MiVue 568 firmware screw-up

Hoover

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Dash Cam
Mio MiVue 568
Hi, yours truly just screwed-up his MiVue 568 by updating the firmware with the MiVue 538 firmware.

The device is crippled in it's current state, but I can still format the SD card while it is in the MiVue 568 and put the correct firmware file on the SD card in order to attempt another firmware update.

Upon start-up, it does not install the firmware update -- it just removes the .bin file and recreates the directory structure.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to resolve this issue or have I bricked my dashcam?

Hoover
 
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Unfortunately there is no "old" file. This was my first attempt at updating the firmware.

The file name is always the same when you download it from the links below: "SD_CarDV.bin"

The page to download the correct version for the MiVue 568 is:
(v VL00.0B.D9.FE1)
http://service.mio.com/m0100/F0110_DownLoad_File.aspx?bullid=AllBull&fileid=110505

The page to download the incorrect version for the MiVue 538 (
v VL00.0B.D1.BE1N)
is:
http://service.mio.com/m0100/F0110_DownLoad_File.aspx?bullid=AllBull&fileid=110483

I verified that I had downloaded the wrong version by using a HEX editor to view the SD_CarDV.bin file and confirming that I had indeed chosen the file for the 538 instead of the 568.
 
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any instructions with either? if the filename is the same that's not your issue but you may find that the firmware you have now is expecting a different procedure, for example you may need to press a specific button during boot to have it look for the firmware file or it won't load, varies from model to model

do you know what chipset each camera is using?
 
If you click the links that I provided, you can see the instructions. The instructions are pretty much exactly the same for both models.

I do not know the chipset used by the cameras.

All I know are the version numbers of the .BIN files:

MiVue 568 (correct): (v VL00.0B.D9.FE1)
MiVue 538(incorrect): (v VL00.0B.D1.BE1N)
 
Sorry, their web site must be reading a cookie on my machine.

The download link for the MiVue 568 is:
http://service.mio.com/m0100/FileReader_110505_Rest of Europe_English.html

The download link for the MiVue 538 is:
http://service.mio.com/m0100/FileReader_110483_Rest of Europe_English.html


The instructions for the MiVue 568 are:

MiVue 568 Touch Software Update
This update (v VL00.0B.D9.FE1) includes the following:


  • Fix for the UK safety camera imperial unit issue
  • RoadPilot safety camera data for June added
  • 300+ camera locations added for Poland / 50 + added for Czech
  • Safety camera alert sound increased
  • Cruise speed function supported
  • Cruise safety camera function supported
  • GPS coordinates added to Photo function
Before you begin: Please ensure your device has at least 2 bars of battery.
  • Connect your device to the PC and save any video recordings you have on the Micro SD card to your computer.
  • Delete any files and folders off the Micro SD card so that it's blank.
  • Download the latest version of software from HERE.
  • Copy the bin file onto the blank Micro SD card.

    538delux1.png
  • Disconnect your device from the PC.
  • Press the Power Key > The firmware update will start automatically.
  • An 'Updating data' message will appear. The update can take several minutes.
  • Once complete, disconnect your device and use as normal.




The directions for the MiVue 538 are:

MiVue 538 Software Update
This update (v VL00.0B.D1.BE1N) includes the following:


  • GPS coordinates added to Photo function
Before you begin: Please ensure your device has at least 2 bars of battery.
  • Connect your device to the PC and save any video recordings you have on the Micro SD card to your computer.
  • Delete any files and folders off the Micro SD card so that it's blank.
  • Download the latest version of software from HERE.
  • Copy the bin file onto the blank Micro SD card.

    538delux1.png
  • Disconnect your device from the PC.
  • Press the Power Key > The firmware update will start automatically.
  • An 'Updating data' message will appear. The update can take several minutes.
  • Once complete, disconnect your device and use as normal.
 
ok, there may be some check process that is preventing it rolling back to the other firmware version
 
Yeah, that sounds like a very plausible hypothesis.
 
I had a thought to use my Hex editing software to hack the version number of the firmware to a newer version; however, I could not find it in the file -- the version number must be in Hex and not in a string.

My thought was that if I incremented the version number then the camera would apply it instead of ignoring it.

Sadly, I was unable to figure out how the version information is represented in the .BIN file.
 
I had a thought to use my Hex editing software to hack the version number of the firmware to a newer version; however, I could not find it in the file -- the version number must be in Hex and not in a string.

My thought was that if I incremented the version number then the camera would apply it instead of ignoring it.

Sadly, I was unable to figure out how the version information is represented in the .BIN file.

that may be possible depending on what platform they use and if this is indeed your issue, not familiar with what they use, if it's Ambarella based you might have a chance to get it working again, have a look for the firmware tools @Tobi@s has posted if that's the case
 
I'll take a look at the firmware tool tomorrow when I can get my Windows VM up and running to run it (Mac user here).

Thanks for the time you've taken to research this.
 
No problem, if you work it out can you post back the details, it may help someone else some time down the track
 
Holy Frak I fixed it!

You were correct, there was some rudimentary version checking going on.

I'll explain how I figured out what change prompted the unit to reload the software and how I made it happen.

Proceed at your own risk. I cannot accept any responsibility for any damage caused by the information provided below.

I downloaded the BIN file for both the MiVue 538 and MiVue 568 (see above) and then used my trusty "0xED" hex editor app and the command line utility "strings" on my Mac to investigate what might be going on when a firmware update is presented to the MiVue 568.

My initial look at the BIN files with 0xED gave me a general "lay of the land" of the structure of the BIN file, but not much more. I then took 2 hours to look at all of the strings within the BIN file using the strings unix utility piped to more:

strings <filename.BIN> | more​

and that gave me a few ideas of what the firmware upgrade functionality was looking for and I tried tweaking some dates and some other items in the BIN file with 0xED without any luck getting the MiVue 568 to accept the firmware update.

I then started looking within the BIN file using 0xED to see what was going on in the area where it was handling the SD_CarDV.bin file during a firmware upgrade. There was a lot going on there that I was assuming was file checking, but I wasn't exactly sure which items were being checked.

At this point, I decided to have a look at the was being created, albeit incorrectly, on the SD card by the wrong firmware that I had installed on the dash cam. The dash cam by default creates 4 directories named "Emergency", "Normal", "Parking" and "Photo" and a file called DEVICE.XML in the root directory of the SD Card.

Within the DEVICE.XML, there are a lot of potential items that might be used to trigger a firmware update, so I searched within the SD_CarDV.bin file for each entry.

upload_2014-12-27_10-52-32.png
Example correct DEVICE.XML file for a MiVue 568

To my amazement, the FWVersion, FUD, and ProjectCode entries in the DEVICE.XML file were not found. It was the SKUID where I started having some luck.

The SKUID in the broken DEVICE.XML file was 7127. This number 7127 matched an entry at the beginning of the BIN file for the wrong MiVue 538 SD_CarDV.bin file when I edited the file with 0xED:

upload_2014-12-27_10-35-47.png
Unedited MiVue 538 SD_CarDV.bin file

I held my breath and edited the correct MiVue 568 SD_CarDV.bin file and found the following at the same place in that BIN file:

upload_2014-12-27_10-34-36.png
Unedited MiVue 568 SD_CarDV.bin file

I then replaced the "7138" in the MiVue 568 SD_CarDV.bin file with "7127" that the wrong firmware was expecting and saved the hacked SD_CarDV.bin file with 0xED.

upload_2014-12-27_10-57-56.png
Hacked MiVue 568 SD_CarDV.bin file

Per the firmware upgrade instructions, I connected the broken MiVue 538 with the wrong firmware installed, removed all directories and the DEVICE.XML file from the SD card and placed my hacked version of SD_CarDV.bin in the root directory of the SD card.

Per the directions, I disconnected the USB cable, let the MiVue 568 shut down, and then pressed the power button.

To my excitement, the firmware update process started!!

During the 5 minutes that the firmware update took to complete, I was extremely anxious to the point where my wife asked me if I was OK.

After the firmware update completed, I gingerly pressed the power button again and to my total joy the MiVue 568 worked correctly!!!

I was so completely relieved and totally stoked that I was able to recover from my screw-up.

Hopefully this information will help someone else in the future.

I will follow-up with a stream-lined procedure for this fix in a follow-up post for those who don't want the drama :)
 

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This is the streamlined procedure for recovery from installing the wrong firmware on a MiVue 568.

As always, proceed at your own risk. This procedure may result in a completely broken MiVue 568. If you are unfamiliar with hex editors, you very well likely will have problems that may result in a completely broken MiVue 568.

If you follow these directions and make things worse, I take no responsibility. You're on your own.

Situation:

  1. Owner has screwed-up and installed the latest firmware for the Mio MiVue 538 on a Mio MiVue 568
  2. Although significantly ham-strung, the Mio MiVue 568 continues to have basic functionality including ability to connect it to a computer to modify its SD card contents

Tools Needed:
  1. A hex editor application. In my case on my Mac, I used 0xED (http://www.suavetech.com/0xed/)
  2. A text editor capable of viewing XML file contents
  3. Hosed Mio MiVue 568 with SD card and Mini USB cable
  4. A computer with USB connector
Since you've already hosed-up your Mio MiVue 568 like the author did, you probably already have 3 and 4 from above​

Procedure:

  1. Connect Mio MiVue 568 to your computer so that the computer mounts the SD card
  2. Use your text editor to view the DEVICE.XML file
  3. Within the DEVICE.XML file, find the entry for <SKUID>NNNN</SKUID> where NNNN is a four digit number. Make note of this four digit number for later. In my example, NNNN was 7127, but this may be different for your situation
  4. Download the correct SD_CarDV.bin file for your Mio MiVue 568 from the service.mio.com web site. You should know how to do this already, since you, like the author, already downloaded the wrong file previously
  5. Using your hex editor, open the SD_CarDV.bin file and find the text MIOE followed by a number similar, but not the same as NNNN above. This string will appear near the beginning of the file, so it should be easy to find in your hex editor. In my case, the string was MIOE7138.
  6. Change the string to reflect NNNN above. In my case, I changed it to MIOE7127 while being VERY careful to not change any other data within the SD_CarDV.bin file. Be VERY careful.
  7. Save the modified SD_CarDV.bin to your computer hard drive
  8. Follow the firmware upgrade directions that you used previously to mess up your Mio MiVue 568 with the modified SD_CarDV.bin file
Hopefully, you have the same results that I did and your Mio MiVue 568 now works properly again.

Again, proceed at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for any damage that this procedure may cause.
 
Good to see you worked it out and thanks for posting back with such a detailed explanation of the fix, very helpful
 
Colour me impressed. Mine would have gone in the bin.
 
Yeah, had it not been the fact that I had just bought the thing, mine very well might have been chucked as well.

To let you all know, the resurrected MiVue 568 continues to work perfectly.
 
Hey
Anyone knows where US speedcams can be downloaded?
Thanks
 
I don't think they exist. Mio MiVue dashcams are branded for Europe and Asia only as far as I know.

The only thing that Mio sells in the US are GPS devices.
 
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