Time-lapse stops after about a day

[efaulhaber]

I wrote this code to take a photo every 30 minutes, with the first one exactly at 5AM and the last one at 10PM:

>05:00<22:20!N~!05:00NmP!S!1795R

It works perfectly, except that it stops randomly in the middle of the next day or so.

Do I have to add an !1N somewhere, as suggested in #886?

Something like

>05:00<22:20!N~!05:00NmP!S!1N!1795R

maybe?
If so, why?

[dnewman-gpsw]

Need you share you log file (MISC/qrlog.txt) and your camera model and firmware version. !1N depends on the camera model.

[efaulhaber]

Camera is a HERO8 Black, firmware is v2.51.75.
The relevant logs are this:

[2024-06-16 13:58:08] Woke with Alarm:[14:00:18]!R
[2024-06-16 13:58:09] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 13:58:09] Labs:Initialize
[2024-06-16 13:58:10] Woke with Command:[14:00:18]!R
[2024-06-16 13:58:13] Shutdown and Sleep:98 seconds
[2024-06-16 13:58:15] shutdown:rtc wake scheduled
[2024-06-16 13:59:56] Woke with Alarm:[14:00:18]!R
[2024-06-16 13:59:57] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 13:59:57] Labs:Initialize
[2024-06-16 13:59:58] Woke with Command:[14:00:18]!R
[2024-06-16 13:59:58] Start in:20 seconds
[2024-06-16 14:00:19] Timer wake command:!R
[2024-06-16 14:00:20] true 14:00 > 05:00:>05:00<22:20!N~!05:00NmP!S!1795R
[2024-06-16 14:00:20] true 14:00 < 22:20:<22:20!N~!05:00NmP!S!1795R
[2024-06-16 14:00:20] skip_command:mP!S!1795R
[2024-06-16 14:00:20] else skipped, process from:mP!S!1795R
[2024-06-16 14:00:25] Shutdown and Sleep:1675 seconds
[2024-06-16 14:00:27] shutdown:rtc wake scheduled
[2024-06-16 14:28:09] Woke with Alarm:[14:30:19]!R
[2024-06-16 14:28:10] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 14:28:10] Labs:Initialize
[2024-06-16 14:28:11] Woke with Command:[14:30:19]!R
[2024-06-16 14:28:14] Shutdown and Sleep:98 seconds
[2024-06-16 14:28:16] shutdown:rtc wake scheduled
[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Shutdown:inprogress
[2024-06-16 14:28:31] shutdown:now

The last picture is at 2 PM.

[dnewman-gpsw]

This happens more often on older cameras, it is random. The camera sometimes sets an alarm and doesn't wake. Approximately 1 in 500 wake starts will fail on older cameras. HERO12 under internal battery alone this is now (finally) very reliable (I've had H12s running this way since the end of 2023,) but even H12 still occasionally forgets a wake timer with external power.

[efaulhaber]

So there is nothing I can do?

[efaulhaber]

But this sounds to me like the camera is starting at 14:30:

[2024-06-16 14:28:09] Woke with Alarm:[14:30:19]!R
[2024-06-16 14:28:10] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 14:28:10] Labs:Initialize
[2024-06-16 14:28:11] Woke with Command:[14:30:19]!R
[2024-06-16 14:28:14] Shutdown and Sleep:98 seconds
[2024-06-16 14:28:16] shutdown:rtc wake scheduled
[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Shutdown:inprogress
[2024-06-16 14:28:31] shutdown:now

But then instead of

[2024-06-16 13:59:57] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 13:59:57] Labs:Initialize

and taking a photo, it is doing

[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Labs:Main Start
[2024-06-16 14:28:29] Shutdown:inprogress
[2024-06-16 14:28:31] shutdown:now

and not responding anymore.

[efaulhaber]

Note that I removed the battery and power the camera by cable. Could that be related to the issue? Do I need a battery + cable, does that help?

[dnewman-gpsw]

H8 is just a bit too old, so much has been addressed in later models. With H8 internal battery alone is best for reliability.

With HERO8 it is normally fine through a single battery charge, will good for about 300-400 images. With a 30minute interval, running 17 hours a day, you likely need to change the battery weekly. You just have risk of the above failure, it should be rare, but it can happen.

[efaulhaber]

The failure rate with external power is really high so far. It usually fails after half a day.
Would you do this with a battery or switch to time-lapse photo mode, since my 30-min interval is available there?
Something like

>05:00<22:10!N~!05:00NmTPp.1800!S!22:15E!1R

Then I only have one alarm a day, so a 35x lower failure rate. And I can easily tell if the camera is still working by looking at the display, and I don't have to wait for the exact moment when it's supposed to turn on and verify that it does. But I have to use external power, as the battery would drain too quickly.

[dronevisionbtm]

same problem with gopro 12, any solutions?

[dnewman-gpsw]

HERO12 works fine, I've run many for months. Post your settings and configuration in a new thread.