Set up video for A129 plus duo?

[SawMaster]

Currently -5 for USA Eastern time, -6 for Central, and so on

Phil

 

[shockwave199]

Some settings I change.

-30 fps is my choice.
-Turn screen saver off. I prefer my screen is always on.
-Rear camera overlay. This helps to confirm there rear camera is on and working.
-Five second delay start. This helps to avoid unnecessary short recordings if I turn the car off quickly.
-3 minute loop recording.
-GPS on but video stamp off
- G senor on low. Any higher and you might continue to fill the card with saved G senor files taking up more and more room.
- Audio off

WiFi is best for camera settings but video playback is mostly a buffering delay mess and not useful. You absolutely need the cpl filter on the front camera at least.

Good video that explains settings

 

[Nigel]

-Turn screen saver off. I prefer my screen is always on.

Normally this should be on, it can be distracting at night.

G senor on low. Any higher and you might continue to fill the card with saved G senor files taking up more and more room.

There should be a limit on the number of saved files it will store, so this should not be a concern.

WiFi is best for camera settings but video playback is mostly a buffering delay mess and not useful.

Try the 5GHz option for wifi, it should work well with your phone and solve buffering issues.

 

[shockwave199]

Normally this should be on, it can be distracting at night.


There should be a limit on the number of saved files it will store, so this should not be a concern.

Try the 5GHz option for wifi, it should work well with your phone and solve buffering issues.

My camera is covered by my rear view mirror, no distraction. 5g is no different for me unfortunately. IPhone 10 and still the buffering does not allow for useful playback. There's an option for max number of saved files? I didn't see that. In any case, unless this camera is better in this respect, G senor has always been best at low setting for me.

Btw, what's the best way to disconnect from wifi when you're done? Is it just long pushing the button on the camera to disconnect it? Close out the app first? I have found disconnecting to be finicky. Not sure if there's a best way.

 

[SawMaster]

In some places it's illegal to have the screen displayed while driving. This also adds heat to the cam and can lead to shortened screen life too. Not a recommended practice with any dashcam

Phil

 

[Nigel]

Btw, what's the best way to disconnect from wifi when you're done? Is it just long pushing the button on the camera to disconnect it? Close out the app first?

Pressing the camera button should be best, and the app should then exit back to the app start screen. If the app isn't exiting then press the back arrow on the app to close the connection before pressing the camera button, then the camera button isn't really necessary, I believe it will turn itself off after a while with no connection. No need to actually close the app.

 

[shockwave199]

Pressing the camera button should be best, and the app should then exit back to the app start screen. If the app isn't exiting then press the back arrow on the app to close the connection before pressing the camera button, then the camera button isn't really necessary, I believe it will turn itself off after a while with no connection. No need to actually close the app.

I'll try that. It's been kinda wonky getting out of wifi each time I've tried. As far as screen saver is concerned, good point about the heat. I've always had it on for every camera but maybe this one I'll set for a minute or so.

 

[Nigel]

I'll try that. It's been kinda wonky getting out of wifi each time I've tried.

The only time I've seen a problem is if you walk away from the camera without disconnecting, the app then continues trying to communicate and gets a bit stuck...

 

[sn809]

So I don’t need to remove the two dashcams from my car to plug in to computer to download those 3 firmware files mentioned on viofo website

There is a new firmware update. I think its going to help out. Firmware on front camera is v1.1, whilst rear is still v1.0 but Nov 2020 date.

Post in thread 'A129 Plus Duo - How to update rear camera?' https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a129-plus-duo-how-to-update-rear-camera.43379/post-532593

 

[smithdean]

There is a new firmware update. I think its going to help out. Firmware on front camera is v1.1, whilst rear is still v1.0 but Nov 2020 date.

Post in thread 'A129 Plus Duo - How to update rear camera?' https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a129-plus-duo-how-to-update-rear-camera.43379/post-532593 do I have latest firmware?

 

[sn809]

@smithdean Yes you should update the firmware.
Regarding going into wifi settings, here are the steps.
Start Dashcam.
stope recording.
press extreme left button to get into settings.
Press the < button to scroll down to wifi.
Press the centre button and then select 2.5 and try watching your videos.
If that does not work, repeat above and select 5 and try watching your videos.

Official Download of VLC media player for iOS - VideoLAN

www.videolan.org

VLC is one of the most competent players, you can also use that in iOS.

 

[smithdean]

@smithdean Yes you should update the firmware.
Regarding going into wifi settings, here are the steps.
Start Dashcam.
stope recording.
press extreme left button to get into settings.
Press the < button to scroll down to wifi.
Press the centre button and then select 2.5 and try watching your videos.
If that does not work, repeat above and select 5 and try watching your videos.

Official Download of VLC media player for iOS - VideoLAN

www.videolan.org

VLC is one of the most competent players, you can also use that in iOS.

Did you check my screenshot above? Do I already have latest firmware ? Someone said I already do. Also I already did the steps you explained and can’t watch the videos via viofo app on my iPhone . Why do I need VLC player when I was told the viofo app should work fine with my phone?

 

[sn809]

There is a new firmware update. I think its going to help out. Firmware on front camera is v1.1, whilst rear is still v1.0 but Nov 2020 date.

Post in thread 'A129 Plus Duo - How to update rear camera?' https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a129-plus-duo-how-to-update-rear-camera.43379/post-532593

Yes u need to update ur firmware. Follow instructions on the link above.

Did you check my screenshot above? Do I already have latest firmware ? Someone said I already do. Also I already did the steps you explained and can’t watch the videos via viofo app on my iPhone . Why do I need VLC player when I was told the viofo app should work fine with my phone?

Yes u need to update ur dashcam firmware. Link is quoted above. Its not difficult.

I have no idea why its not working on ur phone. Did u pay some one to install the Dash cam. Might be time to pay them a visit and make them earn ur dollars and explain to you in more detail.

 

[smithdean]

i wanted to update the firmware to find out if that is causing the issue with video play bakc not working via the viofo app on my iphone but the instruction they gave me although may sound easy is hard for me. they said "

• Download and copy the FWA129S.bin, RearcamA129FW.bin, and RearcamA129FW.update to the microSD card (Please format the card as FAT32 file system first). download three files? what does it mean update to microsdcard?

plug the rear camera and connect the front camera with external charger" These are 2 separate cameras and it is confusing what to plug where and how many cables i need to plug from front to rear and to external charger or computer. i am not used to this. do i need two separate cables? i do have the cable that came with the the camera. do i have to plug in to my computer? Wish you could do all this right on the camera in settings with just one push of a button like you would update on your phone.

​

The attached firmware is the latest, please note that A129 PLUS front and rear cam firmware are separate.

How to update: ​

Please notice you need to upgrade the front camera and rear camera firmware separately.

1. Download and copy the FWA129S.bin, RearcamA129FW.bin, and RearcamA129FW.update to the microSD card (Please format the card as FAT32 file system first).
2. Plug the rear camera and connect the front camera with an external charger, it will start to upgrade the front camera automatically. After the front camera upgraded, the camera will restart automatically.
3. After the camera restarted, and the camera screen shows the live video for both the front camera and rear cameras, short press the Wi-Fi button(the last button), the screen will show "Send FW to TX..."；wait for about 1 minute, you will see "Tx Start Update FW...", wait until this popup disappears, and then reboot the camera.
4. Check the firmware version in the menu, make sure the rear and front cam version is up to date.

 

[jokiin]

i wanted to update the firmware to find out if that is causing the issue with video play bakc not working via the viofo app on my iphone

hard to spell out the firmware update process much simpler than what they already have, that said though the playback issue is an app problem, most iPhone models are ok but there's a couple of models of iPhone that are currently problematic for file playback

 

[smithdean]

hard to spell out the firmware update process much simpler than what they already have, that said though the playback issue is an app problem, most iPhone models are ok but there's a couple of models of iPhone that are currently problematic for file playback

Not to me who is new to this because they need separate updates.
i wanted to update the firmware to find out if that is causing the issue with video play bakc not working via the viofo app on my iphone but the instruction they gave me although may sound easy is hard for me. they said "

• Download and copy the FWA129S.bin, RearcamA129FW.bin, and RearcamA129FW.update to the microSD card (Please format the card as FAT32 file system first). download three files? what does it mean update to microsdcard?

plug the rear camera and connect the front camera with external charger" These are 2 separate cameras and it is confusing what to plug where and how many cables i need to plug from front to rear and to external charger or computer. i am not used to this. do i need two separate cables? i do have the cable that came with the the camera. do i have to plug in to my computer? Wish you could do all this right on the camera in settings with just one push of a button like you would update on your phone.

 

[jokiin]

it's a two part process as the front and rear camera each have their own processor, copy the files to the card, power it on in the car is fine to do the updates, you don't need to use a different charger, main thing is don't do it from a computer, it's not practical to use anything other than the car power supply anyway as logically the rear camera cable is going to be installed in the car, Chinglish translation I guess

 

[SawMaster]

main thing is don't do it from a computer

Especially this When doing FW any powering anomalies of any kind highly risk bricking the cam. You must have lots of solid clean power or you're asking for trouble!

Phil

 

[smithdean]

it's a two part process as the front and rear camera each have their own processor, copy the files to the card, power it on in the car is fine to do the updates, you don't need to use a different charger, main thing is don't do it from a computer, it's not practical to use anything other than the car power supply anyway as logically the rear camera cable is going to be installed in the car, Chinglish translation I guess

No "Chinglish" translation because I ain't Chinese. But I know my English & my tech skill are not quite as good as they should be. I will try again later today to try to update the firmware. To download and copy the files, I would need to plug in the cameras and to a computer I guess. When you see the front cam installed in the car, you see two cords plugged in on the front camera so I was wondering if I have to do the same thing when updating the firmware at home and to a computer.

 

[Nigel]

I would need to plug in the cameras and to a computer I guess. When you see the front cam installed in the car, you see two cords plugged in on the front camera so I was wondering if I have to do the same thing when updating the firmware at home and to a computer.

I just take the memory card out of the camera, plug it into the computer (via a memory card reader) and copy the necessary file(s) on to the card, then put the memory card back in the camera and turn the camera on (turn the car ignition on). Job done. This doesn't actually need a computer, my tablet will do it, and it has a built in card reader.