topic Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive in Arlo Pro

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:11:18 GMT

Hi All,

I've been using a Kingston USB flash drive back up for months with absolutely no problems whatsoever. I can remove the device anytime and view saved images and video on my pc and then reinsert the drive back into the Arlo Pro base station and it continues doing its job. But, today I got a warning that my USB drive was not correctly formatted, so I hit the format button as I'd already saved videos that I wanted to keep to my pc. After a few seconds it said, 'Format USB Device', so I did it again. Still no joy. I removed the drive and then logged out of Arlo and back in, reinserted the drive and the same message appeared. Clicked on Format and now I'm in an endless loop of clicking on Format, being told it is not formatted and to do it again and so on. When I take the drive out of Arlo and play clips on my pc, they are all there plus new ones from today which have obviously been recorded even though it is saying my drive is not correctly formatted. So what gives? Is this yet another Netgear Software update that they haven't tested and we are the guinea pigs?

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

TomMac — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:11:40 GMT

Try and format it in your computer... format in FAT32

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:12:45 GMT

I've tried that, I'm not an idiot. Just checked online and have now found I'm not the only one with this problem because the Arlo Pro has actually corrupted my USB drive and set a 'write protect' on it so there is no way I can reformat the drive. After researching on Google on how to remove the write protection, I found several solutions none of which works (7 different ways) as I keep being told by my pc that the disk has no usable space and is still write protected. I think my 512GB drive is destined for the bin.

I have a package for cloud storage from Neatgear and I can still download clips from that. The USB was just a convenient way to show clips elsewhere without having to download them to a USB device again.

Lesson learned, will not be doing that again. Thanks for your response anyway, I'm sure there are people out there who would not have thought to reformat their drive.

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

jguerdat — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:13:08 GMT

It's possible that the drive is just defective and it has nothing to do with Arlo or the PC.

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:13:45 GMT

Thought of that too. Have contacted Kingston (HyperX 512) as the USB has a lifetime warranty to see if they have a solution or can send a replacement. It cost me about £160 in 2016 so is an expensive piece of kit to just throw away. I now realise the constant requests to reformat are because the USB was corrupted and that can only have happened today becuase I check it everyday.

Will keep you posted.

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

pc2k17 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:14:04 GMT

You may be able to fix your drive..........check this out.........

https://www.disk-partition.com/articles/remove-write-protection-from-usb-1203.html

Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:14:26 GMT

Tried 7 different ways including those listed to no avail, thanks for your reply though.

Re: Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 10:16:38 GMT

I sent the drive back to Kingston and after confirming it was defective, replaced it with a new one. So apologies to Netgear as it wasn't their fault and thanks to all who replied.

Re: Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

Retired_Member — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 01:33:15 GMT

I would throw out the USB device since it might be defective, or format it on your computer then run tests to see if it is defective. I use one USB thumb drive that once I copy the videos from it I reformat it each time after putting it back into the base station.

I used Kingston once and had problems with it. Also I have found the cheapo Memorex USB drives are garbage and unreliable. The only one that has worked for me is a PNY. Memorex used to be good back in the early 1970's with their blank tape cassettes, but now everything they sell is crap including their blank DVD's and markers.

If the USB has been used before for something else it's possible the space is permanently reserved and cannot be formatted. I had this happen before and had to throw it out.

Re: Arlo Pro USB Drive Constant Requests To Reformat Drive

themaestro023 — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:17:15 GMT

I sorted this a while back as the Kingston USB flash drive was defective. I returned it Kingston and they replaced it. I would not have thrown it out as it cost nearly £160, but thanks for your input.

@Retired_Member wrote:

I would throw out the USB device since it might be defective, or format it on your computer then run tests to see if it is defective. I use one USB thumb drive that once I copy the videos from it I reformat it each time after putting it back into the base station.

I used Kingston once and had problems with it. Also I have found the cheapo Memorex USB drives are garbage and unreliable. The only one that has worked for me is a PNY. Memorex used to be good back in the early 1970's with their blank tape cassettes, but now everything they sell is crap including their blank DVD's and markers.

If the USB has been used before for something else it's possible the space is permanently reserved and cannot be formatted. I had this happen before and had to throw it out