Siren says it is active, but it makes no sound?

[trebor711]

You guys did it again.  On the last update the alarm was very low when initiated via the mobile app.  Now, on this latest app, there is NO ALARM when initiated thru the mobile app or the web.  You guys really screwed up this time!!  Please fix this ASAP.  And please, in the future, test your updates before you released them to the public.

[Dannybear]

Another experience to add to the siren mix. Last night the siren triggered and sounded correctly although it was self inflicted. This was a huge step forward I thought until I tried acknowledging the siren. Five mins later I rebooted the base after waking up everyone out of bed. This is prior to the firmware update this morning that has just bricked half my cameras.
Arlo can’t be helped.

[trebor711]

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@Dannybear wrote:
Another experience to add to the siren mix. Last night the siren triggered and sounded correctly although it was self inflicted. This was a huge step forward I thought until I tried acknowledging the siren. Five mins later I rebooted the base after waking up everyone out of bed. This is prior to the firmware update this morning that has just bricked half my cameras.
Arlo can’t be helped.

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@Dannybear @jguerdat @CLangley   Here is the latest.  I did a power cycle on my base when I got home.  Base booted up and allowed the updated firmware.  I am now running firmware ver 1.12.2.4_2772.  All was fine and I was able to trigger a manual alarm for the past three days.  However, as of this morning, that feature does not work AGAIN.  So much for the updated firmware. CAN'T YOU GET THIS FIXED ONCE AND FOR ALL??????

[CLangley]

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@trebor711 wrote:

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@Dannybear wrote:
Another experience to add to the siren mix. Last night the siren triggered and sounded correctly although it was self inflicted. This was a huge step forward I thought until I tried acknowledging the siren. Five mins later I rebooted the base after waking up everyone out of bed. This is prior to the firmware update this morning that has just bricked half my cameras.
Arlo can’t be helped.

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@Dannybear @jguerdat @CLangley   Here is the latest.  I did a power cycle on my base when I got home.  Base booted up and allowed the updated firmware.  I am now running firmware ver 1.12.2.4_2772.  All was fine and I was able to trigger a manual alarm for the past three days.  However, as of this morning, that feature does not work AGAIN.  So much for the updated firmware. CAN'T YOU GET THIS FIXED ONCE AND FOR ALL??????

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After 5 days of having inoperable cameras as a result of firmware ver 1.12.2.4_2772 being pushed to my basestation, after getting someone to go to the property and recycle the power (it is a holiday property & VERY problemmatic to get someone to attend), my basestation & cameras appear to be operating again. This version of firmware would not install & just kept giving the prompt to install, and then the prompt disappeared but all cameras then just showed as "offline". I have just tried the alarm siren and it seems to work, but all this has just been over the last few hours, so time will tell what happens next. I am hoping it does not fail again as per @trebor711 message.

The last 2 months have just been a string of problems going from bad to worse.

To Arlo - as others are saying, get this FIXED once and for all!

[Rf55]

Any updates got same fault no siren

[trebor711]

Latest update lasted about 3 days before my base didn't respond to a manual trigger. I just did a power cycle and it works again. However, it doesn't last as it seems I have to power cycle every few days.

[Rf55]

Ok thanks

[mikepwagner]

I posted a while back that when I set a mode where my interior cameras are supposed to set off the siren when they detect motion, and I test, the app says the siren is sounding, but it’s silent.

Arlo has replaced my base system once, and that made no apparent difference.

Sometimes the siren actually works, and by happenstance I discovered that when the siren works correctly, I can also reboot the system using the app.

When the siren doesn’t work, i.e., the app says it’s triggered and but the siren is silent, I also cannot reset the base station from the app - and I cannot turn the siren on manually either.

My guess is that when the base station gets into this state, the process that is supposed to be handling downstream packets from the sever has hung, is starving, or has exited.

If I physically power cycle the system, it works properly for a non-deterministic period of time.

I assumed this is a software issue, and I have been waiting on an update. My base station is running 1.12.2.4_2772, and I haven’t seen an update in several weeks.

Folks who are thinking of replacing an existing alarm system may want to keep an ear out for this issue. Arlo is a find surveillance system, but with a mostly non-functioning siren, it’s not very useful as an alarm.

Does anyone know if Arlo is working on a fix for this issue? When can we expect an update?

[Dannybear]

It would seem arlo is ignorant of the issue and there is no fix on the horizon.

I am trialing a workaround that lets me use the USB backup device and gets around the offline issues.

The workaround is to disable the USB device before performing a base station restart using the app. Then re-enabled the USB backup device. Do this prior to the usual offline recurring time daily.

I have been doing this action for a few days now and have have had reliable performance so far.

If this continues to work then it would suggest that the USB backup portion of the firmware is partly to blame for the severity of the base outages. Restarting the base regularly maybe preventing the offline outage in the first place as my base still goes offline without USB devices plugged in.
Sorry if this does not help.

[Timmy256]

Hi,

Just adding my vote here... I'm currently experiencing the same issues as described by the fellow members, on an Arlo Pro Base Station VMB4000r3, Firmware Version 1.12.2.4_2772.

The alarm wasn't working when manually triggered (either via the app o web), I thought the Base Station was broken, I've came across this thread and exactly what is described here is happening. Before panicking too much that my Base Station could be broken, (by experience), I thought that maybe Arlo was having another generalized issue and the siren may not be working, for some reason. After a cold power reset, the siren started working again. Also, the "Restart" button on either of the UXs didn't do anything while the siren issue was in effect; as cleverly described by one of the posters above me with a guess about the Base Station not receiving those commands.

I think I've been like three years with the Arlo (Regular, Pro) systems, and the laundry list of issues keeps increasing, over and over. Power bricks blown out, outdoor cable frying the outdoor cameras scandal, Solar Panel and the glorious "Power source error" that went there for ages, Siren not adhering to max volume when triggered from the app (but it did from the web), cameras not charging because of the dreaded "Power Source" error, nut in security mount covering USB plug (had to RMA a 1 cent plastic nut), etc., etc., that resulted in countless hours spent in  troubleshooting, logging, opening cases, flying to the US for the RMAs (I don't live there).

I keep saying that the products are so buggy, rushed and premature, but the sunken cost fallacy of thousands of USD spent keeps me using them. For sure, when my next need arrives to replace them, I'll never buy from Arlo again. This thread is a perfect example of a security system failing SO BAD, because the siren wouldn't go off if a burglar gets into the house. After experiencing this issue just one time, all your users completely lose trust on your system; knowing that it may not be working, enable, trigger, sound; whatever issue it's may currently have.

What a shame.

[Dannybear]

The base station hardware is affected by the offline firmware issue. That is the siren and USB are nobbled after it eventually recovers from the offline event.

To establish if the base has previously suffered an offline event you can do the following, test that siren does not sound or restart the base from the app, if you’re base LEDs don’t change then the base hardware has locked up.

The only way to restore the hardware is to power cycle the base station.

I have had success in keeping the hardware working by manually restarting the base station using the App twice a day, disabling the USB recording mode before and re-enabling after each restart.

This allows me to have the USB backup working and not have to resync the camera’s twice daily when it goes offline.

If you’re remote to your base station you can tell that the hardware has locked up when you restart the base from the App, close the App and login again and it says that it’s still connected. It should say getting status for a few minutes eventually showing all devices after about 4 mins.

If your not wanting to do the above then just remove the USB backup device from the base and just power cycle it before you go to bed or before you go out.

[Timmy256]

Thanks @Dannybear for your detailed steps. I think I've read those, from you too,  a couple of posts above and they do work great.

My anger is against Arlo/Netgear. Do you think it's fair that we have to go through all of these hoops to make a basic function, that they broke somehow, work? Imagine the hundreds of casual users, that have Arlo systems set-up, expecting them to work and have no idea of this forum or are tech-savy enough to care beyond the point of plugging them and expecting them to work as advertised?

Do any of you guys in this thread have an open case with Arlo regarding this issue? I know @JamesC helped me countless times in the past to get in touch with Arlo engineers and report all the issues/bugs I've encountered during the past years. Perhaps he can help us now again to report this.

Thanks.

[trebor711]

@Timmy256 my system was working for a few days but after checking just now, the alarm is non functional.

I had an open ticket for assistance but it seems Arlo tries just once and if your not home to talk to them they quit trying. I will NEVER recommend Arlo to anyone looking for a security camera system now.

[Dannybear]

@Timmy256
I don’t think it is too much to expect a product to meet the advertised functionality. I do feel sorry for those that have purchased systems over the last nine months and suffered the lack of functionality and now poor reliability after install.

The support system offered by arlo is just broken and I imagine everyone here including the mods and super users are just as frustrated.

[Timmy256]

You guys are totally right, it's a shame what Arlo has become; it had a lot of potential but it's unreliable at the extreme.

My alarm is now not working again. To sum it up @Dannybear, the Base Station enter that state of not receiving the alarm/restart command after when exactly? If it loses connection to the Internet at some point?

I'm hoping that @JamesC would chime in on this. He's my only hope right now. Also @snip3rboy was the Arlo Engineers that worked out with me a generalized bug of USB drives not recording. Perhaps he can take a look at this siren bug too, or point us in the right direction. Guys, we are not just some random end users here; I'm also an Engineer myself (I even posted a security issue regarding OAuth, that was never addressed and that it's the top search result in Google for "arlo oauth security issue"), so please hear us out here. Our fellow members above posted detailed steps on how to reproduce this and the hypothesis on what might be going on.

Could you please let us know? Thanks.

[trebor711]

Any update? All I know is every three days or so I have to cycle the base station to get the damn alarm to work. For the money I have spent you would think I would have some answers. Arlo thanks for nothing and not getting back to me.

[ShayneS]

Hi trebor711

What firmware is your base station currently running? Have you updated your case with the continued siren issue while on the latest firmware? Case #40920929

[trebor711]

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@ShayneS wrote:

Hi trebor711

What firmware is your base station currently running? Have you updated your case with the continued siren issue while on the latest firmware? Case #40920929

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Hi @ShayneS Thank you for your quick response.  If you read thru these posts, you will notice I started this thread a couple of months ago. My base is running, which I believe is the latest firmware (1.14.0.2_2776) which I have been running for a few weeks now. I updated my case online and got no response.  I am really frustrated with the entire process. Any help you can give would be very appreciated. 

[Rf55]

My system still the same,power reset every couple days

[ShayneS]

Hi @Rf55

  Have you tried contacting customer support regarding this issue? I have attached the link here for you - Arlo Tech Support

[Timmy256]

There's been a firmware update for the Base Station a couple of days ago. Have this fixed the problem for you?

I can't test it right now (it's 6 AM here!), but I've tried restarting the Base from the Android app and it worked; after several days of trying and having that issue with not processing the request and ignoring the restart.

From the release notes:

Fixes an issue with formatting for local storage
Additional Bug Fixes