Mobius not recording

[LowNSlow]

Hello,

I got a Mobius camera for a couple of month now, until about two weeks ago, everything was fine, I used it as a dash cam.

Recently the camera started to make problems, at first it sometimes recorded and sometimes didn't, and nowadays it doesn't record at all.

In the beginning I though maybe the battery is dead, and it caused the problems (Because the battery wasn't charging at all), so I ordered a capacitor.

Today I got the capacitor and installed it, however I still got the same problem.

When I connect the camera to the car, a Blue led appears, after 2-3 seconds it turns off, and after that a Yellow led appears for about 1 second, and then turns off, and that is it, it doesn't record at all.

Here is the list of things I tried so far:
* I formatted my SD card using mSetup (Sandisk 32GB class 4).
* I formatted another old SD card and tried it (2GB).
* I reinstalled the firmware v2.37 using mSetup.
* I tried 3 different cables (The original short one, 3 meters one from Banggood and some random one that I found)
* I tried two different USB cigarette adapters (both of them are GRIFFIN).

Here is the camera settings:

I really have no idea what to do, anyone can help me please?

Thanks

 

[Bungus]

You click "set parameter" after you've done the setup?

 

[Dashmellow]

Check to see if the lens module cable is properly seated and securely connected and inspect the ribbon cable to see if it is damaged in any way, such as having a kink in it.

 

[LowNSlow]

You click "set parameter" after you've done the setup?

Yes.

Check to see if the lens module cable is properly seated and securely connected and inspect the ribbon cable to see if it is damaged in any way, such as having a kink in it.

Here are some pictures, I'm not sure if this looks OK or not, so I'll be happy to get Your opinion too:

Thanks

 

[Dashmellow]

Looks OK.

As a troubleshooting measure, it might be worth carefully unplugging and then replugging the ribbon cable to make sure all the pins are properly seated. You need to make sure to open the black locking tab before unplugging and close to lock after replugging. See photo illustrated instructions HERE before proceeding.

 

[LowNSlow]

Update:

I Still didn't touch any of the hardware inside, however I got a new "behavior":

I tried to connect the camera to the car, at first it started to look like its recording, first Blue led for 1 second, and then flashing yellow led. However after about 10-20 seconds, the yellow led freezed (It was just Yellow led - not flashing).

Also, when I turned off the car, the camera didn't show Red led flashing 3 times like usually (Although the "power-off disconnect" setting is set to "immediate").
Then I connected the camera to my laptop, and no videos were recorded.

Anyone got any idea what this could be?

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm afraid I don't really know. Perhaps there is a possible problem with a bad SD card. I seem to recall someone having a similar issue and swapping in a new card didn't help. It turned out to be some lint inside the microSD card slot. Look inside the slot with a flashlight to make sure it is clean.

 

[Bungus]

Remove sd card and hook Mobius to PC or HD TV to see if it works as a webcam. If it works, I'd suspect sd card.

 

[Isoprop]

Update:

I Still didn't touch any of the hardware inside, however I got a new "behavior":

I tried to connect the camera to the car, at first it started to look like its recording, first Blue led for 1 second, and then flashing yellow led. However after about 10-20 seconds, the yellow led freezed (It was just Yellow led - not flashing).

Also, when I turned off the car, the camera didn't show Red led flashing 3 times like usually (Although the "power-off disconnect" setting is set to "immediate").
Then I connected the camera to my laptop, and no videos were recorded.

Anyone got any idea what this could be?

As others have mentioned, the most likely cause is your SD card. Try another card, if possible NOT Sandisk, and format the card with SDFormatter.
It's also possible that the silver foil underneath the motherboard has deformed and is making an intermittent short to parts of the board. You'll have to first remove the supercap, then the lens and finally the board to check this out. The foil must be perfectly flat and must not touch the board. The foil is insulated but the edges are not. Also, if the foil was constantly rubbing on a a component it's possible the insulation was rubbed off. I've never heard of this happening, but I guess it's a possibility in a rough environment.
If you have the board removed it may be worthwhile connecting the lens and supercap with the board out of the case and then test it by applying external power. If you have a battery I would use the battery for this test. Be careful handling the board and make sure it's well away from any metallic parts, like a screwdriver, when power is applied.
I always use a wooden skewer or toothpick to open/close the ribbon cable socket and sometimes even use it to help remove the power connector. Never use any metallic tools except for removing the screws.

 

[LowNSlow]

Remove sd card and hook Mobius to PC or HD TV to see if it works as a webcam. If it works, I'd suspect sd card.

I tried what Bungus told me, and the Mobius worked very good as a webcam, It succeeded to pass high quality pictures to my laptop !
Does this mean that the hardware is probably OK?

Should my next try be to replace the SD?
If Yes, which SD card should I buy that is most reliable with Mobius ?

 

[Dashmellow]

With my Mobius cams I find Transcend, Kingston and Samsung EVO 32GB to perform very well and quite reliably. Always buy from a trusted source like Amazon to avoid fakes and counterfeits. They are also quite affordable these days compared to other brands. Some suggest avoiding class 10 cards but I've never had the slightest trouble with any of them in any Mobius and these days there is virtually no price advantage to buying a lower class card.

Specifically, I'd recommend THIS or THIS.

 

[LowNSlow]

Thanks Dashmellow.

I removed the Mobius from the laptop, and went to give it some more tries in the car. I captured three videos with my phone, one after another in the same time.

Surprisingly at the first try the camera started to record, after about 50 seconds, I turned off the car, and the camera turned off automatically (Three flashes of Red), and it succeeded to save the video on the SD card!! :

At the second try, It also started to capture a video, however at the end, it stopped recording although the car was still running, not good. (no videos were saved on the SD this time), You can see that after 0:28 seconds in the video, the camera wasn't responding:

At the third try, it didn't last at all, blue led, and only one yellow led, after 0:10 in the video, the camera wasn't responding:

Regarding this new information, especially that at the first try it saved a video on the SD, and the fact that it worked OK as a webcam, do You think the best thing to do is still to buy a new SD card?

I'm starting to suspect that the problem is lack of power in the car, because before the first try I removed the Mobius from my laptop, so maybe the capacitor was fully charged, and that is why I managed to capture a 50 seconds video successfully.

What do You think?

 

[Dashmellow]

Well, you can try running the camera from a different power source such as an AC powered USB charger and see what happens. You won't be able to capture video with the camera itself when plugged into your computer because the computer will recognize it as a data storage volume. The fact that the camera will work as a web cam connected to your laptop is separate from whether is will work as a DVR and record properly to a microSD card when connected to a 5v power source.

 

[LowNSlow]

Ok, Thanks .
I'll try this in addition to the SD Card, and hopefully it will work.

Just one more question regarding the AC powered USB charger, does this adapter suitable for the Mobius? or it might harm the device? :

 

[Hombré]

I have no idea for your issues but what I do know is that those caps look a similar size to a 18650 lithium battery.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes, that USB charger is outputting 5V DC @ 1amp which should be fine for a Mobius. That is about the same as your car charger. (The charger for a Mobius should be a minimum of 1 amp output but can be much higher amperage as long as it is 5V DC.

Ok, Thanks .
I'll try this in addition to the SD Card, and hopefully it will work.

Just one more question regarding the AC powered USB charger, does this adapter suitable for the Mobius? or it might harm the device? :

 

[russ331]

...does this adapter suitable for the Mobius? or it might harm the device?

Should be ok. You can use a smartphone or tablet charger or 5v power bank.

 

[Dashmellow]

I have no idea for your issues but what I do know is that those caps look a similar size to a 18650 lithium battery.

Those super-capacitors in the M0bius are approximately 25 millimeters long. The full width of a Mobius camera shell is about 34 millimeters.
An 18650 lithium-ion battery is usually 65 millimeters-68 millimeters long, about twice the width of the camera.

 

[Dashmellow]

68An 18650 lithium-ion battery is usually 65 millimeters wide and 68 millimeters long, about twice the width of the usual garbage camera.

So you're saying the Mobius is a "garbage camera"?

18650 batteries are 65-68 millimeters long, not wide. (The are usually approximately 20-22 millimeters wide.)

 

[SawMaster]

Battery size can be nominally determined by it's number. The first 2 digits are the diameter in mm, the next 3 are length in tenths of mm. Actual sizes will be close; protected cells are almost always larger and the nominal diameter is usually rounded down, not up, to the nearest whole mm. 10440=AAA size; 14500=AA size; 18650 is commonly used in laptop packs and the Tesla car. The voltage of LIon is higher so not always interchangeable even if the size is similar.

Phil