Wyze the only camera you spend more time fixing than watching 
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actually the cameras are not at fault it’s the firm wire that they push out that usually fails to install. Unfortunately Wyze is not figured out the problem yet with their updates I think internally they need more quality control more testing before they release it. I only had one recently and it was a V3 that brick from a firmware thing and I followed somebody’s advice and reinstalled the firmware an earlier model and it came right back.
But the bottom line is this: we as customers should not be used as guinea pigs for not ready for prime time software. Their software program seems to be adequate but it’s very dated. It would be nice and I know they would spend money doing it but it would be nice to have a third-party write a brand new program taking into account all the suggestions implementing those which are sensible and contacting the people and telling them what the process is going to be.
One thing I would dearly love them to change is the Chatbot that they use in the Support area . Whoever wrote that and designed the responses that are shown to customers who are seeking help must’ve been an escape from an insane asylum that is the dumbest chatbot I’ve ever used.
I just received my black V3 0G camera and I’m hoping that this comes ready to roll without any hidden problems I really like the black color.
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“Be safe, Be happy, Be well”
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Just an FYI, I had two separate v3’s brick doing the 4.36.11.5869 OTA update. The manual flash procedure above did fix both…
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Finally got my Can 3 to work again. I tried flashing the updated firmware several times but it didn’t work. It never had the “purple” lights when I tried. Then I followed some advice above in this thread and tried an earlier firmware version (two back). I also got the purple lights for the first time. It appeared that that one did update when I followed the procedure.
Then I tried to connect to my network and it failed several times. I knew the update had worked to some extent because the “failure to connect to the network” message was different than it had been with a more recent firmware version. Instead of saying “failed to connect to network” or words to that effect it said “failed to connect to network, Please try again.” I thought I had a real problem. I took out the MicroSD card with the update on it and noticed that it also had new folders containing video files. The camera was capturing movement even though it was not connected to the network. Better than that, the images and folders all had the correct time and date stamps. That must mean the Cam 3 has some internal backup battery that maintains the clock at least. Finally, I managed to connect to the network. I discovered that my problem was that my mobile was switching back to the 5 gig from the 2.4 gig network during the update, probably generating an incorrect barcode. I searched for and found a spot where only the 2.4 gig network would connect. Now I have the camera back. It only took weeks 
but it was not bricked. The first thing it did was ask to update to the latest firmware. I did it and the camera is working just fine.
Cheers
David
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I believe I will stop using “Update All” when applying firmware.
I wonder if the “All” process floods the network by upgrading all devices at once. Does anyone know if the updates are performed in a serial or parallel process?
I believe I have a strong network. I stream 4K videos and live-broadcasts most of the day without issue.
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I think that a clearly written and simple step-by-step procedure would be beneficial
Remember the rule " K.I.S.S"
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I can’t say for certain, but I believe it is an all cam blast because when I do this, multiple cams will reboot after the update simultaneously rather than in timed series.
I have requested that Wyze implement a Progressive Bulk Update process wherein one cam is updated and verified before moving on to the next. (shameless plug for votes)
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Added my vote. Great idea. 
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That can definitely could have affected the update; your phone switching bands. My suggestion would be to first put your phone on the 2.4 band and on the 5ghz band, deselect the “auto reconnect”. Once everything is updated, you can then turn “auto reconnect” back on. (Android, not sure about iOs)
Oops! The camera is working now BUT it used to record 12 seconds of motion and upload it – because I was one of the early adopters for CAM PLUS… I don’t subscribe but my two Cam 2 and 2 Cam 3s all had the motion enabled. Now the Cam 3 that crashed during the software update no longer shows 12 seconds of motion. It does record to the SD card but only shows a still photo, the same as my newest Cam 3 (that I purchased to replace the one that failed – I gave up to soon so now I have 5 Wyze cams )
Your old cams that were still getting legacy 12s video without a subscription shouldn’t have.
When you reinstalled the cam it reset it and the server cought the discrepancy. The legacy 12s without a subscription has been gone for nearly 2 years. Any time you update firmware, setup, or delete and reinstall one of those legacy cams that haven’t been brought up to date with the current subscription tiers, you run the risk of the Wyze server catching it and purging it from the legacy 12s without a subscription.
The new cams introduced after the V3 (OG, V3Pro, PanV3, FLP) are not compatible with Cam Plus Lite. But the V3 and prior are. It is still available and can still be had for $0. If you want to restore your 12s video to those older cams and pick up Person Smart Detection AI in the process, you will need to subscribe to Cam Plus Lite. One subscription covers all your compatible cams.
I recommend the WYZE engineers add some code to either buffer the new firmware download to each camera and confirm a complete download before installing, otherwise the cam just reverts to existing firmware and shows a failed update — OR — they add code to batch updates to run in serial rather than parallel, so if a camera bricks, only one does at a time rather than an entire suite of cameras. Not everyone will have as much time and determination to spend two days and 10 hours figuring out the fix. Most people will assume the camera is dead and buy another brand. Since this issue with incomplete firmware updates is not a user problem, but rather a software update problem, I recommend the WYZE engineers tackle it. With all the IOT devices now, someone has figured out how to buffer against these signal drops over Wifi.
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All that needs to be posted in the Wishlist topic I linked above. Wyze won’t see it here. They monitor the Wishlist.
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Completely no joy. I’m an IT Professional and I know all about updating firmware on devices. I have Wyze Cam v3. Like many others, it fubar’d on 4.36.10.4054. I formatted a new 32GB card, Fat32, downloaded the latest firmware **[4.36.11.7095], put on root folder, put card in cam, hold setup, plug in, after 3-4 seconds turns purple then… nothing. 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 2 hours… no matter how many times i repeat this process, it always never progresses past purple. Also, all the steps to factory reset do nothing. Its only solid red light no matter what I do. So pretty much, failure at purple and every other combination of anything is just solid red. I’ve tried with 2 different cards and 3 different cables and power supplies. Any ideas from anyone?
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Some notes posted in a related thread.
I am assuming the answer is yes but I need to ask anyway have you tried different firmware from much earlier than the one that Bricked Your V3 camera?
Didn’t see it mentioned but have you tried to reset the cam a few times BEFORE attempting to reflash it?
Have you also tried using a different AC/DC usb adapter? The reason i ask because i have come across adapters that fluctuate DC output under a load and that can affect the writing of the code to an eeprom. Sorta like your car battery puts out 12vdc and the lights turn on, radio turns on, but the car won’t start because it can’t support the amp draw of the starter motor.
If you have an older Amazon Echo device, look on the bottom and see if it says 9W. If so, try that adapter. It puts out a little more than 5vdc. Or find one that has 5vdc 2amp output.
Try it and lets see if it resolves your issue.
Btw, i am also an IT professional (Systems Engineer), and if you know Cisco and certain PLC companies, you must use certain memory cards and or specific hardware that they tell you or the PLC (for example) will not update. No different than using non HP ink or toner voids your warranty because the cheap refills clogs the nozzles or the toner doesn’t adhere and gets all over the transfer drum and over everything inside of it.
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It has been a very, very long time since I have had the need to flash firmware to a V3. I have yet to need to recover a V3 from a failed update. Flashing them in my case is usually a reversion to test firmware glitch origins. During the initial rollout of 4.36.10.xxxx, I was flashing back to 4.36.9.xxx and 4.36.8.xxx, however I have not had to flash back from 4.36.11.xxxx yet.
I have a V3 test cam on the desk updated to current, and FW archived back to 4.36.0.xxx. I will try to push back to 4.36.8.xxx tonight, update, and repeat with 4.36.10.xxxx and an earlier 4.36.11.xxxx to see if I can get it to let out its smoke.
Completed the following twice with a successfully updated and functional cam running FW 4.36.11.7095. The first round of Flash procedures all failed (NOT a Wyze problem - see below). The second round was fully successful:
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Used a Samsung 32GB SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.8.32
- Flash successful
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.11.7095 using Samsung 32GB SD Card (rather than progressive OTA updates)
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Used a Gigastone 32GB SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.9.139
- Flash successful
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.11.7095 using Samsung 32GB SD Card (rather than progressive OTA updates)
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Used a Kootion 32GB SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.10.3406
- Flash successful
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.11.7095 using Samsung 32GB SD Card (rather than progressive OTA updates)
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- Used a Wyze 32GB SD Card
- Flashed to 4.36.11.7071
- Flash successful
- In App Setup successful, fully operational
- Factory Reset CamV3 without SD Card
- OTA updated to 4.36.11.7095 successfully
- Cam fully functional
While all the Flashing just about wore out the Setup button through two test rounds, the first test round did reveal an additional possible failure cause when Flashing Firmware.
it appears that the File Management Utility App I am using has a bug in it that is not extracting the .bin file properly to the Root of the mounted SD Card connected by OTR USB Multi SD reader. It shows a successful transfer with the proper .bin name and file size, however remounting of the same SD Card then results in a null file size.
Solution: Using the native File Management App to my OS, I extracted the same .bin files to the SD Cards and successfully completed all Flash sequences.
My conclusion from this test is that the new Firmware is not the cause of cams bricking nor is it the cause for failures in Firmware Flashes. Rather, the OTA Firmware Download, Delivery, and File Verification process prior to the install of the Firmware is failing, thereby creating an incomplete install and a bricked cam. Flash Failures are more likely to be caused by incorrectly formatted or corrupt SD Cards, the wrong .bin file being extracted or renamed improperly, or the File Extraction Utility not properly transferring the .bin to the SD Card.
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