2nd Generation Essential Camera not working on base station

[kb9hgi]

I have a 2nd Generation Essential Camera and a VMB 4000 base station. My firmware has been updated so the camera will work on my base station but guess what? It still does not work. When I go into the app and choose Hub/Base station it finds my VMB4000 but will not connect the camera. It says Camera failed to connect and it sitting right here in sync mode. Also tells me Error Code 65535. Now if I try to connect it to wifi it will find it easy and work. I want it connected to my base station!

[BrookeN]

Can I have you please do a hardware reset. Press and hold the sync button on top of the camera for about 15 seconds or until the LED flashes amber three times and then let go of the reset. Wait for about 1 minute to complete the reset. Once that is completed try onboarding the camera again. Please make sure you are picking the Essential 2nd Gen and follow the set-up flow. Also, make sure your phone is connected to the local wifi network. Make sure the VPN and LTE are turned off.  The reset being done correctly is important so please make sure to do that correctly. 

[JamesC]

Which version of the mobile app are you using (iOS/Android)?

Are you able to provide a screenshot of the 65535 error?

JamesC

[kb9hgi]

App says 5.05_28754 and here is what it does every time I try to add the camera.

[JamesC]

kb9hgi,

I've opened and escalated a ticket detailing what you've mentioned here. I will provide an update once I have more information available to share.

JamesC

[Jst808]

I have the same issue.

[BrookeN]

Can I have you please do a hardware reset. Press and hold the sync button on top of the camera for about 15 seconds or until the LED flashes amber three times and then let go of the reset. Wait for about 1 minute to complete the reset. Once that is completed try onboarding the camera again. Please make sure you are picking the Essential 2nd Gen and follow the set-up flow. Also, make sure your phone is connected to the local wifi network. Make sure the VPN and LTE are turned off.  The reset being done correctly is important so please make sure to do that correctly. 

[TJDR]

Exact same issue here with error code 65535.  I reset the camera using the instructions above twice and have tried to pair with the base station 4 times with no luck.

[TJDR]

After a bit more searching I found this post on reddit that said to reset the base station, I tried that and it worked.

I had issues with the Arlo app running on Android, so in case you come across this:

While adding the camera, I got into this loop where the app wanted to me to finalise the camera installation, even though I had done it. (this is the bit where you get those steps with videos showing how to mount the camera, plus test signal strength on the last step). I managed to solve the problem by doing a forced stop on the app, and clearing its cache.

[BrookeN]

@TJDR So you were able to add the Essential camera correct?

@Jst808 and @kb9hgi were you able to get the camera added to the account with the steps that I had provided?

[TJDR]

@BrookeN Yes. I was able to add 2 x Essentials 2K cameras and I now have a mix of legacy and new cameras connected to the base station and all is working OK. Both of the Essentials went through the "finish setup" loop issue which is fixed by clearing the Arlo app cache on Android.

[Siro7]

equipment - 2 Arlo essential outdoor cameras 2nd edition

                          Arlo -VMB4000r3 Base Station with 2 usb drives

                          Firmware - 1.25.1.0_4598_1f1c874

After following suggested steps….resetting cameras and base station, the camera screens display the usb drive symbols along with the usual symbols. What is not showing is any recorded videos under (Feed). When I click the usb symbols, I’m taken to the last live still image. Can’t tell if I’m indeed recording locally or not. Can anyone help?

[TJDR]

I've not tested yet what happens when I arm the cameras. I did try to do a manual recording and snapshot and I don't get those options for the essential 2K cameras. There are no icons to record or snapshot; all I get is a nag to buy a plan.

Once I get a chance to test when armed I'll post here but I suspect we already know the answer. Hopefully somebody from the Arlo team can comment whether local recording to the base station is supported for the newer cameras.

[StephenB]

---

@Siro7 wrote:

equipment - 2 Arlo essential outdoor cameras 2nd edition

                          Arlo -VMB4000r3 Base Station with 2 usb drives

                          Firmware - 1.25.1.0_4598_1f1c874

After following suggested steps….resetting cameras and base station, the camera screens display the usb drive symbols along with the usual symbols. What is not showing is any recorded videos under (Feed). When I click the usb symbols, I’m taken to the last live still image. Can’t tell if I’m indeed recording locally or not. Can anyone help?

---

The VMB4000 does not support the direct access to local storage feature.  While it does support recording, it does not support playback.

If you want that feature you need to get either a VMB4540 or a VMB5000 smarthub.

[kb9hgi]

BrookeN

I did the rest on the camera and followed the prompts in the app. It finds my base station  then searches for the camera and but after awhile it say's camera failed to connect Error Code 65535. It will not connect when using base station. If you choose wifi it will connect just fine

[BrookeN]

Thank you for providing that information, let me provide it to the developement team. I will update the community as soon as possible. 

[Siro7]

Thanks so much for the response. Guess I have a decision to make.

[Siro7]

Picked up a used Arlo base VMB4540 - 100NAR to be used with 2 Arlo Essential cameras. Still can not get CAMERAS to save videos on the base AND can not view videos from app. Any/all possible solutions would be greatly appreciated. I’ve reset base and cameras. Chose record locally, and all other choices to accomplish not being dependent on cloud storage.

[TJDR]

Exact same issue here.

[jguerdat]

Give us all details as to what you've tried and what you see. The drive needs to be at least 16 GB and formatted to FAT32 (using the hub to format is the easiest method). Be aware that some drives have multiple partitions on them from the factory with their utilities stuck in a small first partition. Use a computer to check and, if found, delete all partitions before inserting into the hub for formatting.

[TJDR]

My setup:

Brand new 4540.

32Gb thumb drive formatted by the hub.

Legacy Arlo and Arlo pro cameras happily recording snapshots and videos to the hub both on demand, or when armed and activity detected.

2K Essentials cameras do not record either when armed or in standby. When in standby I cannot do on demand recording or snapshots as the icons are missing.

Everything is reset and firmwares are up to date.

[jguerdat]

Live view manual recordings may require that you turn off the "local 2k Live streaming" in the camera's video settings to get the record icon. 

As for the modes, do you have a rule for these cameras configured to record? Arm Away should get it automatically but not the other modes. Not recording in Arm Away should happen - have you checked the rule to be sure? You may want to try removing one camera, reset it and add it back to see if that helps.

https://kb.arlo.com/000062880/How-do-I-factory-reset-and-re-sync-my-Arlo-camera-Arlo-Secure-4-0

[TJDR]

Disable 2k streaming was the first thing I went looking for, and the option doesn't exist in the camera or hub settings.

And my arm/standby rules are correctly configured. They're not the problem.

I've lost count of the times I've reset and individually added the 2K cameras so that's not a place I'm going to look at again. So 

unless someone else has got this working (!) I suspect that none of this stuff works without a subscription...

[Siro7]

Arlo you win. I’ve gone from everything working perfectly since 2017 with 4000 base plus two 720 res. cameras to purchasing an updatedVMB4540base, plus two Essential 2k cameras resulting in a totally useless system, let alone spending $179 to accomplish this total failure.  Leaving me with only one option, which just happens to be in Arlo’s favor …. ( an opened end subscription ). Guess I’ll research systems that don’t require subscriptions. I have time to return the base, but stuck with 2 Essential 2k cameras. 

[Siro7]

Just had a thought, since I’ve been a loyal customer since 2017, would you like to purchase these slightly used Essential 2k cameras? 

[Brewster65]

Spent about 2 hours with technical support to find out the firmware for the VMB400 smart hub is not compatible with the Essential XL Outdoor cameras, even though the Arlo website indicates they are compatible.  https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility  Support said I would either need to buy a plan or wait for the firmware update for the cameras and smart hub.  Tech support did not know when the firmware update would be released.  Release notes indicate the target date for firmware update is October 2024 for the hub and December 2024 for the cameras.  https://community.arlo.com/t5/Firmware-Release-Notes/Arlo-Firmware-Release-Table/m-p/1920885#M791  Those dates have come and gone.  Now I have three new cameras in the box waiting for firmware updates to be released who knows when.  Ugh.  Does anyone know of an updated firmware release table?