rear camera disconnecting

[Sancho]

UPDATE: I sent my DR750S-2ch in to get checked out for this issue when below 40F degrees. They needed the front and rear camera as well as the 128gb Blackvue micro SD. They could not duplicate the issue but I believe it was due to their location not having sub 40F degree temperatures. However, they still sent me new front and rear cameras. I have given it a few weeks of testing to be sure they are operating properly before posting this update. The cameras have seen about twelve sub 40F degree days which includes a few sub 30F degree mornings. Every single time, the rear camera fires up no problem. So in my case, the problem was a hardware issue. Good luck to the rest of you.

I live in Texas where it’s never cold and my car is always parked in a garage. While there may be a possibility that cold temperatures make it difficult for the cameras to turn on, I am skeptical that it’s the cause of our nightly reboot rear camera fail.

Edit: colder temps may be part of the problem because I have noticed that it is significantly harder to get the rear to activate when the temp is colder.

 

[MacB]

Just wanted to check that I have the same problems as others, the LEd on the rear camera in on but when look at the rear camera or any recording it just shows up as video with a blank screen. Not sure if this is a problem with the firmware or a problem with the cable, if it was the cable I would have expected that there would be no power to the rear camera.

 

[M8TJT]

What on earth is the point of posting a black 'still' taken from a black video?
We all know what a blank screen looks like.
Apart from that, it was taken at 11:55 last night. Would you not expect it to be dark then? It was where I live.

 

[MacB]

What on earth is the point of posting a black 'still' taken from a black video?
We all know what a blank screen looks like.
Apart from that, it was taken at 11:55 last night. Would you not expect it to be dark then? It was where I live.

Very helpful feedback... not.

The question I was asking was a simple one, is this what you would expect to see from a cable fault or a firmware issue?
The camera is powered up?

 

[M8TJT]

I would expect that to be firmware. It can't be a cable fault, as the rear cam is powered by the same coaxial cable as the signal is returned and you say that the rear cam has the LED on. The power is obviously getting to the cam so the coax must be sound. The problem must be either the rear cam not producing a signal or the front cam not interpreting the signal properly.
But I suspect you knew that anyway.
Not sure that I can add anything more constructive.

 

[Ecsta]

Still having this issue wonder if anyones made any progress.

I've also got a brand new high endurance Samsung SD card and the issue persists.

 

[surreydan]

UPDATE

After having had a couple of weeks of relative stability, my rear camera is now starting to disconnect again. Yet again, this has been associated with a drop in temperature - nothing too significant - from around 6C to 3C. The disconnect appears to occur after the 3am reboot.

 

[bpsmicro]

Funny you should mention that. I had turned off the automated reboot, and we went through three days of a cold wave with the Rear camera running fine. Until eventually my power safer kicked out and the camera was shut down. When I restarted the vehicle the next day and the camera booted up ... no rear camera.

I'm thinking it's definitely cold-related, but the actual rear-disconnection happens during a boot-up.

 

[surreydan]

I have now changed the time of the nightly reboot to 10pm - my logic being that I am rarely out at this time of day, and the temperature may be a little warmer. I doubt the reboot takes long. It may even be worth bringing it forward to lunch time. I guess the probability of having an incident during the reboot must be slim.

I have emailed the dealer I bought the camera from in the UK. He remembered me from a year ago when I had exactly the same problem and he sent me a new camera. However, he now appears to not be answering my emails :-( ...

 

[Sancho]

I was hoping reverting to a previous firmware would resolve the issue but it has not. I hope Blackvue is truely aware of the issue because it certainly seems to be a firmware related issue in the auto boot up. The rear camera seems to be disregarded in that sequence as if we have a 1 ch system.

 

[surreydan]

I am wondering whether Blackvue produced a batch of bad cameras - I say this because 1) this is the second 750 I am having problems with and 2) it doesn't appear to be happening to everyone. I got my first 750 in October 2017 and the replacement in November 2017. Perhaps this is an issue for the "early" cameras?

Failing that, I bet there must be a lot of people out there who don't check their cam regularly and will be let down if the time comes for them to rely on it.

 

[Ecsta]

I am wondering whether Blackvue produced a batch of bad cameras - I say this because 1) this is the second 750 I am having problems with and 2) it doesn't appear to be happening to everyone. I got my first 750 in October 2017 and the replacement in November 2017. Perhaps this is an issue for the "early" cameras?

Failing that, I bet there must be a lot of people out there who don't check their cam regularly and will be let down if the time comes for them to rely on it.

With software bugs there could be a certain combination of settings/conditions that trigger the issue, so it could be present in every camera but only some of us trigger the conditions for it to fail, and of those only a smaller portion of those people actually notice that it is failing since there's no warning/indication (which is the worst part honestly). Personally i never noticed until i started using parking mode.

I'm not even sure if i should complain to the manufacturer.. When i emailed Blackvue for an unrelated issue they basically replied in broken English with a link to their FAQ page, so not sure if it's worth my time going that route again. I bought the camera from BlackBoxMyCar, so might send them a quick email as they were very helpful when I was making my purchase (over a year ago mind you).

 

[blazn420]

Are all the problem cams coming from BlackBoxMyCar?

 

[surreydan]

Are all the problem cams coming from BlackBoxMyCar?

No. Got mine from a dealer in the UK in October 2017.

 

[= bluntman =]

I bought mine in October 2017 as well from a local dealer. I was hoping that 1.015 would solve the problem (wishful thinking on my part because it didn't). I was able to find another local store that sells the rear camera only and it should arrive today...we'll see how that goes.

 

[Ecsta]

I bought mine in October 2017 as well from a local dealer. I was hoping that 1.015 would solve the problem (wishful thinking on my part because it didn't). I was able to find another local store that sells the rear camera only and it should arrive today...we'll see how that goes.

Please report back if its just the rear camera that's defective as if that works for you i'll replace my rear camera. Not looking forward to re-running the cable so id probably try camera first. Hopefully it's not the front/main camera that needs replacing.

I also updated to 1.015 this morning morning hoping it fixes it (but i guess not).

Bought my camera December 2017.

 

[surreydan]

My UK dealer is going to swap out both cameras for new - hopefully tomorrow. Will report back.

As an aside, does anyone know how big Blackvue actual are (as a company)? I am curious that when you look at the number of downloads for updates from their website, they never seem particularly high.

 

[jokiin]

they're not a big player in the Korean market, they probably do more business outside of Korea than they do at home

 

[= bluntman =]

Please report back if its just the rear camera that's defective as if that works for you i'll replace my rear camera. Not looking forward to re-running the cable so id probably try camera first. Hopefully it's not the front/main camera that needs replacing.

I also updated to 1.015 this morning morning hoping it fixes it (but i guess not).

Bought my camera December 2017.

So far everything looks good. The camera booted up this morning after sleeping all night and the little LED on the rear camera also lit up...the rear camera is working again! Now, we will just need to see if the cold temperatures this weekend will have any affect on it.

Fingers are still crossed.

 

[bpsmicro]

I believe you need to freeze it, then do a "soft reboot". The easiest way to do that is set up the scheduled reboot, say for past midnight, wait until the overnight temps get really cold and see if, post reboot, the rear camera is connected.
A *hard* reboot (where you do a full power cycle and wait a good 30 seconds in between) will probably reconnect the rear camera, cold or not. At least it always does in my testing.