recording problem (corrupted files) on A118C

[budster]

I have a Blueskysea A118C, version A118C.20150312 (I assume that refers to the firmware). Was reviewing the recorded video and found out that some of the .mov files are corrupted and cannot be played back. Other .mov files can be played back fine.

Then I narrowed down that the corrupted files are always the last file of a multi-file recording (probably the most important file). For example, if the loop recording is set to 3 minutes and the total recording time for a trip is 8 minutes, there will be three .mov files (1st for 3 minutes, 2nd for 3 minutes, 3rd for 2 minutes) and the 3rd file will be corrupted. If the total recording time for a trip is only 1 minute (and loop recording is set to 3 minutes), then there will only be one .mov file, but this file will play fine.

At first, I thought the problem could be related to how the dashcam shuts down when car is turned off. But the shutdown looks normal to me (LCD turns off first, then the LEDs turn off a couple seconds later). And if the problem is related to shutdown, then I would think that should also affect a 1 file recording, which is not the case.

Have there been any reports of this kind of problem before and could there be an updated firmware fix this?

----

Update: The one file recordings that I had reported not being corrupted is just coincidence I believe. Since the problem is intermittent, they could have easily happened to such recordings as well.

 

[jokiin]

tried another memory card?

checked that card for errors?

 

[budster]

Yes, I tried another memory card and problem is reproducible on both Sandisk and Transcend 32GB class 10 microSDHC cards. Using a USB powerbank or the 12V power cord doesn't make a difference either.

 

[jokiin]

When the LED's go out after power off do they fade out or switch off cleanly?

 

[budster]

Hmm, just tried again a couple times and cannot reproduce the problem now. The last file in my most recent multi-file recordings can be played fine. Earlier in the day and about an hour ago, I was having the problem with test trips of 5-10 minutes.

When the dashcam is powered off now (via USB powerbank), the LEDs turn off cleanly. I assume that's the desired behavior? Not sure what was the behavior before when I was having the problem.

I just received this dashcam in the mail and am using it for the first time today. I'm wondering if the problem could be capacitor related and maybe the dashcam needs to be used for some time longer in order for the capacitor to get fully charged up so that it has enough energy to handle shutdowns properly? Would it be helpful to leave the dashcam on overnight (hooked up to the USB powerbank, without any memory card so there's no recording being done) to deal with any capacitor issue?

 

[jokiin]

Caps fully charge within a minute or two tops

Clean off of the LED is the desired result

 

[budster]

I am able to intermittently reproduce the problem again today. When it happens and I power down the dashcam, the LEDs fade out. In one case, I found that there was no recorded .mov files saved at all (e.g. for a 10 minute test, I expected to get 4 mov files, but no files got recorded) and the recording time on the dashcam LCD froze and the red recording LED was not blinking.

I assume that there's no updated firmware that can fix this problem and at least there's a problem with the capacitor which requires exchanging to fix?

 

[estore009]

Please have a try to do it in this way:
1)Format this memory card by your computer;camera can not record if its memory card was full with protected video section by G-sensor features;
2)Have a try to playback these video files on camera to see if it is the same problem! If yes,it indicates that this is the software problem or capacitor hardware problem;
Please have a test and back to us,thanks for your attention!

 

[budster]

Please have a try to do it in this way:
1)Format this memory card by your computer;camera can not record if its memory card was full with protected video section by G-sensor features;
2)Have a try to playback these video files on camera to see if it is the same problem! If yes,it indicates that this is the software problem or capacitor hardware problem;
Please have a test and back to us,thanks for your attention!

1. Yes, I had formatted the microSDHC cards before trying to use them. I had actually formatted them in the dashcam first instead of in a computer as I think that is supposed to be the more reliable way. I used 32GB cards so there's plenty of space on them.

2. To playback the video files, I took out the microSDHC cards and used a SD card adapter to try to play the video files on my computer using VLC and Windows Media Player. As mentioned, some files were corrupted and could not be played, other files could be played fine.

I just tried to playback the video files on the dashcam itself. The instructions in the manual are not clear how to do so, but I finally figured it out. (When the dashcam is recording, need to press the REC button to stop recording and then press the MIC button twice to enter playback mode. The manual does not mention needing to press the REC button first to stop recording.) Anyways, what I found is that when navigating thru the files, when it got to a corrupted file, it momentarily showed a blank image before it automatically went to the next file. When I examined the microSDHC card later on my computer, it seems the corrupted files got deleted!

Also, I noticed that another Blueskysea A118C dashcam I have has firmware version of A118C.20150403, while this one with the problem has A118C.20150312. What is the difference between these versions?

 

[estore009]

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/7kfrmq This is our software for A118C Camera,and you can have a try this software!
And you can do this update in this way:
1)Format your memory card in your computer;
2)Copy this Bin file,which download from our above link, to your memory card;
3)Plug memory card into camera,and plug car charger and power on camera;
4)Camera will update automatically;

 

[budster]

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/7kfrmq This is our software for A118C Camera,and you can have a try this software!
And you can do this update in this way:
1)Format your memory card in your computer;
2)Copy this Bin file,which download from our above link, to your memory card;
3)Plug memory card into camera,and plug car charger and power on camera;
4)Camera will update automatically;

What firmware version is this for? And what is the difference between this and the current firmware A118C.20150312 that I have?

 

[estore009]

This is the same version A118C 20150312,and you can have a try to update it to see if it can solve your problem or not?

 

[budster]

This is the same version A118C 20150312,and you can have a try to update it to see if it can solve your problem or not?

Sorry, I'm not clear. I thought you will provide the firmware for A118C.20150403. Since I already have A118C.20150312 on the dashcam, why would I try to re-flash it with the same firmware version?

 

[jokiin]

reflash it, if still no good and your memory card is fine it's more likely a hardware issue, the LED's fading out at power off suggests it has a problem

 

[budster]

@estore009, can you provide a download link for A118C.20150403 and mention what are the improvements made in this version compared to A118C.20150312? I would prefer to try A118C.20150403 if possible. I was reading some other threads and it sounds like there was a change made in a certain firmware version that fixed a power shutdown issue, but I'm not clear what version the fix is in.

 

[estore009]

Sorry for confuse,
You can reflash A118C camera to see if it can solve this shutdown delay problem,and this is the link for 20th/March FW http://www.sendspace.com/pro/7kfrmq

 

[budster]

@estore009, I'm sorry I have to ask again, but how come you can't just provide the A118C.20150403 firmware as this seems to be the latest one? A118C.20150403 is on one of the A118C dashcams I received about a month ago, but my most recent order has A118C.20150312 on the dashcams. Is there any change log that mentions what are the differences between all these firmware versions?

 

[budster]

I went ahead and applied the firmware at http://www.sendspace.com/pro/7kfrmq and will do some further testing. Some quick observations. Although the name of the downloaded zip file is S1115 A118C_FW_0320.zip (and its contents is FWB40A.bin), after I flashed the dashcam, the version on it now says A118C.20150312.001. I was expecting it to say A118C.20150320 but maybe this is just a simple labeling mistake in the firmware. Also, the startup screen no longer shows the Blueskysea logo and instead just shows the word "Welcome".

@estore009, I would still like to get the A118C.20150403 firmware and get more information on what are the changes in each of these firmware versions.

 

[budster]

I am able to reproduce the problem again on the March 20 firmware. It is intermittent, but does happen. During one test recording, it just stopped recording by itself and I could see the recording time had frozen. Then, when the dashcam was powered off, the LEDs faded away and did not turn off cleanly. Checked that the most recent file recorded on the memory card was corrupted and could not be played (prior files in the recording could be played fine).

Looks like any firmware update will not solve this hardware problem and need to do another exchange. I'm not going to buy any more of these A118C dashcams as I lost all confidence in its quality and reliability. With 4 of these dashcams purchased so far in the past month, I'm at a 50% failure rate so far and I'm afraid I will find issues later with the two remaining ones. I was recommending many friends and relatives to buy this A118C dashcam as I thought it was the best value, but I'm going to be withdrawing this recommendation.

 

[budster]

Who maintains the page at https://dashcamtalk.com/b40-a118/? I think it should be updated to mention the problems I've experienced with the A118C (bad microphone/static noise recorded, corrupted recordings).