# Vantrue N2 Pro Keeps Failing At Critical Moments



## RDWRER (May 24, 2018)

So I really like having a dash cam and while I feel that it's mere presence has seemingly alleviated a lot of potential issues, I do still get the occasional piece of #%^* that just doesn't see it or absolutely doesn't care that it's there. Due in part to the suggestions from this very forum and it's overwhelmingly positive reviews I went ahead and purchased the Vantrue N2 Pro and for the longest time it felt like an excellent purchase.

But then I got pulled over by a lying cop. I reported it here, but when I went to get the video I found it had cut out after 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

And then I got harassed by a drunk pax who was trying really hard to give me a kiss. I reported it here, but my video cut out minutes earlier.

And then I threw out an entitled pax. I reported it here, but my video had reset to 2017 and it deleted the video "years" earlier.

And now I got assaulted, not battered, by a pax who's girlfriend held him back inches from laying a finger on me. I reported it here, over in the Stories forum, but once again my video cut out after 2 minutes and 6 seconds.

There is something very wrong with this camera. It seems to always fail when there's a serious need for it to be working. It seems to willy-nilly pick and choose when it wants to record and how much it wants to save. Looking through the files I've got I see that there's hardly any from today. It got _some _of this ride but it cut out before the pax became violent, aggressive or even rude.

And I really have no reason to identify why it happens... Sometimes it cuts out while I'm driving. Sometimes it cuts out while I'm sitting still. Sometimes it cuts out after a "locked" file is saved. Sometimes it resets the clock and cuts out _everything_! But I don't know why.

What I do know is if I can't fix it I'll have to replace it.


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## Suave (Aug 22, 2018)

I feel like it has to do with the memory card you’re using. Are you using a high endurance memory card or are you using the cheapest one you can find?


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## michael7227 (Oct 29, 2016)

Memory card is important. 

You need to clear out every week, go home on your home comp or decent laptop and erase everything (or xfer). 

Using above 32g cards necessitate the above. Always check time and date before doing a shift. This will tell you if something is off usually. If stopped by the police etc turn the car key one click rotation to keep power on but engine off.

Good luck.


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

I have the same camera and haven't had the problem you described. Are you running the latest firmware? Also, as others have mentioned, perhaps the memory card is having trouble.

The card I'm using is the Samsung Evo Select 256GB.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HRDM55/?tag=ubne0c-20
I also re-format the card in the camera every time after I transfer the data to my computer.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

#1 Update the firmware on the camera to the newest version. Firmware and instructions can be found at Vanpro website. It is easy and only takes a couple of minutes.

#2 Get the Samsung Evo Select 256GB card mentioned above it is worth the price in my opinion. Format it from the camera.

I have yet to loose any footage. I have two cards and swap them out every few days to transfer data from card so none is lost by being over written from newer files.


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

The SD Memory Card Formatter download link here https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/ , which can format raw, corrupted, write-protected SD card with ease


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## TXUbering (May 9, 2018)

This is a good reminder for those heading out for NYE. Make sure your dashcam is cleared out for full capacity and make sure the time/date are correct. I also bought the N2 and have noticed that the date and time seem to always reset, which makes trying to find videos a little frustrating.


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## RDWRER (May 24, 2018)

TXUbering said:


> This is a good reminder for those heading out for NYE. Make sure your dashcam is cleared out for full capacity and make sure the time/date are correct. I also bought the N2 and have noticed that the date and time seem to always reset, which makes trying to find videos a little frustrating.


My dash cam's battery is bust so it always resets to January 1st, but I don't think that'll be a problem tonight...


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

RDWRER said:


> My dash cam's battery is bust so it always resets to January 1st


It is annoying...


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## MajorBummer (Aug 10, 2019)

PlayLoud said:


> I have the same camera and haven't had the problem you described. Are you running the latest firmware? Also, as others have mentioned, perhaps the memory card is having trouble.
> 
> The card I'm using is the Samsung Evo Select 256GB.
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HRDM55/?tag=ubne0c-20
> I also re-format the card in the camera every time after I transfer the data to my computer.


Yeah it even says in the manual to format your card every 2 weeks or so,i have a samsung evo 128 GB card,never had any problems.


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## michael7227 (Oct 29, 2016)

Mine bit the dust. Been in 2 incidents and not one video could be saved. It worked for the most part but went on the fritz when I most needed it. It's fragile, don't drop it...


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## michael7227 (Oct 29, 2016)

Now onto ToGuard and their similar dash cam for $69. We'll see...


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

My VanTrue has been working fine from day one. I don't let the camera overwrite older files, I remove the files twice a week and save them to a USB drive if there is a passenger present. Files without passengers get deleted to save space on the USB Drive.

In my second car I run the Blueskysea B2W Dual Dash Cam, also with no issues so far.


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## michael7227 (Oct 29, 2016)

Vantrue is "ok" I will not go back because of price.

I cleaned out my center console, forgot I did that, dropped the camera into the console and it did not want to work after that, camera was not recording and would give lines across the screen without recording.

The swivel ball failed on me in the heat about 3 months into ownership. I asked for new one, never got it, ended up putting masking tape in the ball and it held.

I fried one 64k micro SD in the camera somehow. It was a Kingston type of SD card so I don't know if it was the camera's fault (only 32k is recommended by the company).

I let it overwrite a 32k card too long (2 months) Had an incident only to find out it did not record. I think the issue here is too many incomplete files. When you turn off the camera that "piece" of a recording file (I had it on 5 minute files) will bunch up over time and cause them not to be overwritten. So it will appear to record but in reality will not be saving footage once you run out of space due to incomplete files. (just my theory)

ToGuard was only 69 bucks. If it fails I won't be too upset. I just got it and am going to put it in the car this afternoon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z4V5GNP/?tag=ubne0c-20


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

michael7227 said:


> I fried one 64k micro SD in the camera somehow. It was a Kingston type of SD card so I don't know if it was the camera's fault (only 32k is recommended by the company).
> 
> I let it overwrite a 32k card too long (2 months) Had an incident only to find out it did not record. I think the issue here is too many incomplete files. When you turn off the camera that "piece" of a recording file (I had it on 5 minute files) will bunch up over time and cause them not to be overwritten. So it will appear to record but in reality will not be saving footage once you run out of space due to incomplete files. (just my theory)
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z4V5GNP/?tag=ubne0c-20


It will take up to a 256GB card, which will get you about ~20 hours of dual 1080p recording. I'm like @FLKeys. If I'm driving rideshare, I don't let the card get full. I have two 256GB cards that I swap out. When swapped, I take the card and transfer the footage to my unRAID server.

All my footage it currently taking up about 4TB. I could easily cut that down. 2TB is exterior footage, which I don't need to keep forever, and the rest can be compressed to h.265 via nvenc. Running a test. I think I can get it down to 300-400 GB. But as my 40TB array is only about half full, that's not really necessary yet.

HDD space is outrageously cheap right now. As of this post, the 8TB WD Elements is $129.99 on Amazon. 10TB models are often on sale for $159.99 (but not at this moment). 12TB and 14TB are starting to appear. These drives can be shucked and used as internal drives, or you can just leave them as externals. The investment is really small for somebody who drives a lot. With the number of pax some of us carry, and with all the #metoo accusations that go on, I'm never deleting my interior footage. Ever.


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## michael7227 (Oct 29, 2016)

So far Toguard camera is holding up. The only real difference it the inability to lock video and playback on the camera. There might be a way to do this but I have not figured it out.

Video is great both on infrared and outward viewing (windshield). I think the video is on par with the Vantrue.


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## Buck-a-mile (Nov 2, 2019)

My Transcend 550 started beeping when I shut off the power.
Replaced the SD card and all was fixed.

Swap out the SD card and see if that helps.


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