Is my Mobius dead ?

Iulian

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Messages
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Location
Brussels
Country
Belgium
Dash Cam
Viofo A129 Duo GPS, Dual Mobius B-Lens
Hi,

I've had my Mobius for about 2 months now. Everything went fine until today.
I've been using a capacitor instead of the battery since the beginning.

Today, when I got back home, I did not find any new recordings. I went to the car and started it, nothing happened. The camera's LED's did not blink.

I took it inside and tested it a little (with the battery instead of the capacitor):

# 1. The PC/mSetup won't recognize it.

# 2. If I connect it to a power source, the green LED does not turn on automatically.
Only if I hold the power button for a few seconds. Then, if I try to turn the Mobius on, the blue LED(top side) blinks once followed by the red one(rear) 3 times and then the camera shuts down completely.


# 3. If I try to turn on the camera when not connected to a power source, nothing happens. I can press the power button 50 times, nothing. Only if I first hold the power button for a few seconds and then press it again. Same thing, blue LED on the top followed by the red one on the back 3 times.


# 4. If I try to turn the camera on while connected to a power source but without the battery(or capacitor), nothing happens. Only if I press the power button for a few seconds and then press it again after. Same thing, blue on the top and red on the back.


#5. If I try to do a firmware upgrade/downgrade manually, (again, needs one long press of the power button before it actually starts) the blue LED blinks for about 20 seconds, then goes off and the red one on the back blinks 3 times.


##
I tried several chargers and USB cables.
I tried several microSD cards.
I tried several computers.
The yellow LED and the red LED on the top never blink (were working fine until today).

Do you have any idea or should I directly ask for a replacement?
 
You have pressed the reset button?
 
You have pressed the reset button?
Unbelievable, I pressed it like 20 times today and it did not fix it. Now it seems to have worked...
I'll report back tomorrow if this fixed it temporarily or for good.

Thanks for telling me to press it again. :p

Edit: Nope, the yellow led came back, allowed me to start a normal recording and to end it. But now it does the same thing as earlier today.
 
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Do you have the original battery or another known good capacitor to try in it?
 
Do you have the original battery or another known good capacitor to try in it?

Yes, I tried with the the original battery. The capacitor is still good too, I tried it. I guess it was a software issue.
After a couple more attempts with the reset button, I finally managed to perform a downgrade to fw v0.59. I took it for a drive and everything was fine.
I then updated back to v2.18. No problems since then. Fingers crossed.
 
What version did you have all the problems with? I had to reset mine on v2.10 just the once but after that it was fine on that same version for loads of footage for me.
 
What version did you have all the problems with? I had to reset mine on v2.10 just the once but after that it was fine on that same version for loads of footage for me.

v0.59 for more than a month and v2.18 since Thursday evening. But it worked perfectly until yesterday, don't know what happened to it.
Anyway, glad it works now. : )
 
Well.. it lasted for 2 weeks. It stopped working again today.
Now that I have another Mobius, I tried the battery and the capacitor from the faulty one on the one that works. They both function properly. So it's not a battery/capacitor issue.
I tried plying with the reset button (and all the other buttons actually :)) but nothing works.

If I just press the power button: Nothing happens.
If I first long press the power button, release it and press it again(quick press is ok): The blue led quickly blinks and is followed by 3 blinks of the red led on the back.
If I try to perform a fimware update: I have to first long press the power button and then press it again -> The blue led blinks for about 20s and there is a pause as it should but then the red one blinks 3 times and the Mobius turns off.

Also: The long press of the power button can be replaced by a short press of the reset button. It does the same thing.
When I plug the usb cable in (power), nothing happens. I have to long press the power button or short press the reset button for the green led to come on.
The PCs(several) don't recognize the mobius, as it fails to turn on properly. They just provide charging power.
If I long press the Power and Mode button the configuration file is created on the memory card. (and the red led on the top blinks).
 
If all else fails and you find that your Mobius is shot, you can salvage it for much less than the cost of new camera since you already have all the parts. You can buy a replacement circuit board from Banggood for about $43.00 USD. All you need to do is install it your old case with the original lens module and super-capacitor and you're good to go again.

I had a difficult to diagnose problem with one of my Mobius cameras that turned out to be a hairline crack in the plastic pin socket of the miniUSB port. It was unrepairable. A new circuit board from Banggood did the trick and as I understand from reading Isoprop's posts there have been some undocumented hardware tweaks along the way that were intended to improve performance and reliability so the new board might actually be an upgrade depending upon when you bought your camera. Mine was one of the originals.

BTW, my Mobius kept crapping out for no apparent reason and then would start working again, also for no apparent reason, until I discovered the hairline crack, so it might be worth checking to see if you might have a similar problem.
 
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Well.. it lasted for 2 weeks. It stopped working again today.
Now that I have another Mobius, I tried the battery and the capacitor from the faulty one on the one that works. They both function properly. So it's not a battery/capacitor issue.
I tried plying with the reset button (and all the other buttons actually :)) but nothing works.

If I just press the power button: Nothing happens.
If I first long press the power button, release it and press it again(quick press is ok): The blue led quickly blinks and is followed by 3 blinks of the red led on the back.
If I try to perform a fimware update: I have to first long press the power button and then press it again -> The blue led blinks for about 20s and there is a pause as it should but then the red one blinks 3 times and the Mobius turns off.

Also: The long press of the power button can be replaced by a short press of the reset button. It does the same thing.
When I plug the usb cable in (power), nothing happens. I have to long press the power button or short press the reset button for the green led to come on.
The PCs(several) don't recognize the mobius, as it fails to turn on properly. They just provide charging power.
If I long press the Power and Mode button the configuration file is created on the memory card. (and the red led on the top blinks).
Who was the seller? It would be worth a shot to write them and maybe they can help. There have been sellers who have repaired cameras for customers. Besides you have a 6 month warranty, so assuming you bought from an authorized seller, you should be fine
 
If all else fails and you find that your Mobius is shot, you can salvage it for much less than the cost of new camera since you already have all the parts. You can buy a replacement circuit board from Banggood for about $43.00 USD. All you need to do is install it your old case with the original lens module and super-capacitor and you're good to go again.

I had a difficult to diagnose problem with one of my Mobius cameras that turned out to be a hairline crack in the plastic pin socket of the microUSB port. It was unrepairable. A new circuit board from Banggood did the trick and as I understand from reading Isoprop's posts there have been some undocumented hardware tweaks along the way that were intended to improve performance and reliability so the new board might actually be an upgrade depending upon when you bought your camera. Mine was one of the originals.

BTW, my Mobius kept crapping out for no apparent reason and then would start working again, also for no apparent reason, until I discovered the hairline crack, so it might be worth checking to see if you might have a similar problem.

Yes, that's what I was thinking about too. If I can't manage to power it on, I'll buy the replacement circuit board.

Who was the seller? It would be worth a shot to write them and maybe they can help. There have been sellers who have repaired cameras for customers. Besides you have a 6 month warranty, so assuming you bought from an authorized seller, you should be fine

Both of them come from Banggood. They already reimbursed me (100%) two weeks ago, when I contacted them about the problem. They were great about it, answered fast and didn't even ask me to ship the Mobius back to them.
 
I think I found what's wrong. I swapped the lens mobule (B-Lens) from my new Mobius into my old one and it started normally. I then connected the lens module from my old Mobius to my new one and... it won't start. Same thing, blue led blinks once, then the red one on the back and that's it.
I switched them back and the new Mobius started again.
So I guess it's the lens module.
 
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The B lens module I received from Banggood was also defective but it was an image quality issue rather than basic functionality. Banggood was also very good about replacing it quickly without my having to send the old one back.
Just curious...have you checked the pins closely on the bad module plug?
 
Just curious...have you checked the pins closely on the bad module plug?

1xnOozo.jpg

68htvug.jpg


I don't see anything.
 
Hmm...looks fine. Just thought I'd ask. Poorly seated ribbon plugs have been a problem for some people.
 
I don't see anything.

I replaced the lens in my GT300W with a lens from another (dead) dash cam and ended up with vastly improved image quality. The lens from your bad module may come in handy sometime. I plan to experiment with the lens from my bad B module when I get some time.
 
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The B lens module I received from Banggood was also defective but it was an image quality issue rather than basic functionality

Was there more noise than before?
The new Mobius I recently bought produces noisier images (and a little less sharp) than the old one. And that's not firmware-dependent, I tried several ones.
It's especially noticeable at night. I don't know if it has to do with the lens module or with the circuit board.

The lens module from the new one has these inscriptions:
MOBIUS_SC-01
2014.06.26

The old one:
Mobius_S_C
2013-08-02
 
Yes, the bad module was noisier. It was also blurry on the right side of the image (which I was able to partially cure with a carefully applied shim) Generally, the overall image quality was very poor. No amount of refocusing or anything else would give me a sharp enough image. The replacement has been fine.

Here's a sample and a detail.

Edit: BTW, this was with the camera running in "parking mode" on an external battery pack while I was in the store. Love the capability, especially in this type of parking lot environment.

Mobius-wide-sample.jpg


detail.png
 
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Yeah I popped up a thread a while ago as it looks like the B lens might have changed in it's lifetime - I only noticed after using one on a G90 and then the weird starbursts it occurred are happening on some people's Mobius cameras.
 
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