Xiaomi Yi Sports Camera - Custom Firmware (Base 1.0.7) - Bitrate Increased to 30Mbps all modes

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Dash Cam
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OK so I figured I'd have a tinker with the Yi this morning.

The vanilla 1.0 firmware is here:
LINKS REMOVED DUE TO DIFFERENT HARDWARE VERSIONS ON THE MARKET

Here's a ridiculously tweaked firmware based off the full 1.0.0 (including Linux partition) which runs in 30Mbps in ALL modes in all circumstances. Use this at your own risk
LINKS REMOVED DUE TO DIFFERENT HARDWARE VERSIONS ON THE MARKET


Here's a ridiculously tweaked firmware based off the full 1.0.7 (including Linux partition) which runs in 30Mbps in ALL modes in all circumstances. Use this at your own risk
LINKS REMOVED DUE TO DIFFERENT HARDWARE VERSIONS ON THE MARKET


The 30Mbps firmware gave me exactly 90 minutes of recording before the camera turned off which I think is great!

As with any custom firmware there is a high risk that this can kill your camera if the process is not followed correctly - always ensure you are connected to an active USB power source when you attempt to follow this process. Likewise I've only tested this for a few minutes so there is a chance that the higher bitrates could cause instability due to the heat - it's suck it and see but I have included a copy of the standard firmware to make it easy to revert back.

I have not seen any ELF firmwares floating around for this so at this point in time there is no known easy way to recover using something like DirectUSB - please bare this in mind if thinking of using this custom firmware.

You can see the difference in the firmwares here with the camera running at 1920x1080 @ 30fps:

upload_2015-3-22_8-44-42-png.11987

upload_2015-3-22_10-19-19.png
upload_2015-3-24_20-4-52.png

You can make your own custom firmware by following the instructions in this video:

To install it's simple:
  1. Download the file above from Mega
  2. Unzip the contents of the ZIP file to your desktop
  3. Rename the extracted file to firmware.bin
  4. Power off the Yi Sports Camera
  5. Copy this file to the top level folder / root of a microSD card and then place that into your Yi Sports Camera
  6. Connect the Yi camera to a power source that is turned on (very important - if the camera dies during this process you have got a dead Yi!!)
  7. Turn on the Yi
  8. You will now hear a constant beeping for around a minute - after this the red light will flash and the camera will turn off.
  9. Remove the microSD card and place back into a PC and ensure that you delete the \firmware.bin file
  10. Place the camera back in your card and start to enjoy higher bitrate video (assuming it doesn't cause the camera to keep crashing!!)
 
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great!

Possible to push the bitrate beyond that? Gopros do 60mbps with the same chipset. I'm using a Sandisk Extreme which should allow bitrates up to 60mbps
 
Nice, though I think I will wait to see a longer test first.
 
Got over an hour of footage today with this firmware and no issues to report that I've seen yet.

The GoPro doing 60Mbps I'm assuming is at higher resolutions than 1920x1080 @ 30fps. I was going to say heat could be an issue but saying that action cameras do tend to be used more outdoors with the wind hitting it which would definitely help.

I'm just going through what I've got to see what I can upload - it looked good on my laptop screen but as that's only 1280x800 or something it doesn't always tell the truth as everything tends to look better on that when it's resized to fit that screen - I'm home now on the big screen so checking it out now :)
 
I too will post some footage tonight. I'm uploading and saving some footage since I have to flip the footage to uses it as a dashcam, there is no flip option in the firmware.
 
@Mtz I've been running in average metering mode I believe and the footage is still on the darker side like you saw on the 5000+.

Here are some YT clips and then raw video clips afterwards.

Two of the clips are shot free hand and then the other three are what I call "Pram Cam" :D

Technically the camera was attached to a Radio Flyer trike but it still counts as a pram in my eyes - it's shaky but gives you an idea of what to expect on a bike type setup without much suspension.

Youtube footage:

Raw footage:
https://mega.co.nz/#!NdsmAACL!BRdAGibZYPH5rMOoRPHpAv6e0XtrROkYC2u2XD7eZtc
https://mega.co.nz/#!0MF2UKDC!aYMzpNkakPxz9TVIsI0iTK-aWuQ5xglOvGTLUtCTxRI
https://mega.co.nz/#!tAE1GRwA!9H05bwv7g4jiO1CWoBvbAL9nMPyzatT7QYVTHQpXtic
https://mega.co.nz/#!0IFGBApa!DevnpNNZvj1D1sZYpzKi7NniKl7LvNbJQ-LGSFTFnnI
https://mega.co.nz/#!tcMlDTAa!RDh4Zo_scoS40SRVP2fsvZS0_P62aFbfiV9AHg2qRx4
 
I too will post some footage tonight. I'm uploading and saving some footage since I have to flip the footage to uses it as a dashcam, there is no flip option in the firmware.
Are you using one of the Mobius mounts mate? I'm trying to find mine to give it a go too but it looks like I may have hidden it too well :)
 
I tried to get the mrs to call me that after watching Fifty Shades last night but she was having none of it!!
 
This thing is getting a lot of interest for sure - over 160 views on the videos since I posted them last night!!

I'm going to do a 30Mbps firmware today and leave the camera running doing a timelapse to see how it fares stability wise.
 
Is it possible to auto record when the camera is connected to the power? i want to install it as dashcam
 
there are better choices you could make in this price range for dashcam use, unless your useage is occasional only perhaps
 
Yes i want use it oftenly as dash cam, can anybody test or it is possible to set the cam to auto record when power is connected?
 
It doesn't I'm afraid.

It doesn't even turn on automatically when power is connected - it just charges the battery.
 
Yes i want use it oftenly as dash cam, can anybody test or it is possible to set the cam to auto record when power is connected?
The manufacturer hasn't given it many options to use a dash cam and honestly that color is very very noticeable in your car from far away. If you want a Dashcam/Action cam combo, check out the SJCAM M10.
 
I've updated the first post to reflect the full vanilla firmware file direct from the manufacturer - this is a 53MB file.

The camera application issues the following URL request to check firmware:
http://115.29.106.70/vmanager/upgrade?path=file&sname=sports&version=999&uid=xiaoyi&protocol=qiniu

This then returns the current version along with the direct download link which is currently:
http://yi-version.qiniudn.com/@/sports/1.0.0YDXJv22_1.0.0_build-20150228224521_b630_i446_s638.bin

Release notes for version 1.0.0 show the following:
1 correction when the boot mode is configured for recording, fast trigger recording and stop recording cause confusion message, resulting in failure to obtain a thumbnail problem;
2. Snap the time has been corrected problem
3 Fixed video file recovery process APPS exit leading to reconnect unusual problems
4. Key amendments POWER_SAVING mode slow response problem
5. optimized thumbnail mechanism to improve system stability
6. improve fuel gauge features, fix the percentage of inaccuracies
7. WIFI module driver update and improve its stability and performance optimization WIFI connection time
8. complete firmware upgrade mechanism
9. perfect timing mechanism photographs
10. perfect to restore the factory configuration mechanism
11 firmware upgrade to improve the error message prompted
12 for low-capacity card does not support the case, adding the exact message
 
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