Virb Elite firmware 3.2 hard freeze at beginning of recording.

Since there is no Virb hardware forum, I am forced to place this here.

I am using a brand new Sandisk Ultra 32GB HC U1 microSD.

I've experienced this issue on several of my rides, causing me to have no footage - a clip of a road raging driver was missed which would have been REALLY helpful to have. I reset the Virb and it seemed to be OK, but after several rides realized my heart rate monitor and cadence sensor were turned off. After I turned them back on, this freezing issue occurs often.

I start and stop recording with the slide button. When this issue occurs, at the end of my ride I see that 8 or so seconds have been recorded, and the screen is stuck and seems to require the battery to be removed to fix.

Any ideas? Any logs I can harvest from the device to send to someone? Do I have to replace my brand new SD card? Do I need to replace my Virb?

0 mtbikexcski over 11 years ago

FYI - I think memory card problems are highly unlikely to be the issue. I have tried 5 different class 10 memory cards in 2 different VIRB Elites and have had the VIRB lockup using all 5 cards. Garmin likes you to think it's a memory card issue. It's not. Your card is probably seated correctly if it records any clips at all. Garmin will have you do a master reset on the unit which won't fix anything.

I've managed to eliminate:

1. Memory Cards (16GB, 32GB and 64GB all lock up)
2. Memory Card Format (FAT32 and exFAT both lock up)
3. Formatted on a MAC vs. PC (doesn't matter which, it locks up)
4. Heart Rate Monitor (locks up with or without it connected/enabled)
5. Speed and Cadence Sensor (locks up with or without it connected/enabled)
6. Video Resolution (locks up in both 1080p/30 and 720p/60)

I am now trying to determine if orientation, ultra-zoom and image stabilization have anything to do with lock ups.

The way I mount and use the camera normally is:

- Image Stabilization ON
- Ultra Zoom ON
- "THIS SIDE DOWN" (i.e. upside down)

And it locks up all the time.

Yesterday it did NOT lock up with:

- Image Stabilization OFF
- Wide Angle
- Camera with "THIS SIDE UP" (right side up)

We'll see if I can narrow it down to one of those - or a combination of those.

Looks like we're all Beta testers for Garmin.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

About the GPS data there is still a problem, try this work around:https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?75263-How-To&p=290025#post290025
About the regular lockups, try get a replacement unit, there are that work like they should. I'm on my third.

0 changrenyong over 10 years ago

I have a Virb Elite with the latest firmware (version 3.20). It constantly freezes inexplicably too. I'm using a Transcend 32GB class 10 card. I have had it frozen when recording in time-lapsed mode with the WiFi on. It froze on me several times when i was snorkeling with the dive case (WiFi disabled). As you can imagine, it was a pain in the ass to have to remove the Virb from the dive case, take the battery out, put the battery back in and then put the Virb back in the dive case each time it froze up. Tried a different micro SD card as well but it did not appear to help with the occasionally freezing issue.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

Has there been any update to the freezing issue - the seems to be no updates?

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

In the same boat from the beginning, my Virb Elite would freeze regularly.
I first thought the problem was the battery overheating (I live in the tropical Darwin) but it doesn't seem to be the problem.

I tried with different SD card with or without the factory reset and I record most of the time on 1080p with Lens correction and stabilizer :

- Original one Kingston class 10 64GB HC : freezing regularly
- Original one Kingston class 10 32GB HC : freezing regularly
- SanDisk Extreme PLUS 32GB HC1 : freezing regularly

With the same memory cards I took pictures on time lapse for hour and it never froze so it feels like a bit rate issue.

I really love this camera but I was getting really frustrated and after spending quite some time on forums I decided to try with the fastest SD card I could find and I tried the
SanDisk Extreme PLUS microSDXC UHS-I Card 64GB (Speed up to 80MB/s)

So far so good after a few days of trial, not one freeze.
It's not a full victory yet but I hope this was the solution.

If any of you guys had your VIRB freeze with the "SanDisk Extreme PLUS microSDXC UHS-I Card 64GB" please let us know.

I will keep on testing.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

I just bought two basic virb and they both freeze on start up. I have a SDHC 4GB card for testing and two SanDisk Extreme microSDXC 64GB cards coming later today.
I'm ready to send these back. I got them for $100. I wonder if they are being discontinued because of this?

The first indication of a problem is when I went to charge the battery. It charged for almost two days and I decided to unplug it. I find out that it's charged but
the camera froze, that's why the LED stayed RED. Tried turning it on and could not get past the setup page. I was once able to get to the time setting page, but
that was by luck and it hung. In fact, I even got it to hang transitioning screens from language selection to time format setup page (12/24 hrs).

I then opened up the 2nd Virb and same issue. So I'm thinking it's the SDHC 4GB card. I will get the SDXC cards later today and I'll try it out.

Gary

UPDATE:
=====
Appears the issue was with the 4gb sdhc card. The cameras are working fine with the SanDisk Extreme Pro/Plus cards.