Dec 2nd firmware update

[Dbensette]

Is anybody having problems with the most recent ultra base station firmware?

I noticed my cameras which were connected to the ultra base station didn’t have any recording and kept going offline for some reason. I narrowed it down to only happening since the dec 2nd firmware update, and after some testing I realized that the base station will go online but goes offline as soon as any camera is triggered to record.

This is completely the opposite I would like a security camera to work. Why would I want a camera to go offline as soon as it’s triggered. Then no recording is saved afterwards?

I have been having geofence issues which I have relied on for over a year since iOS 13 and I am told it is being worked on and should be fixed in the next app update. Now, they have another “update” which is another step backwards.

Anybody else having this issue with the ultra? My arlo pro base is still working as expected, minus the geofence issue...

[surfer1000]

Caught up on feed and DMs, acknowledge some Ultra users having issues - was able to synch internally, teams are working on it and have been. Not widespread and difficult to reproduce. For anyone experiencing an issue, DM me your hub serial number and team will look at it today.

[srandall25]

Hello, first, who are you? You're asking people to send you their serial numbers but I see no credentials. Second, not widespread? Are you implying that not all Ultras are hardware equivalent? This is clearly a firmware issue. I was asked to send my base station in for replacement. The replacement base station is performing the exact same way... random base station disconnects and the same 1/4 zoomed in activity zone screen everyone else is complaining about. Why would this not be the same on every other identical Ultra on the market with the exact same firmware?

[JehovasFitness]

That doesnt sound sketchy at all

[RB321]

I got an automated email from Arlo this morning, as below. With that in mind, clearly the overwrite feature isn't working either?

We noticed that the SD card in your Arlo Ultra Hub is full.

You will no longer be able to record video clips to the SD card. Please go to the Arlo mobile app to delete older activity and re-activate storage of new recordings.

[surfer1000]

That's from CEO'S Twitter

[LandJS]

This is from arlo support or CEO twitter ?  How the hell are you going to go to the card from the app to delete anything when the app can't access the SD card, together with the fact that it specifically tells you it will overwrite older files when full.

[Chrisk2]

Originally I had 1 camera that on motion freaked out by base station.  I deleted the camera and added back so it does not freak out base but the motion window is broken,Monty shows top left 1/4.

Today I noticed a different camera has not recorded on 3 days.  Not all my walking dogs 4 feet from camera sets off the option recording.

Anyone else have the problem spreading to more cameras?

[RB321]

No, I got the info on an email.

You can reformat the SD from the web portal, and yes it deletes everything on it in the process.

As for overwrite? Just another of the many broken Arlo promises!

[JamesC]

The development team is hard at work to resolve these reported issues. I do not have an ETA for a fix to be released but will provide an update as soon as I have more information.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience while we work to resolve these issues.

JamesC

[surfer1000]

I hope Arlo are going to extend my subscription as a gesture of good will over this farce, 15days and counting with nothing working.

[MFAMG]

I think its time to update my Amazon review. 2 weeks with no fix, no real updates or aknowledgements and no ETA.

Not good enough  

[RB321]

Good luck with that!

It would be the right thing to do, agreed. But since when has that mattered?

[JamesC]

We are aware of a small number of users who have been negatively impacted due to recent Ultra FW releases. This resulted in false motion detection events, inconsistent activity zone behavior and SmartHub devices dropping offline. The development team is actively testing a firmware fix to address these concerns. Arlo would like to thank the users who have been working with our engineering team to provide field data to help us better understand what users are experiencing.

We will continue to update you on the progress and appreciate your patience while we work to deliver the fixes.

JamesC

[srandall25]

I appreciate the update James but I don’t believe this is only effecting a small number of users. This not only effected my original Ultra base station, but also the replacement one sent to me as well as the brand new one I purchased for my mother. This is a wide spread issue with all Ultras unless there is a reason for certain Ultra base station hardware to be different than others. I’ve seen countless messages and tweets on this issue. Let’s please not minimize the impact that this is having on most if not all Ultra users.

[LandJS]

I agree.  I have respect for what JamesC has been doing these past months but statements like that make me start to wonder.  This is the largest group of complaints I have seen in ten months.  I also know family with these issues who would never come on here, those who use these forums are a small percentage.  Also unlike previous complaints you aren't seeing others on here saying "no issues with mine".  This one was bad and to say it any other way is BS

[surfer1000]

My smart hub has R4 at the end and everyone on here who's given their hubs details show r4 aswell.

My system is totally crap the only thing I can do 50% of the time is live view and manually switch my lights on nothing works like it should, and its 15days and counting now

[RB321]

For the record, mine too is VMB5000r4

[RB321]

James, there is no mention of the Ultra cameras zooming into less than a 1/4 of the FOV (in settings/my devices/video settings), and not being able to set activity zones, FOV zoom and the like...has that been forgotten about?

This is also a widespread fault, or in your words, a limited number of people are having this issue!

FYI, I removed these affected ultra cameras from my system (Pro 2/Ultra mix) and re synced them, it fixed this issue for a few mins, and then reverted back to where it was. REALLY frustrating.

[JamesC]

RB321,

That issue is not forgotten. We're working on that as well but the fix for that is not part of the firmware release that will address the other issues. I will be sure to provide updates on that issue as well when I have more information.

JamesC

[srandall25]

Hello James,

I'm trying to interpret your last response. Are you saying that the next firmware release 'fix' will not include a fix for the 1/4 zoom screen issue? Also, I've been trying to find the release notes for the firmwares and all I see are release details from you saying "Security fix and bug fixes"... are there any release notes for the base station firmware that actually speak to real features or more specifics on what was actually fixed?

[JJAdV]

The code must be a mess.. I bet it's all undocumented from waves of engineers coming and going with little management. That's why small changes are causing big issues in other places, as no one really knows how its all tied together. Seen this a few times with companies and projects I have been involved with.

The classic tell tail is when features are released in the App, but the system code hasn't caught up yet, like the local storage thing.. One hand not knowing what the other is doing.

[53Crusher]

@JamesC  Thank you again for the information you have been able to provide so far. Am sure this is also a frustrating situation for you. As I have posted, a complete factory reset of everything left me with the 1/4 zoom issue after the last firmware update. Since I can't even set activity zones this causes my system to trigger every time it see a headlight 500 feet away. If Arlo fixed the 1/4 zoom issue and my smarthub falling offline all the time I think I would be back in business. Very disappointed to hear it won't be corrected in the next firmware release. I have left DM  of my smarthub serial number with Arlo CEO Matthew McRae on Twitter that have been ignored. I have posted here numerous times and nobody from Arlo has offered a suggested fix. I tried to open an online case only to have the system tell me it couldn't open the case. What am I supposed to do? It's been 15 days so far.......

[n1976jmk]

Hi 53Crusher.

One question with the 1/4 screen.

If you go to the video settings of the cameras is the ‘auto zoom & tracking’ enabled?

Also, have you tried enabling then disabling ‘auto HDR’ in the video settings as well?

Thanks!

[53Crusher]

@n1976jmk  Thank you so much for a positive suggestion to try!

This is the first suggestion I have received short of resetting my entire system, which I did. All four of my cameras had the "Auto HDR" toggled on so I tried turning it on and off a few times. I have not had "Auto Zoom and Tracking" enabled, but also tried to toggle that. Also did a couple variations with both of these settings. Unfortunately my camera is still showing only 1/4 of the video feed and that only looks at a piece of my wall. 

[n1976jmk]

I had that issue initially a couple times in April when I was setting my cameras up.

Two other small suggestions-

1- from the app (I use Apple iOS) in the video settings section. Try using pinch to zoom of the picture of the view to see if it’ll zoom out?

2- from a PC/laptop go to my.arlo.com and go to video settings and try clicking the ‘snapshot’ option.


Thanks!