Triggered by Audio Cues with Mic Off? Pro 2 VCM4030P

[ArtNels]

How can my VMC4030P Pro 2 be getting triggered to record video from an Audio source when that particular camera has a dead mic and Audio Settings for both mic and speaker are turned OFF in the settings? It has been VERY windy today so I suspect that is what may be prompting the triggering. The camera has been and still is very solidly mounted on the 1/4x20 screw mount. It is not moving. I have had over 103 events triggered by Audio since 11:30pm last night. It is now 6:50 pm the next day, still receiving triggers from Audio. (Battery has gone from nearly full to 63%.)

What could possibly cause this?

Also, as a side issue, this camera seems to get triggered for recording events BUT does not start to actually record for about 7 - 8 seconds. (This amount of "delay" seems about the same as working cameras that wind back about that length of time to show the beginnings of an event after being triggered). So my camera is working backward?

[ArtNels]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...

I have turned OFF or DISABLED this camera via my ARLO Android App which is supposed to prevent all activity including motion detection so I would expect that this camera should not be able to get triggered by Audio and create recordings. But guess what? IT STILL IS!  There have been 8 Audio Triggered Recordings since I Disabled the camera!

PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS! 

I prefer to not just get the advice to power off my Hub, delete all my cameras from my account, then add them all back in. (What a crock!)  

Why can't an engineer from ARLO respond and tell what's going on here? People shouldn't have to do the BandAid fix attempt and remove ALL of their ARLO products and reinstall them then go through all of their convoluted settings and re-enter them to make this product work - and then possibly have to do it all again in a month when it starts acting up again!!!  Better to engineer a solid FIX to these issues don't you think?

[Edinburgh_lad1]

You need to be patient. Writing your question and expecting a response immediately is unreasonable. Besides, this is a user forum where other users contribute, although Arlo staff come on here, too. 

[StephenB]

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@ArtNels wrote:

when that particular camera has a dead mic

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Can you clarify this?  Are you saying that the mic picks up nothing when it is enabled?

Did you try rebooting the camera (removing the battery for a bit, then reinserting it)?

[jguerdat]

Audio detections are set in the rules for that camera in any mode. Using the camera settings won't help.

[ArtNels]

You are mistaken. I was not expecting an immediate response to my posting. The second part of the message from me was "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION" as stated. 

I thought of more pertinent info concerning my initial post and could not find a way to EDIT my initial posting so I could include that info.

I am patiently waiting for comments that can directly FIX the issue and not just "BandAid" a possibly short term fix.

[StephenB]

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@ArtNels wrote:

I am patiently waiting for comments that can directly FIX the issue and not just "BandAid" a possibly short term fix.

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This is a user-to-user site, not Arlo support.  Though since your cameras are EoL, support won't help anyway.  Their fix would be to purchase new and supported cameras.

All we can do here is recommend things you can try, and then follow up when you post back with the outcomes.

Making sure "All audio" is turned off in the smart detection settings is one simple thing to check, along with making sure audio detection is disabled in your camera rules.

Rebooting the camera is indicated because the camera shouldn't be triggering when disabled.

[ArtNels]

Yes. You are correct.

I'm pretty sure that the mic was damaged many years ago by house washers that inadvertently sprayed the camera while doing their job. Audio receiving from that camera has not been available since that day even if the Audio Mic is enabled in the App on that camera. (Other cameras work as expected). 

This camera has been receiving Audio Cues to start recording periodically for many months, even with the Mic and Speaker turned OFF in the settings. The battery was replaced with a charged one about a week before this 100 event recording bout. I have not gone out to pull the battery since this event. Temperatures have dropped severely and ice precipitation has started. That's why the winds were so extensive which caused this bout of recordings.

I will get the ladder out and climb up there today to remove and replace the battery "just to see" if it makes any difference, although the winds have gone away now so...

[ArtNels]

I will try to check the "Rules" section of the camera's App controls although I have struggled with understanding the locations of particular camera controls since the last major App Update that seemed to replace the locations of some of these controls in unexpected locations from the older version of the App software that I was familiar with from when I set up my system. 

I do not find the new App intuitive at all. I have to search for current locations of controls almost every time I want to fine tune some setting. And when you don't know the terminology being used to define some of these actions you are trying to accomplish, like "Rules", it is almost impossible to search the help files for answers to a singular particular minute action you are trying to accomplish. 

These controll areas are not directly accessible from any particular camera. They seem to be in a more generalized area of the "Modes", an intuitively unexpected location!

[StephenB]

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@ArtNels wrote:

Yes. You are correct.

I'm pretty sure that the mic was damaged many years ago by house washers that inadvertently sprayed the camera while doing their job. Audio receiving from that camera has not been available since that day even if the Audio Mic is enabled in the App on that camera. (Other cameras work as expected). 

It's possible that the mic input is still delivering some signal (perhaps inaudible) that is could trigger the audio detection.

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@ArtNels wrote:

This camera has been receiving Audio Cues to start recording periodically for many months, even with the Mic and Speaker turned OFF in the settings.

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As @jguerdat said, that is not enough.  You need to make sure audio detection is turned off in the camera rules and the smart detection settings.  

[ArtNels]

OK @StephenB ,

I have done some research inti the settings in the "Rules" for the camera.

I found that the Motion Sensing was ON and the Audio was OFF for the camera in question. We will call it the "West" camera. I then checked "Rules" for another camera called "East". They are setup opposite each other and can see the location of the "other" camera. 

Another thing I had found was that the "West camera was very weak on its and ability to trigger on motion half way between the two by a door. So in the past I had setup the "East" camera to trigger recording in the "West" camera also. I was thinking that would sour both cameras to be sure to catch activity by the door. 

I had totally forgotten I had done that setup!

So what was apparently happening is that the Audio in the "East" camera was setting off the "West" camera to record. (The "East" camera's Audio was fully engaged and was getting periodically triggered by the wind event too but MUCH less often than the "West" camera.    But anyway, that is probably the reason that the "West" camera was recording even with being DISABLED.    It still doesn't really tell why there were over 100 events recorded by the "West" camera and only about 10 events initiated by the "East" camera for Audio triggers.

So, pressing on here, I will be taking the battery out of the "West" camera later today for at least 10 minutes then replacing it with a fully charged battery to see if that helps.

Also, I have ended the connection between the two cameras and am back to normal operation for each. 

I am leaving Audio OFF for the "West" camera both in the camera and "Rules" settings for it, since the mic is bad anyway.

I want to thank you for your gracious help. 

[StephenB]

Always glad to help.

I agree that cross-triggering is part of the puzzle.

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@ArtNels wrote:

It still doesn't really tell why there were over 100 events recorded by the "West" camera and only about 10 events initiated by the "East" camera for Audio triggers.

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Do you have activity zones set up for either camera?

If the "East" camera has marginal signal strength, then it is also possible that the missing recordings are being dropped due to packet loss.

If you have a USB stick (at least 16 GB), then you could also try setting up local recording in the hub.  That often shows recordings that the cloud discards (especially if the recordings are corrupted/damaged).