VIRB Elite, locks up and will not respond to any of the buttons

My three Elites are reliable.

Ok, you just stated they where "much more reliable" since you begun rebooting them with power button after a lock up.
To me that gives they are not reliable, any lock up at all=unreliable. But we might have different expectations.

It is strange though, that just one person on these forums have reliable units.

Most other users here use the Virb with ant sensors, which I guess you don't since you are using it for motorbikes only.

On my next ride I will reset my Virb and not connect any ant+ devices (its unusable anyway since it looses connection with them).

My VIRB Elite works pretty well. Three freezes in the past 4 months, many hours of video recorded. Two of the freezes were right at the start of recording, so I didn't lose any video. A total of 15 minutes lost out of somewhere around 30 hours of video recorded in the last 4 months, and many stills. I've used my HR, GSC-10, and Tempe (but what's the point) with it. Not completely trouble free, but close.

The most annoying thing left is the inability to calibrate the altimeter. It often starts off hundreds of feet off.

It is strange though, that just one person on these forums have reliable units.

People who're happy about their devices don't generally spend time on forums.

Unlike me, of course.

Yes - second VIRB, still locking up all the time.

I read all these posts and I have to say:

1. When your camera locks up, I don't think it makes any difference in the files left behind if you pull the battery or hold in the power button till it shuts off. You end up with corrupted files either way. I do agree it's better to hold the power button than open the back to lessen the chance of messing up the back cover latch (as I did).

2. Doing a master reset (Garmin will always sugges this) does not help at all.

3. I've tried 5 different memory cards: 2 16GB, 1 32GB and 2 64GB cards formatted in FAT32 and exFAT, all class 10, some very high end class 10, and they all lock up in this camera only. None of them lock up in any of my other cameras. So - your problem is very unlikely to be your memory card.

4. Erasing the card in the camera doesn't help.

Last night I had my camera mounted upside down on my bars with image stabilization on. It locked up within 5 minutes.

I moved the camera to be mounted upright (so I could watch the light and tell when it locked up) and I turned off image stabilization and the camera didn't lock up.

So after suspecting memory cards, heart rate monitor, speed and cadence sensor, etc..., I'm now wondering if it has to do with these things:

1. "This side down" (mounting upside down) or
2. Image Stabilization ON or
3. Ultra-Zoom

At this point, I believe:

Upside Down, Image Stabilization ON, Ultra-Zoom = Lockup

Right Side Up, Image Stabilization OFF, Wide Angle = No Lockup

We shall see.

At this point, I believe:

Upside Down, Image Stabilization ON, Ultra-Zoom = Lockup

Right Side Up, Image Stabilization OFF, Wide Angle = No Lockup

We shall see.

mine has locked up several times in right side up, stabilization off, 1080 30fps and 720p 30fps both...

took mine back to the retailer to have them deal with the warranty exchange. i decided if i had to deal with that i might just lose it... ha.

sad, had some footage i wanted to capture on our ride tomorrow and on a SUP get together next weekend (i have the headstrap mount and the underwater case (among other mounts) yet no camera... decided the camera wasnt worth keeping around another week since it locks up more than it records these days...

Had mine replaced by Garmin as it was "broken".
I had some lockups and getting it in USB mode with a not-fully-charged battery was nearly impossible.

the current one has starting problems
http://youtu.be/TUeD_qi0X8M

This morning I got my 3rd VIRB Elite (firmware 3.10).
On the way back home it worked OK.
I connected it to the PC and started VIRB Edit.
It wanted to update the VIRB to 3.20 but I didn't so I could test this firmware first.
I placed the camera in front of the window, turned it on, than started the recording by remote.
When I returned to check on the battery, and nothing happened outside I tried to stop recording using the remote.
The VIRB Elite didn't react. When I picked it up it didn't react to anything and the picture it showed didn't move, it was locked up.
I only could turn it off by keeping the on/off button pressed.
After reboot everything was normal.
In the window GPS reception is poor, and from the GPS data it moves around about 40m.
So before updating to 3.20 I'm going to do the same test with the GPS off in order to locate the problem.
To be continued.

Absolutely disgusted in Garmin's lack of response on their own forum. Admission of fault by their silence I would say. I've just lost my Tour de France footage that I waited in position for 4 hours to get. My Garmin Elite has just started doing this after 6 months of owning it. Thanks Garmin. My 705 is playing up aswell!