Just installed A229 Duo today, GPS working but mapping data won't show on Dashcam Viewer....

[StingrayJG]

Hello all,
I just installed my brand new A229 Duo today in my 2020 Honda Pilot EX-L and everything looks like it is working fine except for when I go to play video recordings via Dashcam Viewer (DCV) (I'm a registered user) the GPS mapping data shows all zeroes instead of my actual location and if I zoom out wide enough on the map it shows me in the middle of the ocean somewhere (I guess wherever mapping data of all zeroes would map you? LOL) When I'm driving, the GPS light is steady blue to indicate that GPS is connected and working, and on the video recording itself the lower left is showing the mapping data stamped on the screen and it is updating on the fly as I'm driving. The date, time and time zone are all correctly set and stamped on the recordings as well. But for some reason DCV software will not show the mapping. Has anyone else encountered this issue with DCV and the A229 Duo?
I attached here a screen shot from just randomly driving around my neighborhood to gather some recordings and test the camera and you can see on here at the bottom left of the screen it is showing location data and it was updating on the fly as I was driving.
The only things I can think of that may be possible causes but I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot yet are:
Does the speed setting need to be turned on? Because right now I have GPS set to "on" but speed displayed on screen turned to "off."
Also, there was a setting on the VIOFO phone app that asked if you wanted the date/time synced with your phones settings and I think that was set to allow that.
Could either of these things be playing a part in this issue?
I think this is the only problem I have run into so far with the install and testing, and it may not even be a VIOFO issue, might be something with DCV, I don't know.
Anyone's help with this issue would be highly appreciated because one of the primary things when I was upgrading to this cam was that I REALLY wanted one that would easily show mapping data.
Thanks!!

 

[StingrayJG]

Update to previous post:
I changed the setting to show miles per hour on the screen from "off" to "on" and that did not help.
I also took the actual SD Card inside and uploaded the video recordings directly from the SD Card to my desktop PC and that did not help either. Prior to this I was downloading the videos onto my phone via Wi-Fi with the VIOFO app and then downloading the videos from Google Photos onto the desktop PC. I wanted to make sure that wasn't the issue either, it did not seem to make a difference.
Also, toggling between google and mapquest in Dashcam viewer made no difference, neither one worked.
Here is another clip (attached) showing that now the miles per hour is set to on and displaying on the screen lower left along with the coordinates, but Dashcam Viewer is not using that data to display speed or mapping. You can see in the photo that I was traveling at 18 miles per hour but Dascam Viewer still shows zero.
I reached out to Dashcam Viewer with an email through their site to see if they can help or if there are any known issues between them and the A229 Duo, but it was 1930hrs on a Saturday so not sure how long it might take to get an answer.
Thanks again!!

 

[Karagandinez]

I reached out to Dashcam Viewer with an email through their site to see if they can help or if there are any known issues between them and the A229 Duo, but it was 1930hrs on a Saturday so not sure how long it might take to get an answer.

Wait for an answer. No one else can help you except them.
Is a player problem.

 

[kamkar]

It is probably just a matter of compatibility with the model of camera, traveler generally fix such things in a day once he have some files to test with
Just enjoy your video for now and traveler will soon have your meta data going too

I am a bit amazed it is not supported as the A229 duo are after all a year old model.
I can not recall if viofo have a player of their own you could try / use meanwhile

 

[kamkar]

If traveler need some files from you to test with, change your segment size to 1 minute and generate a few files driving around the block, this way you have as little as possible to upload and traveler to download.

2 consecutive files from each camera, so 4 in total should be fine

 

[rcg530]

The A229 Duo was working with Dashcam Viewer.



I found some older A229 Duo video files that do work and later ones that do not work with it.

Shows GPS data (FW 1.1_0105)


Does not show GPS data
FW 1.1_0105


FW 1.2_0413

 

[kamkar]

Aaaaa could be a update to the camera have thrown a spanner in the works ?

Maybe worth checking if dashcan are up to date on firmware. The firmware version are listed in the very bottom of the menu options.

 

[StingrayJG]

Hello everyone,
First of all, thank you all very much for all the support and helpful info, this is truly a great community.
Even though I feel very foolish right now for not catching this on my own sooner, I'm happy to report that the issue has been resolved and the video clips appear to be working in DV very nicely now with speed/location data showing.
As I was doing more research just now, I realized that maybe the problem could be related to the version of DV I was running (Many thanks to @rcg530 for sharing that screenshot of the October 2022 release notes and making that brain cell pop in my head) When I went to go look at the version of DV I was running, I was only running version 3.3.8 even though I had "check for updates on start-up" checked off in preferences, and even when I manually clicked on "check for new version" in the help menu, nothing would update. I ended up going directly to the DV website and downloading the latest version myself (presumably 3.9.2, that's what it gave me) and it installed fine and it looks like it dragged over my personal info, it is still showing me as a registered user. Once I did all that and played the same clips from yesterday that didn't work, the speed and location data shows now. Needless to say, I'm very relieved and happy it was something that easy to resolve, but also a little embarrassed that checking for that wasn't higher on my troubleshooting list and I didn't catch that sooner. For some reason it never updated on it's own even though it was set to, and didn't update when I tried to manually check for new version, so I thought that I must've been running the lastest version when in fact it was quite far from the latest.
Hopefully now the new cam can just be enjoyed and no more issues.
Actually I did not get a hard wire kit yet to unlock the parking features so when I decide to tackle that I may be picking your brains again. I'm a little scared going into the fuse box so I may need some support for that.
First I have to get the 2nd A229 Duo into my wife's vehicle and get her going with the upgrade and then we'll see where we go from there.
Thanks again for all the help. I can't tell you how much the amount of quick responses and information was appreciated.

 

[kamkar]

You can find many videos on youtube on how to install dashcams, both with the conventional power source, and also hard wire.
Most cars are much the same in general, of course the fuse box might be in different places ASO, mine are in a bad place, well at least for a 57 YO guy that is already retired with back problems among other things.

The fuse box on cars are also much the same, or at least working the same, they do of course not look 100 % alike, then its just a matter of finding good fuses to tap into, on some newer cars this can be a little problematic as even the wire harness in cars now are also more or less smart.

Of course you do not want to touch fuses for engine management - airbags and so on, but there is a range of other ones that is worth giving a try, i personally use a little search probe with a LED light on it, to find the live fuses / live side of fuse socket ( you can probe the fuse while it is still installed )
I got that little tool dirt cheap at a auto parts store here. you can of course also use a multi meter if you have something like that, i just prefer the little pen like thing with the little wire and alligator clip in the end for the GND connection.

Most often you will also find a place close to the fuse box where you can tap in for the ground connection, this is something people will mess up some times putting the GND wire on a metal screw that just hold parts of the dashboard plastics together so dont have GND

I personally use 5 A fuses for the dashcam side of the fuse adapter, and are connected to two 10 A circuits in my car, one that is on all the time and one that is ACC.
At times i have been running 2 systems on that / those 5 A fuse with 5 cameras in total.

 

[kamkar]

I just assumed you had the latest dashcam viewer installed

My assumption force are a bit too strong some days.

 

[StingrayJG]

I just assumed you had the latest dashcam viewer installed

My assumption force are a bit too strong some days.

So did I at first because I had the settings on check for updates on start-up and it also wouldn't update manually. But then I went to the website and noticed that the current version was light years ahead of the one I was running. Something must have glitched and it would not look for updates, who knows. I'm just glad it was a simple resolution.

I also just updated the firmware on the cam. It was running firmware v1.0_0926 right out of the box and I just downloaded and installed v1.2_20230413 from the VIOFO website. I had to do a little housekeeping as I noticed some of my settings were set back to out of the box settings once the update was completed but it was no big deal. The mobile app makes it so much easier to adjust settings than my prior dashcam, like night and day.

Question: I followed the directions on the website for updating the firmware, which said to download the .bin file and then transfer it to your micro SD card, put it back in the dashcam and the update would load on start-up. That's what I did and it worked fine. Now that the update is completed, do you usually erase that .bin file off of the micro SD card or do you leave it on there? I was going to delete it off of there so it wouldn't be taking up the space but just curious what most do in that case. These are the parts that are new to me now with this cam.

 

[Karagandinez]

Question: I followed the directions on the website for updating the firmware, which said to download the .bin file and then transfer it to your micro SD card, put it back in the dashcam and the update would load on start-up. That's what I did and it worked fine. Now that the update is completed, do you usually erase that .bin file off of the micro SD card or do you leave it on there? I was going to delete it off of there so it wouldn't be taking up the space but just curious what most do in that case. These are the parts that are new to me now with this cam.

The firmware file is deleted automatically after the update.

 

[kamkar]

The camera delete the firmware file and reboot.
I usually use a old 16 or 32 GB memory card for this.
Also once done you have to do your settings again

In my case that is generally set the time zone which for Denmark are +1 and then +1 more as we are on summer time right now so +2 hours in total, then i choose best image quality, select the 3 minute segment size i prefer and if possible i turn off G-sensor for while driving CUZ i dont want any false events created, if there are no option for G-sensor off on a camera, then i use LOW which with Danish streets work just fine at worst my some times frisky driving style might trigger a event, even if i drive a 1000 CC - 3 CYL - 70 HP car.