MicroSD continuous & event recording not working as expected in various situations

Cameras
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1

I have been having continued difficulties using the continuous recording feature to MicroSD cards (128GB & 256GB sizes) on Cam v3, Cam v3 Pro and Cam OG for several months now. I searched forums and summarized here for reference.

PROBLEMS - CONTINUOUS RECORDING to MicroSD does not work

Looking at other user’s posts in the forum there are several conditions where CONTINUOUS recording does not work. To summarize, continuous recording will (may) stop working when:

  1. Camera (Cam v3, Cam v3 Pro, Cam OG) when it loses network WiFi and/or Internet connection
  2. Night Vision turns on, stopping continuous recording
  3. Rules-based restart of camera causes continuous recording to stop
  4. One or more files are corrupted on the MicroSD card (either by write operation during recording or power outage or ?)
  5. MicroSD card reaches capacity (overwrite function does not work, card needs to be reformatted to restart continuous recording)
  6. One post stated continuous recording limited to 100GB on 256GB card, but I have not seen this

PROBLEM #1 - CONTINUOUS RECORDING STOPS WITHOUT NETWORK/INTERNET

I know this is not currently supported on Cam OG and WISHLIST started for this.
This should work for ALL cameras, Cam v3 and Cam v3 Pro. Perhaps this is the reason for corrupted files. Can Wyze Development team work (with vendors who wrote code for some of cameras, if they didn’t) to fix this across all cameras?

PROBLEM #2 - CONTINUOUS RECORDING STOPS NEAR MICROSD CAPACITY (Cam v3)

This has been a long-standing problem. MicroSD card gets full (114.95/119.01GB or 229.95/238.15GB). This usually results in NO CONTINUOUS RECORDING of recent/current stream and/or events… problematic if looking at history for security event/concern. This may be due to corrupt file, power off/on, lost wifi/internet connectivity… but this needs to be corrected to work regardless of these situations. I can’t keep monitoring all my cameras to ensure they are working. Once I format the MicroSD card in the Cam v3 (Pro) it again begins to record continuously… it is rare event where it stops recording if MicroSD card is NOT NEAR CAPACITY (however, see next point). I’ve seen some suggestions of formatting on PC/MAC before installing in Cam v3 (Pro), etc… or finding corrupt file and removing so it works… but many cameras require a ladder to access on the buildings on which they are mounted.

PROBLEM #3 - ADVANCED SETTINGS FOR MICROSD CARD “CHANGE”

I am seeing “Record to MicroSD” turn OFF by itself. I also see it change sometimes from Continuous to Events Only. Some other times it shows NO MICROSD CARD when there is one installed, and later it magically appears as installed. These “glitches” on settings started in early November if I recall. Frustrating when trying to ensure continuous recording and firmware/hardware & software acting up.

PLAYBACK OF CONTINUOUS RECORDING

I have also seen some changes in the Wyze App (since OCT/NOV 2023, perhaps with addition of new v3 Pro cameras) that the continuous recording is accessible from TWO (2) different areas of the WYZE (IOS) app:

1A. One (for Cam v3) is from the HOME page, for a specific camera, SELECT, VIEW PLAYBACK and then change DATE/TIME, with grayscale timeline showing video recorded timeline.

1B. Option (for Cam v3) is from EVENTS page for a specific camera, SELECT, click PLAYBACK and then navigate DATE/TIME as before (option 1A)

2A. Second (for Cam v3 Pro) is from HOME page, for a specific camera, SELECT, choose SD CARD icon, and change DATE/TIME with grayscale on right to show date/times ot recorded video.

2B. Option (for Cam v3 Pro) is from EVENTS page for a specific camera, SELECT, click PLAYBACK and then navigate DATE/TIME as before (option 2A)

PROBLEM #4 - UNABLE TO VIEW RECORDED VIDEO w APP on CAM v3

Now… there is currently a problem with the PLAYBACK in other HOME/EVENTS for Cam v3 cameras… if you change the date/time and scale shows grayscale (recorded video) it does NOT change the video displayed above. For example, I see DEC 27 now and I changed back to DEC 15 (2023) and it does not update to view the recorded video at that time, and the chosen date (DEC 15) gets reset to DEC 27 as shown on the current video. In effect, I can not look at past video recordings,.

TIME is SYNC’d on all DEVICES
Cam v3 Pro FW 4.58.11.7357 (latest/current)
Cam v3 FW 4.36.11.7095 (latest/current)
WYZE APP IOS v2.48.0.6
iPhone 13 Pro @ IOS v17.2.1
Yes… all cameras on CAM PLUS subscription since DEC 2022 (which reminds me…)

PROBLEM #5 - CONTINUOUS RECORDING NOT AVAILABLE FOR EVENTS 12-15s

My understanding that with Cam Plus subscription, cameras would record longer than 12-15s for EVENTS (person or car) … however, I am never able to easily see extended 15s+ EVENTS… I have to go search CONTINUOUS RECORDING versus access as part of the event.

Does the Cam Plus subscription not extend the 12-15sec event recording to longer time given subscription and availability the continuous recording? If not, is there a way to view EVENT such that continuous recording can be accessed for a specific event? For example, see event and click on playback for specific event so you can scroll forward/back in time from event moment.

Grant

2

The Wyze Cam OG will continue to record, the issue is after about 30 minutes the cam attempts to reboot to re-establish the connection. When it reboots it essentially forgets the time if it cannot connect and get it. Due to that the recordings end up saved in a different location and the card needs to be removed from the camera to see them.

As for the other issues I will see if I can reproduce any of them. I will also send them to the team to see if they are being worked on.

3

Xfinity just dropped the internet again for about 20 min and all four V3 cams and the one V3 Pro continued to record continuous without issue. The 128GB cards start rewrite when they get to 119GB and the 256GB cards start at 238GB.
I am using iOS devices.