Having major issues with my Amazon G1W-CB

[Xybone]

So I bought this model last year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00P8F3LD0
And recently, I've been having nothing but issues with it. Such issues include:

1. Not keeping the time and date when turned off
2. The built-in lamp turns on every time I start the car
3. The last file is always corrupted
4. The camera shuts off ASAP, no goodbye screen

The firmware on it currently is 2016.04.07C. I've tried flashing FW96650A.bin which supposedly fixes the time and date issue, but when I put the BIN file on a freshly wiped 32 GB card and put it in the camera, the camera refuses to turn on and flash the firmware. Cam turns on fine without the SD card and with another blank SD card though.

Any ideas on what to do next? I love the video quality and form factor, and I would hate to throw an otherwise perfectly working camera away over what seems to be software issues. I just might have to though, and I'm really not looking forward to use a cam where I'm forced to use an app just to set it up (like the B1W - call me a luddite or whatever but that's more hassle than convenient).

 

[kamkar]

Not keeping time thats probably the little RCT battery being broken
Build in Lamp i have never seen / heard off, but all dashcams have one or more indicator LED's
Last file corrupted are often blamed on the battery / capacitor being broken.
instant shut off result of the above too.

You could probably replace RTC battery and capasitors, but it will take some skills in tinkering, and sourcing replacements as components and not readily available spare parts.


Your flashing problems might be tied into the .bin file not being the correct one for the model, as i understand it the G1W do come in a range of hardware flavors.

 

[SawMaster]

Have you tried a hard reset with a paper clip? Build quality on these has dropped since they no longer have anything but low price to recommend them over newer cam designs. Could also be a weak PS or supercaps going bad, though the last is somewhat rare for a cam this new.

Of the G1W series cams, IMHO the only one really worth it's salt anymore is the G1W-S, and I don't know if it's still in production. It's been outpaced by the B1W now so there's almost nothing to recommend these anymore. They were good cams for their time.

Phil