External hard drive corruption

[Shazim18]

I have been using a Western Digital hard drive to record locally for the past 2 years but no issue. But about a week ago I noticed recording had stopped, when I checked the storage option in the app there was a message saying the drive was corrupted and try reformatting. I removed the drive and tried reformatting via my laptop but my laptop was not picking up the dive. So I figured maybe the drive was no longer functioning properly. I have since purchased another WD drive and connected it and have been using it for the past 2 days but I now see the same thing has happened to a new drive. Any ideas why or what may be happening? At this point it has to be a problem with Arlo and not the drives.

[jguerdat]

If using Windows, use the device manager to see if the drive is recognized at all. Are you using an external power supply or just the USB-supplied power? Does a 16GB or greater thumb drive work?

[Shazim18]

@jguerdat thank you for your response. 

I am using a Mac and the drive is not being recognized at all. It is usb powered. 

I just plugged in a thumb drive, which is working at the moment. I am waiting for 24-48 hours to see if the thumb drive gets corrupted. 

[Shazim18]

Thumb drive has become corrupted after 24 hours

[DoNotBuyArlo]

I had the same issue 3 weeks ago. I have been using WD USB HD (1TB) drive for more than 4 years and suddenly stops working with Arlo hub (VMB4000r3). I have been trying to fix it since then 'til I gave up. I have concluded that Arlo firmware made the local storage no longer functional. Arlo has this bad reputation of forcing things to break just to generate revenue. Mind you I am still on "Arlo Smart" for years until now and even though I have received many attempts from Arlo to upgrade, I never did. 

I am now waiting for this **bleep**ty hardware to die, then will switch to Eufy. I have already been using some of their products (like doorbell), and has been happy so far. **bleep** Arlo, you will lose a very loyal customer.

[jguerdat]

Local storage works fine here on 2 different SmartHubs (4540 and 5000). It's very unlikely it's the firmware. That, of course, doesn't preclude other issues such as a hardware problem causing this. As a first step, although a painful one, it could be useful to remove all devices from your account, reset the hub/base by holding the button until the LED flashes amber and then start fresh. If it still causes corruption, use Settings, Support to select your hub/base to connect to official support. That does require a subscription so you may need to purchase at least a monthly single camera sub which you can cancel after things are worked out.