Mobius support thread and Tech Guide (post all problems/help requests here) Read posts #1-8 first

[Synthesis]

Unfortunately i don't have a different lens to try. I guess I will have to sacrifice sound to the current perfect setup that I have with the 8" cable. It's dissapointing that longer cable problems are so common and yet they sell these as "official add-on". Their customer support has been helpful and friendly but it's frustraiting as I haven't been able to fully use my camera for about three months now. I think I can't be bothered sending it back to China and wait again for about month or two as it ships back and forth. I wonder if Mobius 2 is free from these kinds of problems?
Thanks for your help

 

[TonyM]

Unfortunately i don't have a different lens to try. I guess I will have to sacrifice sound to the current perfect setup that I have with the 8" cable. It's dissapointing that longer cable problems are so common and yet they sell these as "official add-on". Their customer support has been helpful and friendly but it's frustraiting as I haven't been able to fully use my camera for about three months now. I think I can't be bothered sending it back to China and wait again for about month or two as it ships back and forth. I wonder if Mobius 2 is free from these kinds of problems?
Thanks for your help

There is a 2" extension cable for the 808 #16 camera which works with the Mobius 2. The voltage drop on the 8", 15" and 25" #16 cables is too high for the M2 so they're not compatible. Sorry I don't have any knowledge about whether the 2" is prone to interference or not with the M2.

 

[Questions]

I have seven Mobius cameras. One is for my personal use and the others are for company use. The one I have for personal use has many fewer hours of run time than the ones for company use. At least five of the six company cameras are not overlapping the usual one second of video. The sixth camera is not in my possession, so I'm not sure about it just yet. On these five cameras there is now always at least a one second loss of video between two video files. Sometimes there is two seconds of lost video. For my uses, this is a problem. The one second of overlap is desirable. Loosing one second is tolerable. But actually loosing video is a problem. They have all been powered either by a computer or external battery (this one). When powered by the external battery, it is by way of the power/video/audio pigtail. The pigtail is used so during placement a small external, separately powered, monitor can be used to verify scene alignment. The monitor is only used for a few minutes during setup and then it is disconnected. They use Patriot Class 10 SDHC cards between 32 and 128 GB. The size or newness of the card does not have any impact on the missing video. The cards are formatted between use by using the mSetup tool. They are all running v2.41 firmware. They have all been used outside. However, they have been protected from the weather and to the best of our knowledge have not been exposed to temperatures outside their designed operating range. It's hard to say how long each has been in use, but I'd estimate it to be somewhere between 250 and 500 hours each. The short story is that they all worked fine for quite awhile with the same equipment, same settings, and same environments, and now just within the last month they all are skipping video between files. Below is a copy of the current config file used in the cameras.

Hopefully the cameras are not broken. But any help in determining what's going on and preferably how to fix it will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew

Profile[2]=Fagan Lane Audit, Preferred Daytime, FC_3
TimeSync=1
OSDLanguage=0
DateFormat=0
TimeStamp1=1
TimeStamp2=1
AutoRecord=0
PowerOnDelay=1
PowerOnRecord=1
PowerOff=1
PowerOnRecordExt=1
PowerOffExtDelay=0
ButtonOnDelay=0
ButtonOffDelay=0
PowerOnMode=0
Beeper=0
USBCharging=0
LensType=2
Frequency=1
VideoOut=0
VideoOutDelay=0
VideoOutRatio=0
FormatFileSystem=1
Webcam=0
WebcamFlip=0
FileName=FC_3
CustomID=0000000000000000
FramerateFormat=0
FirmwareRevision=2041
AudioOnly1=0
AudioVolume1=1
FlipVideo1=0
VideoCodec1=0
LoopRecord1=0
VideoAOV1=1
MovieWDR1=1
VideoQuality1=0
VideoBitStream1=0
VideoDefog1=0
VideoDistortionCorr1=0
VideoFormat1=0
VideoLength1=3
VideoTimeLapse1=0
VideoCustomTimeLapse1=1
VideoResolution1=2
VideoFrameRate1=3
AudioOnly2=0
AudioVolume2=1
FlipVideo2=0
VideoCodec2=0
LoopRecord2=0
VideoAOV2=1
MovieWDR2=1
VideoQuality2=0
VideoBitStream2=0
VideoDefog2=0
VideoDistortionCorr2=0
VideoFormat2=0
VideoLength2=3
VideoTimeLapse2=0
VideoCustomTimeLapse2=1
VideoResolution2=2
VideoFrameRate2=3
MotionDetect=0
MotionTimeout=2
MotionSensitivity=0
PhotoFlip=0
PhotoStamp=1
PhotoDeFog=0
PhotoDistortionCorr=0
RecordLED=1
TimeLapse=0
TimeLapseCustom=1
PhotoSize=0
ImageStabilizer=0
ExternalMic=0
VideoOSD=0
TimeLapseLength=0
PowerBurst=0
ShutterMode=0
PhotoOSD=0
PhotoQuality=0
Metering=0
VideoOutFullScreen=0
AEAWBLock=0
ImgSharpness=0
ImgExposure=0
ImgExposurePriority=0
ImgContrast=0
ImgSaturation=0
ImgColorSetting=0
ImgWhiteBal=0
ImgWhiteBalRed1=256
ImgWhiteBalGreen1=256
ImgWhiteBalBlue1=256
ImgWhiteBalRed2=256
ImgWhiteBalGreen2=256
ImgWhiteBalBlue2=256
ImgWhiteBalRed3=256
ImgWhiteBalGreen3=256
ImgWhiteBalBlue3=256

 

[jokiin]

make sure you format the cards FAT32 and use MOV format for your recordings and loop turned on

 

[Questions]

make sure you format the cards FAT32 and use MOV format for your recordings and loop turned on

We always use the tool in the mSetup app', which I believe is FAT32. We do primarily use the MOV format, although we've sometimes used MP4. But even with MP4 there used to be a 1 second overlap.

 

[jokiin]

We always use the tool in the mSetup app', which I believe is FAT32. We do primarily use the MOV format, although we've sometimes used MP4. But even with MP4 there used to be a 1 second overlap.

if the settings are correct, Loop, FAT32, MOV then it should work fine and always have a 1 second overlap, if it doesn't I'd be leaning toward card compatibility issues

 

[Questions]

if it doesn't I'd be leaning toward card compatibility issues

I'm thinking that's not it for various reasons. At least at the time we purchased the units, Patriot was one of the brands recommended if going over 32 GB. These cards worked fine for over a year and only recently has this issue arisen. We've also tested with PNY and SanDisk. SanDisk is known to have issues with the Mobius, but I had one 64 GB card I used successfully several times. That same card does not work now. The PNY used to work. It doesn't now. We have both new and old Patriot cards, none of which work now in these five cameras, but they work just fine in my personal unit.

This all leads me to believe it is something with the units themselves. But what and can it be remedied?

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[jokiin]

memory cards aren't red wine, they don't get better with age, just because they worked well initially doesn't mean they'll stay that way

assuming all settings are correct, power supply is suitable and working correctly and you don't have any swollen batteries then I would think memory cards are the most likely culprit, power and memory and the two most common problems for any camera

 

[Dashmellow]

The statistical probability of having five cameras suddenly experience the exact same issue seems astronomically remote.

 

[jokiin]

The statistical probability of having five cameras suddenly experience the exact same issue seems astronomically remote.

I see I am not alone in that thought

 

[SawMaster]

The statistical probability of having five cameras suddenly experience the exact same issue seems astronomically remote.

Agreed, which leads me to think it might be a glitch in the viewing program; that would affect all the cams similarly.

On the cards, they do wear out and occasionally go bad same as with anything mass-produced. Test them with h2testw periodically and anytine their functioning is in question

Phil

 

[Dashmellow]

I see I am not alone in that thought

My current bet is on the battery packs which I think are more likely to experience some sort of approximately simultaneous aging deterioration, perhaps in combination with the attached wiring harness and eternal monitor.

The media player issue @SawMaster just postulated is an interesting possibility as well.

 

[Questions]

Hmmm. All good thoughts. Yes, I agree, it is odd that five cameras all started exhibiting the problem at roughly the same time. It makes me wonder if an external power issue, wiring harness short, shock, or something common to all of them could have caused common damage (such as Dashmellow suggested). It doesn't seem that this is a common issue experienced.

• We've tried new cards. The results are the same as the old.
  • I will try testing with h2testw as suggested, but we've used literally at least two dozen different cards and the problem exhibits itself regardless of what card is used.
• We've tried reformatting the cards using Windows versus the tool in mSetup. No difference. (So we continue using the tool in mSetup.)
• It happens when the cameras are running on internal power with no battery packs attached.
• It happens when the cameras are running without any wiring harness attached.
• Viewing
  • We normally view the video on an HTML5 web page tool. My camera doesn't exhibit the problem. The other five do.
  • I've viewed the video on Windows Media Player. My camera doesn't exhibit the problem. The other five do.
  • I've view the video on VLC media player. My camera doesn't exhibit the problem. The other five do.
  • We've checked the video on three different PCs. There is no difference.
  • There's no doubt but that instead of the next video starting one second before the end of the previous that it is starting a second or two after the end of the previous.
• I just thought, we haven't tried a reset of the cameras. I've just pinged my buddy, who has one of the malfunctioning cameras, to try a reset and test what happens. I'll post back the results.

Of course, if you all think of something else to test then please let me know.

Thanks again,
Andrew

 

[SawMaster]

Seems like you're covering the diagnostics well

If it's a power-related problem that might show up if you power the cam externally with a phone charger which generally supply more than adequate current. Powering from computers is not recommended as most won't supply adequate current. As @Dashmellow said it could be a battery problem, however the coincidence factor has me puzzled as end-of-life varies somewhat among different batteries- even those from the same batch.

Wondering aloud if it is possible for msetup to go wonky as software sometimes does? You could reinstall it just in case the problem is there


Phil

 

[Questions]

Seems like you're covering the diagnostics well

If it's a power-related problem that might show up if you power the cam externally with a phone charger which generally supply more than adequate current. Powering from computers is not recommended as most won't supply adequate current. As @Dashmellow said it could be a battery problem, however the coincidence factor has me puzzled as end-of-life varies somewhat among different batteries- even those from the same batch.

Wondering aloud if it is possible for msetup to go wonky as software sometimes does? You could reinstall it just in case the problem is there


Phil

A problem with mSetup is a possibility, if the result was to permanently jack up the cameras. All the cameras impacted were with a specific customer when this started happening. (I should have mentioned that before. Sorry.) But we've since used mSetup to these units from different PCs and the problem remains. It makes me wonder what this customer could have done. I'd think that damage to the board would kill the camera or cause different issues, not the same little issue with each.

I still need to let you all know how the reset attempt works.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[jokiin]

A problem with mSetup is a possibility, if the result was to permanently jack up the cameras. All the cameras impacted were with a specific customer when this started happening. (I should have mentioned that before. Sorry.) But we've since used mSetup to these units from different PCs and the problem remains. It makes me wonder what this customer could have done. I'd think that damage to the board would kill the camera or cause different issues, not the same little issue with each.

I still need to let you all know how the reset attempt works.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

if all with the same person there's strong chance there's something unusual on their end at the root cause, check what power supply they are using also, flaky behavior is 99% of the time power or memory related

 

[Weeman]

Has anyone had an issue, where the clock keeps going out of sync? Mine does it all the time. I connect the camera up to my laptop and sync the clock, put it back in the car and then the next time I need to review some footage, the clock is always out. Its out by just over an hour, so its not even the daylight savings adjustment.

The camera is connected to a switched live in my car and is set in dashcam mode. The car is used every day, so it shouldn't be the battery going flat.

Any ideas?

 

[TonyM]

Has anyone had an issue, where the clock keeps going out of sync? Mine does it all the time. I connect the camera up to my laptop and sync the clock, put it back in the car and then the next time I need to review some footage, the clock is always out. Its out by just over an hour, so its not even the daylight savings adjustment.

The camera is connected to a switched live in my car and is set in dashcam mode. The car is used every day, so it shouldn't be the battery going flat.

Any ideas?

Is it always out by the same time offset, or does it vary?
Are you using mSetup or manually editing the syscfg file?
If the real time clock setting is lost, I think the camera reverts to 01 Jan 2013 or something like that, so no it does not seem to be a battery issue

 

[Weeman]

Has anyone had an issue, where the clock keeps going out of sync? Mine does it all the time. I connect the camera up to my laptop and sync the clock, put it back in the car and then the next time I need to review some footage, the clock is always out. Its out by just over an hour, so its not even the daylight savings adjustment.

The camera is connected to a switched live in my car and is set in dashcam mode. The car is used every day, so it shouldn't be the battery going flat.

Any ideas?

Is it always out by the same time offset, or does it vary?
Are you using mSetup or manually editing the syscfg file?
If the real time clock setting is lost, I think the camera reverts to 01 Jan 2013 or something like that, so no it does not seem to be a battery issue

It's always the same time. The date is always correct though.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[TonyM]

Have you checked the time stamp on a recording immediately after setting the date & time on the camera? My guess is that you think you're setting the time, but for some reason the camera's clock is not being updated.

If using mSetup, ensure the "sync date/time" toggle is set to YES, then set parameters to save to the camera. If you exit without saving, the date & time will not be updated.