My mini 0805 won't turn on

I don't know the model 0805 but I had this on my Itek I67001, where it wouldn't switch on. There is a 'reset' button, that you insert a pin (or similar) to reset the device back to factory settings. Did the reset and the screen lit up and worked fine since.
 
Just registered to tell how I've fixed the steady red light problem on mini 0805 dash cam (cam not turning on). I believe 0806 and other cams sharing the same hardware may have the same issue.

So failure history:
0805 bought from GB, after several months of service suddenly not turning on, only steady red led on when power is plugged. Not identified by DirectUSB, no reaction on SD-card with firmware, nor any other signs of life. The cam was put in the drawer and forgotten for more than a year but today I found it and decided to investigate.

Solution:
Ambarella just like any other ARM is supposed to have some regulated standby power supply. I measured around it and there was nothing. Obviously, something was wrong with the power supply. Looking around I've found a test point after an LDO (linear regulator) which was 0 while it should be something. LDO is pointed with a red arrow, test point with a blue one on the image below. The stain near LDO is some flux as I took pictures after desoldering the part. That's not a burn mark.
Suspected part.jpg

The LDO was dead. I don't know what was the initial voltage rating of this LDO but suppose it was from 3 to 3.3V. Pinout is similar to MCP1700T-33002E/TT from microcheap (yeah, chip). I didn't have one like that but found TI's LP2950-33 in TO-92 through-hole package, it has 3.3V output voltage and enough current margin... So having the pins trimmed, I soldered TI part in TO-92 instead of the original one minding the pinout difference. There's enough space inside the plastic case of 0805/0806 for this kind of workaround. The LDO is in the red square. After connecting the battery I surely measured 3.3V on the test-point.
after rework.jpg

After plugging the power supply the camera turned one. If you're going to use a non-standard component, make sure to put some tape around the battery not to short-circuit the LDO pins.
taped.jpg

As for the root cause of this failure - I suppose that's standard chinese economy when every cent is counted to make the product cheaper so some cheap underrated components were installed instead of what was originally specified by the design.

Hope that post will be helpful.
 

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Another "red light of death" issue. I ordered this one about 2 years ago and finally got around to installing it... worked 2 weeks, only half my 64gb memory card filled... red light and nothing else now. I took it apart and wiggled/jiggled everything, but no joy. $80 down the drain... I'll keep it for spare parts... never know when a screen will go bad on the next one.

But srsly... I'm gonna buy one more through Amazon and if it breaks, move on to another brand.
 
I can confirm that mao84's guide for solving red light problem really works!!! Thanks mao84! The regulator was the issue!
Recently I was again facing the red light problem, but my guide (listed several posts above related to disconnecting the two circuit boards inside dashcam) did not work. So I tried mao84's one and it really solved the problem! I used similar variant of LDO that mao84 used (I used LP2950CZ-3.3 TO92, ordered at www.gme.cz/lp2950cz-3-3-to92), I removed the old LDO and placed the new one and dashcam now works like a charm! Thanks mao84!
 
Here is what I found works ALWAYS for me to fix this "no powering up issue" short of opening it up and disconnecting and connecting the battery back:

1. Remove the SD card and format it it fresh using your PC. (I found this to be an important step, not-to-be-skipped). If you cannot format it replace it.
2. Remove the camera from its base in your vehicle
3. Press the power button for at least 15 seconds.
4. The Red led at this point may or may not stay on and the camera may or may not come alive. If the red stays on, leave the camera like that until the battery is depleted (a day or so) and/or the LED goes out.
5. plug in the freshly formatted SD card
6. plug into a USB port on your computer. At this point the camera should come up.
7. Charge the camera for at least until the red LED goes out before you put it back in your vehicle. The camera will never charge fully if you take short drives which is one of the lead issues that causes the SD card corruption and/ or powering up issues.
8. Put it back in your vehicle.

I found that the camera going in this state is always associated with the SD card going back and/or corrupted data hence the first step importance.
I also found out that charging fully the camera inside once in increases the interval at which the brown-outs happen.
 
Just registered to tell how I've fixed the steady red light problem on mini 0805 dash cam (cam not turning on). I believe 0806 and other cams sharing the same hardware may have the same issue.

So failure history:
0805 bought from GB, after several months of service suddenly not turning on, only steady red led on when power is plugged. Not identified by DirectUSB, no reaction on SD-card with firmware, nor any other signs of life. The cam was put in the drawer and forgotten for more than a year but today I found it and decided to investigate.

Solution:
Ambarella just like any other ARM is supposed to have some regulated standby power supply. I measured around it and there was nothing. Obviously, something was wrong with the power supply. Looking around I've found a test point after an LDO (linear regulator) which was 0 while it should be something. LDO is pointed with a red arrow, test point with a blue one on the image below. The stain near LDO is some flux as I took pictures after desoldering the part. That's not a burn mark.
View attachment 33152

The LDO was dead. I don't know what was the initial voltage rating of this LDO but suppose it was from 3 to 3.3V. Pinout is similar to MCP1700T-33002E/TT from microcheap (yeah, chip). I didn't have one like that but found TI's LP2950-33 in TO-92 through-hole package, it has 3.3V output voltage and enough current margin... So having the pins trimmed, I soldered TI part in TO-92 instead of the original one minding the pinout difference. There's enough space inside the plastic case of 0805/0806 for this kind of workaround. The LDO is in the red square. After connecting the battery I surely measured 3.3V on the test-point.
View attachment 33154

After plugging the power supply the camera turned one. If you're going to use a non-standard component, make sure to put some tape around the battery not to short-circuit the LDO pins.


As for the root cause of this failure - I suppose that's standard chinese economy when every cent is counted to make the product cheaper so some cheap underrated components were installed instead of what was originally specified by the design.

Hope that post will be helpful.

Hi

I have 0801 and similar problem.

Are you able to look on pictures and let me know if that element you have replaces in 0805 (LDO) is located where I pointed in 0801? And it yes could you advice which PIN should be the middle one?

Thank you

Mini-0801-Disassembled-2a.jpg
 
Like to bring this thread back to life! So I try to update the firmware on my 0805 and I put in the Micro SD card, the screen doesn't come up. I see a combination of a blue/red light.
I also did a hard reset by pressing the power button for a long period of time then the red light shows up but when I let go the power button, the blue/red light comes back on.

So is there any solution or fix into this?
 
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