Camera recording to SDCard but no video in Library

[pjama]

Last year I had extended problems where my Ultra cams were recording videos onto my local SDcard but they weren't being uploaded to the portal library. per https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Ultra/Camera-recording-but-no-video-on-portal-New-thread/m-p/1719...

Well, the last couple of weeks I've suspected I've missed a few videos in the portal library that should have been there but haven't directly checked my SDcard because it's such a pain in the butt to do so (1).

Anyway, this afternoon I walked right under one of my Ultras and did not get a video in the portal library so I pulled and checked my SDCard and there is was.

My internet connection is rock solid. I've been using it to work from home for months now and it hasn't missed a beat.

I spent multiple 10s of hours on support, trouble shooting and following up last time and IIRC it was a backend server issue. I REALLY don't want to do that again, please don't suggest I log a call.

My free 12 months of portal use is nearly up and I feel I really lost a few months because of the previous issues.

Can Arlo just fix this please!

Cheers

Peter

(1) It's a pain in the butt because the long promised access being able to access the SDcard is only available via the app, not a PC browser and it only works sometimes.

[steamyb]

Hi,

I am getting same with my Ultra. I have raised a case with Arlo so awaiting feedback from that. I am in the usual dialogue of “have you tried this? How many connections? What version of this that the other are you using?” at the moment. I can probably presume a lot more more people are having this issue but are not noticing recordings going to the sd card but not to the cloud. I will update the outcome on here as soon as I hear anything. 

[jguerdat]

The most likely scenario is that you have Arlo Smart enabled. The video is uploaded and the servers post-process it ti determine what triggered the recording. If it's determined that it's something that you don't want/need according to your Smart settings, the recording is deleted. It's possible that Smart misidentified the subject so threw the video away.

Try deactivating the camera in Smart settings to see if that helps.

And the app works every time I need to look at local storage here, on multiple hubs/bases.

[steamyb]

@jguerdat OK I have removed both cameras from the smart feature. I like the original poster cannot view the sd card recordings in a browser. I have tried Firefox and Safari and can only view local recordings on the iphone/ ipad app

[pjama]

Just a follow up on mine and other posts:

Good luck with support. My experience with them was sub optimal. There seems to be a disconnect between first contact support and technical support and a long wait between getting from one to the other. I agree that people would not notice recordings going to the SDcard... *IF* they have one. Generally it would go TOTALLY unnoticed which is concerning and should be addresses by Arlo.

I think I can rule out Arlo Smart because it was a camera over my driveway and a car front and centre taking up about 20% of the view.  In the android app, I've got all on except animals (damn possums!) so it should detect a car or trigger "all Other motion". It shouldn't detect my car as an animal and suppress the alert.

> And the app works every time I need to look at local storage here, on multiple hubs/bases.

Yeah, that might just be me. I generally use a shared-to account (because several of us monitor two sites) which doesn't show the SDcard. When I do log into the site account, the SDcard does show up but sometimes it takes a few minutes.

> I like the original poster cannot view the sd card recordings in a browser.

It is only available in the phone app not a web browser which is a bit disappointing. Hopefully Arlo are working on that.

Last time I had this issue, I spent a LOT of time comparing cloud vs SDcard recordings and changing this and that all the while saying it seems to be a back end server issue which it was. I don't wish to spend a lot of time again going through support and/or comparing videos, I just want a system I can have confidence in particularly now that my 1st year included subscription has expired and I'm now paying monthly.

As it happens, last night, it seems I had some sort of internet outage and videos were recorded to the SDcard but not the cloud library. This is exactly as designed by Arlo and I commend them for it however if it wasn't for the SDcard, AND me checking it AND having the phone app to do so, I wouldn't have had a clue. I knew I was missing a cloud video of someone (known) coming down my driveway last night so the only two options were: 1) check the SDCard because I have one or 2) wonder how many other videos Alro missed.

I'd like to see Arlo include something to alert the owner that there may be an issue. Either by noting there was an internet access problem or there is a difference between SDCard vs Cloud Library. A display of number of videos in each for the day might be a start.

Cheers

P

[steamyb]

Totally agree P I am coming up to my year end and totally getting p'ed off with this system now and their contact support.

I am in the UK and paid a hefty price for this system which according to the initial reviews was the bees knees.

Good point about people who don't have SD cards installed not being aware of potential missing files on the cloud.

Apologies for tagging onto your original post but I thought strength in numbers may help to get our issues sorted.

If you would like me to start my own post please let me know.

I do have a quick update as per below though which may result in some good news but has some additional 'bugs' I have discovered.

After preliminary tests with Arlo Smart as sugessted by Jguerdat I can say the number of recordings in the Cloud now mathc number on the sd card .... however, ...... some of the sd recordings show a black screen and do not playback, plus what recordings were originally recognised as animal or person are now marked as motion. The only thing that has changed I am aware of is the recently updated app so maybe this is the issue?

Alex

[jguerdat]

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@steamyb wrote:

@jguerdat OK I have removed both cameras from the smart feature. I like the original poster cannot view the sd card recordings in a browser. I have tried Firefox and Safari and can only view local recordings on the iphone/ ipad app

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Correct - only the app can be used to view local recordings. It's been suggested that the browser be made capable of doing so, too, but no idea if/when this will get implemented.

[JehovasFitness]

somewhat similar problem. Library and Cloud recordings do not match. Library/Hub recording records properly, cloud recording misses 80% of the event, usually in one direction

[pjama]

> Library and Cloud recordings do not match.

That *might* actually be because you have transient internet access problems and be working as intended* BUT I really think Arlo should introduce some notification system to alert the user of this. Unless you have an SDcard AND you check, you are blissfully unaware you may have had intruders. I find this terribly confidence eroding.

* Having videos saving to the cloud and an SDcard, if available, ensures you at least have a video if the cloud is unavailable for some reason.

[fenton11]

I’m having the same issue with my arlo pro 3 cameras. Has anyone had luck resolving this?