Mini 0806 Power/Boot/Blue USB Connecting Screen Problem - Solved

[KludgeGuru]

I've had the Mini 0806 for a few days and I like it but it isn't a install and forget device for me.

If it has been powered off for awhile, say overnight or at least for several hours, when I start the car it turns on as it should and starts recording. I then drive to the store and when I come back out and start my car the Mini 0806 turns on but displays the blue "USB Connecting" screen and stays there. I can then hold in the power button to turn it off and usually when I turn it back on it works as it should. A few times when I turn it on the screen stays blank and the device starts chirping continuously. I have to hold the power button down for 20 seconds to get it to turn off.

This seems like a power/boot problem when the device is warm. I've tried plugging in the power cable into the GPS mount and also directly to the camera and I get the same results.

The camera is from the 2nd batch.

Anybody seen this behavior?

 

[Boston's Mike]

What charger are you using? The one that came with the unit and plugs into the power outlet on your car? Or an aftermarket hard wired charger?

 

[KludgeGuru]

The one that came with the camera, plugged into the cigarette lighter plug.

 

[jokiin]

Sounds like you got a dud if the problem is intermittent

 

[Rayman.Chan]

this is a strange case we haven't heard on mini 0806.
Can you help to sort the working conditions when the camera went to USB CONNECTING or blank/chirping?
Thank you very much

 

[KludgeGuru]

The USB Connecting screen is very repeatable. Every time I drive somewhere the first leg of the trip it works fine. After shutting off the car and turning it back on the device goes to the USB Connecting screen. I believe the boot screen is shown before it goes blue, I can verify today. I've felt the device and it is a little warm but not hot. The inside of the car is not hot since it is only about 40°F outside.

So far it has always been recoverable by power cycling the device with the power button. Sometimes it boots to the blank screen and a couple times it started chirping after power cycling. When that happens I've been able to recover it by holding the power button for 20 seconds.

I'm using a Samsung 64GB SD card class 10.

It is plugged into my cars cigarette lighter. I've tried connecting the power cord to the mount and directly to the camera with the same results.

What other information do you want?

I've received an RMA number from Spytecinc.com so I will be returning it soon but if you want me to try anything before returning it I can.

 

[KludgeGuru]

I've thought about opening it and checking all the solder joints (I have nice Metal soldering equipment) but I didn't know if I could still return it afterwards.

 

[Nigel]

Does it only go into the USB screen if you start your engine? - try turning on the ignition to power the camera without starting the engine before actually starting the engine for your second leg.

 

[KludgeGuru]

I believe it also does it when I turn the car to accessory mode, but I will double check today.

 

[KludgeGuru]

Good call Nigel. I tried it without cranking the engine and it worked normal. I then tried it with my cellphone charger and it also did not have a problem.

I then rigged up the hard wire kit to a cigarette lighter plug and it also does not have the problem. (I'm waiting for an "add a fuse" kit before I permanently hard wire it.)

So it seems that the cigarette lighter plug I got is either defective or there is some noise caused by starting the engine that the plug is letting through. The strange thing is that it seems like it is only susceptible when either the camera is warm or the car electronics are warm.

One thing to note is my car has a push button start, so maybe some combination of the adapter/camera/car power up profile caused it. I was tempted to throw my oscilloscope on the 5V line and see what it is doing but I had back surgery a few weeks ago and the more time I spend in the car the more pain I'm in, so I think I'm done messing with it for now.

It seems like it is working now but I need to do some more driving time to verify for certain. I'll report back.

Thanks!

 

[Rayman.Chan]

let us know anything you found, Kludge
Thanks

 

[Nigel]

The strange thing is that it seems like it is only susceptible when either the camera is warm or the car electronics are warm.

I suspect it may be when your car battery is fully charged, if you have a battery charger with trickle charge you could try leaving it charging overnight and then I suspect you will have the problem straight away in the morning...

Maybe the power adaptor doesn't have a sufficiently large capacitor to overcome the voltage spikes caused by the heavy drain of the engine starter motor? I've never seen mine go into USB mode but it does sometimes appear to short press the power button when starting the engine which currently toggles the screen off/on if I start the engine with a fully charged battery.

 

[Retired Guy]

Good call Nigel. I tried it without cranking the engine and it worked normal. I then tried it with my cellphone charger and it also did not have a problem.

I then rigged up the hard wire kit to a cigarette lighter plug and it also does not have the problem. (I'm waiting for an "add a fuse" kit before I permanently hard wire it.)

So it seems that the cigarette lighter plug I got is either defective or there is some noise caused by starting the engine that the plug is letting through. The strange thing is that it seems like it is only susceptible when either the camera is warm or the car electronics are warm.

One thing to note is my car has a push button start, so maybe some combination of the adapter/camera/car power up profile caused it. I was tempted to throw my oscilloscope on the 5V line and see what it is doing but I had back surgery a few weeks ago and the more time I spend in the car the more pain I'm in, so I think I'm done messing with it for now.

It seems like it is working now but I need to do some more driving time to verify for certain. I'll report back.

Thanks!

Does formatting the card have anything to do with what your camera is doing ? Did you format the card in the camera ? I was having that USB connecting/blue screen frozen in that position when trying to format on the computer, but then I formatted the card in the camera and it so far seems to be working real good. Maybe I'm just making a dumb guess.

 

[Nigel]

Does formatting the card have anything to do with what your camera is doing ? Did you format the card in the camera ? I was having that USB connecting/blue screen frozen in that position when trying to format on the computer, but then I formatted the card in the camera and it so far seems to be working real good. Maybe I'm just making a dumb guess.

If you plug it into a computer then you will get the blue USB screen and you won't be able to use the buttons, that is normal behaviour for most dashcams, it has switched mode to be a memory card reader.

 

[KludgeGuru]

Does formatting the card have anything to do with what your camera is doing ? Did you format the card in the camera ? I was having that USB connecting/blue screen frozen in that position when trying to format on the computer, but then I formatted the card in the camera and it so far seems to be working real good. Maybe I'm just making a dumb guess.

I never formatted my card. I used the card straight from the package with the default manufacturers formating.

I suspect it may be when your car battery is fully charged, if you have a battery charger with trickle charge you could try leaving it charging overnight and then I suspect you will have the problem straight away in the morning...

Maybe the power adaptor doesn't have a sufficiently large capacitor to overcome the voltage spikes caused by the heavy drain of the engine starter motor? I've never seen mine go into USB mode but it does sometimes appear to short press the power button when starting the engine which currently toggles the screen off/on if I start the engine with a fully charged battery.

Yup it could be from a fully charged battery.

I think I am going to throw the oscilloscope on and capture some power up traces. That may be the most useful for the manufacturer. I'm assuming that the top and bottom USB ports are connected together (on the same net) so if I sacrifice a USB cable and create a pigtail than I can get access to the power line to put my probe on.

 

[Sunny]

Try a different car charger or usb car charger.
Cable can be an issue as well.

 

[KludgeGuru]

I have tried my cellphone charger and a hardwire kit which I believe both work fine. I've only done a few quick tests so I'm not 100% that the problem is just with the power adapter that came with the camera. I haven't really drove anywhere since installing the hardwire kit so I haven't had a chance to verify it completely.

I want to capture traces so I can provide feedback to the manufacturer (and I'm also curious).

 

[Retired Guy]

Good call Nigel. I tried it without cranking the engine and it worked normal. I then tried it with my cellphone charger and it also did not have a problem.

I then rigged up the hard wire kit to a cigarette lighter plug and it also does not have the problem. (I'm waiting for an "add a fuse" kit before I permanently hard wire it.)

So it seems that the cigarette lighter plug I got is either defective or there is some noise caused by starting the engine that the plug is letting through. The strange thing is that it seems like it is only susceptible when either the camera is warm or the car electronics are warm.

One thing to note is my car has a push button start, so maybe some combination of the adapter/camera/car power up profile caused it. I was tempted to throw my oscilloscope on the 5V line and see what it is doing but I had back surgery a few weeks ago and the more time I spend in the car the more pain I'm in, so I think I'm done messing with it for now.

It seems like it is working now but I need to do some more driving time to verify for certain. I'll report back.

Thanks!

It almost sounds to me like it could be something to do with your alternator. Years ago I had a problem with my alternator causing a lot of static in the car radio, they just put some little device on the alternator and it fixed the problem. But I can't remember what it was, but it did not cost much at all. Also it could be a problem with the diodes in your alternator. How old is your vehicle ? I know this article is about aircraft, but it is about alternators. The reason I'm thinking it could be your alternator is because you say no problem without the engine running.

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182896-1.html?redirected=1

 

[Nigel]

I'm assuming that the top and bottom USB ports are connected together (on the same net) so if I sacrifice a USB cable and create a pigtail than I can get access to the power line to put my probe on.

I think the pcb tracks from the power pins go straight across from one connector to the other, the rest of the pins wont be used. Rayman has never said that you can't just daisy chain the bases when I've suggested it. I'd like to see the trace for when you start the engine...

 

[KludgeGuru]

I took a drive down town and back. While powered from the hardwire kit I had no problems when I stopped and started the car. I plugged in the stock power adapter and again it goes to USB Mode when the engine is started. So I think my problem is solved as long as I don't use the stock power adapter. Don't know if the one I got is defective or if it some interaction between my car and it.

I took some traces of the power up signal. I didn't see anything glaring me in the face saying this is different.

This is the power up when turning on Accessory mode:


This is the power up with the engine crank from a cold start (no USB Mode problem):


This is the power up with the engine crank after a drive from downtown (this showed the USB Mode problem):


After thinking about this I doubt the engine actually starts to crank in this short of a window of time. So I think I need to go back and see if there are any sags or spikes on the 5V line after this initial power up. It feels as if the engine starts to crank about 500ms after I push the button.

Well back out to the garage.