SGGCX2PRO sometimes does not boot up.

[zerkms]

Hi,

I've been having the SGGCX2PRO for about half a year and just recently found something odd.

I drive Toyota Funcargo, and sometimes the dashcam does not boot up.

This is a sequence of events:

1. I turn the key to the ON position: the dashboard lights up, car stereo lights up, the dashcam power diod lights up
2. A couple seconds later I turn the key to the `START` position, engine is being started here. At this point both stereo and dashcam lose the power for a several hundreds of milliseconds. (I think it's normal for most old cars, or all cars at all)
3. Now the engine runs. Car stereo gets back, but the dashcam does not.

It happens in about 25% of cases.

Dashcam is connected using the default cigarette lighter power supply. When it happens - the red diod on the power supply itself is lighint, as if everything is good with power source. I don't see any problem with connection: both `power supply - car` and `power supply -dashcam` connections are firm and light readjustments of either don't change anything.

I've tried to wait, but even after 10 minutes the dashcam does not get boot. What I do in such cases is pull the power supply connector from the cigarette lighter socket and put it back.

I'm not sure whether it was like that from the beginning or started just recently.

Is it a known fault or my unit became faulty?

The unit was purchased brand new from amazon in November 2019.

As you may imagine it's a bit inconvenient: I need to check if it's running every time I start the car and during the ride :-(

Thanks.

 

[jokiin]

What firmware version are you using?

 

[zerkms]

Right, I knew I missed something important.

FW is the default one it came with: `X2PRO+181113V1.17`

 

[jokiin]

please update to this firmware https://bit.ly/SGGCX2PROplusFirmwareV1-30 instructions are included with the download but any question just let me know

 

[kamkar]

I always check if cameras are running after i start the car, old habits die hard, still do so even if more modern cameras have alarms that go of if something are not right.

My old SGGCX2 did trip itself up too, but i cant recall how it manifested itself back then, but a flashing of firmware permanently solved that problem, and it is still working years later, the kid i gave it to are very happy about his nice free dashcam.

 

[zerkms]

Thanks all, I upgraded the firmware and will give it couple weeks after which I will report here with my new observations.

 

[kamkar]

No days.
We cant have you drive around with no protection, so if there is a problem we need to resolve it ASAP

 

[zerkms]

Unfortunately today it happened once again with exactly the same symptoms :-(

 

[jokiin]

Unfortunately today it happened once again with exactly the same symptoms :-(

what memory card are you using, make and model?

are you using the included cig plug power supply, or something else?

 

[zerkms]

It's `samsung evo 128Gb (3)`, and the included power supply.

All was a part of a kit sold on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07GV3NB69

 

[jokiin]

possible to be a power supply issue or a memory card issue, you can test the memory card with CrystalDiskMark and get an idea if it might have an issue, need access to a Windows PC to do that, if it comes up slow a full overwrite erase using SDFormatter can often put things right with the card

 

[zerkms]

Will run tonight, thanks (it would be weird symptoms for a faulty sd card though).

To me it more looks like some race condition in the logic that manages the device bootup. But I'm not an electrical engineer.

 

[jokiin]

Power supply is also a possible candidate but not something you can check yourself, at least the card you can check and see what you get, a problem card can affect the boot process so worth having a look

 

[HonestReview]

Unfortunately today it happened once again with exactly the same symptoms :-(

Concerning is that it isn't only the camera showing symptoms of erratic behavior. You also mention your stereo. Sounds like you may have an electrical problem in the vehicle, unrelated to the camera itself.

 

[zerkms]

> Concerning is that it isn't only the camera showing symptoms of erratic behavior. You also mention your stereo.

Stereo does not have any problems. Intermittent power loss during ignition is what all cars experience. I was driven probably 10+ cars (including rentals, including 2018-2019 cars) in my short driving experience, and all of them were the same.

Otherwise would be curious to see all yours video recording of:

1) you put some device into the cigarette lighter (one that is sensitive to power loss)
2) turn the key to on, confirm that that test device is powered
3) ignite
4) confirm the cigarette lighter did not experience intermittent power loss.

 

[HonestReview]

> Concerning is that it isn't only the camera showing symptoms of erratic behavior. You also mention your stereo.

Stereo does not have any problems. Intermittent power loss during ignition is what all cars experience. I was driven probably 10+ cars (including rentals, including 2018-2019 cars) in my short driving experience, and all of them were the same.

Otherwise would be curious to see all yours video recording of:

1) you put some device into the cigarette lighter (one that is sensitive to power loss)
2) turn the key to on, confirm that that test device is powered
3) ignite
4) confirm the cigarette lighter did not experience intermittent power loss.

Generally, a 12V socket is an accessory circuit, activating when the car is started. Why would you turn the key to "ON" position before starting the car? I have a 2nd vehicle from the 1990s which still has a key and start ignition. A Viofo Camera is run in this vehicle, and never once have I experienced the camera losing power. Then again, the camera is hardwired to the fuse box and seamlessly switches from battery to accessory once the car is started. So I can't speak directly to running the camera off the 12V socket.

None the less, if your firmware is up to date, your sd card is proven legit, compatible, and function (lots of fakes), then it's one of two problems.

Faulty Camera and/or 12V power supply to Camera.

Electrical issue in your vehicle (such as a faulty 12V socket). These do go bad. If possible, have you tried another 12V socket in the vehicle to see if the same problem exists or if it goes away?

 

[zerkms]

"Generally, a 12V socket is an accessory circuit, activating when the car is started" --- it's powered when the key is in `On` position, regardless whether engine is running or not.

"Why would you turn the key to "ON" position before starting the car?" --- because key hole is a dial with `Off - On - Ignite` positions (in that very order), you cannot ignite without doing `On` first: you put a key into the hole and twist.

"Electrical issue in your vehicle (such as a faulty 12V socket)." --- I'm not sure I'm convinced: the 12V socket runs just fine, it's the camera that I need to reboot. Other devices powered through the same 12V socket run with no problems whatsoever.

"If possible, have you tried another 12V socket in the vehicle to see if the same problem exists or if it goes away?" --- unfortunately I don't have any close (only one in the trunk). And as I mentioned, it happens rarely. I couldn't reproduce it while recording with a phone yet.

 

[Kremmen]

You have hit on one of the known problems with some accessories.

The initial power (ign pos 1) sets the bootup in progress, then power is briefly lost by the starter motor and the device starts to power down only to get power again and it gets confused.

I've managed to power mine via a (ign pos 2) power that doesn't get cut by the starter motor, plus the 5 sec bootup delay on my unit also helps.

Finding an uninterrupted circuit is something else though.

 

[jokiin]

Actually good reminder, try setting a longer boot delay in the menu

 

[zerkms]

Yep, I was thinking about it already (as a last resort), but hoped the new firmware fixes it.