topic Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive in Arlo Pro 2

Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Retired_Member — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:24:20 GMT

Hi every one.
I have a problem that I can not get the base station to record on my inserted hard drive.

The app shows that an external hard drive is connected, and under Local Story, it shows Green and is ready. However, the recordings are not on the disc.

I've tried both with a 500GB hard drive and an 8GB USB stick. But nothing works. The usb connector has worked fine with an early owner of the system.?

I have connected all my camcorders to direct power, and I subscribe to CVR 24/7 Filming. Maybe that may be the problem. ??

Or maybe it could have reached the format to do.? The USB Stick is formatted under FAT32 ..?

Hope you can help me...??

Many kind regards, Ronni.

Pro 2 Base not saving video on usb drive when net is down!

SolarDude — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:10:29 GMT

I just did some testing on my two Pro 2 cameras and the 8 gig USB thumb drive for storing videos locally to make sure it was working and it's not.

So when I have a internet connection everything works fine. The videos get uploaded to the web and the video gets saved to the USB drive in full. I can replay the USB videos via VLC player perfectly.

The USB stops working as soon as I cut the internet connection to see how the system performs when the internet is not available.

When I test the cameras when there is no internet connection at night time outside I can see the infered LEDs light up when I am In view of the camera but they do not stay illuminated, you can see the red LEDs turning On for a few seconds and the OFF, and then they will turn on again and turn off again.

It keeps doing this when I am in view of the camera. When the net is available the camera detects me and the IR lights stay on the whole time I'm in front of the camera and only turn off when I'm out of view.

When I go back and look at the USB video files for recordings when the net is not available what I find are tons of small .mp4 files that do not play in VLC because they are so small there is no data there or there will be short video clips they play but never the whole recording that you would normally get if the I internet was available.

I attached a screenshot of the small video files that are saved.

When the net is available the video files are full size and the video files play without any problems so I know the USB drive is working fine.

So you may be relying on the USB drive to save your video files when the internet is down but you need to verify this because it may not be actually working when your internet connection goes down.

I'm running off a mobile 4G WIfI hotspot with unlimited data on my phone. When I leave with my phone the camera is without a internet connection. It would be nice to know Arlo is actually recording to the USB drive in case something did happen while the internet was not available. Right now that's not working correctly.

Is anybody else seeing this same behavior? Better check if your relying on this feature and check back here so we know if it's a wider spread problem.

I did reset the base station before the testing just incase that would have helped.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

JessicaP — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:26:58 GMT

Hi @Retired_Member,

Make sure to enable your local storage. You can read more here: How do I enable or disable local storage of Arlo video recordings on a USB device?

Re: Pro 2 Base not saving video on usb drive when net is down!

JessicaP — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 19:10:16 GMT

Hey @SolarDude,

The videos should save when your internet is going down. Have you tried using a different USB and test to see if you are experiencing the same problem with the other one?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Retired_Member — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 16:55:06 GMT

Hey. I have done as described. I have constant power through the approved cabinet to all my cameras. I've found that when I quit the power from the camera so they only run on the battery, it can record on the ester hard disk. But when there is cable / power for the cameras, it does not take on the esters hard. How do I fix this. ??

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

JessicaP — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 22:16:00 GMT

Try to toggle the "USB Device Recording" off and back on. Are you experiencing the issue on both the 500GB hard drive and the 8GB USB stick?

Also try to power cycle your Base Station to see if that can help it out. To power cycle your Base Station, unplug your hard drive/USB stick safely first, unplug the power adapter from the outlet, wait one minute, and reconnect the power adapter to the outlet. The base station takes one to two minutes to start. After it starts up, try to replug in your hard drive/USB stick and see if that helps.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Retired_Member — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 22:37:20 GMT

Hello again.

I have now tried your described procedure.

But think you have misunderstood. I have three pcs camera, but i have power cable in all camera constant. And the system does not record on the external hard drive.

But when i disconnect the power to the cameras, it may well record to the external hard drive.

So my installation with battery in all camera and direct current constant. Then I can not get the system to record on the external drives. Only when I take the power off camera so they only run on the battery. ??

Re: Pro 2 Base not saving video on usb drive when net is down!

SolarDude — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 02:16:09 GMT

I bougth a new Sandisk 16GB card and formatted it in the Arlo Base Station successfully.

I see the same problem where when the internet goes down the Video files do not save to the USB drive.

The videos save just fine when there is a internet connection.

When the net is down the cameras activate from me walking in front of them they start recording but you can see the IR LED's turn ON and OFF over and and over again instead of turning on and staying on when I'm moving in front of the cameras. The video files that are created end up being 4kB or 70Kb and contain no video data for some reason which makes them useless.

Can anybody else confirm if their video files do not save to USB drive when their internet connection goes down?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

JessicaP — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 20:44:20 GMT

Just to make sure, are you on the latest firmware for your Base Station, which is version 1.11.9.0_26520 or newer?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

SolarDude — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 18:10:51 GMT

The base station is on a newer firmware version than the current firmware you mention. The firmware is automatically loaded by Netgear from my understanding.

See the attached image to see the firmware and basestation model. Starting to think I may have a bad basestation.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Retired_Member — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 18:57:55 GMT

Hello again. Yes, I have the latest version installed 1.12.0.0_27099 and there are no new updates available. What can the problem be like?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

JessicaP — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 18:17:40 GMT

I will PM you guys to see if our support team can help you further with your Arlo Pro unable to record on your external hard drive when your internet is down.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Leeroymc — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 23:12:52 GMT

I am getting the same problem. The camera only record less than 1 second, and IR leds only show up for a second. When internet is restored recordings work fine. When internet is down the auto recordings aren't working

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

JessicaP — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 20:09:17 GMT

Hi @Leeroymc,

Have you tried with a different USB/external hard drive to see if you're experiencing this issue? Try to disable and re-enable local storage backup by reading this article: How do I enable or disable local storage of Arlo video recordings on a USB device?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

lplant — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 08:22:35 GMT

I have the same issue - long videos being recorded to USB when internet is available. Short videos (less than 1 sec) are recorded when internet is unavailable. ie only a fraction of the movement is recorded.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

SolarDude — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 17:08:24 GMT

I'm still having this issue even after all the recent updates.

Support never got back to me about trying to fix or resolve this issue.

Seems like this is a issue affecting mutiple people.

I would love to get this working so I have security even when my WiFi is down.

I did try many different usb storage devices and I get the same offline recording problem where it only records a second before turning off.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

WatchDoge — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 20:12:33 GMT

HW Version VMB4000r3

Serial Number 4R058577A738E

Firmware 1.12.0.1_27940

Having the EXACT SAME ISSUE for a year now. We just want answers. Is it a bug or is offline recording a premium paid feature?

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

lplant — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:18:14 GMT

Arlo support is rubbish. Arlo has a defect in the way videos are recorded to USB when internet connection is unavailable. Problem remains unresolved yet Arlo support has closed the problem without diagnosing or resolving the problem. Case no #40675405

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Leeroymc — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 05:16:35 GMT

Agreed.
I challenge Arlo to show that it works with any kind of set up and share with user community.

Re: Arlo Pro not recording on External Hard drive

Dannybear — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 09:31:42 GMT

@SolarDude,
“Is anybody else seeing this same behavior? Better check if your relying on this feature and check back here so we know if it's a wider spread problem.”

Yes, I have created the same outcome to your experience with similar testing.

@JessicaP,
Are you in a position to find out from Arlo if this is expected behaviour?
As this has been hidden within the forum for a long time now, i would not like to think that the firmware has been nobbled to prevent the use of USB backup when not connected to the Arlo server.