[POLL] Force firmware update? Don't bug me! 🐜

[Customer]

Wonder how this is going to happen. I’ve been assuming there is a secret phone home kill switch in ALL the old firmware that will accept a forced update. But maybe there just isn’t? Maybe my old, old firmware will stay untouched (as the RTSP variant reportedly will) and will either (a) stop working or (b) just keep working? I almost never run the actual app - the only recent exception was when one of my bulbs decided to forget its identity after a brief fixture cleaning removal.

[peepeep]

[Customer]

Okay okay. Maybe the terminally unfunny couple in the poorly written new ads are an improvement after all.

[peepeep]

I have two theories. Certain generations have never experienced societal stability so they doubt its concrete existence. Disrupting something relatively stable is a service to humanity because entropy. Stock comedy has become parody of parody of parody ad nauseam. So gaseous from the get-go. Unsatisfying.

Pass the absinthe.

[OldSWEngr]

I went with firmware version 4.9.8.501 which is latest firmware that is not currently paused. I installed the firmware from SD card onto 9 cameras without issue. All nine seem to work okay. Now why does the app prompt for firmware update when the newer two firmware versions are paused due to IA issue?

[peepeep]

Well done! (no irony whatsoever)

I will follow your progress with interest.

[peepeep]

Good citizen voluntary disclosure:

v2 firmies
4.9.7.1068 (September 8, 2021)
prodo softy
2.28.0.102 (January 26, 2022)

---

People who aren’t even trying:

@Customer

Maybe my old, old firmware will stay untouched (as the RTSP variant reportedly will) and will either (a) stop working or (b) just keep working? I almost never run the actual app…

Peeposterous! We’re watching fellas like  you now so mind your pints and quarts…

[Customer]

@peepeep

pints and quarts

Imperialist.

[peepeep]

Pop-Up Upgrade your camera firmware

Earlier today, when I opened the Wyze app I received a pop-up notification telling me I should update the firmware on my cameras. The only problem is, I’m running the RTSP firmware on all but one. I checked my cameras and as far as I can tell I’m on the current version for the PanCam V2 and all my RTSP cameras. I assume this is a mistake and that Wyze won’t force me to replace the RTSP firmware on my cameras later, but it does make me wonder what’s in store.

 

---

 

@mpatton125

They aren’t going to fix anything. They did what they set out to do - forcibly update the firmware on other people’s equipment.

@Newshound

I don’t think they’ve done anything yet?

@mpatton125

Definitely have.

My two cameras have been updated to 4.9.8.501… and I certainly didn’t do it.

@bkuri

All my cameras have been updated [4.9.8.501] and I didn’t do it, so you tell me.

@Customer

Mine too! [4.9.8.501] Including the one they managed to kill!

I guess I have to stop saying I’m running ancient firmware. And even now it wants to upgrade to a newer version.

@peepeep

my v2’s are still on 4.9.7.1068 (one update before 4.9.8.501) not auto-updated thus far.

 

---

 

[Customer]

@Customer

. I’ve been assuming there is a secret phone home kill switch in ALL the old firmware that will accept a forced update. But maybe there just isn’t? Maybe my old, old firmware will stay untouched (as the RTSP variant reportedly will) and will either (a) stop working or (b) just keep working?

First assumption - secret phone home kill switch on ALL old versions - proved correct. I got hit, and one of my cameras did not make it out alive. I won’t be climbing up in this winter weather to rescue it any time soon. Power pull didn’t help so it seems Wyze bricked my camera.

The other V2s got upgraded and stayed alive although they haven’t improved at all. Notifications still take 30+ seconds, same unstable WiFi, same broken SD card support. Sigh.

[peepeep]

Thanks for the update, bub.
 

---

 

@OldSWEngr

I went with firmware version 4.9.8.501 which is latest firmware that is not currently paused. I installed the firmware from SD card onto 9 cameras without issue. All nine seem to work okay. Now why does the app prompt for firmware update when the newer two firmware versions are paused due to IA issue?

Seven days on, still good performance, @OldSWEngr ?
 

---

Wyze cam V3 stuck on solid red light

Looks like the forced updates have started! Out of 5 V3 cams : 1- is the sole survivor of the original 5 which I have updated to the latest firmware 4.36.8.26 (because I figured I might as well since it already had an update done and likely its days were numbered). 1- has 4.36.1.12 which I find suspicious not only because it originally had 4.36.1.10 (which I NEVER updated) but also because that one cam went half offline all of a sudden (meaning it showed Offline on main screen & Google Nest h…

[WildBill]

@Customer

I got hit, and one of my cameras did not make it out alive.

Stupid question: Is the camera still under warranty? If not, do you think Wyze will replace it since their firmware bricked it? I’m not optimistic that they will. Want a $5 credit towards a new V3?

[Customer]

@WildBill

Stupid question: Is the camera still under warranty? If not, do you think Wyze will replace it since their firmware bricked it? I’m not optimistic that they will. Want a $5 credit towards a new V3?

Dunno, probably not. No way. Me neither. No thanks.

I’ve got an unused 2-3 ft. drill bit itching to help run some Cat 5 though.

[OldSWEngr]

@peepeep

@OldSWEngr

I went with firmware version 4.9.8.501 which is latest firmware that is not currently paused. I installed the firmware from SD card onto 9 cameras without issue. All nine seem to work okay. Now why does the app prompt for firmware update when the newer two firmware versions are paused due to IA issue?

Seven days on, still good performance, @OldSWEngr ?

Yes, no problem with 4.9.8.501 on my v2 cameras. I don’t has an SD card in any yet so cannot comment on function of that. I just discovered that I have not yet updated firmware on one v2 cam at another address. It is still on 4.9.6.241. I’ll update that one to 4.9.8.501 soon.

[Customer]

@Customer

. Power pull didn’t help so it seems Wyze bricked my camera.

Update: It’s alive!!

The camera came back all by itself. Must have gotten wet maybe. Strange coincidence since none of my outdoor cameras have ever died this way and come back. (One died period.) Sorry then, Wyze?

[peepeep]

@WyzeGwendolyn

…we’re requiring that all Wyze Cam v2, v3, Pan, and Video Doorbell products be updated to the current firmware version. We recommend you update them yourself to control the timing. Otherwise, we will likely push updates to outdated devices beginning February 1 through February 15, 2022 . (Updates to Wyze Cam Outdoor are coming soon - stay tuned.

The nuanced reality emerges:

@carverofchoice

Wyze announced recently that some people who still had really old firmware would have more recent firmware pushed to their cams to make sure they would support their latest security options.

[my emphases]

[Customer]

And you’ll note that was addressed in the very first of my Unanswered Upgrade Questions of 2022 in that very thread:

@Customer

You have to be more transparent here. For some people this will mean failed updates and climbing on icy snowy ladders to reset cameras and try card flashing in mid air in the dead of winter.

1. When you say "latest* do you mean only the absolutely latest firmware will be supported?
2. When exactly will previous firmware stop working with Wyze services?
3. Is there a current exploit or threat that leaves any part of Wyze systems or user activity vulnerable?

3b. If so, why is the service still allowed to those vulnerable machines? Why not cut them off NOW

[kae4560]

Are you haveing a senior moment?

[Customer]

Now that is thick irony indeed.

[peepeep]