Memory Cards Confirmed Working/Not Working?

[Kenza750]

Using a genuine Samsung Evo Plus A2 256Gb (white with blue text) in my A229 (for a couple of days now). Keeps stopping recording.
- at 1440p+1440P max bitrate: stops recording after 30-40sec
- at 1440p+1440p high bitrate: stops recording after 1m40sec
- at 1440p (1ch) max bitrate: keeps recording; no issues
- parking mode (low bitrate, 2CH) works fine

The card used to work fine in my previous A139, but the cam was swapped by the A229 (warranty, supercap was dead). Speed rating of the Samsung EVO Plus is 130Mb/s read-write so 2K+2K max bitrate is around 60MB/s so this shouldn't be an issue.
Tried to format the card in the cam several times, sometimes it gave a Memory Card error. I will try to format it with SDFormatter and see whether is solves the problem. The card is being sold together with the A229 set so I assume it should work fine.

 

[Lothar]

Using a genuine Samsung Evo Plus A2 256Gb (white with blue text) in my A229 (for a couple of days now). Keeps stopping recording.
- at 1440p+1440P max bitrate: stops recording after 30-40sec
- at 1440p+1440p high bitrate: stops recording after 1m40sec
- at 1440p (1ch) max bitrate: keeps recording; no issues
- parking mode (low bitrate, 2CH) works fine

The card used to work fine in my previous A139, but the cam was swapped by the A229 (warranty, supercap was dead). Speed rating of the Samsung EVO Plus is 130Mb/s read-write so 2K+2K max bitrate is around 60MB/s so this shouldn't be an issue.
Tried to format the card in the cam several times, sometimes it gave a Memory Card error. I will try to format it with SDFormatter and see whether is solves the problem. The card is being sold together with the A229 set so I assume it should work fine.

Which seller did you buy it from that bundled this?
This card you mentioned is not even an endurance card. Try Samsung PRO Endurance or SanDisk MAX Endurance.

My understanding is that Viofo only sells their own industrial grade memory card on their website? Viofo does not sell any brand of memory card on their website except their own.

VIOFO microSD memory card for dash cam

viofo.com

 

[Kenza750]

bought it in The Netherlands. We have 2 resellers which sell Viofo and they give you the option to bundle a cam with sd card.
in my previous cam (A139) the card worked without issues for 5 months. I am now formatting the card (takes a looooooooooooong time) so hop to check tomorrow whether the issues still exists.
It must be write speed related because only front cam connected is not issue. Also 2ch connected and normal/low bitrate gives no error.

Agree to use industrial/endurance cards, but unfortunately this was not an option during ordering

 

[Kenza750]

Using a genuine Samsung Evo Plus A2 256Gb (white with blue text) in my A229 (for a couple of days now). Keeps stopping recording.
- at 1440p+1440P max bitrate: stops recording after 30-40sec
- at 1440p+1440p high bitrate: stops recording after 1m40sec
- at 1440p (1ch) max bitrate: keeps recording; no issues
- parking mode (low bitrate, 2CH) works fine

The card used to work fine in my previous A139, but the cam was swapped by the A229 (warranty, supercap was dead). Speed rating of the Samsung EVO Plus is 130Mb/s read-write so 2K+2K max bitrate is around 60MB/s so this shouldn't be an issue.
Tried to format the card in the cam several times, sometimes it gave a Memory Card error. I will try to format it with SDFormatter and see whether is solves the problem. The card is being sold together with the A229 set so I assume it should work fine.

short update from my side: formatted the SD card with FAT32GUI tool (guiformat which can be found on the viofo website). Did a full format (took couple of hrs to complete). This morning put the formatted card in the A229 and it seems to work perfectly. No stopping until now, even recording 2CH at maximum bitrate. Let's see the next couple of days.....

 

[Kenza750]

unfortunately, today the recordings stopped again a couple of times. After starting the recording again and again, it went well for the rest of my 1.5hr trip. Decided to buy a Samsung Pro Endurance 256Gb so waiting for the delivery. The Evo Plus is not reliable enough so I will remove it from the cam as soon as the Pro Endurance is delivered. I will also email the reseller about the incompatibility of the Samsun Evo Plus card.

 

[runtohell121]

Guess I should check my memory card more often... Unfortunately the Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb seems to have failed - not recording normal driving and when plugged into my computer, it's not writing data, at least at a reasonable speed it isn't and freezes my computer when doing so. Trying to do a full overwrite with SD Formatted and it's extremely slow.

Time for a new card and hopefully I can RMA it via Samsung support.

 

[Lothar]

Keep in mind that this site/company is likely just a distributor/dealer for Viofo in your country. They likely have no affiliation with Viofo otherwise.

Viofo needs to assert some control here and not let their distributors/dealers run amok.
Similar to how if you're a McDonalds/Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts franchisee, there are rules that you have to follow.
Just like with Android, there are rules laid out by Google that Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, and all others that have to follow if they want to use the Android trademark.

A bit odd that Viofo would allow a distributor (that uses their own trademark name) to bundle a card that is not one of the recommend cards with their own products as that could damage their brand among end users and those users would wrongly blame their Viofo dashcam (or worse, even Viofo itself) when it is an issue with the card.

This wouldn't matter as much if the name of the distributor/dealer was "CaptureYourAction" store, but if the name of the distributor/dealer/shop is "VIOFO (insert whatever country or phrase here)" then there is a chance that users would think that there is a "deeper" relationship that exists or assume that this is a subsidiary/extension to Viofo China when it is not...
I'm a regular user here that has seen the post from @viofo that indicated SanDisk High Endurance does not work with their product, however if I was from the outside looking in then I would never know.

Just something that @viofo and @VIOFO-Support may want to consider implementing...

What memory card is recommended for a VIOFO dashcam?

Micro SD Cards play an important role in dashcams, but not all cards are suitable to be used in dashcams. The footage recorded by dash cams is saved on a micro SD card, which is an essential component of the dash cam setup. Here are some parame...

support.viofo.com

 

[Lothar]

Guess I should check my memory card more often... Unfortunately the Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb seems to have failed - not recording normal driving and when plugged into my computer, it's not writing data, at least at a reasonable speed it isn't and freezes my computer when doing so. Trying to do a full overwrite with SD Formatted and it's extremely slow.

Time for a new card and hopefully I can RMA it via Samsung support.

Interesting to know...
Did you get any beeps or warnings from your dashcam that the card was not working?
or the dashcam did not give any warning, you saw the normal recording light and assumed that everything was working fine and just happened to check and discover this issue?

One thing to keep in mind is that Samsung released the 256GB version of it's PRO Endurance line in April of this year. Prior to that, the PRO Endurance line memory size was always limited to 128GB maximum.
For the longest time, it was only SanDisk that had a 256GB Endurance card.

Who knows what Samsung changed from 128GB to 256GB besides the memory size? Many here (including me) assumed that this 256GB version would be great due to how great and stable their 128GB (and below) PRO Endurance line was?

A229 Duo Test & Review PP

I'll confirm that the new Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb is working fine with the Viofo A229. Been using it for about two weeks and haven't had any issues. The other card I didn't have any issues with was the Sandisk 200gb Ultra A1. Cards that I've tested and does not work well are listed...

dashcamtalk.com

That said, this is only one data point (and the first that I know off for this particular card failing)...
For those of us that have high end dual channel dashcams (2K+) that record in the highest bitrate possible, 256GB minimum is what we should aim for which leaves only the 3 that I analyzed in post linked above as the only realistic option for us.
For those with Viofo's recently released dashcam (A229, A119, and so on...), the SanDisk High Endurance is not comparable which leaves 256GB SanDisk MAX Endurance or this card(256GB Samsung PRO Endurance) as your realistic option...unless you are willing to take the plunge on a non-endurance card and see how well that works out.

Let us know the outcome of your full format and RMA.

 

[woodbar]

Well I hope the 256Gb Samsung Pro endurance is OK (expensive - Ouch) - tested it in the new A229 Duo camera on the bench the other day for 12hrs continuous and seems OK but won't be able to test it properly until new car arrives next week.

 

[markus]

Could I use the SanDisk High Endurance Card 128GB which I use with my V3 with an A229? I ask as I have a spare lying around which I've yet to use.

 

[Lothar]

Could I use the SanDisk High Endurance Card 128GB which I use with my V3 with an A229? I ask as I have a spare lying around which I've yet to use.

You can try...But based on what I know, SanDisk High Endurance card does not work well with new Viofo cams (A119 Mini and A229). Only the MAX Endurance version of their card works fine without problems.
It works fine on their older cameras, so this may be a firmware issue or a Novatek SOC issue.

 

[Lothar]

Well I hope the 256Gb Samsung Pro endurance is OK (expensive - Ouch) - tested it in the new A229 Duo camera on the bench the other day for 12hrs continuous and seems OK but won't be able to test it properly until new car arrives next week.

I'm sure it will probably be fine. 1 datapoint is not enough to judge the entire line of card.

 

[runtohell121]

Interesting to know...
Did you get any beeps or warnings from your dashcam that the card was not working?
or the dashcam did not give any warning, you saw the normal recording light and assumed that everything was working fine and just happened to check and discover this issue?

One thing to keep in mind is that Samsung released the 256GB version of it's PRO Endurance line in April of this year. Prior to that, the PRO Endurance line memory size was always limited to 128GB maximum.
For the longest time, it was only SanDisk that had a 256GB Endurance card.

Who knows what Samsung changed from 128GB to 256GB besides the memory size? Many here (including me) assumed that this 256GB version would be great due to how great and stable their 128GB (and below) PRO Endurance line was?

A229 Duo Test & Review PP

I'll confirm that the new Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb is working fine with the Viofo A229. Been using it for about two weeks and haven't had any issues. The other card I didn't have any issues with was the Sandisk 200gb Ultra A1. Cards that I've tested and does not work well are listed...

dashcamtalk.com

That said, this is only one data point (and the first that I know off for this particular card failing)...
For those of us that have high end dual channel dashcams (2K+) that record in the highest bitrate possible, 256GB minimum is what we should aim for which leaves only the 3 that I analyzed in post linked above as the only realistic option for us.
For those with Viofo's recently released dashcam (A229, A119, and so on...), the SanDisk High Endurance is not comparable which leaves 256GB SanDisk MAX Endurance or this card(256GB Samsung PRO Endurance) as your realistic option...unless you are willing to take the plunge on a non-endurance card and see how well that works out.

Let us know the outcome of your full format and RMA.

Unfortunately I had my dash cam sound setting turned off and when I looked at it, the lights were functioning as normal. When I reviewed the card, it had little to no normal parking mode, had videos from parking mode on it, but my computer could no longer write to the card without freezing.

When I attempted to do a full overwrite with SD Formatter, took 4+ hours to write 4% of data - I just decided to abort it at that point and contacted Samsung to do a RMA.

I'm back to using the Sandisk A1 200gb memory card for now - haven't had any failures from early testing and will use it until I found another replacement.

 

[markus]

You can try...But based on what I know, SanDisk High Endurance card does not work well with new Viofo cams (A119 Mini and A229). Only the MAX Endurance version of their card works fine without problems.
It works fine on their older cameras, so this may be a firmware issue or a Novatek SOC issue.

Thanks for the information, much appreciated. I'm not quite ready to go A229 right now, but will make sure I purchase the correct cards when I am.

 

[Kenza750]

Update from me again
Received the Samsung Pro Endurance 256Gb card last week. Put it in the A229 Duo. Again, with this card, it seemed to work BUT.....After a day or 2, I noticed whenever the car has been in Parking mode (low bit rate) for a long time (like overnight or during working hours), the camera started recording for only 30-40sec and then started beeping. Pushing the REC button resumed recording. Today, even after pushing the REC button, it stopped recording within a minute, several times. Settings were 1440p+1440p@max bitrate. Today I put the bitrate down to high, and recording was OK for the rest of my 1.5hr trip. I will check tomorrow morning after it has been in parking mode overnight to see what happens.

I am really really disappointed in the Viofo brand. First a lot of issues with the A139 (two new cams) and now this kind of sh#t with memory cards. I've spend over EUR 100 to memory cards and now using one of the "recommended compatible" cards but still issues. Really thinking of returning this one again and going back to Blackvue/Thinkware brands. EUR 230 for the cams + EUR 100 for memorycards is not a low-end setup imho....

Basically, I am thinking of 2 scenarios:
1. when no issues tomorrow morning (high bitrate), I assume there has to be something firmware related problems regarding writing efficiency of high volumes/speeds. I've had a dashcam before which recorded at 4K front+1080p rear on the previous Samsung EVO Plus without problems.
2. I'll try to downgrade the FW to v1.0.0623; now running the latest v1.0.0801 to see what happens.

I'm refusing to accept a lower bitrate setting; Nobody buys a Ferrari to only drive at 50km/h speeds.

@viofo ; @VIOFO-Support : are there any known issues regarding this issue? If yes, can we expect a FW update which mitigates the memorycard incompatibilities?

 

[Lothar]

Update from me again
Received the Samsung Pro Endurance 256Gb card last week. Put it in the A229 Duo. Again, with this card, it seemed to work BUT.....After a day or 2, I noticed whenever the car has been in Parking mode (low bit rate) for a long time (like overnight or during working hours), the camera started recording for only 30-40sec and then started beeping. Pushing the REC button resumed recording. Today, even after pushing the REC button, it stopped recording within a minute, several times. Settings were 1440p+1440p@max bitrate. Today I put the bitrate down to high, and recording was OK for the rest of my 1.5hr trip. I will check tomorrow morning after it has been in parking mode overnight to see what happens.

I am really really disappointed in the Viofo brand. First a lot of issues with the A139 (two new cams) and now this kind of sh#t with memory cards. I've spend over EUR 100 to memory cards and now using one of the "recommended compatible" cards but still issues. Really thinking of returning this one again and going back to Blackvue/Thinkware brands. EUR 230 for the cams + EUR 100 for memorycards is not a low-end setup imho....

Basically, I am thinking of 2 scenarios:
1. when no issues tomorrow morning (high bitrate), I assume there has to be something firmware related problems regarding writing efficiency of high volumes/speeds. I've had a dashcam before which recorded at 4K front+1080p rear on the previous Samsung EVO Plus without problems.
2. I'll try to downgrade the FW to v1.0.0623; now running the latest v1.0.0801 to see what happens.

I'm refusing to accept a lower bitrate setting; Nobody buys a Ferrari to only drive at 50km/h speeds.

@viofo ; @VIOFO-Support : are there any known issues regarding this issue? If yes, can we expect a FW update which mitigates the memorycard incompatibilities?

Another person with this card and an A229...
I wonder if this is like SanDisk High Endurance which works fine in all Viofo dashcams except the recent A119 Mini and A229?

Looks like this may be a parking mode issue?
If the camera records fine in maximum bitrate on a regular drive (a more write intensive process), I fail to see why it will not work in low bitrate mode (an arguably less write intensive process). This does not seem like the memory is at fault and seems to be more like a parking mode issue.
Did you run tests on the SDcard via your PC to confirm it reaches advertised read/write speeds and verify there are no bad sectors?
Was your card sold and shipped by Amazon.com (or another authorized Samsung retailer)? Hopefully you bought the card from a reliable authorized shop?

I doubt #1 is the issue here since it works fine for you in maximum bitrate while driving?
Not sure if this is still a firmware or a Novatek issue....

I will never accept anything less than maximum bitrate.
As a matter of fact, the major reason I went with the dashcam I purchased is that they offer one of the highest video quality bitrate possible for the front camera. I don't care much for bell & whistle.

 

[Lothar]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B09WB3D5GQsold and shipped by Amazon.com

For only $30 on Prime day, I'm taking the plunge. Why not?
I will test this card in my Street Guardian SG9667DC2K dashcam and see what happens. I will also test parking mode and all of that.

Too bad the SanDisk MAX Endurance is not on sale otherwise I would buy that. I already have 2x SanDisk High Endurance cards, and I don't need another one.

 

[Kenza750]

Looks like this may be a parking mode issue?
If the camera records fine in maximum bitrate on a regular drive (a more write intensive process), I fail to see why it will not work in low bitrate mode (an arguably less write intensive process). This does not seem like the memory is at fault and seems to be more like a parking mode issue.
Did you run tests on the SDcard via your PC to confirm it reaches advertised read/write speeds and verify there are no bad sectors?
Was your card sold and shipped by Amazon.com (or another authorized Samsung retailer)? Hopefully you bought the card from a reliable authorized shop?

I doubt #1 is the issue here since it works fine for you in maximum bitrate while driving?
Not sure if this is still a firmware or a Novatek issue....

I will never accept anything less than maximum bitrate.
As a matter of fact, the major reason I went with the dashcam I purchased is that they offer one of the highest video quality bitrate possible for the front camera. I don't care much for bell & whistle.

I realise I was not clear in my explanation. sorry for that.
Parking recording (low bitrate) works fine. After switching from parking mode to normal recording, it stops recording after a while (mostly 30-40sec, sometimes later). Pressing REC resumes recording. Sometimes it stops again, sometimes it continues to record normally.

Like said yesterday, I selected "high bitrate" for normal recording. This morning, the cam switched from parking mode to normal mode when I started the car. It continued to record without interruption. Then I switched back to Max bitrate and voila: it stopped recording again. So the problem looks to have a root cause in the max bitrate setting.
I've now downgraded the firmware from v1.0.0801 to v1.0.0623 and put the cam on max bitrate again. Let's see what happens this afternoon. At this moment the car is parked with parking mode (LBR) enabled. I'll report back... to be continued.

 

[Karagandinez]

A229 DUO has been in use since the beginning of June.
Recording is carried out from two cameras in the maximum resolution and with the maximum bitrate.
Parking mode="Low bitrate recording".
There were no problems with any of the firmware.
Memory card used: GoodRam Irdm Uhs-I U3 A2 Micro SD 128GB.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/B09DWLGQTX

 

[Kenza750]

I have been able to reproduce the stopping this afternoon. At 2ch max bitrate the recordings keep stopping at exactly 48seconds. Every time again and again at 48sec. At high bitrates it also stops sometimes after a couple of loop recordings.

Looks like VIOFO has maxed out theax bitrate setting too high.

In conclusion: i will NOT buy or try another card. Simply stupid design of the A229 DUO. IMHO Viofo has to come with a solution. Everybody is trying to fi d a suitable card. Better look for another cam.