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No K2 Forum, so I’m trying here in the K3 Forum (sorry!)
I’ve had my K2 for quite a few years now, and only this week (after a long break), I’ve discovered that it won’t record anything
Upon startup, the camera symbol, initially goes red, then goes out, and the video camera symbol goes green, and stays green. No other lights flash.
I cannot connect to it via WiFi, as I don’t think it’s truning on it’s Wifi (tried 2 phones)
I have tried to force a firmware update, but it’s not reading that either (tried 2 SD cards with the latest firmware, which I think it already had).
Anyone any thoughts as to what I should do next?
Phil
(ps, sorry for the wrong forum)-
This discussion was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by
philbuck.
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This discussion was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by
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8 Replies
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Hi Philip,
The K2 has not been sold for quite some time. That is why there is no topic for the K2 in the forum.
One of the cameras is used as a wifi antenna. I thought this was the front camera, but I am not sure anymore. So it could be that a defective camera is causing the problems. To rule this out, you can disconnect one of the cameras and see what happens. You can also swap the front and rear cameras. This way you can perhaps find out whether one of the cameras is defective.
Can you access the K2 SD card if you connect the K2 to your computer via USB?
What happens if you hold down the gray button on the DVR for more than 10 seconds?
The K2 sometimes also has the problem that the SD card does not make good contact. It then seems as if the SD card is too thin.
It is best to perform an update with an SD card between 8 and 32GB. A larger SD card can sometimes cause problems.
I have some older firmware versions available if you want to try a different version. -
Hi Hans, thankyou for replying.
I have removed both cameras, one at a time, powered up and down, with no difference.
I have swopped the cameras over, with no difference.
My computer will not access the SD card in the unit, although it does power it up, (or at least, go thru the light sequence I described earlier)
I have tried several 8Gb cards, none of which make a difference.
If I hold the front grey button down for any length of time, it just turns the unit off (well the lights go off)
Holding the button again, appears to turn it on (well the lights come on……… red, then solid green………as before)
Without the card being seen, I cannot change any firmware.
No further forward I’m afraid…………… -
Hi Philip,
I have tested my K2 a bit more, but I can’t get any further with alternative methods to reset the K2.
Since the K2 is already old and no longer has a warranty, you can consider opening the DVR and see what the internal condition is. Maybe you will see moisture damage and then you will know right away that it is the end of the K2. -
Hi
Sorry Hans to have to correct you. None of the cameras of the K2 are used as wifi antennas. The wifi antenna of the K2 is right within the DVR.
For the K2 to start there needs to be at least the front camera connected. Without a camera connect to the F Port, the DVR will continously reboot it its efforts to find the missing camera.
Chances are that your firmware got corrupted and you simply need to re-install it. The bootloader for the update process requires the sd card formatted in FAT32. Any other format will not work. So the best way is to take a small sd card, format it at your computer (which should use FAT32 at a card this size), put the firmware file in the root folder and give it a try.
If this still does not help, I am afraid that your K2 has died. There is still a way to find out what’s going on, but that requires soldering at the board and some computer knowledge. It would not be worth the effort for such an old dashcam. Though the K2 was a good dashcam when boosted by my firmware 🙂
Regards,
Marc
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Marc, thanks for your reply, my K2 simply won’t read the SD card (several 8Gb’s, FAT 32 formatted).
So it’s not possible to re-install any type of firmware.
I have stripped the unit down. There is no visible damage, water or otherwise internally, but thanks for your help. -
Hi Philipp,
hmmm…sometimes hardware simply dies. And often enough it is something simple, like a broken joint somewhere on the board. But I assume you don’t want to dig any deeper in that, in view of the age of the K2.
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Hi Frostie, I’m more than willing to dig deeper into it’s demise, but would need some direction.
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Ok. There is a serial shell on the DVR, where you can see the live logs and send commands directly to the system. To connect a computer to the DVR you would need to solder three wires onto the board and connect them to an USB-UART. The USB-UART will then give you a serial interface to which you can connect using any terminal programm (e.g putty).
An USB-UART is something like this..
If you are able (and willing) to do the soldering, I can send you a picture of where to solder the wires.
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