How to fix the "mute mic" problem.. through the hardware

[POQbum]

This is a question. I've opened up the dash cam fine, but was sadly unable to locate where the mic is. I pulled out the speaker thinking the mic might have been also integrated in with the speaker, but I was wrong.

I am looking to simply pull out the mic so that it doesn't record sound. I have no interest in it recording me singing in my car, talking to my bank on the phone in my car, cursing at other drives in my car, etc etc it's just unwanted.

I will never use the mic record function, so I want it pulled out.

Can someone tell me where it's located and how to remove it?

 

[David106]

Why dont you load the firmware that fixes the mic issue?

 

[Nigel]

The hole in the case for the sound to go in to the microphone is on the top, a very small but obvious hole. The microphone itself is a little silver can on the circuit board right next to the microphone hole. It's mounted so the top of the can where the sound enters is pointing inwards towards the lens instead of towards the hole in the case. You can't get at it's legs to disconnect it, not sure I'd want to try desoldering it, probably not a good idea to short it out. But I suspect that if you put a large blob of glue on top of the can then it would block nearly all the sound entering and then need the volume turned right up to hear anything at all. I added some sticky back felt on top of mine to turn the volume down as it was having difficulty coping with my engine, also tried some sticky back neoprene foam but that turned it down far too much for me.

I think you would be better off with the firmware update!

 

[Hilts]

In relation to latest FW 20140812 it appears that the Mic Mute Bug is still there...

lol...
Mic mute bug is present in this version as well..
But the funny thing is that the mic mute bug is fixed in 20140804

mute the mic > reboot the camera > record a video > check it on your computer > the sound is recorded (it is very low - but it's still being recorded)

If you want to try FW 20140804 you can get it from here:-
http://dc.p-mc.eu/0803/firmware

 

[Nigel]

I believe this one fixes the mic, although I haven't tested it myself, I'm using FW 20140812 since I like the mic to work.
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/custom-firmware-from-procam-cx4-revision-3-0.6715/

 

[Hilts]

I believe this one fixes the mic, although I haven't tested it myself, I'm using the one Hilts linked to since I like the mic to work.
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/custom-firmware-from-procam-cx4-revision-3-0.6715/

I'm still using FW 20140611 V1.0 from FoxOffer, as that's the latest from where I purchased it.
The Procam one sounds interesting, especially as @Tobi@s is finding it good. I might give it a go to see what difference it makes, thanks.