VMC2040 recordings not saving to library after free trail expired

[TNJ5010]

Our home setup has historically been 4 outdoor cameras, set to record to local storage. We have always been able to view recordings in the Library in the app with no problems. 

Our base is VMB4500r2.

Recently I purchased one of the essential indoor cameras (VMC2040) as a 5th device to have indoors (the others are outdoor). 

When I set up this new camera, I appear to have been opted into a free trial for a limited time with the enhanced features like detection if it's an animal or person, etc. I did not see a way to decline this free trial, so went ahead with it. After set up, this camera recorded like normal and these recordings made their way into our Library in the app just like all the others. No problems there. 

Once the free trial expired, now the camera is no longer recording videos that find their way into our Library in the app. I can live stream the camera no problem, and it shows me when it detects motion and sends push notifications. It just does not record videos into the library. All other cameras still work as normal and save videos into the library. 

I have followed every troubleshooting article I can find -- I've confirmed the camera is set to record video when motion is detected, I've removed and re-added the camera, I've confirmed there are no filters on in my library, the camera is armed, the base is armed, the wifi is working, the storage has plenty of space, I've even done a factory reset of the camera. To no avail. 

I did notice that when you go into the armed device settings, there is an exclamation in a circle next to the checkbox section for recording video that says "Video clips or snapshots will be stored in the USB device".  This alert does not appear for any of the other cameras. I've clicked the link that takes me to an article to "Learn more," but I genuinely don't understand what that article is trying to tell me. Am I only able to record these videos to the USB storage device, and they can never appear in my library with the others???

Is this because of our base model, and this could be remedied with a different/newer model of base? 

[Dannybear]

Do you still have the box the camera came in, have a read of the fine print on the box.

No subscription means no special features which also include no basic cloud recordings to library and no human customer support access post warranty.

To get viewable access to your USB storage device via the mobile app only, for the unsharable account feature you will need to purchase a VMB4540 or VMB5000 Base station unless you just want to pull the USB out of the existing base station when you want to view recordings. 

[StephenB]

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@TNJ5010 wrote:

Our home setup has historically been 4 outdoor cameras, set to record to local storage. We have always been able to view recordings in the Library in the app with no problems. 

Our base is VMB4500r2.

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With the VMB4500, you need to eject the USB storage and connect it a PC to view the recordings.   That is true for all cameras.

Your older cameras are likely Pro or Pro 2 models, which came with 7-day cloud storage.  So you are actually accessing cloud storage with those cameras.

The Essentials (like all the newer cameras) don't come with any free cloud storage, so you need a subscription to get that. 

You could also purchase a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000) - which do support direct access to local storage in the app, but IMO getting a single camera subscription is a better way to go.  The payback period for a VMB4540 smarthub is about 3 years for a single camera, and there are a lot of limitations built into the direct access feature.