Arlo Pro Base Station VMB4000r3 Fails to Format USB Drive (firmware 1.16.1._3394)

[W__R]

For the first time ever, I received notification that my USB drive on my basestation is full.

So I went into the Arlo App and chose to format it but was hit with a "Your USB device failed to format".

Tried to do it on a computer and was also unable to format it.

Please advise.

[jguerdat]

Sounds like a drive failure to me. Depending on the drive and the manufacturer, you may be able to download a program that can check the drive and revive it (I've done this with hard drives but I suspect thumb drives wouldn't be worth the effort given the low cost). Otherwise, use a different drive.

[W__R]

I can still read the files on the usb fine though.  Just can't format or write anything new to it. (even with 2gb available)

I'm hesitant on plugging in another usb drive because the first one is in this state after I format it with the Arlo app. I dont want to brick another drive.

I've read through another thread  with this identical issue but that was supposedly resolved with firmware 1.14.1.0

[jguerdat]

Just a last gasp here - the write-protect switch on the drive hasn't been activated, has it?

[W__R]

There is no switch on this particular drive.

[jguerdat]

You haven't mentioned the type of drive - hard drive or a thumb drive. That can make a difference as to possible recovery techniques. However, it may be worthwhile to use the Contact Support link at the bottom here to see if they have suggestions.

[W__R]

It's a Sandisk 16GB thumbdrive that has been on the base station for the past year & a half with no issue until this one.

[jguerdat]

You're not using SecureAccess on the drive, are you? That's the data encryption software supplied by Sandisk.

Since it's not working on the computer, either, you might want to bounce a question off Sandisk support to see if they have suggestions.