parking for 30 seconds but it was still just recording everything last time the card worked.
I havent tried H2TestW but i did try loading the card with files on my PC and was able to fill it to within 200mb of being completely full (i don't have any other movie files that small). The stock SD card and a 32GB SD card i also tried had no issues.
I think I might already have the latest FW, but im not sure. I didn't see anything that looked newer
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So wait, which camera do you have? Cf-100 doesn't show voltage in the video but ch-100b does. CH also has a different cable for hardwire and parking mode. If you'll notice, the barrel plug (camera end) has 3 conductors. That's so it can detect when ACC power is gone and it's running just from +B, that's what triggers parking mode on the CH. CF is simpler and just goes on a timer based on motion\g-sensor - I've had my CF start parking mode while sitting in a drive thru line, but not my CH, even though my CH is set for a one minute delay to parking mode.

Also, h2testw doesn't just fill the card; it then reads everything back to check for errors. Most bogus cards will happily accept files and act like it's writing them but only have issues when you try to tread those files. So it's worth the time to do a full test with it to rule out that possibility.

What firmware do you have on your camera now?
 
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I was able to read the files off the SD card without issue. I went ahead and loaded the ca.15 onto the card and put it in the camera and it seems to be working at least for now.

I find what you say about parking mode to be somewhat disappointing. They can program it to know whether the engine is on or not but can't use that to engage parking mode instead of requiring it be hardwired?
 
It doesn't know if the key/ignition is on or not unless it has both +b and acc signals from the car's electrical system. Not every car provides 13-14v while running, especially hybrids. So they can't count on that small voltage difference. That's why it has 3 wires (battery, switched accessory, ground), exactly like a car stereo does.

I think when I got mine, I opened the cigarette plug to check and it does have all 3 wires in there, so you don't have to buy a separate hardwire kit as long as you don't mind cutting up your adapter.

Edit: that firmware version means you have the CH, not the CF. Just clarifying in case others find this thread in the future.
 
the kit came with a hard-wire setup but i already routed all my wires, i think i can deal with it that way as long as the sd card works properly
 
Just a quick follow up to my original post. I ended up contacting the seller on Amazon that I purchased the camera through, and they were very accommodating and have shipped out a replacement 16GB card at no cost to me. I should get it in a few days and they even gave me a tracking #. In the meantime I purchased a pair of MicroSD cards, one for my wife's car and one for mine. For her car I got a 32GB PNY class 4 card (Part no P-SDU32G4-GE) and it formatted with no issues as to be expected. For my car I got a 64GB PNY class 10 card (Part No P-SDUX64U390G-GE). On that one of course the camera complained it had an error when I first put it in, but after formatting it with no problem it worked great. Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on here!
 
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So im back at square one again. if i Format the card and leave it in the camera, itll work for a week and then stop
This morning i heard it actually say "Recording Failure - 3" and shut off instead of switching to something in korean and repeating it forever
 
Nemesis158 said:
So im back at square one again. if i Format the card and leave it in the camera, itll work for a week and then stop
This morning i heard it actually say "Recording Failure - 3" and shut off instead of switching to something in korean and repeating it forever
Click to expand...

Format the card in your PC (quick format should suffice) then test it FULLY with h2testw:

https://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/h2testw/

Allow h2testw to fill up the card completely and verify it all. When it finishes, post the summary here. It may take a long time with a 128GB card but believe me, it is the absolute best thing you can do to test if your card is either fake or faulty.
 
Rabidcat77 said:
For her car I got a 32GB PNY class 4 card (Part no P-SDU32G4-GE)
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class 4 won't be able to record 1080p reliably. heck i've even had issues with a class 6 card. you may end up using this card in your smart phone, mp3 player or something else that doesn't need high speed write capabilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Speed_class_rating

note that the chart there seems to indicate that a class 4 can handle HD and class 6 1080p (FHD) you have to also remember protocol, processor, file system and other overhead that use up some of that write speed. theoretically these class cards can handle 1080p, but in real life, it's inconsistent.
 
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I dont think my card was fake, more likely just a dud. H2testW got about 30GB in and reported a write error, but verified all that was written was good. I do know the card was underperforming as far as its rated speeds as well so i went ahead and asked amazon if i could return it. All in all im seeing about the same amount of poor reviews for dead/dud cards for all the major brands, so im really not sure what to go with as far as replacing it...
 
Try the same class 10 U1 128GB PNY that I bought and buy from a reputable seller (if using Amazon, make sure it is dispatched and fullfilled by Amazon themselves, not a 3rd party seller). Mine was pretty cheap for a 128GB card but is totally genuine and never had a single problem. Others have also used PNY with good results I think. I second Gibson99's comments on class speed rating, you should be using a class 10 card for a reliable set up. Also, I can't stress enough how important it is to fully test a new card with h2testw when you first get it. Sounds like you're doing the right thing in returning it.
 
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Kip said:
...Others have also used PNY with good results I think. I second Gibson99's comments on class speed rating, you should be using a class 10 card for a reliable set up. Also, I can't stress enough how important it is to fully test a new card with h2testw when you first get it. Sounds like you're doing the right thing in returning it.
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+1 on all three points.

I'm using class 10 PNY cards (128GB, 64GB and 32GB) in three different brand cameras without a glitch.
 
Bought the PNY as suggested, Listed by Amazon. The card i got wasnt the same in appearance as the listing and had the same results as the previous card. Camera did the same thing with it as it did with the other card. CrystalDiskMark gives both cards 30MB/s read and 9MB/s write. Guess im sending this one back too.
 
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