Update: the rear camera running on the new cable connected ok but then disconnected this morning and recording stopped, beeping started when I switched on the car. It reconnected and disconnected a few times and then fixed itself. All happened while I was stationary in the garage. Then went to normal during driving.
Intermittent rear camera
- Thread starter Variman
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Malakym
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Just to add my experience.
Had similar problems, though would stop/start the recording constantly until the rear camera was unplugged. After a week or so of this, the rear camera never showed up.
I use a hardwire kit (VIOFO original) so switched over to the lighter socket power with no change, also used a battery bank just to be sure. Also bypassed the GPS mount to be sure it wasn't that.
Did firmware update, was given rear camera update but since it would not connect it couldn't send the firmware.
Was sent a replacement cable, rear camera showed up again but intemittent. Tried to do the firmware but likely was disconnecting before it transfered it.
Was sent a replacement rear camera, same issue, intermittent rear camera. Tried the old cable wouldn't show at all, new cable intermittent.
Then they replaced the head unit... work well when testing on the bench at home (granted only a few minutes of recording) but then (would not work with old cable so I think I had a faulty cable as well), then the same again in the car.
I had replaced the SD card before, swapped around with other devices, all U3, though only one of mine shows Vx and thats V10. At least 2 of the cards were brand new, so not concerned they wern't "endurance" models.
I am going to drop the quality slightly on the front and rear cameras - to see if its some writing issue. I can't imagine they write more than 30MB/s per pair though?
Has anyone tried a shorter cable? (the one that comes with the Duo/interior camera) more reliable?
Had similar problems, though would stop/start the recording constantly until the rear camera was unplugged. After a week or so of this, the rear camera never showed up.
I use a hardwire kit (VIOFO original) so switched over to the lighter socket power with no change, also used a battery bank just to be sure. Also bypassed the GPS mount to be sure it wasn't that.
Did firmware update, was given rear camera update but since it would not connect it couldn't send the firmware.
Was sent a replacement cable, rear camera showed up again but intemittent. Tried to do the firmware but likely was disconnecting before it transfered it.
Was sent a replacement rear camera, same issue, intermittent rear camera. Tried the old cable wouldn't show at all, new cable intermittent.
Then they replaced the head unit... work well when testing on the bench at home (granted only a few minutes of recording) but then (would not work with old cable so I think I had a faulty cable as well), then the same again in the car.
I had replaced the SD card before, swapped around with other devices, all U3, though only one of mine shows Vx and thats V10. At least 2 of the cards were brand new, so not concerned they wern't "endurance" models.
I am going to drop the quality slightly on the front and rear cameras - to see if its some writing issue. I can't imagine they write more than 30MB/s per pair though?
Has anyone tried a shorter cable? (the one that comes with the Duo/interior camera) more reliable?
Jesse-H
New Member
I also have same issue with my A129 Plus Duo, I installed on Dec. 24, 2022, and used VIOFO original kits(rear camera cable and power cable and car charger).
The rear camera is randomly beep and stop recording(lost connect with front camera), lost connect and auto reconnect, over and over again.
After many tests I came to a conclusion(my A129 Plus Duo)......
1.Won't happen at night.
2.Only when my car reach a full stop, like at a stop sign or pull in a parking space or stop traffic light.
I think it may happen when the rear camera records an picture with no movement.
The rear camera is randomly beep and stop recording(lost connect with front camera), lost connect and auto reconnect, over and over again.
After many tests I came to a conclusion(my A129 Plus Duo)......
1.Won't happen at night.
2.Only when my car reach a full stop, like at a stop sign or pull in a parking space or stop traffic light.
I think it may happen when the rear camera records an picture with no movement.
Last edited:
Jesse-H
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I did another test.
When the rear camera auto disconnected and reconnected again, I went to the back of my car and waved hand to the rear camera, and the rear camera would be normal work.
When I stopped waving, the rear camera started beep and disconnect and reconnect again.
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Do you have motion detection on?
Jesse-H
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How are you determining that the rear camera is disconnecting? Is it disappearing from the LCD screen?
When you used the car charger, you used the Viofo 12V car charger and the Viofo USB power cable?
What brand and model memory card are you using?
When you used the car charger, you used the Viofo 12V car charger and the Viofo USB power cable?
What brand and model memory card are you using?
Jesse-H
New Member
Beep and rear camera disappearing from the LCD screen.
Yes, All are Viofo original Kits.
「TCELL Endurance MicroSDXC UHS-I (A2)U3 256GB」 and 「Samsung EVO Plus U3(MB-MC128GA) 128GB」
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Could be the rear camera or rear camera cable are the issue (though it makes no sense it would work correctly just by waving your hand in front of the rear camera), but I'd try formatting the Samsung card with SDFormatter first. Perform the full overwrite, not the quick format. After SDFormatter, place back in the camera and format again inside the camera.
www.sdcard.org
SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association
www.sdcard.org
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What color is the Samsung card? Red and white or white and blue?
Jesse-H
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I have replaced the new rear camera cable provided from Viofo after sales, but still have this issue.Could be the rear camera or rear camera cable are the issue (though it makes no sense it would work correctly just by waving your hand in front of the rear camera), but I'd try formatting the Samsung card with SDFormatter first. Perform the full overwrite, not the quick format. After SDFormatter, place back in the camera and format again inside the camera.
SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association
I have 「TCELL Endurance MicroSDXC UHS-I (A2)U3 256GB」 and 「Samsung EVO Plus U3(MB-MC128GA) 128GB」 and 「SanDisk Extreme Pro MicroSD (A1)U3 64GB」, I will try to use SDFormatter to full overwrite three MicroSD card, and then format in A129 Plus Duo again.
Jesse-H
New Member
MB-MC128GA, Red and White.
nickop
New Member
I'm having the same problem, have been talking to support for months, and am at my wit's end. So sorry for the length in advance.
Rear camera PiP vanishes, 2 beeps, then comes back. But over time I've seen variations of this - sometimes after an extended period of time (~20 hours, since I run it in parking mode and drive so it never turns off) it would freeze the image and stop recording entirely and need to be powered off and on. Other times, it would make the entire front unit screen black and stop recording. Removing and replacing the rear camera cable would resolve this without a reset.
This is in a modern 2022 i30. It seems the issue shows up more often in parking mode, after walking away a while and coming back. So it looks like the unit is getting into an invalid state somehow which makes errors happen more often, if I reset it's usually (not always) good for a little while, but if I drive to the shops and come back to the car there's a good chance it's looping errors again. It's made me wonder if something is messing up in the driving to parking mode transition or the power supply in the i30 which is used to detect this. The HK3 is plugged into Spare and Power Outlet fuses in the panel.
But I've also replaced every individual component in the system and the issue persisted. Here's a list of things I have tried (probably missed some):
I think I have tested every part of this overall system so either I messed up or there are at least 2 different issues interacting. So please let me know if I may have missed anything in my testing, to be more thorough I guess a full reset using the pin between tests would be better.
Rear camera PiP vanishes, 2 beeps, then comes back. But over time I've seen variations of this - sometimes after an extended period of time (~20 hours, since I run it in parking mode and drive so it never turns off) it would freeze the image and stop recording entirely and need to be powered off and on. Other times, it would make the entire front unit screen black and stop recording. Removing and replacing the rear camera cable would resolve this without a reset.
This is in a modern 2022 i30. It seems the issue shows up more often in parking mode, after walking away a while and coming back. So it looks like the unit is getting into an invalid state somehow which makes errors happen more often, if I reset it's usually (not always) good for a little while, but if I drive to the shops and come back to the car there's a good chance it's looping errors again. It's made me wonder if something is messing up in the driving to parking mode transition or the power supply in the i30 which is used to detect this. The HK3 is plugged into Spare and Power Outlet fuses in the panel.
But I've also replaced every individual component in the system and the issue persisted. Here's a list of things I have tried (probably missed some):
- New rear cable, supplied from Viofo
- New rear camera, supplied from Viofo
- Format SD card with SDFormatter
- Different SD Card (from a relative who has the same model with no issues, mine is Sandisk, heard they are problematic, his is Samsung)
- Re-Update firmware, front & rear (both already latest on site - v1.8 Build2 20220706)
- Power from 12V adapter instead of hardwire - problems happened immediately
- Plug power into GPS mount instead
- Disconnect GPS mount
- Test on wall socket (this was the single thing that appeared to fix the problem but I did not use it long, and it would not change parking/driving modes
- With their front cam and my rear cam, same error except after disconnect it would stop recording entirely (constant beeping until manually resuming).
- My front cam and their rear cam, seems more stable than my setup, but still has problems rarely.
- Their front and rear camera together works fine - but then after a few days, it completely stopped recording and had a black screen when my wife drove to Canberra (not useful for a dashcam). It cut out while driving on a freeway, did not record for the next 2 days, but started working when I unplugged and replugged the rear camera cable. The owner has never had a single issue like this with it in their own car.
I think I have tested every part of this overall system so either I messed up or there are at least 2 different issues interacting. So please let me know if I may have missed anything in my testing, to be more thorough I guess a full reset using the pin between tests would be better.
Brian (with an i)
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I am having the same rear camera problem with my new 129 Plus Duo (installed Dec 27, 2022) as a couple other users noted here. My rear camera will randomly disconnect off and on repeatedly (cuts in and out on the main screen and beeping on the front cam) and usually causes the front cam to lock up/reboot when it does this. Front camera works fine with rear camera unplugged. Viofo sent a new rear cable, but no joy. I bought (and since returned) a second rear cable from Amazon just to see, but no joy. Viofo sent me a link to update the rear firmware, no joy. The also sent a FAT32 GUI to use to do a long format, no joy. They are supposed to be sending a new rear camera but I am not hopeful that will fix it.
Here's the weird part....Like another user reported, this only happens when I am not moving, and I have indeed narrowed the problem down to a lack of movement in the rear camera field of view, or a very open field of view. What I mean is, for example there are two spots in my driveway where I back up to a large open field and it will cause the rear camera to start crapping out. I can get out and walk behind my vehicle and it stops cutting in and out and stays connected for a minute or so then starts cutting out again after I move out of frame.
It never acts up when I'm driving or when it's raining or snowing on the back windshield, but if I come to a stoplight or stop sign with no movement or rain or snow or buildings/cars directly behind me, the rear camera starts to crap out. If I back into my driveway to where the rear camera can see the side of my very nearby shed or another vehicle, it won't crap out. If I back up to the open field, it does crap out. I can then pull 10 feet forward to where the rear camera sees my other truck parked directly next to me and it works fine. I'll back up 10 feet out of view of the parked truck and it starts to acts up again. As long as there is a large object nearby in the rear field of view or some kind of movement, it works fine. So, there is most definitely some kind of odd problem with no movement or no defined objects close by enough that somehow causes the rear camera to have fits. Makes no sense I know, but after a month of fooling with this thing, that's 100% what's happening.
My 129 duo is hardwired with the HK3 kit and I am using Samsung Pro Endurance 128/256GB (white and blue) cards and have also tried other high speed cards of various capacities that work fine in other cameras. I also tried it not being hardwired as well as with a separate 12v battery power source to eliminate the vehicle's electrical system as a cause. Motion detection is off.
This is an odd problem indeed. Very odd.
Here's the weird part....Like another user reported, this only happens when I am not moving, and I have indeed narrowed the problem down to a lack of movement in the rear camera field of view, or a very open field of view. What I mean is, for example there are two spots in my driveway where I back up to a large open field and it will cause the rear camera to start crapping out. I can get out and walk behind my vehicle and it stops cutting in and out and stays connected for a minute or so then starts cutting out again after I move out of frame.
It never acts up when I'm driving or when it's raining or snowing on the back windshield, but if I come to a stoplight or stop sign with no movement or rain or snow or buildings/cars directly behind me, the rear camera starts to crap out. If I back into my driveway to where the rear camera can see the side of my very nearby shed or another vehicle, it won't crap out. If I back up to the open field, it does crap out. I can then pull 10 feet forward to where the rear camera sees my other truck parked directly next to me and it works fine. I'll back up 10 feet out of view of the parked truck and it starts to acts up again. As long as there is a large object nearby in the rear field of view or some kind of movement, it works fine. So, there is most definitely some kind of odd problem with no movement or no defined objects close by enough that somehow causes the rear camera to have fits. Makes no sense I know, but after a month of fooling with this thing, that's 100% what's happening.
My 129 duo is hardwired with the HK3 kit and I am using Samsung Pro Endurance 128/256GB (white and blue) cards and have also tried other high speed cards of various capacities that work fine in other cameras. I also tried it not being hardwired as well as with a separate 12v battery power source to eliminate the vehicle's electrical system as a cause. Motion detection is off.
This is an odd problem indeed. Very odd.
nickop
New Member
That's interesting but it definitely seems to happen for me while driving - just today I swapped my original v1.8 front/rear back in after a firmware update and settings reset. My wife said the beeps started halfway to work (~15 minute drive) after she stopped and started in traffic, maybe the stopping was the trigger in this case though. The hardwire kit should remove the need for any GPS/motion detection parking mode triggers so having it matter is weird. Side note: while reviewing videos recorded connected to a battery, some where the car was parked were flagged as driving up to 8 km/h by the GPS module, but I suppose line of sight could play a role here.
Anyway if it's working like you say, I wonder if the issue is not so much motion or objects but video compression and data rate. If not enough updates are sent to the front unit, it assumes the rear has disconnected?
Anyway if it's working like you say, I wonder if the issue is not so much motion or objects but video compression and data rate. If not enough updates are sent to the front unit, it assumes the rear has disconnected?
Brian (with an i)
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"...I wonder if the issue is not so much motion or objects but video compression and data rate. If not enough updates are sent to the front unit, it assumes the rear has disconnected?"
That's right along the lines of what I was thinking, sort of. I have no idea how the electronics part of this works with data rates and such being sent back and forth but it does seem like if there's nothing to "see", it goes goofy. I was also thinking (along those same lines) if that is indeed happening, that maybe it has something to do with the rear windshield glass? In my case the rear glass is fairly dark tinted, so I wonder if that is affecting it somehow? You mentioned in your other post that the owners of the same camera had no issues in their vehicle but it does act up in yours. Do you know, is their rear window tinted, or is yours significantly darker than theirs? I was even thinking about temporarily mounting the rear cam externally (I know it's not weatherproof) to see if it acts up without the glass in the way.
That's right along the lines of what I was thinking, sort of. I have no idea how the electronics part of this works with data rates and such being sent back and forth but it does seem like if there's nothing to "see", it goes goofy. I was also thinking (along those same lines) if that is indeed happening, that maybe it has something to do with the rear windshield glass? In my case the rear glass is fairly dark tinted, so I wonder if that is affecting it somehow? You mentioned in your other post that the owners of the same camera had no issues in their vehicle but it does act up in yours. Do you know, is their rear window tinted, or is yours significantly darker than theirs? I was even thinking about temporarily mounting the rear cam externally (I know it's not weatherproof) to see if it acts up without the glass in the way.
nickop
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Not able to check but I just have the factory tint on my i30 hatch, the other car is a Tucson (also new) but not sure if they got tint added. If it's a matter of tint though then probably day/night would be noticeably different and I'm not sure I've seen that.
I do wonder if it's the v1.8 firmware because their duo is v1.5 and I had almost no issues in my car with it. Not sure if there is a safe resource to find files to downgrade? Their v1.5 cameras were solid at recording the only issue is it fully died after a few days and I think that might be a bug they fixed in a later version so maybe something in between is better. It might also be a bad batch or change in components because me and another guy got ours in Nov, you installed Dec, and my FIL did his much earlier back around April.
I do wonder if it's the v1.8 firmware because their duo is v1.5 and I had almost no issues in my car with it. Not sure if there is a safe resource to find files to downgrade? Their v1.5 cameras were solid at recording the only issue is it fully died after a few days and I think that might be a bug they fixed in a later version so maybe something in between is better. It might also be a bad batch or change in components because me and another guy got ours in Nov, you installed Dec, and my FIL did his much earlier back around April.
I am pretty sure my wife’s duo is on 1.5 and it is not giving her almost any issues (maybe did it once or twice ever). That’s in outlander.
My i30 duo is 1.8 cause I upgraded it - I can’t remember what version it was before but it was giving me lots of beeps before the firmware update.
My i30 tint is factory too.
I think i should try swapping the cameras between cars - I have not done it yet
Also maybe trying block the rear camera completely with something to see what it does.
Brian (with an i)
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Well today I experimented a bit. I set up the rear camera outside the vehicle and pointed at the same open field and it still randomly crapped out, unless there was motion in front of it, so the glass/tint thought doesn't seem to be a thing. But, I also set it up inside the back of my minivan to use as a cabin cam while I drove around all day with my job and it did not cut out one time all day when pointed inside the vehicle, even when I was sitting still for some time. On the way home I moved it back to it's original position looking though the rear window and it almost immediately started acting up again only at stop signs/stop lights and again when I got back home and backed into the open field. I then immediately tried it again as a cabin cam just to see, and of course it did not cut out as it had just been doing just seconds prior. What does this mean? I have no idea. I'm even more confused now.
nickop
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That is weird. Maybe try putting it in a shoebox (darkness) or pointed at the car door or similar (immobile view) and see what happens? I'd test mine more but don't have access during the day.
Are you using the same rear cable for the tests? If you're moving it around I assume you're just using the spare new cable strung through the cabin.