Most settings lost when undocked, used on PC, and then redocked

thool

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I just bought a A119 V3 and am running the 1.0 firmware. It has the GPS mount, and that mount is powered by the Viofo hardwire kit HK3ACC. Also have a SanDisk 128GB "high endurance" card installed and formatted. The wiring has the yellow accessory cable plugged into a circuit that has power only when the engine is running, the red wire is connected to a circuit that is always on, and the black wire is grounded. When I start the car, it makes a chiming noise and the screen shows the image.

Here is what I am experiencing. I wanted to confirm it is recording, I removed the camera from the hardwired GPS base, and attached the camera to my PC. I viewed the files (some had P on the end, which I presume are for Parking events, which I did set up) but the dates were messed up. So I set the date again, set my time zone again to GMT-4, ensured GPS is on, and reattached the unit in my car. But the date/time got lost again. So while attached to the powered GPS mount, I reset the date/time. A day later, I noticed parking mode was off again. It seems like my settings are getting lost, either after detaching or on their own.

I'm kind of at a loss, since I am new to dashcams and the manual is pretty sparse. A few things floating around my mind:
  • What can I do to ensure this is getting power properly, like when the engine is on or off?
  • Are there settings I should be confirming to prevent this?
  • I park my car in a garage, so might a loss of GPS signal make it lose the date/time?
  • Should I be able to operate this completely removed from the mount or USB? In other words, should the internal battery/capacitor be able to run it?
  • Should I upgrade the firmware to v1.02?
 
Yes, update to V1.03. Be sure to manually default the cameras settings in the menu after the update.
Is it just the time/date that are changing? If so, by how much? 1 hour?
 
Just set your time zone correctly and let the cam via GPS set the time. Only takes about a minute from mounting to get a GPS signal.
 
Yes, while car was running I the time zone set to GMT-4 for eastern USA, GPS is on, and it absolutely kept the proper time in my car..

The issue is that once undocked from the powered GPS mount, moved to my PC, and then back to the GPS mount, the setting was lost. IIRC, it went to 00:00 and the next day.
 
The issue is that once undocked from the powered GPS mount, moved to my PC, and then back to the GPS mount, the setting was lost. IIRC, it went to 00:00 and the next day.
If the date and time are reset, the problem is with the RTС battery.
If the last file is “broken” when the recorder is turned off, the capacitors are to blame.
 
Ok, I ran a test this morning and here are the observations:

Car is off
Rec blinking frequently, parking mode?
Undocked, blinked frequently for about 3 seconds, went black
Still undocked, power button does nothing, held for 10 seconds
Plugged into PC, woke up, rec light solid, USB symbol, shows up as a drive
As a drive, no buttons do anything except power (can shut off and on again)

In windows explorer, powered on
Dates and times are correct. Last one as I removed it: 20191005093401_000113P
Files are not corrupt and timestamps on file an in videos appear accurate

Unplugged dashcam, it shut itself down, buttons do nothing
Plugged into powered GPS mount (car off)
Date time correct, rec light on solid
After a few minutes, rec light blinking rapidly, parking mode?

Looks like this is normal. I guess the date/time issue could have been due to not letting the cam charge enough out of the box?

Still waiting for answer: when undocked and no USB, should I be able to use the cam to record or review recordings?
 
As i understand it if there is a RCT battery issue, the camera reset the time to some default tile/date, thats normally years ago, and not 00:00 tomorrow.

You can always power the camera with a USB charger for some other thing, just need to have the correct plug to fit with the camera ( and able to deliver the amps the camera draw )
I use old USB chargers from this and that to power dashcams at home for static testing and other work on my computer table.
This could also be viewing footage if my eyes worked with the little screens or the camera had a HDMI out to work with a larger screen.
But your power source cant be a computer cuz that just send the camera into mass storage mode, so it act like a thumb drive.
 
Ok, I ran a test this morning and here are the observations:

Car is off
Rec blinking frequently, parking mode?
Undocked, blinked frequently for about 3 seconds, went black
Still undocked, power button does nothing, held for 10 seconds
Plugged into PC, woke up, rec light solid, USB symbol, shows up as a drive
As a drive, no buttons do anything except power (can shut off and on again)

In windows explorer, powered on
Dates and times are correct. Last one as I removed it: 20191005093401_000113P
Files are not corrupt and timestamps on file an in videos appear accurate

Unplugged dashcam, it shut itself down, buttons do nothing
Plugged into powered GPS mount (car off)
Date time correct, rec light on solid
After a few minutes, rec light blinking rapidly, parking mode?

Looks like this is normal. I guess the date/time issue could have been due to not letting the cam charge enough out of the box?

Still waiting for answer: when undocked and no USB, should I be able to use the cam to record or review recordings?
Everything you wrote is normal. However, make sure you power off the camera before removing is from the GPS mount.

With no power to the camera, the camera will not function.
 
If the REC light stays on for about 3-5 seconds after you remove power, then the capacitors should be fine.
 
Still waiting for answer: when undocked and no USB, should I be able to use the cam to record or review recordings?
To switch to the video viewing mode on the recorder:
1.stop recording
2. Press the central "OK" button
3.Select to view video or ph
 
not unless it runs on fresh air, you won't get anywhere without power
Thanks, I hear about capacitor and battery and super-capacitor, and figured powering it wouldn't be too different from a cell phone.
 
Until this week my V3 was sat on my desk for about a month. Just to give it a boost, knowing it was going to be used daily for the foreseeable future, I plugged it into a powerbank and immediately it displayed the correct date and time so it does have a mechanism to retain that info for quite some time.
 
Until this week my V3 was sat on my desk for about a month. Just to give it a boost, knowing it was going to be used daily for the foreseeable future, I plugged it into a powerbank and immediately it displayed the correct date and time so it does have a mechanism to retain that info for quite some time.

RTC (real time clock) battery.
 
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