Mini 0806 Power/Boot/Blue USB Connecting Screen Problem - Solved

[Pottsy]

Kludge, is this not a case of the car charger accidentally blurting out a bit of voltage down one of the two data lines? Why not try isolating the two data lines (middle two pins) with a bit of paper to see if the problem goes away.

http://m.instructables.com/id/USB-Charge-Cable-Hack/

 

[KludgeGuru]

Kludge, is this not a case of the car charger accidentally blurting out a bit of voltage down one of the two data lines? Why not try isolating the two data lines (middle two pins) with a bit of paper to see if the problem goes away.

Yes I thought about that, if the data lines are floating while in car charger mode then it is possible that they could pick up noise from the other lines. But I think I've found something interesting.

I connected a probe to the 12V line from the cigarette lighter so I could monitor the input and the output of the power adapter. On the left you can see when I press the ignition button. Power turns on for about 500ms and then the accessories are turned off while the engine is cranking. The 12V line is turned off for about 1 second and then it turns on again at a higher voltage indicating the alternator is working.

The top trace is the 12V line from the cigarette lighter. The bottom trace is the 5V line to the camera.

This first image shows what the hardwire kit is doing. The bottom trace is the 5V output power from the hardwire kit. (The camera worked normally)


This image shows what the stock power adapter is doing. The bottom trace is the 5V output power from the adapter. (The camera went into USB Mode)


It appears the stock power adapter may have more capacitance in it which is taking longer to bleed off and never fully shuts off while the engine is cranking. Don't know if this is causing the camera to go into USB Mode but it is definitely something different from the hardware kit which seems to work fine every time. There still may be some noise being coupled to the USB data lines as Pottsy suggested, I could probably test for it but I think I'm satisfied with just going forward with the hardwire kit and not using the stock adapter.

I'm going to mark my problem as solved.

 

[Nigel]

The standard hardwire kit has a low voltage cutoff so is actually switching the output off, the lighter socket adaptor tries to keep the voltage up as long as it can.

Your alternator starts working quick! Mine takes something like 10 seconds before it starts charging the battery, I assume to let the engine get going before putting it under load.

 

[KludgeGuru]

The standard hardwire kit has a low voltage cutoff so is actually switching the output off, the lighter socket adaptor tries to keep the voltage up as long as it can.

Makes sense. I like the quick turn off, strange things can happen when voltage turns off slowly especially when it doesn't fully turn off before powering up again.

 

[Dave W]

The standard hardwire kit has a low voltage cutoff so is actually switching the output off, the lighter socket adaptor tries to keep the voltage up as long as it can.

Your alternator starts working quick! Mine takes something like 10 seconds before it starts charging the battery, I assume to let the engine get going before putting it under load.

Hi Nigel,

Do you know if this problem was ever solved?
My camera is now about 5 weeks old and in the last week or so I have also had this problem and I am hard wired.
It's intermittent but a real pain.

 

[Nigel]

In this case it was solved by installing the hardwire kit.

Are you using the standard hardwire kit or a non mini 0806 one?

Do you only have the problem if the car has recently been used and it is fine every morning as was the case for the OP?

 

[Dave W]

In this case it was solved by installing the hardwire kit.

Are you using the standard hardwire kit or a non mini 0806 one?

Do you only have the problem if the car has recently been used and it is fine every morning as was the case for the OP?

I'm using the standard one I guess. It's from Spytech and was sold as and add on.
It usually works fine the first time. It's not until the car has been shut off and on a few times that it starts up with the USB connecting message.

 

[Nigel]

Is the hardwire kit connected to a circuit that stays on while the engine is being started?

If so then I suggest connecting it to one that turns off such as the lighter socket or demister fan circuits, alternatively if it is currently connected to one that turns off, move it to one that stays on. If either of those solves the problem then let us know so that Rayman has a bit more information for his engineers to look into...

It seems to be something to do with temporary low voltage, maybe Rayman needs to add a pull up resistor to the USB data line?

 

[Dave W]

Is the hardwire kit connected to a circuit that stays on while the engine is being started?

If so then I suggest connecting it to one that turns off such as the lighter socket or demister fan circuits, alternatively if it is currently connected to one that turns off, move it to one that stays on. If either of those solves the problem then let us know so that Rayman has a bit more information for his engineers to look into...

It seems to be something to do with temporary low voltage, maybe Rayman needs to add a pull up resistor to the USB data line?

It's in the cigarette lighter fuse socket. I'll need to move it and test unless I end up exchanging it before then. It seems odd that it would only happen about 10% of the time during the day.

 

[Nigel]

It's in the cigarette lighter fuse socket. I'll need to move it and test unless I end up exchanging it before then. It seems odd that it would only happen about 10% of the time during the day.

Do you know if the lighter socket turns off while the engine is starting? Most do but some don't, the problem in post #1 was due to low voltage but not actually turning off.

 

[Dave W]

Do you know if the lighter socket turns off while the engine is starting? Most do but some don't, the problem in post #1 was due to low voltage but not actually turning off.

Do you mean between the accessory position and the engine starting to turn over? I don't know, I would need to check. Do you remember my post about when the camera is manually turned off and then I shut the car off the camera powers on? It could be a voltage thing.

 

[Nigel]

Do you mean between the accessory position and the engine starting to turn over? I don't know, I would need to check. Do you remember my post about when the camera is manually turned off and then I shut the car off the camera powers on? It could be a voltage thing.

I mean while the engine is turning over, it is normal to cut electrical power to the accessories, air con etc so that the engine has more power available to start it.

I don't suppose you have something odd plugged into your lighter socket, for example a solar charger providing variable amounts of power?

Since most people don't have these issues, if possible it might be useful to try it in a different car to find out if it is the camera that is working oddly or the car that is unusual.

 

[Dave W]

I mean while the engine is turning over, it is normal to cut electrical power to the accessories, air con etc so that the engine has more power available to start it.

I don't suppose you have something odd plugged into your lighter socket, for example a solar charger providing variable amounts of power?

Since most people don't have these issues, if possible it might be useful to try it in a different car to find out if it is the camera that is working oddly or the car that is unusual.

I don't have anything plugged into the lighter socket. I think that maybe the easier thing to try is connecting and disconnecting the usb cord while I have it plugged into the hardwire kit and also try in my 12V accessory which is live all the time to see if I get the same message. Before I hard wire a different vehicle I would probably just exchange it first and try another one. It's odd, because it wasn't giving me that message for 2 weeks straight. It just started about a week ago.

 

[Nigel]

It's odd, because it wasn't giving me that message for 2 weeks straight. It just started about a week ago.

Could be due to the weather, the problem in post #1 only occurred with a fully charged battery, if you had cold and rain with the headlights on all the time then the battery may never have got to fully charged.

It's going to be one of those problems that is going to be hard to track down! I do think it is worth trying another circuit which uses different switching logic and times though.

 

[Dave W]

Could be due to the weather, the problem in post #1 only occurred with a fully charged battery, if you had cold and rain with the headlights on all the time then the battery may never have got to fully charged.

It's going to be one of those problems that is going to be hard to track down! I do think it is worth trying another circuit which uses different switching logic and times though.

I will give it a try. Thanks again for your reply Nigel.

 

[Dave W]

I will give it a try. Thanks again for your reply Nigel.

Hi Nigel,
To update you. I have taken the camera and plugged it into a 12V accessory. It will power on but the blue light stays on when unplugged and it will not power off. The same exact thing happens when I plug into a wall outlet and I've also switched into every usb input on the camera and it will not power off. I have come to the conclusion it is defective and won't waste anymore time attempting to troubleshoot. I am going to send it in for a replacement. Very frustrating 3 weeks and I'm sure at some point this camera will have the glitches worked out and be very dependable. I will give the next unit another try but if I experience ANY type of problems within the first week of using it, it's going back and I'll wait until all the bugs are worked out before buying one again. It definitely seems to be a voltage/battery issue.

 

[Nigel]

That seems a reasonable decision to me, that behaviour is definitely not normal, hopefully it will make it's way back to the manufacture and they can find the cause and prevent it happening to others.

I hope you get a good replacement.

 

[Bill Heslington]

This problem occurred today after a month's trouble-free use. It also happens when connected to a computer supply so in- car electrics can be discounted. It works OK when using the 0806 internal power supply. This leads me to think that I have also got a faulty unit.

 

[Dave W]

Hi Bill,
Was your problem referring to my post and my problem?
Why I ask is because I just received a replacement and the same exact thing is happening again.
It powers up fine through the hardwired connection in the car and usb through an AC outlet or computer, but will not power off when unplugged. The blue power light remains on. This happens about 95% of the time. Not every time.
My opinion is that I am either very unlucky or the 0806 is a piece of junk. Very, very frustrating.

 

[Bill Heslington]

Hi Dave
Yes I was referring to your problem which I understood to be that the mini 0806 displayed the message 'USB connecting' when connected to the car electrics. Now you are saying that this setup works but you cannot switch off the unit when powered by its own power supply. If I am correct, it sounds as though you have another fault. As you say, it is very frustrating.