Camera settings keep reseting

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Greg Witt
I have had a spartan go cam for the past few years never have had this issue with this camera. I have noticed the camera has kept reseting, I only know this because I always have the photos+videos and 2 separate times each day for it to send a photo, I still get photos but there’s no video option, and the camera is not taking scheduled photos. I have reset the settings, which actually does nothing unless I request the settings, then change them to the settings I want. The portal thinks the cameras settings are what I have, and it won’t change anything if I just hit update. However, when I request the settings the default settings come back, then I can update after. I have noticed it could be an issue with my SD card, I noticed it said my camera had 12 mb of 16 mb filled when actually I just cleared my SD card and put it back in. Yes it is a class 10, I’ve used it for 2 years no problems. I tried reformatting and the space issue did not clear up. I also have a external battery box with a solar panel, and I know when I unplug the cable it resets the camera settings. I have to unplug the power cable to open the camera due to the model I have, hopefully that’s not a design they still use…. So I am wondering if my battery could be dead, I’ll go check that tomorrow, I highly doubt it because of the solar and last time I checked it was nearly full. Could it just be a loose/bad connection? I have not my changed my batteries in my spartan go cam for about a year, should those be changed so if the external battery dies it won’t have any juice? Regardless, going to buy a new SD card, and change batteries. Any suggestions?
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  • John Lockburner

    It does sound like you should change the SD card. When you unplug the external the camera settings should not reset. What kind of batteries do you have inside the camera? If they are lithium they may be dead but still a high enough voltage that they aren't allowing the camera to use the external.

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  • Elizabeth Swoope

    On my GoCams like yours that cannot be opened/closed with the power cable plugged in, I run four low-self-discharge rechargeable batteries (two top/two bottom on the left side of the bay) so that I can turn it to setup, take/send manual photo, turn it on, close the case, then plug in the power.

    I’ve never had a camera reset like that from dying from lack of power. There may be something else going on.

    I wouldn’t run alkalines in a camera that has a solar/external battery setup because they are likely to leak in the length of time they’re in the camera without you touching it. (As Johnny points out, lithiums may die at a high enough voltage that the external doesn’t get used.)

    Also, make sure your firmware is current. What is the exact model of the camera?

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  • Greg Witt

    GC-LRAb/GoCam (LTE) Blackout - 359617051136834 ID(47605

    Firmware: DSP:2018/09/07
    Firmware Update: Firmware is up to date

    Couldn’t post a photo so just copied what it said, it says it’s up to date but I have a hard time believing the software hasn’t updated in 4 years?

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  • Greg Witt
    • Edited

    I am going to put alkaline batteries in, I check this camera often because it doesn’t have great service and I do not receive all the photos it takes, so I’ll make sure to change the alkaline batteries every few months.

    What could be causing the camera settings to reset when I unplug the external battery cord? If I take all the batteries out of the camera and have it unplugged, then plug it back in/put batteries in would you expect a normally functioning camera to have all the settings reset or stay?

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  • Greg Witt

    Just to confirm, this model camera can use up to a 32 gb sd card?

    I noticed they now have sandisk extreme pro sd cards, they are class 10 u3, is that going to give my camera better performance than the sandisk ultra plus class 10?

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  • Elizabeth Swoope

    That camera is a very old camera. The last firmware was 9/7/2018.

    I don't know what is causing the settings to reset. I wouldn't expect them to, but it's obvious they are doing that for you.

    Those high performance SD cards are not recommended. They tend to cause problems in the GoLives, which are even pickier about SD cards than your camera.

    Here's how to post pics from a phone:

    https://support.spartancamera.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041970993-How-to-post-pictures-screenshots-from-your-phone-to-the-Support-Forum

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  • Greg Witt

    Okay, is there any information you would like me to add with a photo?

    I just went out there and replaced the batteries, seems like that might have been the issue because the settings did not reset after I unplugged the camera with the new settings.

    I reformatted the new card and thinking it should be good to go. Will let you know if there’s any other issues but good to know that if my batteries get completely drained and my connection is loose it might cause the settings to reset

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  • Greg Witt

    Camera did it again today. Photos overnight had the video request option, I got my schedule photo at 6 am, and then starting at 11 am the pictures do not have the video request, didn’t get my scheduled photo at 7 pm.. kinda lost on what to do. It was working good for about 12-18 hours. Seems like that’s the same time it was working for with the old SD card before the settings change. Can’t pinpoint any time of day it resets more.

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  • Greg Witt

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  • Greg Witt

    Interestingly enough, my scheduled photo came in, notice the E on the bottom, but the lack of video request?

    It’s almost like the camera slowly loses the settings, over time. It will also change time zones back to eastern time, even though I live in central time zone.

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  • John Lockburner

    Does anyone else have admin access to your camera? Do you have an Android or iPhone?

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  • Greg Witt

    I can show you the logs, however, I can promise there is nothing in the logs to show the settings are being updated. Furthermore, the camera settings do not update in the app unless I request them. If I made the updates the settings in the app would reflect, I’d assume if someone else made updates the same would happen.

    My dad and I share the camera. He is not touching the settings.

    I have an iPhone.

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  • John Lockburner

    Next time it switches things request a settings retrieval and see if the app then shows what's on the camera or your current settings that they should be.

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  • Greg Witt

    I’ve done that already, it shows default settings (3 map photo, normal sensitivity) just as the camera is acting.

    I am requesting the settings now tho. I do feel like this could be a battery power issue, can you tell me what the external battery voltage should be? I have the herd 360 box with the recommended battery/cable. The display showed 13.6 (volts I believe, whatever the top number is on that box).

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  • John Lockburner

    Hopefully that's the Spartan box and it's reducing the voltage to 6 volts at the plug. The GoCams are 6 volt cameras.

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  • Greg Witt

    Here is what I ordered, I’ve had no issues since I set it up last November but am not 100% sure when I will need to change the battery.

    Spartan Battery Box, Solar Panel and Bracket Kit 6v Spartan/Covert × 1

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  • Greg Witt

    Yeah that’s what the spartan box says, I’d imagine it’s reducing it to 6 volt, otherwise it’s been running at 12v for 9 months no issues, lol. So 13.6 v is good I assume? What about the other reading on the box, what should I look for on that number?

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  • John Lockburner

    13.6 is very good and that's the number that matters. I'm assuming that's what you see when you press the button?

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  • Greg Witt

    Yeah, I might be seeing a number for the solar panel voltage or something under that as well.

    Any suggestions, resets or anything that I can try to do to fix this problem?

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  • Greg Witt

    This is happening every day now, settings keep resetting. What can I try to do to fix this? Is there any hard reset for the camera, reinstalling firmware?

    Is there anyway to set the default settings on the camera to the settings I actually want so this is a non issue?

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  • Elizabeth Swoope

    Have you defaulted the camera from the menu? (It’s a long series of messages, I apologize for missing it if you already have.)

    There’s no way to set the default settings to anything other than the factory default.

    Have you contacted support (support@spartancamera.com or 770-582-0004)? If you haven’t, you should. You’ll need to leave voice mail if you call. Someone will get back to you but it may be one or two business days.

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  • John Lockburner
    • Edited

    Yes you can try reinstalling the firmware. Here's a link to the updates and instructions

    https://my.spartancamera.com/download

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