Hero7 Black Freezes, video file shows frozen image but audio continues recording [ New ]

[royalbluff82138]

Using recommended card doesn't fix anything. 

Any developer from GoPro following this issue?  

[joeyr541]

I don't think it's helpful to continue to tell people to change SD cards and apply the firmware update manually when several people in this thread (including me) have reported they are using the recommended SD cards and have applied the latest firmware update manually, and continue to have this problem.

There is clearly a problem with the GoPro Hero7 that causes it to stop recording video correctly.  It needs to be fixed.  Many people are frustrated that they keep losing footage to this issue with no way to fix it.

If there are people at GoPro working on this issue, I would be happy to test out beta fixes.  If it's possible that this is an issue that only affects certain cameras I would be happy to try a replacement camera.  (I already had my camera replaced under warranty once, but the replacement camera still had the issue.)

[boldstoke314]

Same issue happens to me. I bought the go pro 7 black when it was 1st released. I had a big trip to Africa. Most videos are fine for the safari. However hiking Kilimanjaro when it was cold the videos all froze. Really upset about it because I don't plan on doing that again. It was very difficult.  I used multiple cards but all had the same problem. All were approved. just went on a snowboarding trip last week after doing the firmware update and still had the same problem. Video freezes but audio continues to record. Really not acceptable. It is really sad to say that the hero 4 was the best of all the cameras so far. For this reason I purchased another hero four. Also really upset that I bought so much stock in this company a few years ago. Any case go pro clean up your act and respond to customers. You know that the problem is real so don't screw around with anybody, admit the problem, tell us you're working on a permanent solution and if you can't come up with one do a recall.

[artemufa]

This is probably a hardware problem.

[agilepike64642]

I'm having also the problem ! an average of 1 rush out of 5 is screwed, I've been powder snowboarding in Japan for 10 days and realised I had the problem too late !

When discovered, the only work around I sort of came up was to limit the rushes to 1 or 2 minutes : so having to constantly start and stop the video - a real pain in the ass when it windy (vocal control not easy) and freezing (-15° celsius)

this is unacceptable

and no serious official answer so far ?

[agilepike64642]

by "rush", read instead "footage" ! sorry for the confusion (rush being the word we use in French (in English) for footage :))

[royalbluff82138]

Anyone from GoPro here?

[megadawn0664]

Just adding my "me too" comment here.

* Samsung 128EVO+

* Firmware 01.70

* 2.7K | 60

Third time using same settings whilst flying, previous two occasions without problems.

Today, recorded over an hour of footage, and lost most of it.

At 3:27 in the first file the image freezes, audio continues as normal for the remaining 13GB+ of files, the same image displays continuously. Never even made it into the air... Really gutted, as I did some power off emergency practice and was looking forward to analysing the footage :(

My old GoPro Hero4 - recording out of the side window, recorded everything just fine - around an hour of perfect footage before the battery died.

[danielr15]

Evo + or Evo Plus? They are not the same. The (+) is not a good card for your camera.

[megadawn0664]

Consider me enlightened. It's an Evo+ and it wasn't cheap, so I feel a bit conned. Of course I read "Evo Plus" on the compatability list whilst I was in the shop, and chose this card on that basis (There were no EvoPlus cards there so how was I to know the "+" wasn't just shorthand?!). Which genius at Samsung thought they could name one card "Evo+" and its successor "EVO Plus". <sigh>

Well, I guess I'll go back to my old 64GB card for the time being (SanDisk Extreme (UHS 3 / V30) A1) and put an order in for another 128GB card from the list.

It still worries me that the GoPro can't deal with this though - I mean, I turn my head every so often to check it's still recording, so it would be better if it just stopped, rather than recording a still image with audio, and blinking happily away. Also I recorded over an hour under the same conditions, with the same card (but previous Firmware version) recently, so the inconsistency leads to a lack of trust.

Either way, thanks for your reply, appreciated!

[stephankay]

I have the exact same problem. Noticed it today that all of my snowboard files from the last 2 days are broken. 

When stopping the recording, the camera just freezes and after this the material is broken. 

Fix this ASAP with prio 1 please. This is just annoying....

Im on 1.7 and use the standard sd card ....

[joeyr541]

Is there anyone from GoPro can provide an update here? At least "we know there's a problem here and we're looking into it?"

Even with learning to check that the video is still working throughout my ride, I still ended up with the frozen video issue twice on a bike ride this morning and lost some footage I can never get back.  It seems it's more rare to have a bike ride where the issue doesn't happen than where it does.

[marymargar842]

I am having the same issue. I got my GoPro in December and this has happened numerous times now. I have lost what would have been a lot of cool footage. :(

[jayr3438]

Hi @marymargar842,

May I know if you already tried troubleshooting steps posted on this thread?

If you already did and issue still persist please contact our customer support team via phone or chat.

https://gopro.com/help/ContactUs

Regards,

Jay

[sunnyridge20561]

Issue persists, I lost valuable footage on a snowtrip today, I had manually installed the latest firmware, factory reset and even bought a newer and more expensive micro SD car. Poor quality product, I would never recommend GoPro to anyone I know.

[epicshore6620]

C'est une plaisanterie?

Nous sommes nombreux à utiliser des gopro 6,7 ou autres,à avoir ce meme probleme apres avoir fait toutes les mises à jours de toutes les manieres possible et inimaginable et le probleme est toujours present...

Aucune mise a jour depuis debut 2018 alors que le probleme vous est signalé depuis novembre 2018...

C'est juste inaceptable de la part d'une enseigne comme la vôtre...

personne ici ne peux utiliser sa camera sans avoir peur de perdre ses ficher...

[danielr15]

I can, and do.

[dazzford]

@jayr3438
I think this is a poor response to people's concerns.

I just purchased a hero7 black, 5 days ago.
I updated it immediately to the latest firmware.

I have a recommended SD card, a Samsung EVO Select 128GB.

I was skiing over the past 3 days and had the settings set to 4k@60fps.

At least a 1/3 - 1/2 of the clips are completely useless. The audio keeps being recorded, but the video does not. On other clips it records correctly.

Clearly this is not an isolated issue as can be seen with all the reports.

GoPro needs to address this immediately. Either your list of SD cards is incorrect, or there is something fundamentally wrong with the software/hardware of the device.

There seems to be a looming situation that could turn into a PR issue. GoPro is supposed represent unfettered quality and ruggedness.

[toughwave6508]

I've had the same problem - after 5 or 10 seconds, there is a bright flash for 1 frame and then within about 1 second the frame freezes, but keeps recording audio.  Happens for me in cold weather conditions (I have the latest update as of Jan 23rd) and with a fresh battery.  Sometimes it was WiFi enabled and sometimes not.  Even long recording over multiple filenames remain frozen.  2.7k at 60 fps.

(PS - ruined my ability to take videos...I resorted back to my Hero 5 Black which always works)

[agilepike64642]

I confirm the bright flash that can be seen a few frames before the image freezes !

At least GoPro has a lead to work on.

I wonder however if the bug is not related to the latest firmware update...in October I shot long videos on and under the water - temperature around 30°C - I have no recollection at all of such a problem (I had the slow pan stuttering problem though :/ !)

Do you guys have encountered the problem with previous firmware ?

I assume there is a way to reinstall older versions of firmwares ?

Marc 

[boldstoke314]

This has happened with all versions. I pre-purchased the product and got it on day one and without the firmware update and it still it happened. Then with the first firmware it happened again and now with the latest it still happens.

This is certainly an issue with the actual machine. I suspect that when it gets cold either the GoPro itself has a new issue unlike previous GoPro’s where the mechanism or circuitry that feeds the video stops working and that which feeds the audio does not. It might have to do with voltage because in cold weather the voltage may drop and only support the audio recording.

I’m doing a series of experiments right now by freezing or nearly freezing the batteries and putting them in a warm go Pro and vice versa that is freezing the go Pro and putting a warm battery inside to see if I get the frozen videos. if it is a cold battery than attaching the go Pro to an external battery supply with a wire and putting it in the freezer and putting the battery supply outside the freezer would lead to normal videos. I tried this for an hour long recording of the inside of my freezer without any issues last night. However, since this problem is sporadic I can’t tell you for sure if it is simply a cold battery issue with this new go pro. Obviously this seems to happen only in cold weather for all of the posts so it is certainly a cold-weather issue but if it is a cold battery issue this might be one possible solution to record in cold weather although of course not perfect. Another solution would be to have a bunch of batteries that you keep in a pocket with a hand warmer and you have to switch them around. Of course not acceptable but something that could be done until GoPro either fix it or gives you a new camera which will certainly happen if they don’t come up With a solution.

[agilepike64642]

very interesting, thank you.

has anyone had the issue when using a Supersuit when skiing ? Or even with a silicone sleeve (which covers only very partially the case) ?

[boldstoke314]

I strongly suspect that anything you do to keep it warm would be significantly helpful. That means using the underwater case or super suit or whatever it is called would help significantly. Also keeping the camera in your pocket and taking it out when you need it should help. Perhaps with some additional handwarmers in there and on an inside pocket would be best. Of course still not acceptable solutions for what should be the best action camera on the market. Not to be facetious but I think there are some pretty good action sports that happen in cold weather.

Of course using that case would ruin the audio but that is better than rude in the video. And the new GoPro’s with the case on them are significantly larger than all the go pros prior to the hero five. Another bummer in fact about the new go pros that is that they are larger when they are most protected.

[boldstoke314]

The major issue here is that the camera does not shut off when it is cold but it keeps recording giving a false impression that the video is good but it is not and you end up getting a ruined session.

[sunnyridge20561]

I use a waterproof case and it doesn't help, it keeps losing fotage. Alsp, keeping the camera in your pocket when you're snowboarding or skiing can be dangerous because when/if you fall the camera can impact with your body, I always limit the amount of hard stuff I keep in my pockets because of this reason (it happened to me before).

[mariustanya]

Hello Everyone. Sorry to hear about the trouble you are experiencing with your cameras. We would like to make sure that your cameras are working smoothly so if you have already gone through recommended troubleshooting steps for camera freezing (like the ones detailed here) and you still observe the same problem, let our Support team help. This way, cases can be created and reported directly to the team in charge. Although we had this issue reported already, it would be a great help to gather more information directly from you. Our Support team's contact information is at https://gopro.com/help/ContactUs . Let us know how it works out. 

[macrif6724]

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@mariustanya wrote:

Hello Everyone. Sorry to hear about the trouble you are experiencing with your cameras. We would like to make sure that your cameras are working smoothly so if you have already gone through recommended troubleshooting steps for camera freezing (like the ones detailed here) and you still observe the same problem, let our Support team help. This way, cases can be created and reported directly to the team in charge. Although we had this issue reported already, it would be a great help to gather more information directly from you. Our Support team's contact information is at https://gopro.com/help/ContactUs . Let us know how it works out. 

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Hello!
With great sorry for me, I tell you that I will give up buying this camcorder, I was a click away from buying it.
I read the whole topic and I am disappointed with the way GOPRO treats its clients, many with this problem, a case similar to GALAXY NOTE 7 that was withdrawn from the market.
All indications given by you @mariustanya have already been made by the owners of your top product and the results were 0 (zero).
It is offensive to refer to all sorts of details, such as the SD card type. Well, if so, what would happen with brands like Sony or Panasonic, etc? Which also use all the minicard sd, not to mention that there are some users who own H7 black purchased with minicard sd bonus from you and they have the same problem !!!!!

[rapiddusk32168]

Im really sick of it... have had several issues since buying this cam at product launch. First the horrible (AND STILL constantly appearing) Super "slowness" in the video, where the video seems to run at 12 frames whilst audio is; and now the dual image freeze, which I got yesterday after updating firmware, reseting the cam and even buying a new, supported cam. What the hell is this product? I cant rely on it in any way and it drives me mad and crazy.

Stop suggesting reseting, updating and reseting it again because the problem is somewhere elsewhere on the company side, not the customer side. I guess, there is no one reading these posts anyway, since its always the same guys pointing the "solutions". Sad story, since everybody wants this cam to work.

Guess, I'll mount my Sony x3000 to my helmet, never gave up on me and had the superior stabilisation for a couple of years.

[joeyr541]

@mariustanya I contacted support again as you requested.  They were not able to provide any help or updates on this issue.

They did try to get me to once again do a manual update of the firmware even though I've done that many times.

They offered to once again replace the camera under warranty, but since I've already had the camera replaced once for this issue and the replacement had the same issue I am skeptical another camera will work.  GoPro also refuses to send the replacement camera until they have my old camera, which means going without any camera for a couple of weeks which is not acceptable.  If I knew it was going to fix the issue I'd do it, but given my past experience I am skeptical.

@mariustanya does GoPro believe that this is an issue that only affects certain Hero7 Black cameras and that the cameras should be replaced with new ones until one works?  If GoPro does believe there is a batch of bad cameras then I'd be willing to try another replacement.

For anyone else on the thread that has experienced the issue, did a replacement camera resolve the issue for you?

[royalbluff82138]

I got a replacement which took 2 weeks to get it. I will try to use it recently. 

For the people who are not satisfied with GoPro 7 black, I think insta360 one x would be a good choice. I am planning to have one. From the youtube reviews, It is not a bad choice. And it does have the low-temperature battery. I think it would be awesome for winter sports.

[danielr15]

Insta 360 one X is an entirely different camera, is only going to give you 1080p in traditional 2D video. creates huge files, and is much more laborious to edit on a computer. The makers of Insta 360 One X are really trying hard to convince people that they are a direct competitor to GoPro, but they really are not.

I enjoy making videos with my 360 camera (Fusion), but these types of cameras are far from being in the same market as HERO7 Black. For a 360 camera, the image quality is very good on the Insta 360 One X and Fusion but it is nowhere close to being as good as the HERO7 Black. Also, you are going to be getting very strong lens distortion "Fish Eye" effect.

Having a 360 camera as a second or third camera for occasional fun and creative shooting is cool, but most certainly shouldn't be your primary camera and are absolutely not a replacement for a proper action camera.

If you think the Insta 360 One x doesn't have it's share of issues (especially with cold weather) you might want to do some research.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Insta360/comments/ark3fq/battery_drain_when_turned_off/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Insta360/comments/ai6zv0/insta360_one_x_with_snow/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Insta360/comments/aoejug/one_x_stuck_after_most_boot_ups/

"Now the snow has hit the alps, I have been using the Insta360 One X for Splitboarding. The footage is great, but on my tour up the mountain, I kept the camera inside its neoprene pouch and in my pocket. Therefore, it is well insulated and protected from the cold. However, for the ride back down, the battery went flat after a matter of minutes. The cold really affects the battery life on the Insta360 One X. However, once I put it back in the warm and looked at it later, the battery level indicator showed that it is was at half charge. This allowed me to get a couple more minutes out of it before it died again. This was very frustrating, as I missed some great moments from our ride in perfect powder" (MTB-Threads insta360-one-x-mountain-biking).

[agilepike64642]

Question to those who asked the GoPro Support for a replacement camera : had you purchased your camera from the GoPro site ?

I wonder how it will work in France if you have purchased the camera from another web retailer.

And do you think a full refund is also possible although the 30-day period is over ?

GoPro would maybe take this issue into consideration if they had a significative number of returns and refund claims.

[bravestar55076]

@mariustanya it is obvious that the camera has problems in cold condition and it is not related to SD card or resolution. I did some tests and one way to get less freezing is to use quick shot. BUT that cannot be the solution for this problem!

I cannot recommend the camera, because you never know if your records are useful or not!

[artemufa]

boldstoke314  tested in the cold when using a powerbank, works fine. Yes?

[macrif6724]

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@agilepike64642 wrote:

Question to those who asked the GoPro Support for a replacement camera : had you purchased your camera from the GoPro site ?

I wonder how it will work in France if you have purchased the camera from another web retailer.

And do you think a full refund is also possible although the 30-day period is over ?

GoPro would maybe take this issue into consideration if they had a significative number of returns and refund claims.

I've been to another distributor in my country and I wonder if I have any problems with my camcorder, can I return it? The answer was to send it to a service center.

---

[danielr15]

@agilepike64642 

1) You should first try to get a replacement/refund from the web retailer that you purchased the camera from

2) GoPro offers a 30-day money back policy for cameras purchased from their site.  Not from others and not after 30 days.

3) Most people (myself included) have no issues with their Hero7 Black.

And finally, in the warranty guide that came printed with the camera it states, " Avoid exposing your camera or battery to very cold or very hot temperatures. Low or high temperature conditions may shorten the battery life or cause the camera to temporarily stop working
properly." 

[macrif6724]

---

@danielr15 wrote:

@agilepike64642 

1) You should first try to get a replacement/refund from the web retailer that you purchased the camera from

2) GoPro offers a 30-day money back policy for cameras purchased from their site.  Not from others and not after 30 days.

3) Most people (myself included) have no issues with their Hero7 Black.

And finally, in the warranty guide that came printed with the camera it states, " Avoid exposing your camera or battery to very cold or very hot temperatures. Low or high temperature conditions may shorten the battery life or cause the camera to temporarily stop working
properly." 

It was not about exposing the battery to temperature differences but about freezing the picture during high resolution shooting, 4k / 60fps, even at 2k.

---

[danielr15]

Again, I haven't had this issue. neither has my son, brother in law, or my neighbor. So, with that, I can only say that it's not all HERO7 Black cameras that have an issue and if support is suggesting an exchange, that's the best course of action.

[agilepike64642]

@danielr15 :

well, then I would suggest GoPro warns its skiers/boarders clients that unless they're the kind of persons interested in shooting their riding exploits in parks on spring snow, they should put aside the idea of buying a hero 7.

not too hot, not too cold, now not too deep (with stock cameras now being sold without diving case) : not so an action cam anymore ? 

we have a legal 2-year warranty in France, I will thus wait before trying to get a replacement camera.

as many contributors already said on this thread : the least we expect from the company is that (1) they acknowledge this is a real issue, occurring repeatedly in certain conditions, and causing real concern for the users, and (2) that they work actively on fixing the issue through a firmware release - that would at least improve the "error management", if no fixing the ground cause

[toughwave6508]

Temperature issues confirmed. While skiing my Hero 7 didn’t work unless the battery was warm. My Hero 5 has no problems. Same SD cards and batteries (recommended ones). 24 F.

Ruined two days of my ski trip. Won’t recommend this to anyone.

[royalbluff82138]

The GoPro Community Manager jefft, GoPro Admin mariustanya and graytree76514 are ignoring this thread. Don't let this thread down until they have a solution.

[danielr15]

@royalbluff82138 

How so?

It was just a coupl days ago that @mariustanya wrote, 

"Hello Everyone. Sorry to hear about the trouble you are experiencing with your cameras. We would like to make sure that your cameras are working smoothly so if you have already gone through recommended troubleshooting steps for camera freezing (like the ones detailed here) and you still observe the same problem, let our Support team help. This way, cases can be created and reported directly to the team in charge. Although we had this issue reported already, it would be a great help to gather more information directly from you. Our Support team's contact information is at https://gopro.com/help/ContactUs . Let us know how it works out. "

Have you followed the advice given?

[xavierr44732]

Hi
Could freeze be linked To Pal / Ntsc setting ? Is there more people suffering freeze issue when set to pal setting ? Thanks to check

[rapiddusk32168]

I dont think so, i tried it in both modes, Pal in 24 and 25fps, Ntsc in 24 and 30, both froze or had this weird stuttering

[epicshore6620]

j'ai contacté malgré ces nombreux message le service gopro...j'ai remis un fichier defectueux,facture et N° de serie...j'attend la suite...probablement un echange standard....a suivre

[schuang]

I also experienced the same problem. Very, very disappointing since I upgraded from my GoPro Black 3 just for my family ski vacation, and I'll never get these moments back. I hope there is a fix for this as I do like the series. C'mon, would have expected QA to have tested for these obvious conditions since they market to these sports!

[artemufa]

Try using only the original battery. I noticed that there are more problems on a non-original battery. test it. write to me.

[sunnyridge20561]

I tried with the original battery many times. When the charge drops below 30-40% the camera stops recording in cold weather, I lost great footage (friends skiing, jumps, etc.), so disappointing.

[cooloasis03757]

I am having the exact same problem. The clip stops recording after 15 seconds, or some small amount and freezes. Only the audio keeps recording, but the screen stays frozen. It is **bleep** hard to unfreeze it.

Not so sure this is just a temperature related issue.

The first time this happened to me was in December. I was scuba diving in the Bahamas. Water temp is in the 70s, using a super suit. I also primarily use quick capture. I always shoot at 2.7k, 60fps. I also lost lots of scuba footage. This is a pain because when you are 90feet underwater you can’t just remove the battery to reset it. Might as well be diving with extra weight at that point.

The second time it happened was this week in Australia on the beach. Temp in the high 60s.

I am using recommended SD cards. I do have a mix of generic batteries and GoPro batteries. I never had this issue with my Hero 5 but I guess I will try using just GoPro batteries. Either way it makes no sense that a $400 piece of gear is just failing at being able to record video reliability. I am on vacation now, so there really is not much I can do. I did do a factory reset, and then reformat the sd card in camera. Hope that helps.

[artemufa]

I will summarize my test results in the freezer (-18 centigrade). I consider the topic closed. I have two original GoPro batteries, one Telesin battery (China). I froze the camera, then turned on the video recording. and so on 5 times on each battery. on the original battery there was not a single hang. On the original 3 times out of 5 hung.