Arlo problems... reporting event durations....Arlo Pro 2

[DJKnut]

The events captured are reporting vastly incorrect duration times... For instance, basically every other event..ie: one event duration reads 03:11:11, the next (seconds later) 00:17... Then shortly later (seconds) 03:10:40... all on 3-29-18. This is what's being recorded every day..!! The current firmware versions are...Base .. 1.9.8.0_16666 and Cams .. 1.125.5.0_17202. Also, those events with the very long reported times, only show a very short duration of motion, then freeze from that point on..?? Something's not right!

[Bavenite]

Me too Arlo Pro 2

[snola]

My neighbor and I just set up our systems and are seeing the same thing, Motion detected, then when the motion "trigger" is gone it keeps recording.  Videos are extremely long and consuming significant storage on cell phone.

[jguerdat]

Not sure what you exactly mean. I suspect you're seeing videos that are hours long even though your modes call for seconds. If you view the videos, they will typically only play for the proper time, even though they show longer times. Also, they don't consume storage on the cell phone when viewing since you're just seeing what's on the servers. If you download them, they're not actually taking the amount of space that it appears they should take since it's a display issue embedded in the video, not an actual length.

[snola]

Thanks for the reply and clarifying the phone storage issue, must have been coincidence my phone storage became full for other reasons when we began using the Arlo system.

You are correct, we are getting videos that are hours in length when the motion is only 10-20 seconds at the begining of the video.  When we play it back it does play for the stated duration of the video not just the time motion is detected.  I have changed the recording time to a set duration, then back to default of 300 seconds and it still occurs.

[BW23]

I’m having the same issues, very strange things happen when motion is detect and recording starts. The video will usually “freeze” 15-25 secs after it starts recording but you can still hear the audio. I have changed settings for the recording length to a set time and back to default but things are still not working correctly.

[DJKnut]

Diging deeper... I removed my local USB memory card to see what the file sizes looked like... What a supprise! The files recorded rainged from about 2 MB (20 seconds'ish), to 16.5 MB (2.5 minutes), but the amazing thing was.... Nothing on the memory card was readable... Just color smudges fo the entire duration!! Tha's a great backup system!! But, to continue the troubleshooting, I went to my online Arlo app, and down loaded the clip... and sure enough, it played just like I had seen on the desktop... 17 seconds of motion, then it freezes (no sound either after that point!) but seems to thing it's still recording... something!  This doesn't just effect me, and my use of the system, but it's filling Arlo's cloud storage at an amazing rate! SO.... Arlo.... You need to fix the record time problem (as it shows up on both the Library storage of events as well as the downloaded clips!) and absolutely fix the local storage issue, as that was on of the selling points of your system! I'll upload files to illistrate my points, but I'm sure Arlo knows full well that there is a problem in their software!

[DJKnut]

Please excuse the typos... it's hard for me to compose and hunt'n peck at the same time. I did try to upload examples of the events and issues I have noted, but they don't seem to show up in the actual posting.... maybe Arlo saves them to study... privately..? It's interesting that the file you get when you download a copy doesn't have the same detailed file name that identifies the time and date is was recorded..??

[DJKnut]

Some progress, and a few more questions... I opened the mp4 (on the ext. USB card) files on a Microsoft based NetBook, and amazingly... they were readable, and even the run length was reasonable!!

That leaves me with... Maybe some of the things I'm seeing are related to my system (for the base station) is Mac based..(macOS Sierra Ver. 10.12.6)... Which I guess I can live with... if I need to recover an event, I'll fire up the PC to read the mp4 file... not ideal, but workable! That just leaves the extended length and apparent file size issue filling up a lot of storage space, needlessly.... any way, one thing at a time!!! Cheers, D

[snola]

Thanks for the updates, all of my cameras (5) are having recoding duration issues so it must be on the Arlo end as opposed to a faulty camera. Cheers

[jguerdat]

As I said in response to your PM, DJKnut, the Mac has an issue with Arlo videos due to the encoding. Use of the free VLC is recommended (regardless of PC or Mac).

[Bavenite]

What is free VLC please?

[DJKnut]

VLC is a Mac compatable alternative to QuickTime Player for accessing a video ... but it doesn't work for viewing the Arlo files saved on the local memory stick... I'm running a (Mac based.."macOS Sierra Ver. 10.12.6" desktop)... I found an app on the Apple AppStore called called "Super Player Lite" which is more then happy to properly display the stored Arlo files (which identify themselves as 'MP4' and display fine on a Microsoft PC... but not on my Mac using QuickTime)... the display problem is solved... for the monent!  DJ

[jguerdat]

No idea why the videos recorded locally wouldn't play fine using VLC. They're the same file as what you download from the cloud. I suppose it could be an issue with the specific drive and/or connection to the Mac. Have you copied them over to the hard drive and tried viewing then?

[DJKnut]

I spent a LOT of time, trying every possible option to properly display the USB memory stick stored files on my mac, and that included copies made and transfered to my local drive, but the same result... the files would open, but only display a smudge of some color and never actually play. And on the subject of 'downloaded' copies... those files would play just fine... So I could download all the files from my library and have a functional backup, but that isn't the same as having it there on my own memory card, as Arlo states in the product description... Why would the same files, on the same memory card, not play properly on my mac, but play correctly on a PC?? There has to be some small attribute of an MP4 file that isn't correct for what the mac expects to see. I (at one point) got a MP4 converter app that would read the file, and export a reworked MP4 file that would then be playable with QuickTime player... so I'm sure that it's a formatting issue in the Arlo app, but having found a 'work-around' is okay with me... This is all just a side event that doesn't impact the reason I asked this question in the first place... Why do the recorded times jump from a proper few seconds, to hours and back to a few seconds... all within a span of less than a minute..???

[jguerdat]

Others with more experience in video encoding than I have reported that the videos aren't identified properly in the metadata and how they're actually recorded. VLC should work since it apparently doesn't use that info. It's a Mac problem (well, an Arlo problem on the Mac) that's been going on since forever.

One question - is VLC fully up to date? Others have had issues that the latest release fixed.

[DJKnut]

Good suggestion... downloaded the latest version of the VLC.app (3.0.1) and it also reads the files just fine... Problem REALLY solved! Now it's just "record time" question!!