VIOFO A119 (production) feature requests and bug reports

[Sunny]

It is.

Ive been experiencing a pulsing noise in audio, which only appears when the gps unit is connected. This is testing via hardwired or via my battery power pack. Unfortunately I cant seem to turn off the gps unit, as its still operational even when turned off in the menu.. As I found out when I pulled the files into dashcam viewer - the gps co-ords were plotted even though i had gps off

I'm running the latest beta..

If you really don't want to use GPS ever, there is another mount included.
Haven't noticed pulsing noise but I know few dashcams did that before when I used power bank, probably due to not enough power compared to car charger.

 

[Peter Dyson]

Yea guess I could remove it but do want GPS - wanted to be able to turn it off to definitively check it was the gps though; but then 'off' gps setting isn't working...

Heres an example audio recording of the pulsing
https://soundcloud.com/user-428927461-852259308/pulsing-audio-on-a119-dashcam-when-gps-connected

This doesn't happen when I remove it from the gps mount and power from the side of the unit..
I've also tested feeding the gps mount power from my hardwired wire and from a power bank battery - both had this pulsing noise.

 

[Gibson99]

what if you put it on the gps mount, but plug power into the side of the camera?

 

[Peter Dyson]

what if you put it on the gps mount, but plug power into the side of the camera?

Yea tried that - still the same noise, power must still go to the gps unit I guess..

 

[viofo]

Yea tried that - still the same noise, power must still go to the gps unit I guess..

have you tried it with original car charger?

 

[Peter Dyson]

have you tried it with original car charger?

Yes - same pulsing noise is present. Also tried it on a 2A battery pack with ignition off (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00D5T3QK4) which I'd thought would be as 'clean' a power supply as you could get.

I have made some progress however..

So after doing the upgrade to the latest v1.1 firmware and resetting to defaults I noted the noise was not present - however after putting in my normal settings it returned.

After a LOT of fiddling (turning settings on/off and testing) I have deduced that the cause of the noise is the 'Button Beep' being off. i.e.

Button Beep Off + GPS unit connected = pulsing audio noise
Button Beep On + GPS unit connected = no pulsing audio noise

Wonder whats causing this? Do I have a defective dashcam/GPS unit or are all of them like this?
Anyone else with a GPS unit care to test with button beeps set to off to see if they get the pulsing audio noise? Do a power cycle after setting the option...

Noise you are looking for;
https://soundcloud.com/user-428927461-852259308/pulsing-audio-on-a119-dashcam-when-gps-connected

So its good I've got a semi-solution - although unfortunately 'Button Beep' On means - startup noise on too which I hate. If I could turn off the startup sound separately it would make this issue more bearable..

EDITED: I tested the original power car charger (same issue)

 

[Sunny]

Turning startup sound off separately from beep sound should be easily added to firmware.

 

[dirkzelf]

@viofo Is there a plan of getting a rotate / flip image setting? Truckers (including myself) will want to place their camera ON TOP of the dashboard instead of the windshield (hard to reach when driving, and not very stealthy.....), and given the shape of the A119, it would record upside down.

So? Any chance?

 

[viofo]

@viofo Is there a plan of getting a rotate / flip image setting? Truckers (including myself) will want to place their camera ON TOP of the dashboard instead of the windshield (hard to reach when driving, and not very stealthy.....), and given the shape of the A119, it would record upside down.

So? Any chance?

OK, plan to implement this in future firmware.

 

[Gibson99]

OK, plan to implement this in future firmware.

I guess the image on the screen would need to be rotated too, just like it does on action cameras, so the osd looks correct.

 

[dirkzelf]

OK, plan to implement this in future firmware.

Cool, be looking forward to! Looks like it could be my next dash cam choice now.....

 

[Dosmaster]

In 1440p mode, if it locks a file right near the end or start of a file (lets say 1-2 seconds before/after) you could end up losing important footage (if the card loops over). Is there any way you could make it similar to what the Mobius does, and lock two files when very near (say 10-20 seconds) the start or end of a file? Eg. Button pressed at 10 seconds in to a new file, it locks current + previous file. Button pressed with only 10 seconds left on current file, locks current + next file. Otherwise, I can see opportunities for lost footage.

If no hardware limitation, we will think to support in future firmware.

Hello, @viofo, kind reminder.
Hopefully before/after file lock feature is not forgotten and development goes well. Best luck!

 

[Dosmaster]

@viofo, In addition, it would be nice to have option to change startup sound to something less annoying. Could be option menu: |Startup Sound| -> (Default jingle / Triple beep / Silent).

 

[Sutton]

what if you put it on the gps mount, but plug power into the side of the camera?[/QUO

If you use a similar power cord that is sent with the SG ur noise will be gone. The Guardian power cord has 2 one inch long condensers at the front and at the end . This will absorb all interference. Just ask Jon he will explain

 

[Sutton]

sorry I meant this for Peter Dyson

 

[Sutton]

Yes - same pulsing noise is present. Also tried it on a 2A battery pack with ignition off (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00D5T3QK4) which I'd thought would be as 'clean' a power supply as you could get.

I have made some progress however..

So after doing the upgrade to the latest v1.1 firmware and resetting to defaults I noted the noise was not present - however after putting in my normal settings it returned.

After a LOT of fiddling (turning settings on/off and testing) I have deduced that the cause of the noise is the 'Button Beep' being off. i.e.

Button Beep Off + GPS unit connected = pulsing audio noise
Button Beep On + GPS unit connected = no pulsing audio noise

Wonder whats causing this? Do I have a defective dashcam/GPS unit or are all of them like this?
Anyone else with a GPS unit care to test with button beeps set to off to see if they get the pulsing audio noise? Do a power cycle after setting the option...

Noise you are looking for;
https://soundcloud.com/user-428927461-852259308/pulsing-audio-on-a119-dashcam-when-gps-connected

So its good I've got a semi-solution - although unfortunately 'Button Beep' On means - startup noise on too which I hate. If I could turn off the startup sound separately it would make this issue more bearable..

EDITED: I tested the original power car charger (same issue)

If you use a similar power cord that is sent with the SG ur noise will be gone. The Guardian power cord has 2 one inch long condensers at the front and at the end . This will absorb all interference. Just ask Jon he will explain

 

[Sunny]

Last time I went to dealership, I had a rock hit my windshield but A119 didn't record anything.
Today I had to drive the same car so I checked before driving and it had format prompt on the screen.
I guess that's what it was doing last time as well.
@viofo needs to fix this.
Prompting is fine but it shouldn't stop recording.
Maybe you can add a delay for prompt that goes away after 10 seconds to recording instead of prompting forever until user presses a button.

 

[TheHawk]

Taken from another thread, it was suggested that I post this in this thread. So the issue is that "parking mode" or whatever it's called isn't automated, which makes turning it on and off a bit of a pain which in turn means it's probably not being used by many people. Hard wiring for permanent power is easy, it's the software that lets it down after that.

So the question and request is; is there a way to automate this process in a more efficient manner. Essentially I'm looking for some sort of trigger that lets the device call back to motion detect mode when the car is parked.

It would be nice if the firmware (especially when you have GPS) would drop back to motion detect mode if there is no GPS movement in 3/5/10/XX minutes, then flip back to constant record when movement is detected (subject to the timeout of course).

This *should* mean that in traffic you're unlikely to stop for more than 5 minutes so the GPS timeout wouldn't kick in until you parked.
Motion detect while parked picks up the things you want, but hopefully just stays dormant while parked up in the garage.
Hopefully the act of getting into the car woulds set of the motion detect if you walk in front of it while getting it, or at the very least as soon as you pull out of the parking space.

 

[Gibson99]

it would have to stay recording normally when it loses GPS signal, such as in a parking garage, in a downtown area, tunnels, forest/trees, underground, etc - places you definitely want it to be recording since accidents are still likely. unfortunately it probably loses GPS signal in your garage too, so GPS may not be a good trigger for switching to parking/motion detect mode. plus, not everyone has the gps module.

 

[viofo]

Last time I went to dealership, I had a rock hit my windshield but A119 didn't record anything.
Today I had to drive the same car so I checked before driving and it had format prompt on the screen.
I guess that's what it was doing last time as well.
@viofo needs to fix this.
Prompting is fine but it shouldn't stop recording.
Maybe you can add a delay for prompt that goes away after 10 seconds to recording instead of prompting forever until user presses a button.

You used the latest firmware? Do you know why it prompt format warning?