My A129 Duo just died

[gabilondo77]

As we are talking I am copying phone files from SSD to the Viofo 128GB card and is getting as far as 77.5MB/s(writing speed) for long periods(video files),so the card speed is good,I was getting 70 MB/s read speed from the Samsung Evo card.

 

[HonestReview]

an odd choice I thought considering he keeps replying in English

I believe we had another thread involving him and the installation of the A129 Duo where he had difficulties with English. Maybe he's throwing things into google translator. Anyway, Spanish is his first language. So wanted to make sure he understood what was being asked of him and that I fully understood his issues.

 

[jokiin]

I believe we had another thread involving him and the installation of the A129 Duo where he had difficulties with English. Maybe he's throwing things into google translator. Anyway, Spanish is his first language. So wanted to make sure he understood what was being asked of him and that I fully understood his issues.

I preffer to speak english here,as everybody speaks english

 

[gabilondo77]

Nope,I don't have difficulties with english and I don't use any translator thing,I think you are mistaking me with another person here..I speak english all day at my job,and Spanish is not my first language,I told you that last summer on some thread here,still my spanish is better than my english as I live in Spain since 2003 Now I'm going to sleep its 1:50AM here in Spain,see ya and thank you all for your help.

LaterEdit: I've learned english in school for 8 years loong time ago(I'm 43 now),also learned a lot from movies with subtitles in my native language.

 

[HonestReview]

Nope,I don't have difficulties with english and I don't use any translator thing,I think you are mistaking me with another person here..I speak english all day at my job,and Spanish is not my first language,I told you that last summer on some thread here,still my spanish is better than my english as I live in Spain since 2003 Now I'm going to sleep its 1:50AM here in Spain,see ya and thank you all for your help.

LaterEdit: I've learned english in school for 8 years loong time ago(I'm 43 now),also learned a lot from movies with subtitles in my native language.

Sorry, my mistake. There was another person on here from Spain who did his entire thread in Spanish. I've been busy and haven't frequented as much. My apologies for mixing you two.

Far as your troubles go, I think you need to do a bit of troubleshooting before making a final ruling the cameras are at fault. Check the hardwire kit and make sure the wires are crimped properly. Red to battery, yellow to accessory, and black to a ground bolt. Make sure the battery packs are properly functioning. Then of course, test another SD card as was suggested

If all those fail, then swap out the camera under warranty. I'd just hate for you to get another camera and find it does the same thing as the old. Which is why troubleshooting is recommended to eliminate other potential failures.

 

[gabilondo77]

Sorry, my mistake. There was another person on here from Spain who did his entire thread in Spanish. I've been busy and haven't frequented as much. My apologies for mixing you two.

Far as your troubles go, I think you need to do a bit of troubleshooting before making a final ruling the cameras are at fault. Check the hardwire kit and make sure the wires are crimped properly. Red to battery, yellow to accessory, and black to a ground bolt. Make sure the battery packs are properly functioning. Then of course, test another SD card as was suggested

If all those fail, then swap out the camera under warranty. I'd just hate for you to get another camera and find it does the same thing as the old. Which is why troubleshooting is recommended to eliminate other potential failures.

Yes I remember him,no problem,but I don't know why are you keep telling me to check the hardwire kit,I don't have any hardwire kit installed as I said a few times already.I bought the car brand new back in 2018,I don't want to mess with the fusebox,the car is under warranty for 7 years so I will not install the hardwire kit.

 

[gabilondo77]

Ok folks this morning I connected the A129 Pro to the lighter plug in my car and the camera freezed on Viofo logo,disconected the camera and the screen was dimming slowly for almost 10 seconds and both leds done the same till the capacitors were discharged I suppose,normally only the left led should blink very quick for 5 seconds or so.Connected the camera again but this time on the powerbank and the exactly same thing happened,I made a hard reset with a clip that I had and the camera started normally after that..The camera recorded all day without problem with the Samsung Evo card powered on the powerbank,I must check the footage later..

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Ok folks this morning I connected the A129 Pro to the lighter plug in my car and the camera freezed on Viofo logo,disconected the camera and the screen was dimming slowly for almost 10 seconds and both leds done the same till the capacitors were discharged I suppose,normally only the left led should blink very quick for 5 seconds or so.Connected the camera again but this time on the powerbank and the exactly same thing happened,I made a hard reset with a clip that I had and the camera started normally after that..The camera recorded all day without problem with the Samsung Evo card powered on the powerbank,I must check the footage later..

Are you using the long Viofo USB power cable (plugged into the powerbank)?

 

[gabilondo77]

Are you using the long Viofo USB power cable (plugged into the powerbank)?

Yes I do,is the A129 Pro USB cable used to connect the camera to the lighter power adapter..also the camera is powered through the original A129 Pro GPS mount as always.

 

[gabilondo77]

Just checked today's footage on A129 Pro with the Samsung card and is perfect,all the files are fine when parked all day(normal recording mode not parking mode),brilliant quality also on my drive back home with almost dark outside I can see plate numbers clear,very good quality for only 1080p60,1080p30 resolution..Much better quality than A129 Duo at the same resolution and that's because of 30Mbps bitrate(bitrate is set on High not Maximum)...the only problem I saw is the 7 seconds gap from time to time between front and rear camera files,but is only in the files name not in the time overlayed in video footage..Also the GPS kicked in at 1min30sec of getting outside the garage,that's good because in the past took 5-6 minutes always.I will buy the 256GB WD Purple SD card and hope the A129 Pro camera stay good..

LE: Viofo contacted me yesterday here by PM and this morning by email,they offer a replacement for the A129 Duo if I send back the broken A129 Duo,good news.

 

[HonestReview]

Yes I remember him,no problem,but I don't know why are you keep telling me to check the hardwire kit,I don't have any hardwire kit installed as I said a few times already.Bought the car as new back in 2018,I don't want to mess with the fusebox,the car is under warranty for 7 years so I will not install the hardwire kit.

My apologies. I can't keep track of every person I've spoken to and helped. I own a 2015 Volvo I bought practically new (3200 KM on odometer). I installed a dash camera to fuse box in 2018. I also hardwired my mother's car. Let me be very brunt and up front.

Best decision I have ever made. My Car has been rear ended and backed into. Both times while I was driving / in the vehicle. Another Dash Camera (Cansonic) caught the fist accident in 2017 where I was backed into. Second accident, I hardwired camera and it was caught while I was stopped and rear ended.

My mother's car was broken into. Because of parking mode, the face of one of the two people was caught on camera. That picture was turned over to police. Won't lie, the picture won't catch the person. But if they catch the person the picture will 100% conclusively identify them due to very distinctive features.

So while I understand your reservations, I think you should reconsider. My car is warrantied until 2022 and I've tapped fuse box without issue.

 

[HonestReview]

Just checked today's footage on A129 Pro with the Samsung card and is perfect,all the files are fine when parked all day(normal recording mode not parking mode),brilliant quality also on my drive back home with almost dark outside I can see plate numbers clear,very good quality for only 1080p60,1080p30 resolution..Much better quality than A129 Duo at the same resolution and that's because of 30Mbps bitrate(bitrate is set on High not Maximum)...the only problem I saw is the 7 seconds gap from time to time between front and rear camera files,but is only in the files name not in the time overlayed in video footage..Also the GPS kicked in at 1min30sec of getting outside the garage,that's good because in the past took 5-6 minutes always.I will buy the 256GB WD Purple SD card and hope the A129 Pro camera stay good..

LE: Viofo contacted me yesterday here by PM and this morning by email,they offer a replacement for the A129 Duo if I send back the broken A129 Duo,good news.

Sounds like SD card problem then as we suggested on troubleshooting. Which is why it's good to eliminate all possibilities before warrantying a product. Otherwise, you'd ended up with the same issue again.

 

[kamkar]

Yes. Pretty much any dashcam problems, and the first thing you should look at ( not least as it is free ) is your memory card.
If that is okay, and the camera work somewhat, the next step should be to load a new firmware or reload the same one again, this fixed a problem with a SG camera i was sent to beat on.

If none of that work, then yes it is time to look deeper, and maybe bring in seller / maker of the camera.

 

[gabilondo77]

Yes. Pretty much any dashcam problems, and the first thing you should look at ( not least as it is free ) is your memory card.
If that is okay, and the camera work somewhat, the next step should be to load a new firmware or reload the same one again, this fixed a problem with a SG camera i was sent to beat on.

If none of that work, then yes it is time to look deeper, and maybe bring in seller / maker of the camera.

Yes,as I said before I'm pretty convinced my A129 Pro problem is a mix of firmware and Sd card issues,but the A129 Duo is dead and I will send it back for a replacement.Thank you all for helping in this thread

 

[gabilondo77]

Sounds like SD card problem then as we suggested on troubleshooting. Which is why it's good to eliminate all possibilities before warrantying a product. Otherwise, you'd ended up with the same issue again.

I never said I will send the A129 Pro for a replacement,if you read previous comments I said this camera have firmware issues in parking mode and my problem can be a firmware issue or card issue or a mix of both...I only send back the A129 Duo model which is dead,definitely a hardware problem with camera itself,the camera is not powering on(tried AC adapter,lighter power adapter,powerbank,PC USB) so if I send it back for a replacement I will not have this problem again.

 

[HonestReview]

I never said I will send the A129 Pro for a replacement,if you read previous comments I said this camera have firmware issues in parking mode and my problem can be a firmware issue or card issue or a mix of both...I only send back the A129 Duo model which is dead,definitely a hardware problem with camera itself,the camera is not powering on(tried AC adapter,lighter power adapter,powerbank,PC USB) so if I send it back for a replacement I will not have this problem again.

I presume the power bank is powered through the 12V socket and not the fuse box, correct? Just curious, are you sure the power bank is overvolting or is faulty? I believe you the A129 Duo is faulty. Just wonder the cause.

 

[gabilondo77]

I presume the power bank is powered through the 12V socket and not the fuse box, correct? Just curious, are you sure the power bank is overvolting or is faulty? I believe you the A129 Duo is faulty. Just wonder the cause.

Powerbanks are ok,tested both with USB multimeter,no overvoltage also are good brand very reliable not the cheapy ones,and yes usually powered by 12V socket but for the last months I just preferred to charge them home and swap each other when discharged.

 

[HonestReview]

Powerbanks are ok,tested both with USB multimeter,no overvoltage also are good brand very reliable not the cheapy ones,and yes usually powered by 12V socket but for the last months I just preferred to charge them home and swap each other when discharged.

Glad to hear you've eliminate that possibility. Hopefully Viofo will get you a replacement Viofo A129 Duo ASAP.

 

[gabilondo77]

Ok,I've just received the new Sd card for th A129 Pro dashcam,I bought it on Western Digital website just to be sure is original,it came in 6 days from Netherland..I also sent the broken A129 dashcam to @VIOFO-Support today,and they will send me a new camera.They have very good and quick service..

 

[gabilondo77]

Just recieved my new A129 replacement from @viofo..Very good and quick aftersale service..They answered very quick to my ticket and offered a replacement..It took 4 days for the package to reach Madrid from Shenzen China...It was stucked in Madrid for 8 days in customs but that is normal,one day later it was in my hands..