Viofo A129 Duo plus - after setting it to Parking mode, the dash cam is not turning ON.

[Theillusionist]

Hi All,

I recently purchased the Viofo A129 Duo plus dual dash cam, and it seemed to work fine. Then I set it to Parking mode - Auto detection and let my car parked for whole night. Then when I turned the car on in the morning, I don't see my dashcam turning on. I tried pressing the WiFi button hard, still its not showing up in WiFi devices. I could see the Rec and Mic button with red color light, whereas there is no display. Tried removing the SD card as well. No way the display is turning nor able to connect it to my phone.

Does that mean the dashcam is corrupt or completely gone ? Or is there something else I can do. Pls advice.

 

[viofo_user]

I think power recycle should help , but wait till you hear more from other users.Just womdering is the camera hardwired ?Also , there is a firmware update to 2.1.I am also following this thread , as i have the same issue sometime , it seems to be hung ..mine has 2.1 firmware and is hardwired ....i have to power cycle it to be able to see the screen , also , it misses the recording since the time it got hung and i noticed it and then power recycle it.

 

[Theillusionist]

Thanks. I just did the same, unplugged the power cable from the dash cam, then plugged it back. Somehow it turned on, then I reset my settings.

Regarding the firmware upgrade, will do it soon.

 

[Capture Your Action]

There was reports of firmware issues with Auto Event Detection, so that is probably the issue you had.

FYI, the latest firmware update for the A129 Plus has removed the buffered part of Auto Event Detection. It will still work on motion, but it will not record anything prior to the event trigger. Something to keep in mind if you try the update.

 

[Theillusionist]

There was reports of firmware issues with Auto Event Detection, so that is probably the issue you had.

FYI, the latest firmware update for the A129 Plus has removed the buffered part of Auto Event Detection. It will still work on motion, but it will not record anything prior to the event trigger. Something to keep in mind if you try the update.

Thanks mate.

 

[ViofoCanadaUser123]

Too bad to hear about these issues with Parking Mode. I have A129 Duo and was planning to upgrade to A129 Duo Plus. That was before I found out there is a NEW A139 - 3 Channel coming out soon. Hope the Parking Mode issues get ironed out in the A139.

 

[ndsports316]

I am probably late to the party on this. I've owned multiple Viofo dash cams, A119, A119s for multiple cars and never really had a problem. I've been running the A129 Plus Duo with also firmware v 1.4 front and 1.3 back and I am having issues I've experienced before.
The dashcam is hardwired with official Viofo 3 wire kit. The dashcam does enter parking mode and regular car mode successfully. Here are my issues so far.

1. GPS module no longer works. It says "No GPS" tried multiple resets of the dashcam. The dashcam still powers on and off and enters park mode and car mode while mounted to the GPS module.

2. In park mode auto event detection, the dashcam can not keep the proper date and time. I can get home from work at 17.00 (5pm) sync the time and date, and turn the car off. Car will switch to park mode and In the morning the dashcam will enter car mode and the time is at 22:00 (10pm) from the night before)

3. Do to the time and date issues, the 15 day format warning no longer works. I need to manually reformat the SD Card.

I raised a ticket with VIFO on the gps mount, and so far they have not been much help. So it sounds like from other folks the auto event detection has issues and I am probably better off setting park mode to some type of low framerate option. Low bitrate will burn the card out if you run that 24/7. I only like to use low bitrate if I drive and park in downtown Chicago or something like that.

Even if I decided to ditch park mode all together, the dashcam still needs to maintain date and time. So either this is a terrible software bug, or the battery inside the camera is no good.

 

[Capture Your Action]

I am probably late to the party on this. I've owned multiple Viofo dash cams, A119, A119s for multiple cars and never really had a problem. I've been running the A129 Plus Duo with also firmware v 1.4 front and 1.3 back and I am having issues I've experienced before.
The dashcam is hardwired with official Viofo 3 wire kit. The dashcam does enter parking mode and regular car mode successfully. Here are my issues so far.

1. GPS module no longer works. It says "No GPS" tried multiple resets of the dashcam. The dashcam still powers on and off and enters park mode and car mode while mounted to the GPS module.

2. In park mode auto event detection, the dashcam can not keep the proper date and time. I can get home from work at 17.00 (5pm) sync the time and date, and turn the car off. Car will switch to park mode and In the morning the dashcam will enter car mode and the time is at 22:00 (10pm) from the night before)

3. Do to the time and date issues, the 15 day format warning no longer works. I need to manually reformat the SD Card.

I raised a ticket with VIFO on the gps mount, and so far they have not been much help. So it sounds like from other folks the auto event detection has issues and I am probably better off setting park mode to some type of low framerate option. Low bitrate will burn the card out if you run that 24/7. I only like to use low bitrate if I drive and park in downtown Chicago or something like that.

Even if I decided to ditch park mode all together, the dashcam still needs to maintain date and time. So either this is a terrible software bug, or the battery inside the camera is no good.

Sounds like the GPS chip is faulty. This is likely why your time and date are off. Contact the seller (if not Viofo themselves) for warranty help. For now, I would turn off GPS in the settings and reset time and date manually.

Did the GPS work when you first setup the A129 Plus?

 

[ViofoCanadaUser123]

Finally got the Parking Mode to work! The power cable needs to be connected to the USB port on the front camera and not to the GPS mount's USB. NOW, my A129 Duo goes into Parking Mode as expected. You see the "person symbol at top lef corner of LCD screen' indicating it is switched to Parking Mode. When you start up your car again, that "people" icon disappears, replaced by the car symbol meaning it is now in normal dashcam record mode.

I use the Cellink NEO to power the cam so use a special cable fom BlackBoxMyCar to connect A129 Duo to the Cellink. BBMC told me that the cable was needed to activate Parking Mode if I am connecting the A129 Duo to the Cellink NEO. It works!

I saw someone posting a photo and complaining about how squished the cable area is on the front camera as the power cable had to go into the A129 Duo USB instead of the GPS mount USB slot. That solved it. Hope it helps anyone esle trying to get Parking Mode to work.

 

[Capture Your Action]

Finally got the Parking Mode to work! The power cable needs to be connected to the USB port on the front camera and not to the GPS mount's USB. NOW, my A129 Suo foes into Parking Mode as expected. I use the Cellink NEO to power the camso use a special cable fom BlackBoxMyCar to connect A129 Duo to the Cellink. It works!

I saw someone posting a photo and complaining about how squished the cable area is on the front camera as the power cable had to go into the A129 Duo USB instead of the GPS mount USB slot. That solved it. Hope it helps anyone esle trying to get Parking Mode to work.

Are you using an older mount/camera? If your camera is older than 1.5 years or so, than yes, you likely need to power direct to the camera. Newer cameras can use either power port.

 

[ViofoCanadaUser123]

Are you using an older mount/camera? If your camera is older than 1.5 years or so, than yes, you likely need to power direct to the camera. Newer cameras can use either power port.

Thanks for that info. I was not aware. My A129 Duo was purchased in December 2018. Sat unused for about a year or more. I finally set it up sometime in 2020. I have only been using the cam for about a year (2020 and parts of 2021 - got new car). My plan is to upgrade to the new A139 3 Channel once it comes out in April.

The reason the A129 Duo sat unused was because I was using a GoPro as a dashcam. It worked fine but it is not good in low light. The Viofo beats it by a mile for low light. It's that Sony Starvis sensor.

The GoPro was good for daylight or in traffic as street lights and car lights provided plenty of light. But I wanted to know what was going on behind me too. Where did that car that fender bendered my car come from? Same lane as me, did it change lanes, etc. Dashcams have saved me from a few of these fender benders where it showed the insurance adjusters the other driver was 100% at fault. Worth every penny to have a dashcam even if it is only the front camera. That is all the insurance company needs (to show if you were in your lane when someone hits you from behind) or makes an unsafe lane change resulting in an accident.

One driver was moving out of his driveway and hit my car already moving along in the lane on the road. He claimed something else and insurance said 50/50 at fault as they did not know who to believe. That goes on your record and insurance rates can go up. After viewing my dashcam footage (front cam) the other driver was ruled to be 100% at fault. He entered a roadway with moving vehicles before it was safe to do so. My record stays clean. No deductible for insurance. It's even better to have the rear cam as well. Maybe it will show the car behind you making quick lane changes or driving dangerously (this would be more for the Police).

 

[ndsports316]

Sounds like the GPS chip is faulty. This is likely why your time and date are off. Contact the seller (if not Viofo themselves) for warranty help. For now, I would turn off GPS in the settings and reset time and date manually.

Did the GPS work when you first setup the A129 Plus?

Yes the GPS did work when I first got it, then failed after a few months. I raised a ticket with Viofo, but basically they quit responding. I asked for a replacement GPS device and to possibly exchange the front camera as well. I have now moved to keeping the gps and camera mounted but power is now running from the side of the camera instead of the GPS mount. I ran a test again last night (on GPS mount and powered by GPS mount) to switch parking mode to 3 Frames per second. I checked the car again this afternoon and the time once again was 8 hours behind. We are starting to make the bend around winter here in Chicago, so I am also going to move my hardwire kit stop from lowest setting (12.4) to one notch down - to 12.2 volts

 

[Capture Your Action]

Yes the GPS did work when I first got it, then failed after a few months. I raised a ticket with Viofo, but basically they quit responding. I asked for a replacement GPS device and to possibly exchange the front camera as well. I have now moved to keeping the gps and camera mounted but power is now running from the side of the camera instead of the GPS mount. I ran a test again last night (on GPS mount and powered by GPS mount) to switch parking mode to 3 Frames per second. I checked the car again this afternoon and the time once again was 8 hours behind.

Turn GPS off and set time and date. If you leave GPS on, then you need to make sure you correctly set the time zone offset.

 

[ndsports316]

Turn GPS off and set time and date. If you leave GPS on, then you need to make sure you correctly set the time zone offset.

Thanks I will try that, unfortunately the gps module I think is faulty so until viofo will replace it I will keep the module mounted but turn GPS off. I just hate to go to through the trouble to pry it off the glass. Even with it faulty if I can just keep date and time correct that will suffice for now. So you think the internal battery is fine? I gusss we shall see once I set gps to off and set the time manually. Even my older a119s without gps module and just running off cigarette lighter and no park mode can hold date and time.

Hopefully it is just the gps module like you said.

 

[Capture Your Action]

Thanks I will try that, unfortunately the gps module I think is faulty so until viofo will replace it I will keep the module mounted but turn GPS off. I just hate to go to through the trouble to pry it off the glass. Even with it faulty if I can just keep date and time correct that will suffice for now. So you think the internal battery is fine? I gusss we shall see once I set gps to off and set the time manually. Even my older a119s without gps module and just running off cigarette lighter and no park mode can hold date and time.

Hopefully it is just the gps module like you said.

If the RTC battery was dead, the time and date would revert to the default time and date written in the firmware every time you started the car. It wouldn’t just be 8 hours off.

 

[ndsports316]

If the RTC battery was dead, the time and date would revert to the default time and date written in the firmware every time you started the car. It wouldn’t just be 8 hours off.

That worked, turning off the GPS in options, my time now stays correct throughout the night.

However, I do find it disappointing that Viofo is not going to offer me any warranty on the GPS module, despite registering the product on their site as soon as I bought it. They have not responded to me in 6 days. That makes me lose faith in their product and customer support. But I am sure they don't care about their customers.

 

[Capture Your Action]

That worked, turning off the GPS in options, my time now stays correct throughout the night.

However, I do find it disappointing that Viofo is not going to offer me any warranty on the GPS module, despite registering the product on their site as soon as I bought it. They have not responded to me in 6 days. That makes me lose faith in their product and customer support. But I am sure they don't care about their customers.

Did you buy it direct from Viofo? If not, you should contact your seller for warranty replacement. If you ordered from Viofo, just keep trying to contact them. They shouldn't have any issue replacing your GPS mount.

 

[ViofoCanadaUser123]

Bad news. My NEW Cellink NEO does not work anymore. Used it for 3 to 4 days. The blue lights no longer stay on. No beeps indicating if it's on or off. The NEO is no longer charging. The app on the NEO never worked correctly. It would display one setting such as Charging time but not display usage remaining. The next time it would display Usage remaing but not Charging time to full charge. I bought it off Amazon (seller is BlackBoxMyCar) so Amazon cares about customers first. Will be returning it. It's not working properly or at all. Disappointing experience.

I did contact BlackBoxMyCar for help but they were not too helpful at all. First issue was the app inside the Celink NEO wasn't displaying all info. They thought it was the app. Maybe turn my LTE off which I did. Same issue. But the app doesn't cause the NEO to stop charging. They agreed. It is either the battery or the cables. Whatever the cause, the Cellink NEO worked for about 4 days and no longer even turns on, maybe for a few seconds. This is what I call a nightmarish scenario. You pay close to $400 for the NEO and expect it to work. Stops working after 4 days, there is obviously something wrong with it. It is a defective item that did not work properly from day 1.

Yes, it charged up on Day 1. But the app never worked properly from Day 1. Had it in Parking Mode 1-channel front camera on the A129 Duo for about 16 hours in spring like weather. Battery showed 55% left. Not even close to the "promised" 'up to' 48 hours for 1-Channel. Cellink NEO advertsied as 'up to" 25 hours (2-Channel) and 'up to' 48 hours (1-Channel) capacity run-time. This is using only 1 Channel and it was down to 55% after only 16 hours in Parking Mode.