Is Your Ezviz Camera Refusing to Save to its SD Card?
Choosing to save your Ezviz camera's video footage to a local microSD card is a smart move for privacy and avoiding subscription fees. However, when you insert a card and nothing happens, it can be a real source of frustration. Fortunately, most local storage issues can be fixed with a few simple steps.
This guide will help you diagnose and solve the problem of your Ezviz camera not saving recordings to its microSD card.
## The Golden Rule: Always Initialise the SD Card
Before we go any further, this is the most important and most commonly missed step. You must format, or "initialise," the microSD card using the Ezviz app. An Ezviz camera cannot use a card that has been formatted on a computer or is fresh out of the packet.
### How to Initialise Your MicroSD Card:
- Ensure the camera is powered on and the microSD card is inserted correctly.
- Open the Ezviz app and select the camera you are having issues with.
- Tap the gear icon in the top right to go to Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on "Storage Status" or "Storage List".
- You should see the Memory Card listed. Tap on it.
- Select "Initialize" or "Format".
- Confirm that you want to proceed. Remember, this will erase all data on the card.
After the process completes (which may take a minute or two), the card's status should show as "Normal," and it will be ready to record. For 90% of users, this solves the problem.
## Further Troubleshooting for Local Storage
If you've initialised the card and it's still not recording, let's investigate other potential causes.
### Checking SD Card Compatibility
Ezviz cameras can be particular about the type of card they use.
- Brand and Quality: Stick to well-known, reputable brands like SanDisk, Samsung, or Kingston. Cheap, unbranded cards have a high failure rate.
- Type and Class: Use a Class 10 (or U1/U3) microSD card. This rating ensures the card has fast enough write speeds to handle video recording without errors.
- High Endurance: For best results, choose a "High Endurance" microSD card. These are specifically designed for the constant read/write cycles of security cameras and dashcams.
- Capacity: Check your camera model's specifications for the maximum supported card size (e.g., 256GB). A card that is too large might not be recognised.
### Configuring Recording Settings
After initialising the card, you need to tell the camera when to record to it.
- Enable All-Day Recording: In the "Storage Status" section, make sure the toggle for "All-Day Recording" is enabled. This ensures the camera is set to use the memory card.
- Check the Notification Schedule: Go to Settings > Notification Schedule. If you have a schedule set up, the camera will only record motion events during the times you have specified. Ensure your schedule is correct or disable it if you want 24/7 motion recording.
### What if it Still Fails?
If the above steps don't work, it's time to isolate the problem.
- Restart the Camera: A simple reboot can often clear temporary software glitches. Unplug the camera from power for 30 seconds and plug it back in.
- Update Everything: Ensure both your Ezviz app and your camera's firmware are updated to the latest versions. Firmware updates often contain important bug fixes.
- Test the Card: The final step is to determine if the card itself has failed. Remove it from the camera and try to read it on a computer using an SD card adapter. If the computer cannot recognise it or reports errors, the card is likely faulty and needs to be replaced.
By systematically working through these checks, you can resolve local storage issues and get your Ezviz camera saving footage reliably.