Hero 7 Black Camera freezing and recording isn't missing. [ New ]

[Anonymous]

I shot some footage two days ago on my Hero 7 Black, and I had installed the latest update just prior to shooting.

I was experiencing a strange screen freeze when I wasn't recording. The camera was set to shoot 1080 60fps, and the display would just randomly freeze. I tried switching to photo mode and back to video mode to see if I could unfreeze it. Sometimes it worked, but it was sluggish and made the camera unavailable to use for several seconds.

I was able to shoot some footage, however two clips that I shot don't seem to be on the card. I'm attaching a photo of the file list on the card.

While I was shooting, I got no indication that the camera was having problems. The display was working, it wasn't freezing, then and the red light was flashing. When I tried to stop the camera, everything seemed to freeze then. The display froze, the counter froze as well, and there was a red light in the display like it was recording, however I don't believe it was. The camera at this point was unresponsive, and I finally had to pull the battery to get it to reset.

I tried to play the clips in the camera display, and the two clips didn't show up. I also couldn't find or play them when I attached the card to my computer.

You can see from the file list that the files GH010705 and GH010706 both have zero bytes.

I'm very disappointed that my footage is missing. I've never had a GoPro fail like this, and I can't get those moments back.

[jefft]

@Anonymous - It's possible that those two files had errors as they were saving. One thing to check is that the SD card you're using is compatible with the GoPro you're using. A list of compatible cards is at https://gopro.com/help/articles/block/microSD-Card-Considerations.

If you have another card from our list that you can try, it would be good to see if that second card has the same issues. It would also be a good idea to reformat the SD card you're using. You can do this in the GoPro itself from the menu options. Note that reformatting the card will erase the card, so be sure to save what's on there first.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jeff. I was using the Sandusky Extreme V30 64gb, which I pulled out of my Hero 6. Would that cause the camera to freeze when I’m not recording?

[keiranh0]

I'm also having issues with constant freezing. I've return 2 Hero 7 Black's so far. I'm on to my 3rd now, which still has issues but less so than the other 2. Recording in 4k 60fps cause instant freezing and unresponsiveness, need to pull out the battery to restart. Dropping it to 4k 30 fps still causes freezing but less frequently.

Search YouTube and Google and these forums plenty of ppl are having the same issue... Hopefully will be fixed with firmware update.

I really think gopro released this way to early as there are clearly issues. Will be returning my third camera when I'm back from holidays

FYI I'm using gopro approved Samsung EVO Select 128GB Micro ssd

[mariustanya]

Thank you for sharing your observations, @keiranh0. We have this reported to the team for a closer look. Did you have your exchanges via GoPro? Is there a case number that we can use as reference? 

[robert1326]

hi,

in 1.51 never had this kind of issues.

updated to 1.61 - without formating before the SD card

and I encounter in 2 days, 3 times exactly what you said.

- split video screen 

- freeze image

- at the end freeze camera

Plus, the camera was slow responding:

- in menu

- power on/off

- when stop a video recording

- in undestand voice commands 

What I did is:

- factory reset on H7 - I did not make the initial setup (language, pair with phone, etc....), power off

- format SD card in the laptop

- copied the UPDATE folder

- made the manual update

- format again the SD card

- went through the initial setings (language, pair with phone...)

the effect is visible:

- camera moves between menus very well

- no more delays in responding to power on/off, to video stop recording

- understands the voice commands better

- I recorded more than 70h of video since, all 4K, with and w/o Protune, w and w/o stabilization, as long as 3-4h each- no more freeze, no more issues.

give it a try...

---and do not forget the rule of tumb:

- gopro is not good at all in dealing with "holes" in the SD card space

- so do not delete files from SD card

- copy what you need from the card

- and format it from camera menu before starting a new video session

just me,

robert

[Anonymous]

I tried using my camera again today after the lastest update (1.61) and still had screen freezing and lost a clip.

I'm not sure how to read the micro sd card.

Will this card work with the Hero 7 Black? (I'm attaching a photo)

Are other people having problems with this camera or firmware?

-Mark

[aragon1006]

Hi @Anonymous

Yes, the SD card is compatible with the HERO7 Black.

Have you tried running a manual update?

Though your camera may be running on the latest version, the update is still recommended to clear out any issues.

https://gopro.com/update/hero7-black

Thanks!

Ej

[Anonymous]

Not sure about the manual update. I updated the firmware through the iOS app, and I also performed a system reset on the camera. I’m still having the freezing problem, and it looks like other people are having this trouble as well. My question is this a known issue with the software that will be fixed in an update or do j need to return the camera for a replacement? Thx.

[jayr3438]

Hi @Anonymous,

Check the manual update steps here: https://gopro.com/help/articles/how_to/software-update-instructions-for-hero7-cameras

And yes that kind of problem can be solved by update.

Regards,

-Jay 

[keiranh0]

@mariustanya

First exchange was with Amazon Australia. Second (and likely third) is JB Hi Fi here in Australia as well.

I went through @robert1326 steps for a manual update last night, gone to use the camera today, dead battery (was 100% 18 hours prior). Will try 4k 60FPS and various things this week to see if Freezing issue is still occuring.

I've read through other posts on this forum, plenty of people having same/similar issues. one person said they feel "like a Go pro beta tester" and i must admit i feel the same... the camera has been commercially available for 2 months now.

It would be great if Go pro could admit there is an issue with firmware/hardware (which im not expecting) rather than asking people "what SD card are you using?" and " Its probably a bad update, try the manual update"

There is clearly an issue here.

[keiranh0]

@mariustanya& @robert1326

Ok, so its been 5 days since doing the manual update, following step by step.

Guess what? exact same issues.

Will be returning my 3rd device today and will re-purchase the Yi 4k+ Plus.

On a random side note, i had a look at the GoPro Inc share price today..$4.31...the company is worth US$623m ...3 years ago the company was worth almost US$9.0bn....there might be some basic explanations for that.

[Anonymous]

After manually installing the update, I'm still having problems with the screen freezing.

Is this an issue that GoPro is working on, or is this specific to a small number of cameras? I'm wondering if I need to return my camera and have it replaced.

Thanks.

[jayr3438]

Hi @Anonymous,

You may contact our customer support team and check with them.

They might be able to help.

You may contact them via phone or chat: 

https://gopro.com/help/ContactUs

Regards,

-Jay

[mattb35347]

i have the same issue. just tring the manual update and format of sd card as mentioned by another poster.

I had loads of problems with my hero 6 and ended up retutning it in the end. i hope this isn't going to be the same. For the price of the cameras i don't expect to have to keep messing about with it to get it to work. especially as they are supposed to be ab action camera. by the time i get it working (pulling batteries out restarting etc). the action has finished. 

[Anonymous]

Yes... I continue to have the same freezing issue with the camera. I spent an hour on a chat with support. They wanted to make sure that I had the right card, even though the freezing still happened when I wasn't recording. I had a recommended card, and the support person tole me that cards are consumable, and only last for a finite amount of time, so I spent $40 to get two new cards, and still have the problem. 

The support person promised a transcript of the conversation and a reference number for my problem.

Never got one.

I'm back to square one.

I think need to return it and try again before giving up.

[scotta36701]

I loved my hero7 black with 1.51.  My only issue was the slow hypersmooth panning stutter.  Since updating from 1.51 to 1.61, I'm having the same freezing issues with my hero7 while it's not recording, requiring the battery to be removed, and clips that looked like they recorded fine are missing from the card.  1.71 sounds like it has even more problems.  Please provide the 1.51 black firmware so I can go back to a working camera.

[Anonymous]

Yes GoPro. Please provide the 1.51 firmware. I want to roll my camera back and see if the freezing clears up.

I got a second camera returned from GoPro, and it’s working with v1.51. I’m afraid to upgrade it.

[scotta36701]

I found Hero 7 Black 1.51firmware on my tablet.  It was on there from using it to update the Hero 7 to 1.51

I'm going to try and roll it back from 1.61 to 1.51 and see if the freezing stops.

[scotta36701]

YES!!!!  I have my all time favorite camera back.....  I like my Fusion too...., but it's a different beast.

Hero 7 Blck with 1.61 firmware was functioning horible. Just came back from the Keys and had a very frustrating time with my favorite camera, and found that seven clips non-replaceable clips were missing from my SD card. Upsetting. Followed all the support ideas today of formatting(Not quick) the card. Fresh 87% battery.  Within fifteen minutes, the camera was still freezing, and out of sixteen 4k60fpsW video clips, one was missing. I started looking around, saw the 1.51 firmware on techspot, but was scared to try it. I did a search on my android tablet for "update.zip" and found the 1.51 firmware on my tablet. See my previous post for its location.  Put the 1.51 UPDATE folder on the SD card, and inserted the card into the camera.  The battery was dead, even though the camera was turned off at 78% not too long ago.  I installed a charged battery, powered the camera up, and it changed the firmware back to 1.51, same SD card(64gig that came from gopro with the camera) and did nothing else, no reset, no nothing.  All my settings were retained after the firmware downgrade. Hyperlapse 4k/10x was still configured, and 4k60fpsW was still configured.  I just started shooting clips switching between those two modes randomly.  45 minutes later, no problems.

The camera now works great again!!!!  No freezing. No missing video clips from the SD card.  No draining the battery when it is off.

I'll put up with the two known 1.51 bugs of the jerky horizontal slow pans and having to make sure hypersmooth didn't get turned off when you change video resolutions.

1.61 is broken:  

1) The screen freezes, even(mostly) when it's not recording.  Even when there isn't an SD card in the camera. 

2) The screen goes black, but the icons move around in a delayed fashion to match the cameras oreintation. 

3) If the screen freezes while it's being used, and you don't remove the battery after turning the camera off with the power button, it will drain the battery until it is dead.

4) Biggest of all, it loses video clips.  These are non-replacable "action" clips on an action camera.  Truly sad.

All these people sending cameras and SD cards back to vendors costing everyone thousands of dollars.  What a shame.

On a annoying side note:

Anyone else notice that as the Blue banner changes at the top of the support hub screen you text bounces up and down two inches?

"Free 2-day shipping + returns" Up

"Money-back guarantee. Learn More" down

"Free SD card with all cameras. Only on gopro.com. Shop Now" up