Arlo3 not recording locally

[Knost]

Hello,
I bought a Arlo Pro kit two years ago and everything was fine. Now 4 month later I bought a Arlo Pro 3 since they should work with my older cam. Everything works fine except when it comes to recording locally on the USB I formatted in the base station. Recording locally on the Arlo 2 works fine but not for the Arlo 3. I have tried one 16gb and it says it’s good and I tried a 64gb usbdrive as well. Alsways the same problem, Arlo 3 won’t record. I get the notification but it stopped recording locally since the 90days free cloud subscription stopped working. This even though I never even used the cloud offering. Why won’t my Arlo Pro 3 record locally on the USB drive?

[jguerdat]

Try removing and resyncing the camera.

[Knost]

Hi, I tried to reinstall the Arlo Pro 3 cam and also turned off the base station and restarted it. Nothing works. Camera Arlo Pro 2 recorded my test, but not the Pro 3. 😞

[jguerdat]

It may be that a reset and starting fresh would fix this. I don't have a VMB4000 base in operation so can't test myself but AFAIK there should be no problem recording any camera connected to the base.

Ifa all else fails, use the Contact Support link at the bottom here.

[Knost]

Tried it did not help just gave me lots of work configuring all again. I contacted support and opened a case.

[Knost]

I contacted support and they said that the recording on my pro3 is recorded on my USB locally but not visible in the app. So they suggested that I remove the usb and insert it in my computer every time I want to watch a recorded video. 😂 Also takes days before anyone reply, I have to keep asking for responses. is this support a joke?

[Knost]

Still haven’t heard anything from Arlo support since last Friday. It’s like they are avoiding responding. Really unhappy with this support.

[JamesC]

Are you using an Arlo Pro base station (vmb4000, vmb4500)? If so, the only way to view local recordings is to remove the USB drive and view them on a PC.

The library displays recordings that are saved in the cloud, your Arlo Pro cameras are legacy devices, so they will save cloud content for 7 days but Arlo Pro 3 requires a subscription for recordings to be saved to the cloud.

JamesC

[Knost]

Hi
It’s a vmb4000r3. When I bought my pro3 I checked Arlo’s homePage, asked around and saw that my camera and basestation supported the pro3 cameras. Hence why I bought a pro3 instead of the cheaper pro2. There’s no mention on Arlo’s homepage about this, so what do I do now in order to view my videos? I can’t unplug the usb, it’s absurd. And to force me to pay for an subscription is also crazy. The whole idea with Arlo is to be able to check the activity in the app.

[dcfox1]

Why cant you un unplug  the usb that you plugged in? are you thinking of somthing else. 

[Knost]

Say I’m at work and something happens on my pro3 and I want to see why a motion was triggered. I can’t know what happened until I finish work, get back home and unplug USB and connect it to my Mac.

[dcfox1]

Then in that case you do need a cloud subscription for the pro 3 like jamesc said. Its always been like that. Its different then the older model pro 2. 

[Knost]

Problem is that there is a local storage option which should work. But apparently some versions of the base station don’t support local storage of both pro2 and pro3. If I knew that I would never bought a pro3. Being forced to pay for a subscription service is not right. I want to be able to make that choice myself.

[michaelkenward]

Skimming quickly through this discussion, I landed on this bit:

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@Knost wrote:
....  apparently some versions of the base station don’t support local storage of both pro2 and pro3.

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If you bought the Pro 3 with the Pro 3 hub, and not just standalone cameras, then it can record locally from any Pro 2, Pro 3 and Ultra cameras that you like. I do it all the time.

The trick is to attach all the cameras you want to records to the Pro 3 hub and not the Pro 2 base station. The hub does not care about the cameras, it just stuff all recordings on to its own memory.

Remember, there are two takes on local recording. First there is the old one as a backup that needs you not remove the memory from the hub/base station then there is the newer "direct storage access":

What is Direct Storage Access and how do I use it?

You can get at that with your portable devices.

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@Knost wrote:
If I knew that I would never bought a pro3. Being forced to pay for a subscription service is not right. I want to be able to make that choice myself.

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That is what direct storage access is for. No subscription needed.

The only proviso is that, here at least, mobile access to the local storage is flaky. The Android app crashes all the time.

One other beef is that you cannot access the local storage through the browser interface, my preferred way in.

But your two main complaints are at variance with my experience. Unless you are using an older device, the base station supports local storage of both Pro 2 and Pro 3. Nor are you forced to pay for a subscription service.

[Knost]

Hello Michaelkeward thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

The equipment I have today is 1 x basestation: VMB4000r3 1x Pro2 cam and 1xPro3 cam.  When I bought the Pro3 I asked around if I could run and record locally on my VMB4000r3 and that should be possible. Theres actually two USB slots on the back of the basestation, but for some odd reason its only possible to use one USB at a time.

I bought the Pro3 in Jan 2020 and there was this cloudstorage included for 90 days. But since I always used the local recording onto my USB for my Pro2 I decided not to use that trial subscription. During the 90 days trail I was able to see all my Pro2 and my Pro3 motion videos and that has worked flawless. Now since the trial period expired I only get notification from my Pro3, but nothing seems to be saved that I could see in my iPhone Arlo-app. According to Arlo support the videos are saved, but hidden from the app for now and I need to remove the USB to watch my surveillance videos 😞

So going back to your email in order to use the local storage of videos on USB I will need to switch my Pro2 basestation to a Pro3 basestation instead? This will mean even more costs for me.

If I knew this from the start I would have only bought another Pro2 camera which is less expensive than the Pro3. Now Im sitting here with a useless Pro3 camera. And the Arlo Support isn’t even bothering to reply back to my messages they just keep ignoring me. 😞

[StephenB]

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@Knost wrote:

So going back to your email in order to use the local storage of videos on USB I will need to switch my Pro2 basestation to a Pro3 basestation instead? 

 Local storage on your base does work, but you can't access those videos from the app unless you have a pro3 or ultra base.  You have to eject the drive and access it on a PC. 

So support gave you the correct info when you contacted them.

[Knost]

So this article tells me that local storage on the Pro3 and that it’s backwards compatible with my 4000 base station. https://kb.arlo.com/000062253/Is-Arlo-Pro-3-backwards-compatible-with-my-existing-Arlo-system
Says clearly that local storage should work and nothing about that I have to eject the USB. This was the article why I bought a 3 instead of another 2.

[michaelkenward]

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@Knost wrote:
So this article tells me that local storage on the Pro3 and that it’s backwards compatible with my 4000 base station. https://kb.arlo.com/000062253/Is-Arlo-Pro-3-backwards-compatible-with-my-existing-Arlo-system

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There are several things going on here. The link above relates to cameras and which base stations they will work with.

It does say:

"When you pair your Pro 3 with the VMB4000, you can experience Local 2K Live Streaming and Local 2K Storage. You will need a USB device to enable Local 2K Storage."

That is correct, but it does not say how you get at that storage. It has always been the case that storage on the the VMB4000 is local backup and that you need to remove the USB storage to get at recordings.

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@Knost wrote:
Says clearly that local storage should work and nothing about that I have to eject the USB. This was the article why I bought a 3 instead of another 2.

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You cannot explain everything in what is designed to be a short and simple article.

There are two different flavours of local access. The Pro 2 system uses the USB slot in the VMB4000 to maintain local copies of your recordings. It has never been possible to get at those recordings directly,  You have to remove the USB and view on your PC.

As an owner of the Pro 2 system,  you will have discovered that already. Your VMB4000 can handle recordings from Pro 3 and Ultra cameras in exactly the same way that it handles recordings from your Pro 2 cameras. Remove and watch.

The Pro 3 cameras cannot magically add a new way of getting at recordings to an older hub with different internal circuitry and control firmware.

The Pro 3 hub adds a new way of getting at your local recordings. That feature  even has a different name, direct storage access:

What is Direct Storage Access and how do I use it?

This came about in part because there was uproar when Arlo released the Ultra system and users found that there was no free "cloud" option.

By adding Pro 3 cameras to your existing system, you have the same option for local storage that you had with your Pro 2 cameras, but you do not have the same cloud storage.

To sum up, local access is not the same as direct storage access. Your option for local access remains unchanged.

[Knost]

If you use a pro2 you don’t have to unplug the usb never have and never will. Also it’s a surveillance camera which means that when an event triggers the camera you would like to see what has happened. You don’t want take the car back home unplug the usb and check the videos.

[michaelkenward]

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@Knost wrote:
If you use a pro2 you don’t have to unplug the usb never have and never will.

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So, how do you view the recordings saved on your USB? Have you ever done it?

Which bit of the manual for the Arlo Pro 2 is wrong when it says?

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Video clips on USB storage devices don’t display in the Arlo app, but you can use a Windows-based or Mac computer to view the clips. 

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This bit?

All recordings are stored in the cloud, but you can connect a USB storage device to the base station and use the USB storage device as a backup location to store recordings. Simply connect a USB storage device and the base station automatically enables all the settings for you. The USB storage device can’t be used on its own as a substitute for cloud recording.

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Remember,  cloud storage is something else.

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@Knost wrote:
Also it’s a surveillance camera which means that when an event triggers the camera you would like to see what has happened.

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That's called "cloud storage". USB storage is something else. (See above.)

[Knost]

You don’t need a cloud storage for the surveillance mode. I can as I said watch the pro2 videos in-app while as the envy happens since it saves automatically. This is what I thought the pro3 did too. But I have talked to the Arlo Support on the phone and waiting for them to come back next week. Don’t like to be dependent on (as-a-service option) a subscription.

[michaelkenward]

So why did your first message introduce the topic of USB recordings? And why have you been banging on about it ever since?

Everything works fine except when it comes to recording locally on the USB I formatted in the base station. Recording locally on the Arlo 2 works fine but not for the Arlo 3. I have tried one 16gb and it says it’s good and I tried a 64gb usbdrive as well. Alsways the same problem, Arlo 3 won’t record.

That just shows that you have been going about the process in the wrong way.

I bet the Arlo Pro 3 is recording but you don't know how to user it. My Pro 3 records to local storage all the time and should do so on the Pro 2 hub were I to need that.

You have now changed the topic completely. I give up.

[StephenB]

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@Knost wrote:
 I can as I said watch the pro2 videos in-app

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Your Pro2 has 7 day cloud recording, and those are what you are seeing whenever you view recorded videos in the app.

I get the annoyance you are feeling, but the bottom line is that you need to upgrade your base to a VMB4540 or a VMB5000 in order to get direct access to your USB recordings.  Or of course purchase a subscription.

[Knost]

Yes it looks that way unfortunately. Will probably go for a new Pro2 instead so I can use the local storage I now use on my 4000 base station, works great.

[StephenB]

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@Knost wrote:
Yes it looks that way unfortunately. Will probably go for a new Pro2 instead so I can use the local storage I now use on my 4000 base station, works great.

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Pro2 + VMB4000 is a good combination.

You'll be using free cloud storage though.  The only way to access the local storage is to eject the USB drive (using the app or https://my.arlo.com) and then connect the drive to a PC.