Mini DV MD80 2/8 - Setting Time & Date - Method 1/2

The Mini DV MD80 has quickly become one of the most popular micro video recorders around the world. Since posting my original review of this product I have had thousands of video views and probably just as many questions about this product.

These questions have sparked me to create 7 additional videos covering many various functions of the MD80 as requested by my viewers.

The video below is my second video in this series and it covers method #1 of setting the time & date stamp for the MD80




https://www.banggood.com/search/tech-gadgets.html?p=TU300132720103201904&custlinkid=264110




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22 comments:

gwooster said...

MiniDV digital video camera which is identical to those in the videos but I purchased at Geeks.com must be newer and will only transfer file called "time.txt". Format is yy.mm.dd hh:mm:sec all on one line. You do not need the [date] entry above this. Note that periods are used between year and month and month and day. Also note space between day and hour. Next note colons are used between hour and minutes and minutes and secs. The finished text file should look like this:

2010.06.23 01:20:30

(Represents 6/23/2010 1:20:30secs am you will have to change the numbers to match your date and time.)

save the above line as you see it to a file called "time.txt".

Move file to same directory as DCIM on camera's HD mini SD disk. Disconnect USB cable from camera. Turn camera off, then back on again. Wait a few seconds for file to be read and transferred. Take a short movie, then replay to verify that date has been changed. The box my unit came in is all white with a picture of a video film with images on the film stretched out across the bottom third of the box. MiniDV is in bold black and red letters at the top front of the box. Hope this helps those individuals that have this version as there appears to be several out there.

Unknown said...

If you want to sync to the second, do this.

Set the time in the file a minute or two ahead of the current time on your computer. Save it to the root of the camera's drive. Remove the camera, turn it off.

Expand your computer's clock setting screen so you can see the seconds tick by.

Wait until 5 seconds before the time that you typed into the file, then turn the camera on.

That will give the camera 5 seconds to fully boot, which will get the time sync'd just about perfectly.

Unknown said...

hi, my md80 wont stay on in standby mode. it switches off, like power off.

i checked charge .. all good. and if noise sets it off again, it records.
but once sounds stop and it goes into standby. it switches off.
can i get it to stay on somehow?

Eugenio said...

How can i delete the time and date on my MINIDV MD80?

Frank's Tech Help said...

@Eugenio Unfortunately there is no way to remove the date and time stamp.

Frank's Tech Help said...

@jai It automatically turns the power off after 30 seconds to conserve battery, think this is normal. As long as it records when sound is made in sound activate mode then it is working properly.

Domingos Moreira said...

Hi.

I have buy one Mini DV MD80, but i can't work at all with it. :(
Can't record video or take any photo. Can't do nothing.
Or the manual it's wrong or it's me that i'm not working well with it.
can you give me some tips on how it works?
Even the file TAG.txt i put on it, doesn't deleted after turn on and of the camera.
Thanks for everything.
Domingos Moreira

Frank's Tech Help said...

@Domingos Moreira Have you tried to format the card on your computer? Does the card have any other data on it that is not used with the camera, music, files, etc.? This could prevent it from working correctly. The TAG.txt should go in the root directory, and then disappear after your reboot. Sounds like the card needs to be formatted though.

Anonymous said...

you can also turn the time stamp in the video OFF at least that worked with my spy watch that takes time in format
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS N
to turn off.

Its not documented but it works I just tried

Anonymous said...

I tried changing the date and time and it did not work. Please help

Anonymous said...

Delete the date ?

Thanks

Franko42 said...

Hi Frank,
I tried to set the date and time and failed numerous times. I finally found that naming the Text document TAG (not TAG.txt)did the trick. Thanks for sending me down the right path.I couldn't have done it without your help.

jonny segment said...

My camera looks exactly like this one but the file structure is diferent, I have no DCIM folder in the root, mine has a SYSTEM and a VIDEO folder in the root. Placing the TAG.tex here has no effect, has anyone else got a camera with a file structure like mine and managed to change the time?

teebs said...

creating a file names TAG worked for me (didn't work with TAG.txt)

Anonymous said...

Using the time.txt file worked on my 2012 mini dv. Put it in the root of the SD card with the format YYYY.MM.DD hh:mm:ss - all on one line, there's no need for the word [date] and copy the periods, space and colons exactly. Do the switch off - on thing as per the instructions and the file does get erased as described and the videos get produced with your date. This is a pain in the ass for such a neat gadget!

Anonymous said...

@gwooster
Just got mine (May 2012), MD801. Couldn't check the time despite many tries.
Should the file name be time.txt or just time? Note that the txt file has a .txt extension, so filename time.txt would means time.txt.txt.
Any advise will be greatful. Tks.

limbh said...

Mine is miniDV MD601. Any advice how to change date/time? Tried the suggested ways above but none work.

C. said...

@Franko42You have the checkmark on Hide extensions from known file types so you don't have to type .txt because the extension is already there (but hidden). If you remove the checkmark from Hide extensions from known file types in Tools>Folder Options>View then you have to type (or not to delete) the extension.

Unknown said...

Hi,Frank,
I have car key-micro cam 808. To change the date & time I did the same as you said on you-tube. But
date is fixed exactly but time digits does not change. Please guide & oblige me what should I do now. Have a nice day.
Harshad

John's eBooks said...

thanks for the videos. I have been trying unsuccessfully to change date and time. For some reason the root folder is completely different between your video and my DV80. I have not files visible but I do have two folders: IMAGE & VIDEO. Both containing associated folders DCIMG & DVREC.
I have gone in and checked that hidden folders are visible.
Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

@Franko42
On Windows 7/8 the "Hide extensions for known file types" in folder option..is on. When you create a txt file and you name it TAG.txt ..actually it will become TAG.txt.txt
So just name it TAG
The .txt extension exist...but you can't see it. (unless you deactivate "Hide extensions for known file types" in Folder Option)

Anonymous said...

the drivers for the MD80 DVR are no longer available on rapidshare, is there anywhere else these drivers can be got as I bought 2 MD80's and both driver disks are coming up as blanks?