[G1WH] SD card not recognized

[Notna]

Hey,

I got my dashcam in about 2 weeks ago and checked it is the real deal (which it is). The imnage is crisp and everything works as it should. However after not using the dashcam for 4 days, I booted it up on a drive only to find an error stating it cannot find an SD card.

I did all the basics first: reinserted the card a few times, blew out the slot mechanism for any dust or objects that might obscure contacts, tried 4 different brands and sizes of SD card but all display the same result.

I went on a travel on ye 'ole Google to find a few cases where this was the case as well. Some were resolved using a different card, other by replacing the unit, but for some it always stayed and was only fixed at random by reinserting the card a few times.

However, for me the card is not recognized even after 10 minutes of consecutive booting, resetting and re-inserting the card. Adventurous as I am, I decided to open up the unit and have a look at the SD card slot itself.

When i had the motherboard out of the case (screwed it loose as well) and inserted the SD card, it immediately was recognized. I powered down the unit a few times, reinserted the card a few times and out of 25 attempts, all 25 times the SD card was recognized.

I re-assembled the unit, powered it up and what do you know: SD card not found. Repeated from step one and again card was recognized.

My first guess would be either a failing solder point on the SD mount or too much stress on the motherboard which is causing the unit to fail. In order to test that, I mounted the board + screen back into the casing and left the unit on (whilst the SD card was recognized) and started bolting the screws back in one by one. It seems the screws closest to the mounting point are the culprit but it does not seem to fail at a certain point (i.e tightened very hard or very loose)

I have the unit working now, assembled and well with the screws slightly looser than full on tight but I have no clue as to how long it will hold. Does anyone recognize the above or have any other suggestions I might try? I really want to avoid sending the unit back for a replacement due to waiting time, distance etc. and I doubt it is due to the unit not being genuine (I checked the chipset, it is the one listen as being correct)

Cheers!

 

[jokiin]

Dry solder joint, broken track in the PCB that is an issue when the board is seated perhaps, a few possibilities

 

[Notna]

Sorry, late reply is really late. I did some more testing and I can say for sure it is stress/a solder joint on the mainboard. When the cam is mounted into the window mount and I insert the USB cable a bit 'too hard', the SD card will not be recognized. When I wiggle the USB cable (and as such; the port itself on the mainboard as well), the Dashcam reboots itself en recognizes the SD card just fine.

For now, this is an acceptable workaround for me and I did not have any other issues with the SD card not being recognized of late; perfect recordings Thanks for the suggestion on the solder joint!