Nextbase 522gw keeps freezing

[DaveP75]

My first port of call would be to test the SDCard using Speedout 0.5

I've seen lots of similar posts here which have ben caused by a card with a slow write speed. Even though it's a Nextbase card i'd still be speed testing it.

Just ensure you use USB3 and a USB3 card reader.

My Samsung card max out at ~60Mbps which is above what Nextbase recommend.

Thanks for the response and I appreciate the point you’re making, but it is rather against the logic of what I and a lot of consumers have experienced which is a working camera then not working. I had a working dashcam set up and all was well until recently, and the change for me from no issues to issues occurring was after updating the firmware. If the firmware has somehow meant that the camera is writing to the card differently to the point it’s caused an incompatibility, with a recommended and NextBase supplied card, then the firmware is at fault not the card. Due to this I don’t think anyone needs to be deep diving into the speed diagnostics on the cards that worked as all this will do is provide a figure that we don’t actually know is right or wrong unless we have the figures out individual cameras are trying to write at, and at this point we would need to test the same camera on an original firmware to see if there is a difference. That to me is a very valid test, but one that NextBase should be doing not the consumer having issues due to their product becoming not fit for purpose.

By the way NextBase Support I am still waiting for some actual assistance!

 

[Kremmen]

We try to help our fellow members and along the way we pick up tips from other members.

One of the most common causes of freezing cameras is a slow card.

I was just interested to see what the card can actually write at. Just maybe the card has developed a problem ?

Without the card info I'll step back.

 

[Nextbase Support]

Hi Dave,

We're troubleshooting directly with you via your Nextbase Technical Support open email ticket. To resolve the issue as quickly and accurately as possible, please reply to my email.

Kind regards,
Millie

 

[DaveP75]

Hi Dave,

We're troubleshooting directly with you via your Nextbase Technical Support open email ticket. To resolve the issue as quickly and accurately as possible, please reply to my email.

Kind regards,
Millie

I have replied to your email, which you sent immediately prior to posting this which is the first response I’ve had. I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but your reply here could be interpreted as me ignoring you and not replying to the email regarding the support ticket. I have responded in detail answering all the questions you had before responding here. I have posted here while waiting for, and trying to speed up a response.

As I have suggested and am stating here for the benefit of others, I think the obvious next step would be to provide me with a previous firmware (16.3) to see if that fixes the ever increasing issues I’m having to rule it out as it’s the most likely culprit. I like a lot of others work in IT, and if we deploy an update and then issues occur the first thing done is we reverse the update to rule it out. I’ve only had issues since updating to 19.1, and seems from early on this thread it’s the same for others.

Dave

 

[DaveP75]

We try to help our fellow members and along the way we pick up tips from other members.

One of the most common causes of freezing cameras is a slow card.

I was just interested to see what the card can actually write at. Just maybe the card has developed a problem ?

Without the card info I'll step back.

I do understand that, but prior to updating firmware I had no issues and the ever growing issues are now indicating to me it’s nothing to do with the card and everything to do with the firmware. Hopefully NextBase Support can supply me a link or card with 16.3 to downgrade the firmware to see what that does as should be the simplest test.

 

[Ronniej8]

New member new owner of the front and rear camera , first day and it’s frozen read all the comments and still non the wiser what a nightmare ,
I have the correct address card etc i just wish i had seen this thread before buying and fitting

 

[DaveP75]

Update on my issues.

James at Nextbase kindly provided me with a link to the earlier firmware (16.4 I think) so put that on mine. Issues kept occurring, a few minutes into a journey it’d stop recording and on restarting recording it’d stop recording again shortly after. This was on any resolution setting and any length recording. On ignition off instead of auto powering off properly (continuing to record before a proper power down) it’d just go off immediately. Tested this bypassing the mount and plugging hardwire usb directly in, as well as using the 12v power that came with it and did the same.
Seemed to behave much better with rear camera disconnected, would power down correctly although it was still thinking it had power connected when it didn’t, both in and out of the car.

After a great chat with James about what I’d tested I returned the camera, SD Card and Rear Camera to NextBase for diagnostics and repair last week (not the rear camera cable as I spent ages feeding this properly). Only had it a day and it’s in the post back to me so just waiting for it’s return after a repair as the issue appears to have been the camera PCB which has been replaced. I’m hoping this has fixed the issue for good

 

[Ronniej8]

Update on my issues.

James at Nextbase kindly provided me with a link to the earlier firmware (16.4 I think) so put that on mine. Issues kept occurring, a few minutes into a journey it’d stop recording and on restarting recording it’d stop recording again shortly after. This was on any resolution setting and any length recording. On ignition off instead of auto powering off properly (continuing to record before a proper power down) it’d just go off immediately. Tested this bypassing the mount and plugging hardwire usb directly in, as well as using the 12v power that came with it and did the same.
Seemed to behave much better with rear camera disconnected, would power down correctly although it was still thinking it had power connected when it didn’t, both in and out of the car.

After a great chat with James about what I’d tested I returned the camera, SD Card and Rear Camera to NextBase for diagnostics and repair last week (not the rear camera cable as I spent ages feeding this properly). Only had it a day and it’s in the post back to me so just waiting for it’s return after a repair as the issue appears to have been the camera PCB which has been replaced. I’m hoping this has fixed the issue for good

Interested to see ur up date hopefully it works then I’ll do the same

 

[bridder]

I had very similar issues to DaveP75 above, recording would stop randomly and the screen and device were freezing frequently, it was reaching the point where it was virtually unusable. All I've done is a reset, nothing more and it is running absolutely fine now, really is night and day compared to the POS it was before. That was about 3 weeks ago and it is still running flawlessly. One difference I have noticed from before when it was unreliable, I always now hear the WIFI connecting to the camera, every time where before I would only rarely hear it, don't know if that is anything to read into but it stands out since it is doing it now...

32mb Nextbase microSD card
19.1 firmware, has been for a long time as I flashed it when it came out.
Front and back cameras with the hardwire kit.
Parking mode enabled, auto power off enabled, screensaver enabled, 1080p 30fps front and rear, audio turned off.

It feels good to finally get the dashcams I paid for

John

 

[londonAJay]

Hi, I'm a n00b and looked through your issues as I had similar.

It's only right that Nextbase look into this a bit more. However, while I've looked through the posts, and opened an amazon return (just in case). I think I may have found my solution.
Using sd formatter with the overwrite format and renamed the card CAMERA instead of NEXTBASE, I've placed it in my 522GW and it seems to be working better in the office.

I'll be going home in half an hour so will have a real world test. The card I am using is a Kingston Canvas go 128GB U3 170MB read 90MB write (apparently).
I've got my dashcam hardwired to permanent live with parking mode on, 2 minute, screensaver on.
Wish me luck!

 

[Kremmen]

Be careful with the quoted read and write speeds.

Some manufactures quote MB or Mb and there is a massive difference between the 2.

As per my post at the top of this page use Speedout 0.5 to compare like for like. Speedout rates my card at about 60Mb/s and that card has been trouble free for almost 3 years now with a highish demand cam.

 

[londonAJay]

I've now put a lower rated card, 30MB write and this seems to be more stable. How bizarre that the 522GW can't handle a high performance card from Kingston, especially when there's video recording options upto 4 simultaneous files with attached metadata. The B in MB is capitalised which is megabytes as opposed to Mb megabits.

 

[Lisa H]

I have a front and rear 512gw running on R22.5 firmware and am sick to death of the freezing. Been to Halfords, bought a new SD card been back and forth with Nextbase customer service. The new Nextbase SD card has made it 80% better but still freezing 2 out of 10 times. Any advice? At the point where I will never buy a Nextbase product again and gonna but a different dashcam

 

[bridder]

At the point where I will never buy a Nextbase product again and gonna but a different dashcam

Despite mine running fine at the moment my 522GW has already put me firmly at the position above, never again. Sorry don't have any suggestions for you other than perhaps what I did, do a reset...

 

[Lisa H]

Thanks. Every time it freezes, I stop and do a reset. Useless. I’ve done every single thing Nextbase customer services have told me to do. It’s useless. You expect something like that to last a few years. It is better with a new SD card but still freezing.

 

[Philg]

Hi there,

Unfrotunately your SD card, the SanDisk Extreme, is known to cause faults in Dash Cams. The card is not classified as being Dash Cam compatible, even by SanDisk themselves, and they will void your SD card warranty if you use it within one. If you believe otherwise to be the case please contact the manufacturer for confirmation. https://shop.westerndigital.com/en-gb/warranty

The freezing issues and gaps in recording are normal symptoms of a non-compatible or corrupted SD card.

I'm sorry that you've suffered this inconvenience. If you'd like to Private message me your name and address, I'll be able to help regarding a compatible SD card.

Regards,
Millie- Nextbase

Hi, i have a similar problem, my 522GW stops working when being driven, it is hard wired but just stops recording without warning, the red recording light becomes solid but doesnt record, any ideas? i am using an Integral SD card.
Thanks, Phil

 

[Topref]

I sent my dashcam back to Nextbase and when it cam back it was working OK - for a few minutes - but kept freezing again. In the notes that accompanied its' return, it mentioned the non-compatibility of my Sandisk card and strongly urged me to buy one of their cards as they were specific for their product. I did even though it was very over-priced but the issues remained. The Sandisk card had the same specification as those on their own card. I couldn't recommend Nextbase as I have a conscience.

 

[Nextbase Support]

Hello Phil,

SD cards only have limited lifespans. In our manuals we recommend formatting every 2-3 weeks to prolong the life of the card. Without this regular formatting, or if the card is non-compatible or damaged, the card could corrupt which would cause a failure of data writing.
Symptoms of SD card failure are: an audible 'alarm' tone, non-functional buttons, freezing, corrupted files on playback, image missing from files, lack of file recording etc.

If the camera is abruptly stopping recording, the card is failing to accept new recordings within the camera. Unfortunately either the card has failed or is not compatible.

I'd recommend a Dash Cam compatible 8GB -128GB U3 Micro SD card, specifically designed for Dash Cam or CCTV usage. Using a dash cam compatible SD card instead should then allow your Dash Cam to function as designed. The card needs to have a minimum continuous write speed of 48MB/s. For guaranteed functionality and warranty of the card, I'd suggest a Nextbase U3 Micro SD card.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

 

[Topref]

There you go again, advertising your own inferior product. The replacement Nextbase card NEVER worked.

 

[Philg]

Hello Phil,

SD cards only have limited lifespans. In our manuals we recommend formatting every 2-3 weeks to prolong the life of the card. Without this regular formatting, or if the card is non-compatible or damaged, the card could corrupt which would cause a failure of data writing.
Symptoms of SD card failure are: an audible 'alarm' tone, non-functional buttons, freezing, corrupted files on playback, image missing from files, lack of file recording etc.

If the camera is abruptly stopping recording, the card is failing to accept new recordings within the camera. Unfortunately either the card has failed or is not compatible.

I'd recommend a Dash Cam compatible 8GB -128GB U3 Micro SD card, specifically designed for Dash Cam or CCTV usage. Using a dash cam compatible SD card instead should then allow your Dash Cam to function as designed. The card needs to have a minimum continuous write speed of 48MB/s. For guaranteed functionality and warranty of the card, I'd suggest a Nextbase U3 Micro SD card.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

Hi, thanks for the reply, the spec of my card looks to be fine, i use the same card in my ARLO 4K home CCTV and it works fine, looks like i'll have to remember to format it a bit more..

Cheers, Phil