G1W-C: Any G-Sensor setting (other than off) locks file?

theboyk

theboyk

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Hey all,

I just received my G1W-C and thus far, seems to be working OK. Only problem I've had so far is that when I set the G-Sensor to anything except Off, I end up getting the little lock/key icon on-screen while recording (which, I think, means that the currently recording video file is "locked" and won't be written over as space is needed on the card). From what I read, this isn't how it's supposed to work—the G-Sensor should only lock the file if it detects a physical disturbance (and since I have the camera sitting on my desk, with no motion, I assume something is wrong).

If anyone has any suggestions, it'd be appreciated!

Thanks,
Kristin.
 
My suggestion would be to just go ahead and turn off the G-sensor. Personally, I find the feature to often be more trouble than it's worth, especially in low end cameras like the G1W series and chances are that in the event of a car accident the camera will still capture what happens anyway. If I ever capture footage that I don't want to get recorded over I just swap in a new card until I get home or download the file to my iPad.
 
Dashmellow said:
My suggestion would be to just go ahead and turn off the G-sensor. Personally, I find the feature to often be more trouble than it's worth, especially in low end cameras like the G1W series and chances are that in the event of a car accident the camera will still capture what happens anyway. If I ever capture footage that I don't want to get recorded over I just swap in a new card until I get home or download the file to my iPad.
Click to expand...

Yea, I've disabled it. I wasn't relying on the G-Sensor to capture footage in the event of an accident (that's what the Motion Sensor/Detection is for, I assume), but rather, I was wanting the G-Sensor to "lock" the recorded video file in the event that it detects an abnormal "physical disturbance" (i.e., if I got in a car accident, the G-Sensor, as per the manual, is supposed to detect the accident and then lock the video file that's recording so the "video evidence" doesn't get overwritten via the looping record option). That's all I can really see it being useful for—if it worked, that'd be great, but doesn't seem to work.

That said, I can still manually lock the currently recording video file by pressing the MENU button (while recording), so at least there's that option.

Thanks,
k.
 
I would recommend NOT using motion detection while driving. It is really not intended for that as you risk missing the capture of important footage. The proper way to use a dash camera is to run it in loop mode with full time recording.
Motion detection is marginally useful in a dash cam ...at best! The only time to consider using it would be in "parking mode" when you power the camera full time in a quiet static environment like an underground parking garage where the only movement you want to capture will be the only movement the camera sees.
 
Dashmellow said:
I would recommend NOT using motion detection while driving. It is really not intended for that as you risk missing the capture of important footage. The proper way to use a dash camera is to run it in loop mode with full time recording.
Motion detection is marginally useful in a dash cam ...at best! The only time to consider using it would be in "parking mode" when you power the camera full time in a quiet static environment like an underground parking garage where the only movement you want to capture will be the only movement the camera sees.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm not using the Motion Detection option at all.
 
theboyk said:
Yep, I'm not using the Motion Detection option at all.
Click to expand...

OK, good. I got the impression you were when you said, "I wasn't relying on the G-Sensor to capture footage in the event of an accident (that's what the Motion Sensor/Detection is for, I assume)".

Motion detection is NOT for capturing footage in the event of an accident. It is of course, for capturing motion when in an otherwise still environment. The problem with it, especially on cheap cameras is that there will be a lag between the time it first notices the motion and the time it begins to capture footage so you can miss key parts of an important event. It can also think it sees motion that isn't really relevant and cause false triggers.
 
Cool.

Anyway, if anyone else has any experience with the G-Sensor on their unit, I'd love to know you're experience (just to see if it's an issue with my unit, or any overall firmware issue).
 
theboyk said:
Cool.

Anyway, if anyone else has any experience with the G-Sensor on their unit, I'd love to know you're experience (just to see if it's an issue with my unit, or any overall firmware issue).
Click to expand...

It does indeed sound like the G-sensor in your unit has a problem, that's partly why I suggested disabling it. When it's working properly it shouldn't lock a file unless there is a significant impact, like slamming your car door shut for instance. Some people use the G-sensor as a method for manually locking a file they may want to save. They'll set the G-sensor to it's lowest threshold and flick the camera with their index finger when they want to lock a file.
 
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OK, definitely sounds like an issue with my unit. Maybe I'll try re-flashing the firmware and see if that makes a difference. So, just out of curiosity, what are people's suggestions for firmware on the unit? Mine originally came with W2015.0316.11, but because of the "last file corruption" issue, I've followed the instructions on another thread and re-flashed with 2014.0813.11. This has resolved the "last file corruption" issue, but now I have the G-Sensor issue.

Really, I'd be happy with the G-Senor disabled and the "last file corruption" issue not being an issue, so I'll stick with the 2014.0813.11 firmware, unless I hear otherwise?
 
I'm not familiar with the specific issues regarding the G1W-C firmware versions. If the last file corruption issue is working, that's good. That usually has to do with having the right firmware that works properly with the capacitor. The best thing to do is stick with your current firmware for now and perhaps post a thread asking for help with finding the latest appropriate firmware that "might" fix the G-sensor issue.
 
theboyk said:
(...) but now I have the G-Sensor issue.
Click to expand...
I read the whole thread from the beginning and I still can't understand that G-Sensor issue: does it lock the files even when disabled or you want to use it but it keeps locking the files no matter what sensitivity setting you select?
 
The issue I'm having is, when I set the G-Sensor to anything except Off, it locks the recording file. Doesn't matter what the sensitivity is—if it's anything except Off, it locks the recording file(s). If I set the G-Sensor to Off, then the files aren't locked (thus, the only way I can lock the file is to manually lock it by tapping the Mode button).

The G-Sensor should only lock the files when it detects an abnormal "physical disturbance" (i.e., I get in an accident)—basically, it should detect the accident and then lock the file so it can't be overwritten. But, for me, as soon as I enable the G-Sensor, it locks the file (and every file it continues to record to). Thus, the memory card eventually fills up, because these files can't be overwritten.

So, my only option, right now, is to turn the G-Sensor off.
 
Ok, so you wanted the G-Sensor function to work, but as you probably know by now, on these cameras it's better to keep it off. You better lock them manually, if you really want to lock some files, or empty the card every day so they won't get overwritten.
 
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theboyk said:
The issue I'm having is, when I set the G-Sensor to anything except Off, it locks the recording file. Doesn't matter what the sensitivity is—if it's anything except Off, it locks the recording file(s). If I set the G-Sensor to Off, then the files aren't locked (thus, the only way I can lock the file is to manually lock it by tapping the Mode button).

The G-Sensor should only lock the files when it detects an abnormal "physical disturbance" (i.e., I get in an accident)—basically, it should detect the accident and then lock the file so it can't be overwritten. But, for me, as soon as I enable the G-Sensor, it locks the file (and every file it continues to record to). Thus, the memory card eventually fills up, because these files can't be overwritten.

So, my only option, right now, is to turn the G-Sensor off.
Click to expand...
I have 4 different dash cams and the G sensor is the first thing I turn off followed by the motion sensor when I've got them....more trouble than they are worth to be honest. If there's an incident I just pull the memory card out when I get home and copy that particular clip.
 
Interesting discussion. I have 2 G1W-H cameras and, while they have some issues, the G-sensor is not one of them. Motion detection is useless on both, night video quality could be better and the one in my wife's car would sometimes not record after sitting in the sun all day. The only 'issue' I had with the G-sensor was it's a bit over-sensitive on the 'high sensitivity' setting but set to 'medium' or 'low' it functioned as you would expect.

I realize they are not G1W-C so may be completely different but I just wanted to post this to provide a different perspective. It sounds to me like the OP has a defective camera.
 
When I change the firmware I only do three things: turn G-Sensor off (default is Medium), set the Screen Saver to 3min (default is OFF) and turn Auto Power Off off which, oddly enough, comes with a default setting of 3min.
 
jokiin said:
why do you feel that's odd?
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Well, because if the most common purpose of the camera is to record from power on to power off, why is the default APO setting 3min? It makes no sense. And, as you know, that default setting has caught some people out.
 
Module 79L said:
Well, because if the most common purpose of the camera is to record from power on to power off, why is the default APO setting 3min? It makes no sense. And, as you know, that default setting has caught some people out.
Click to expand...

the auto power off function is meant to power down the camera if there's no active recording, if you turn this off and your camera fails to record it will stay on, from its default setting if your camera failed to record due to a card error it would power down after 3 minutes, if the camera stayed on you're less likely to think anything is wrong, if it powers off it would indicate something was wrong
 
jokiin said:
the auto power off function is meant to power down the camera if there's no active recording, (...)
Click to expand...
Do you mean that if the camera is recording it won't shut down after whatever time you set in the APO? Well, live and learn... :)
 
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