Why are the VIOFO filename timestamps not agreeing with "Date Modified" ?

The VIOFO support Rep told me they have not seen this problem before.
They tried to duplicate the problem with some of their cameras but could not. I shared my video files with them and they agreed there was a time offset problem with mine and it should not be doing this. They requested I return the camera.

I don't consider this a big problem unless someone argues that the video was edited since there is an inconsistency with the time stamp in the video vs the file's date modified.
 
Hack_man said:
The VIOFO support Rep told me they have not seen this problem before.
They tried to duplicate the problem with some of their cameras but could not. I shared my video files with them and they agreed there was a time offset problem with mine and it should not be doing this. They requested I return the camera.

I don't consider this a big problem unless someone argues that the video was edited since there is an inconsistency with the time stamp in the video vs the file's date modified.
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We have checked with the engineer, and informed our customer service, this is not a camera issue, related to the computer's time zone settings.
It is not a firmware issue.
 
If it's related to my computer time zone settings then the new camera should behave the same way.
It's odd that it's a random intermittent issue that happens on only some of the video files.
I also have an A229 PLUS that I just installed in another car, I will be interested to see how that behaves.
 
Normally only if there is a hardware issue, it required to get replaced, otherwise it is no necessary to return.
 
It was the suggestion of VIOFO support to send the new camera after internal consultation and testing. They believed the problem was likely the camera.
I suggested I first try the A229 PRO camera head with my A229 PLUS GPS to see if the problem went away, which it did not.
 
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Hack_man said:
MACOS Sonoma 14.6.1
The error occurs randomly.
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Have you tried it with a different computer/tablet/phone?

Curious as to what is actually happening, if the fault is not in the dashcam. Clearly there is a fault somewhere and it would be good to have an explanation!
 
Nigel said:
Have you tried it with a different computer/tablet/phone?

Curious as to what is actually happening, if the fault is not in the dashcam. Clearly there is a fault somewhere and it would be good to have an explanation!
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I have not tried it with other computers but I definitely will. In hindsight that is exactly what I should have done earlier. I have another imac with exactly the same model/macOS, and also two different chromebooks. I shared my files with VIOFO and they saw the exact date problems on their computer.

I also have an A229 PLUS which I just recently installed in another car. If it's my computer, I would expect that camera to show the same problem. I agree, it really would be good to have an explanation especially since the problem started out infrequent and now its very frequent.
 
Hack_man said:
and also two different chromebooks.
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Download the files to the chromebook without going via your problem computer.
Preferably direct to the chromebook from the dashcam or from a card reader, or I guess you can use wifi to the chromebook, not via an iPhone, since that may be modifying them.

It is an odd problem, there must be an explanation, and the timezone doesn't appear to explain it since you said it is an 8 hour offset and your timezone is GMT -5, so even with an extra DST offset it still doesn't work out!
 
Good Ideas, I think the Chromebook with a card reader is the next thing to try.
The offset is always exactly minus 8 hours from the correct time and is very intermittent. Not intermittent once the time is incorrect, intermittent in the sense not every file has the problem and some drive trips it does not even happen at all.
 
Hack_man said:
The offset is always exactly minus 8 hours from the correct time
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If I'm understanding this correctly, it is not a timezone offset of minus 8 hours, because that would put you into the next day, but the date is correct, so it can't be caused by a timezone offset, there was nowhere on Earth that was at that time when it was recorded.

I would do an experiment using a timezone of UTC+0 and see what happens, does it still give -8, or something else?
 
The date has been correct, it's the time that is wrong but only on some of the 3 minute loops within the same trip. That is an interesting idea, change to UTC+0 to see if offset changes.
First I'm gonna have a look with the Chromebook to see if the offset is still happening. If no offset I will take a look using my iMac.
I don't want to change too many variables at once. Then I can try the UTC+0 idea.

Here is a case where the Front camera had the correct time (4:47PM) but the rear camera showed the -8 hrs offset (8:47 AM) DURING THE SAME 3 MINUTE LOOP!

screenshot_87.png
 
I took a drive today and then read my A229 PRO VIOFO SD Card using my Chromebook. Until now I had only read the card using my imac and all the errors were always offsets of -8 hours. Sometimes with the imac the time was correct but if it was incorrect it was always off by exactly -8 hrs.

Now with the Chromebook the errors are mostly -4 hours with a couple -8 hours and none are correct. The first screenshot below was for driving and the second parking. 3 minute loops. I opened the card again with my imac and it looks the same as when I used the Chromebook.

Not sure what to make of this, seems to be a camera/computer interaction thing going on. It looks like the Date Modified is "set" by the first computer that reads the SD Card after the camera writes to the card. Once it's set the next computer that reads the card reads the same date as the first computer. The question is "why is the Date Modified different depending on what computer is used to first read the card and why is it always wrong with the chromebook but sometimes wrong with the imac?

Another Update: I just read the VIOFO SD Card from a newly installed A229 PLUS camera in a different car using my imac. There were 6 days of videos, 143 files ( 3 minute loops). Every single Date Modified was CORRECT.

Summary:
1. The Date Modified is incorrect but different when an imac and chromebook read the A229 PRO SD Card
2. On the chromebook, the error offset is inconsistent (-4 and -8 offset errors) and has not shown the correct Date Modified after reviewing numerous files.
3. On the imac, the error offset was always the same (-8 hours), and sometimes there was no error.
4. The A229 PLUS has not shown any errors after reviewing 143 video files using the imac to read the SD Card.

My "conclusion" is that there is in fact something wrong with my A229 PRO camera, and I am glad VIOFO is sending a replacement to try out.

A229 PRO SD Card read using Chromebook:
Driving.png


A229 PRO SD Card read using Chromebook:
Parking.png
 
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