A129 Duo multiple fails. What to do.

[megaman123]

Hi.

I got this in Oct. of 2019 (along with a Samsung PRO Endurance 64GB Micro SDXC Card). By May or June 2020 it would randomly start beeping and flashing red to notify me that it stopped recording. That was usually after half an hour of driving but sometimes it lasted an hour before doing that.

Since then it has gotten progressively worse. It will start doing that within a few minutes. Then it started just shutting off while driving with no warning so I had no idea I wans't recording. Over the past week many times it won't even start when I start the car. I have to pull the cord from the 12V car apapter and plug back in. That used to work but now half the time when I do that, the camera won't come on.

And now I noticed a week ago that the rear camera is not recording even though everything is hooked up fine and hadn't touched it.

I have updated the firmware and tried two other SD cards from other devices that are of the same specs. I've fully formatted all the cards too.

What choice do I have now? I registered my device. Should I be making a warranty claim?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Capture Your Action]

Have you tried different power supplies?

 

[megaman123]

Have you tried different power supplies?

You mean trying a different cord or the other 12V outlet in the car? The 12V works because I have a dual adapter in it that powers both the camera and phone when plugged in and that phone charges fine.

I suppose I could try a different cord and see what happens.

 

[Capture Your Action]

Yes, try another USB power source. Do not use any built in USB ports in the car though, as they usually do not supply enough power.

Your phone and the dash camera have different power requirements, so it's possible there is an issue with the 12V car adapter supplying sufficient, reliable power. Worth trying another one that supplies at least 2A.

Do not use any aftermarket USB cables to power the A129 DUO. The Viofo's require stable power and most aftermarket cables are of thinner gauge wire, which will cause too much power loss, causing issues. Viofo uses a thicker gauge wire to prevent this. Not saying this is your issue, but something to keep in mind.

 

[megaman123]

Okay, so I used a new adapter that I got like 3 years ago for free. Not a name brand one. The kind they give away at events to thousands of people. First time using and today the camera stayed on the whole time driving. About 35 minutes of driving time but longest continuous drive was 15 minutes. So don't know how the camera will hold up for 1 hour plus.

I tried the old adapter in my driveway in both 12V outlets and indeed the camera would power off so I guess that's bad. It too is not a name brand one and I have no idea where I got it from. Tried the new one in both and camera stayed on.

However, for some reason, the rear camera will not work. The cable is properly connected on both ends and is the original cable. I don't have a substitute cable to try it with though.

Another weird thing is that I plug in the camera to my computer with the original short cable and half the time it powers on but then shuts off after a few seconds while the other half of the time it doesn't power on. But every time it gives me the error message as seen in the attached picture.

 

[Capture Your Action]

I have seen poor/low power cause the rear camera to not work.

Using the short USB data cable plugged into your computer should cause the camera to enter Mass Storage Mode (camera becomes a card reader), provided your have a card inserted. Unless your trying to read files from the memory card, do not use your computers USB ports for power. Same goes for cars built-in USB ports. Computer and cars USB ports simply do not supply enough power for the A129 DUO.

 

[megaman123]

Couple months ago is when I plugged in the camera to the computer for the first time as it was first time updating the firmware. I did it a few times to as I had to figure out how to actually update the camera. It worked perfectly fine and no error message. So don't know why it's giving me error messages.

Do you think I should order a good adapter and see if that fixes the problem with the rear? I might as well get a good dual one as the cheap new one I'm using is a single USB port. If the quality adapter doesn't work, am I going to have to order another official viofo cable and hope that fixes the problem?

An adapter like this one:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00VH84L5E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AREE309N4XPXI&psc=1

 

[Capture Your Action]

A new 12V adapter is a good first troubleshooting step. That Anker would be fine.

If the new power source doesn’t fix the rear cam issue, then it’s likely the rear cable or rear camera itself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say which one is more likely than the other.