How to update the A129 Plus firmware for beginners?

[smithdean]

I have this A129 Plus duo hardwired in my car for 2 years or so. I recently damaged the microSD card while removing it to view some files. I Just bought a new SANDISK High endurance 256gb micro sd card on amazon. But I forgot the settings and firmware I did 2 years ago. I am also a basic computer user.

I have the A129 plus camera setting near my Dell XPS 8950 windows desktop with the micro SD card in. I did download the latest firmware FWA129SN. bin on my PC. I see it under the download. But, How do I do the updating with this firmware? Any super basic step by steps guide to do the firmware upgrade? Please show me basic step by step guide to update the firmware and the recommended settings on the menu.

Thanks

 

[benjos]

The latest firmware and instructions are on https://viofo.com/content/37-viofo-a129-plus-duo-dash-cam-support/

Make sure you downloaded the correct version for your camera build and then put the .bin file in a micro SD card with nothing else on it. With the camera off, insert the micro SD card into the camera. Power on the camera. The camera will flash different patterns with the red lights and eventually the camera will turn on again like normal; it does not ask to confirm firmware upgrade. Then you can check your firmware version.

 

[smithdean]

i downlaoded the firmware FWA1029SN type binfile on my desktop. inserted the card on card reader and in to my card reader slot on PC, coped the file to thes card reader DCMI, rmeoved the sd card , inserted the card in to dashcam, powered on the dashcam but it turns on as usual without blinking or confirming the upgrade. weird! I went to settings menu on my camera and it says firmware version A129PLUS:V10 Build:20201027. Is this the correct firmware?

 

[benjos]

When you check the firmware version, does your camera say "build" or "build2"? If it says "build" and not "build2" then you need to download FWA129S.bin and use that file only on the microSD card.

 

[Karagandinez]

i downlaoded the firmware FWA1029SN type binfile on my desktop. inserted the card on card reader and in to my card reader slot on PC, coped the file to thes card reader DCMI, rmeoved the sd card , inserted the card in to dashcam, powered on the dashcam but it turns on as usual without blinking or confirming the upgrade. weird! I went to settings menu on my camera and it says firmware version A129PLUS:V10 Build:20201027. Is this the correct firmware?

You can copy both files: FWA129SN and FWA129S to a memory card and paste into the DVR. But it will be flashed with the firmware that suits it and will remove it from the memory card. Firmware that is not suitable for your DVR will remain on the memory card.

 

[tilt]

When you check the firmware version, does your camera say "build" or "build2"? If it says "build" and not "build2" then you need to download FWA129S.bin and use that file only on the microSD card.

My camera mentions firmware as v1.6, Build:20210401.

Does this mean it is "build" and not "build2"? In case it were build2, would it say "Build2: 20210401" instead?

You can copy both files: FWA129SN and FWA129S to a memory card and paste into the DVR. But it will be flashed with the firmware that suits it and will remove it from the memory card. Firmware that is not suitable for your DVR will remain on the memory card.

I tried this - I copied both bin files to a freshly formatted (in the camera itself, not in the computer) micro-SD card (I tried both, a 32gig card and a 256gig card). I then inserted the card into the camera and plugged it into power (wall-plug, not the computer USB port).

The camera just turned on and started recording as normal, there were no flashing lights, no firmware update that happened. The micro-SD card then had a DCIM folder like it normally does when recording.

Both cards (32 and 256) exhibited the same behaviour.

What am I doing incorrectly?

Thanks and cheers

 

[tilt]

Are you sure you have A129 PLUS and not EMMC Version?
Try to put all three firmware files on one memory card.

VIOFO A129 Plus Duo Dash Cam Support

VIOFO A129 Plus Dash Cam manual, firmware and FAQ

viofo.com

I bought the Plus Duo; so I am guessing it is not the eMMC version - how do I find out?

Thanks and cheers

 

[_MST_]

Did you copy files directly to root sd card folder? If you place them within any subdirectory it won't update.

A129 Plus firmware update contains following files:

FWA129S.bin (for front camera with Build version info)
FWA129SN.bin (for front camera with Build2 version info)
FWE129S.bin (for front camera - eMMC version)
RearcamA129FW.bin (optional, for rear camera)
RearcamA129FW.update (optional, for rear camera, this file size is zero byte)

If you copy all FWA129S.bin, FWA129SN.bin and FWE129S.bin files to root directory of SD card, then device will choose correct one for it's update.
Not all firmware updates contains rearcam update. For example, latest one V1.8 does not include it, while previous one V1.6 did.
There is V1.7 (Rear: V1.7_20210416) rearcam update included in V1.6 firmware update package.
Currently there is no way to download V1.6 with rear camera update files from global Viofo site, but someone shared all official A129 Plus rear camera updates here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6zcIQ1x-r6YvvdFQSfh-CVLFOnCBhWs/view
You can also download V1.6 update from official Polish Viofo support site:
https://www.viofo.pl/FIRMWARE/A129PLUS/v1-6/FW-1-6.zip

I asked Viofo support about lack of V1.8 rear camera update files, which in fact exists. They told me that normally, they won't recommend users update the rear camera firmware if it works well. The firmware is just to fix some bugs. Thay did publish the rear camera firmware before, but there is no need to update it if everything is ok, so they cancel it on their website. Viofo support can send rearcam V1.8 update on request, and in fact they sent me RearcamA129FW.bin file with "Rear: V1.8_20220615" update.

Here is offical front camera update video tutorial:

To update rear camera:

1. Disconnect camera power supply
2. Copy RearcamA129FW.bin and RearcamA129FW.update (zero byte file size) to root folder of SD card
3. Make sure that rear camera is connected to front camera by cable
4. Connect camera power supply, make sure it won't turn off during update process (2-3 minutes)
5. When camera boots up, press camera switch button for a while. Message "Send FW to Tx..." will appear, then next one "Tx Start Update FW...". Wait until blue message dissappear. You can watch this procedure here

(Polish language, but it doesn't matter) or here

I found no issues with different front and rear camera versions. In my case front is "A129Plus: V1.8 Build2: 20220706" and rear was "Rear: V1.7_20210416". Everything worked fine. I had no time to update rear camera with V1.8 from Viofo support yet.

 

[tilt]

ThNk you. Yes i tried the update the way you described. it did not happen. And my Cameas is Build, nor Build2.

Cheers

 

[IronicallyJesus]

Not sure if I had a corrupted file or something but the rear v1.8 update kept breaking my rear camera connection. Have loaded back 1.7 somehow in between all the disconnects (thank goodness I didn't brick anything) and it appears a lot more stable now. Could be why they pulled it maybe? Anyways will keep an eye on it. Anyone else have this experience?