Strange behavior of 212,

[peterg1000]

I've had a a 212 for some years now, and through ignorance have just let the inbuilt software handle the deleting of old files once the original 32Gb SD filled up. Very recently the camera started up with a message saying the SD card was full.

Decided to fit a 128Gb SD card in place of the original as this would increase the time between reformats ( I'd read the manual by now!!! ). Card fitted and formatted, software revision confirmed as the latest available (R28), camera started and stopped as expected. Out of curiosity I then checked the first journey files - to discover some odd behavior.

The first unusual events were occasional freezing of the recording for about 2.5 to 3 seconds - this did not seem to be associated with any particular external event, i.e bad road surface or change in illumination for example. Checked the recordings on the old 32Gb card and the freezing was absent thoughout - VERY time consuming even at fast playback!! Also noticed some files reporting zero size on the 128Gb card.

I saved all the files from both cards, and reformatted the 32Gb and drove the same route with this card as I had with the 128Gb. Checked the 32 Gb recordings again - no instances of momentary freezing and no zero size files. At this point I began to suspect a faulty 128Gb card, so I downloaded an SD test utility ( H2testw V1.4 ) which writes and verifies the entire card memory. This takes almost 2 hours to complete on the larger card and an hour on the smaller of the two.

Both cards reported no read or write problems whatsoever, and both card capacities were correct - interesting and pleasing!!! The only differences reported by the test programme were that the 32Bb card read/write speeds were respectively 25/7.7Mb/s with the larger card giving 54/25Mb/sec. Both SD cards are Sandisk microSD with a "10" speed rating as recommended.

Could it be that the camera software cannot accommodate the much faster write capability of the 128Gb card?? Anyone else had a similar experience with a large card??

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum peterg1000.

Nextbase cameras are memory card fuzzy, so it could be you have gotten a brand / model that do not work with the camera.

Expanding my collection of 256 GB memory cards, last year i got 3 memory cards in a row that was not compatible with the viofo A229 duo i was testing, but they all worked in a Vantrue E2 which is pretty much the same camera as the A229 duo, at least in regard to the 2 sensors used.

This incompatibillity issue i think are mostly down to the controller on the memory card, and not the speed, CUZ most dashcams only write at a fraction of the speed most memory cards can do

 

[Kremmen]

I've never done the maths but it should be fairly straightforward to divide say 3 minute file by its size to work out write speed

 

[peterg1000]

Checked a number of records and found the largest file to be 614Mb over a 5min period. This equates to just over 2Mb/sec - way below the measured card record speed (by a factor of 10!!). Interestingly enough this record took place with the car stationary in a car park, so very little obvious movement. When moving, the records are typically around 300Mb give or take - another mystery to my mind.

It occurs to me that maybe the 212 firmware write timing routines are not precise enough for the much faster uSD card. Not a lot to be done about that to be sure.

Next time I take a journey I will turn off the "g" sensor, just in case that is somehow interfering with the card write routines.