SmartHub will not reformat drive

[RyDoge7]

I have the Arlo Pro 3 black edition 4 pack, and apparently neither My smart hub nor Camera is listed above, my app says I have the VMB4540r2 under the hardware section of device info. This was bought together with the 4 camera pack from best buy (link: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/arlo-pro-3-4-camera-indoor-outdoor-wire-free-2k-hdr-security-camera-sys...) I could not find the model of the smart hub there either. 

My issue is that my external drive will not reformat when plugged into the smart hub I have a WD "My Passport" 1TB external drive. I have tried to both reformat the drive from the smart hub itself and a computer to fat32. This is the second drive I have acquired for storage so its further unlikely that the drive isnt working properly. I have also tried restarting the smart hub after reformatting the drive just in case a boot-up help the smart hub recognize the drive. 

I dont know if this helps but the usb Device status shows a status symbol (yellow triangle with a lightning bolt inside)  followed by: ad2f34984640404... I assume there is more numbers but I cannot view past that. 

Another thing I would like to see changed is a more powerful UI on their Myarlo website. I manage most of my cameras through my computers, I would be hugely beneficial if I could also save my files through either a direct connection on my network or the internet onto another device. 

[michaelkenward]

The VMB4540 is the hub for the Pro 3 system. Looks like the associated documents are "coming soon".

USB storage comes in so many different types that it can be difficult to find something compatible.

It may be that the WD "My Passport" 1TB external drive isn't one of them.

Does it have any separate partitions on it? Sometimes they arrive with hidden stuff that isn't obvious in Windows.

You say:

I have tried to both reformat the drive from the smart hub itself and a computer to fat32.

Does that mean that you tried and failed?

Did you find this?

How do I set up local storage backups on a USB device using my Arlo base station?

[RyDoge7]

Yes, I did find the linked article and followed the instructions and arrived at the same results.

I have not been able to see other partitions on the drive, I have used Windows Disk management to view the drive and reformat when it appeared that the hub could not. What would you use to find additional partitions that windows can not find?

Do you have any recommendations on external storage solutions? I assume with the maximum 2K resolution of the new 3pro that the smaller maximum storage of stick drives might fill fairly fast. I did not wish to frequently be swapping storage from thumb stick to a larger storage on my network. Is there an approved list of drives that work best?

finally, is there the ability to save files through my network directly to my computer. If I can find a solution that doesn't require me to use the usb port on the smart hub?

[StephenB]

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@RyDoge7 wrote:

I have not been able to see other partitions on the drive, I have used Windows Disk management to view the drive and reformat when it appeared that the hub could not. What would you use to find additional partitions that windows can not find?

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Windows Disk Management will show all the partitions.

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@RyDoge7 wrote:

Do you have any recommendations on external storage solutions? I assume with the maximum 2K resolution of the new 3pro that the smaller maximum storage of stick drives might fill fairly fast. I did not wish to frequently be swapping storage from thumb stick to a larger storage on my network. 

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Arlo says that the Pro 3 requires an upload internet speed of 2 mbps per camera:  https://kb.arlo.com/000062043/What-are-the-minimum-requirements-for-installing-and-using-my-Arlo-sys...

That also gives you an upper bound on the storage.  At the 2 mbps ceiling, an hour of recording time would take 7200 megabits, or 900 megabytes.  So even a fairly modest 256 GB thumb drive  ( < $40 retail in the US)  holds almost 300 hours of recordings.  That's a lot - so I don't see any reason to go with a USB hard drive myself. 

Note Arlo estimates about 5 minutes per day per camera (at least that is what they assume in estimating battery life).  So that would be about 20 minutes per day for storage with the 4 pack.

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@RyDoge7 wrote:

finally, is there the ability to save files through my network directly to my computer?

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No. They'd need to be stored somewhere else first  - either the cloud or the USB storage.  Then downloaded to the computer from there.
 

[michaelkenward]

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@RyDoge7 wrote:

I have not been able to see other partitions on the drive, I have used Windows Disk management to view the drive and reformat when it appeared that the hub could not. What would you use to find additional partitions that windows can not find?

Windows disk management is pretty good at finding partitions. If you don't see them, they probably aren't there.

I have never tried storage on a hard drive. I use "thumb drives", solid-state drives with no moving parts that draw power.

It might be worth investigating how much storage space you need to keep data for as long as you want. My guess is that 1TB would keep you archived for a long long time.

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@RyDoge7 wrote:

finally, is there the ability to save files through my network directly to my computer. If I can find a solution that doesn't require me to use the usb port on the smart hub?

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Not sure what you are asking for there. The browser interface already lets you download files locally.  It is, though, a per-event process. One file at a time. Tedious.

The idea of accessing the USB directly, through arlo.com,  is on the cards. Arlo has promised that it will happen before year end. But how capable this will be is unknown.

The best option would be for the USB drive to be visible on the network so that backup software, for example,  could automatically copy files to a local, or network, location.

The alternative is an occasional backup regime that lets you copy data when you plug the USB drive into a PC. Again, time consuming.

[jguerdat]

I'd also point out that Windows will format the drive as ExFAT or NTFS, not FAT32 which is required by Arlo. You'd need to use a 3rd party program to format the drive as FAT32.

[michaelkenward]

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@jguerdat wrote:

I'd also point out that Windows will format the drive as ExFAT or NTFS, not FAT32 ....

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Not quite.

But you do have to delve into the entrails of Windows to make it work.

Format USB Flash Drive/External Hard Drive to FAT32 in Windows 10 - EaseUS

and

How to Format External Hard Drive to FAT32 in Windows

along with many others.

Maybe Arlo should have a similar KnowledgeBase article. I can't find anything there.