MDVR or Dashcam Is On but Not Recording
Live view works, cameras display, the unit seems healthy — but when you go looking for footage, there’s nothing there. No recording is silent data loss: you only discover it the day you need the video, which is the worst possible day.
The 3 most likely causes
MDVRs support continuous, scheduled, and alarm-triggered recording. If someone switched the mode to alarm-only, the unit records only when a trigger fires — which can be never. This is the most common cause of “mystery” missing footage.
If loop overwrite is off, the disk fills once and recording stops forever — quietly. The unit keeps displaying live video like nothing’s wrong.
A failed SD card or hard drive, a card formatted on a PC, or a counterfeit card all end recording while live view continues. The recorder may not show any obvious alarm.
What to try first
- In the recorder menu, check the recording mode — set continuous (24hr) recording unless you have a specific reason for schedules or alarm-only.
- Check storage status: is the disk/card detected, what percentage is used, and is overwrite/loop recording enabled?
- Format the storage in-device and watch for the recording indicator on each channel.
- Play back the last hour on the device itself — confirm every channel actually wrote video, not just channel 1.
Still down? Fixed today or you don’t pay.
If the checks above didn’t bring it back, the fault is deeper — configuration, platform, or firmware level. That’s exactly what the $50 flat Remote Diagnostic & Fix Session handles: one remote session, most fixes in 15–30 minutes, full refund if it can’t be resolved.
Book the $50 remote fixSame-day session · Fixed-or-free guaranteeCommon questions
How do I know recording is actually working on all channels?
Don’t trust the live view — do a playback test per channel and confirm footage exists for a time you know the vehicle was running. A channel-by-channel recording verification is part of every remote session we run, precisely because single dead channels hide for months.
Recording stopped after a firmware update. Coincidence?
Probably not — updates and resets can revert recording mode, schedule, and overwrite settings to defaults. The fix is reconfiguration, which is quick to do remotely.