dashcam-transporter

Application running on a raspberry pi (or other debian based platforms), to transfer and archive your dashcam video files to your preferred storage

How it works

• The application is searching for the WIfi of your dashcam
• If found it connects to it in searches for locked videos (those where something happened), downloads them and deletes them from the dashcam
• The application then searches for your home network, connects and uploads the videos and deletes them from the pi

Currently supported dashcams

• ✅ Viofo Dashcams
  • ✅ Viofo A119 Mini
  • ✅ Viofo A229 Pro
  • Other Viofo Dashcams (untested)

Currently supported target storages

• ✅ Samba (SMB) Windows Share
• ✅ Nextcloud WebDAV

Installation

The supported installation method is the .deb package (install script or manual download). Source installs are for development only.

Automated script

• Setup raspbian lite (or other debian based os, this is not tested though) and execute

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steve192/dashcam-transporter/main/install.sh | bash

This installs the latest .deb release, sets up a systemd service, and keeps configuration in /etc/dashcam-transporter/settings.ini.

Update

• Update to the latest release with

sudo dashcam-transporter update

Logs

• Logs are written to /var/log/dashcam-transporter/app.log
• View logs with sudo dashcam-transporter logs
• Configure log level in /etc/dashcam-transporter/settings.ini under [logging] (debug/info/warn/error)

Uninstall

• Remove the package (keep config): sudo apt remove dashcam-transporter
• Remove everything including config: sudo apt purge dashcam-transporter

Manual

• Download the .deb release for your architecture (armhf/arm64/amd64/i386)
• Install it: sudo apt install ./dashcam-transporter_<version>_<arch>.deb
• Edit the configuration: sudo nano /etc/dashcam-transporter/settings.ini
• Check service status: sudo dashcam-transporter status

Network manager

• The installer enables NetworkManager and disables dhcpcd (required for nmcli-based WiFi control).
• To skip this step, create /etc/dashcam-transporter/skip-networkmanager-setup before installation.

Test a branch on Raspberry Pi

This runs the app from source on the Pi for development.

• If you installed the stable version: SSH into the Pi and stop the service so only one instance runs: sudo systemctl stop dashcam-transporter
• Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/steve192/dashcam-transporter.git
• Fetch and checkout the branch: git fetch origin && git checkout <branch>
• Enter the directory: cd dashcam-transporter
• Install dependencies and build: cd backend && npm ci && npm run build
• Run the branch build: node dist/app.js
• When done, stop the process and restart the service: sudo systemctl start dashcam-transporter

Tip: Use a separate settings file by exporting DASHCAM_TRANSPORTER_SETTINGS=/etc/dashcam-transporter/settings.test.ini before running node dist/app.js.

Meaning of leds

The script controls the raspberrys leds

• Fast blinking LEDs - Transferring from dashcam to the Pi
• Slow blinking LEDs - Transferring from the Pi to the target storage
• Double blink then pause - Idle (waiting for next transfer)