Various Papago GoSafe 520 tweaks (remove logo from videos, mute startup chime, higher bitrate)

Sprite23

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Disclaimer: I am not responsible if you brick your dashcam. I did all these tweaks to my dashcam and everything is working great for me.

I just want to say I did not come up with any of these tweaks, I am just putting them together in one place. for easier accessibility.

Remove the GoSafe 520 logo from your videos
Special thanks to Sunny for figuring this out and sharing it with the community. Here is his original post: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/bookmarks/415/view-item

How to remove the yellow Papago 520 text?

What you have to do is this:
1. Take the card out and open logo.txt file. The stamp is in the logo.txt file in the card.
2. Delete Papago 520 text and replace it with a space.
3. Save the file.
4. Go to file properties and change it to 'Read only'. If you don't do this, camera will add that Papago 520 text when it starts.
5. Put the card in the camera and no yellow text.
Note: If you format, you have to do it again.

Removing the startup or shutdown chime / Higher bitrate
You need a few things things to accomplish this:
Ambarella Firmware Toolbox - http://dc.p-mc.eu/tools/a7tool
-Java is required
Firmware from Papago - http://us.papagoinc.com/products/gosafe-520/#support

1. Open up the AFT, go to Open -> A7 binary -> Open firmware.bin you downloaded from Papago
1.jpg
2. Partitions -> Extract all
2.jpg
3. ROM/RFS -> Extract ROM to disk
3.jpg

If you only want to change your bitrate and leave the startup chime, skip step 4 and continue to step 5

4. In the same folder you extracted firmware.bin you should see the folder "rtosfs"
8startupsound.jpg
Go into that folder and delete two files. ppg_poweroff_12k.pcm and ppg_poweron_12k.pcm
9startupsound.jpg

If you're finish and do not want to change your bitrate, continue to step 9

Thank you to rev90210 on YouTube for these steps. You could see his video on how to change bitrate here if you prefer a video over a text tutorial

5. Editors - > A5/A7 Bitrate editor
4bitrate.jpg

6. Load from PRI
5bitrate.jpg

7. Open PRI.a7s
6bitrate.jpg

8. Change the values for the resolution you're using. I personally record 2560x1080 and I set my bitrate to 21.0, I've seen some people go as high as 30. Thanks to mpmetro for the values.
Code:
Line   Resolution   DefaultBitRate
3      2560x1080    18
6      2304x1296    18
21     1920x1080    10
45     720p60        9

9. ROM/FRS -> Build ROM from disk

10. Build -> Firmware update

You should now have a7firmware.bin, rename it to firmware.bin and flash it to your dashcam!

Edit your splash screen
If you want to edit your startup/shutdown splash screens the files are splash_papago_tw.jpg and logo_papago_tw.jpg. I did not care to mess with these so you're on your own there!

Custom sounds
If you're into custom sounds, I found that you could use Audacity http://audacityteam.org/ to edit pcm files. Go to File -> Import ->Raw Data...

I'm personally not into this, but I'm sure if you want you could figure it out. Just putting this information out there for reference.


If you brick your dashcam in the process, go to this thread to unbrick it
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/how-to-unbrick-your-papago-gosafe-520.13192/
 
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I have the yellow "Gosafe 520" removal done using the logo.txt edit, but using the string editor in the AFT toolbox, I was also able to remove the big yellow "Gosafe 520" that is visible on the screen while the camera is on. Its all the way at the bottom of the list, I just put a blank space where it said gosafe 520.

I was also able to edit the on-screen button bar, and make it transparent. Didnt want to use the auto hide function, because then you have to press a button twice, first to display the bar.. Used the "amba_bitmaps.exe" bitmap.bin editor. Made the black bar on top and the squares on the right transparent in photoshop. Changed some of the icons as well.

Im8vlPx.jpg


Someone posted the program here but its in russian:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/app-aft-1-3-2-ambarella-firmware-editor.6029/page-22

I translated it to english using google, and have attached it.
 

Attachments

  • amba_bitmaps English.zip
    418.1 KB · Views: 18
Last edited by a moderator:
I have the yellow "Gosafe 520" removal done using the logo.txt edit, but using the string editor in the AFT toolbox, I was also able to remove the big yellow "Gosafe 520" that is visible on the screen while the camera is on. Its all the way at the bottom of the list, I just put a blank space where it said gosafe 520.

I was also able to edit the on-screen button bar, and make it transparent. Didnt want to use the auto hide function, because then you have to press a button twice, first to display the bar.. Used the "amba_bitmaps.exe" bitmap.bin editor. Made the black bar on top and the squares on the right transparent in photoshop. Changed some of the icons as well.

Im8vlPx.jpg


Someone posted the program here but its in russian:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/app-aft-1-3-2-ambarella-firmware-editor.6029/page-22

I translated it to english using google, and have attached it.

Very nice, I'm going to have to give this a try
 
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Is the 32GB limitation something that can be tweaked in the AFT?
 
Is the 32GB limitation something that can be tweaked in the AFT?

Good question, I don't think it's a hardware limitation so it should be able to, but I wouldn't know where to start.
 
I have the yellow "Gosafe 520" removal done using the logo.txt edit, but using the string editor in the AFT toolbox, I was also able to remove the big yellow "Gosafe 520" that is visible on the screen while the camera is on. Its all the way at the bottom of the list, I just put a blank space where it said gosafe 520.

I was also able to edit the on-screen button bar, and make it transparent. Didnt want to use the auto hide function, because then you have to press a button twice, first to display the bar.. Used the "amba_bitmaps.exe" bitmap.bin editor. Made the black bar on top and the squares on the right transparent in photoshop. Changed some of the icons as well.

Im8vlPx.jpg


Someone posted the program here but its in russian:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/app-aft-1-3-2-ambarella-firmware-editor.6029/page-22

I translated it to english using google, and have attached it.

I downloaded the bitmap program and did the transparent bars, but my icons looked horrible when I tried to do the transparent icons. Mind sharing yours?
 
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ok, I have attached them in a zip here. I used photoshop. How are you editing them?

These are just the icons I have done that are on the main screen. I havent messed with any other images yet.

BMP-30 Side bar
BMP-33 LCD OFF
BMP-34 Settings
BMP-35 Mic on/off
BMP-36 Mode
BMP-759 Top Bar
 

Attachments

  • transparent Icons.zip
    11.2 KB · Views: 11
No need to edit unnecessary values in the bitrate table. Use this guide to change the rate for the specific resolution you want:
2560 x 1080 = Line 3 (DefaultValue: 18)
2304 x 1296 = Line 6 (DefaultValue: 18)
1920 x 1080 = Line 21 (DefaultValue: 10)
720p60 = Line 45 (DefaultValue: 9)
 
Thanks for uploading your icon set! I was using Photoshop as well but I didn't realize you could completely change the icons. I remade my own set of icons and it makes everything look so much better, thanks again for the tip! I uploaded my icons set if anybody is interested.

icons.jpg
 

Attachments

  • icon.zip
    30.6 KB · Views: 4
Just FYI, Papago released a new firmware update. You can now disable the startup/shutdown sounds from the menu options now! The camera supports 64GB sd cards as well.

All tweaks in this thread still work, I tested it without any problems. I also have a 64GB Samsung Evo card running in the camera now without any problems.
 
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Greetings Sprite. Thank you for making these threads! They have been helpful. Do you know if each camera offers its own max bitrate?

I followed your tutorial but the max output these new files are giving me is 19,299. I set the bitrate to 30 in the editor however.
 
Greetings Sprite. Thank you for making these threads! They have been helpful. Do you know if each camera offers its own max bitrate?

I followed your tutorial but the max output these new files are giving me is 19,299. I set the bitrate to 30 in the editor however.

Very odd, are you sure you're changing the correct bitrate for the resolution you're recording? 30 is also very high, that might overheat your dashcam.
 
Ah I see what I did wrong. I just watched the video and noticed you are supposed to change the value for all 18's for that set resolution. Also, I used the value of 30 because you said you know people used that value but after thinking about the chances of overheating, I've decided to play it safe and stick to 21 :)

The file outputs to 22,570 now. Thanks!
 
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