Can you recover GoPro video when the impact causes a complete power loss? I performed a few tests yesterday to find out.

I’ve had several motorcycle cases where GoPro video was either unplayable, or playable, but terminated a few seconds prior to impact. So, what can be done? To explore that question, I aimed some GoPro HEROs at a stopwatch (Figure 01), pulled the camera battery at a specified time, and examined the files to how much of the video could be recovered, if any.

Figure 01: GoPro HERO10 Black aimed at computer stopwatch.

I experimented with HERO7s, a 10, and a 13. Here are the key takeaways:

  1. When the battery was pulled, the recovered video was not playable.

  2. If the memory card was re-installed in an energized exemplar camera, the file was repaired automatically (see Figure 02 below).

  3. The repair process didn't work if the card was inserted into another model GoPro. For example, a file from a HERO10 won't repair in a HERO13. In fact, when I tried it, the file could no longer be repaired even when later inserted into an appropriate exemplar, so be careful!

  4. The amount of video lost varied between cameras and video formats. The HERO7 MP4s only lost ~1 second of video, while the corresponding LRVs lost ~15 seconds. The HERO10 MP4 and LRV were cut short by ~17 seconds and ~14 seconds, respectively (+3 seconds on the LRV, so always check for it). The HERO13 MP4 and LRV lost ~9 and 17 seconds, respectively.

Figure 02: Messages displayed by the GoPros during the repair process.

My current takeaway: if a GoPro video isn’t playable, back the data up, acquire an exact exemplar, and insert the memory card to repair the file. If that doesn’t work, or you can’t acquire an exemplar camera, give this site a go. I’ve used it in the past with success.

If you have any info beyond that presented above, please let me know and I’ll pass it along. So many questions, so little time.

Thanks for reading, keep learning!

Lou Peck
​Lightpoint | JS Forensics​

P.S. For my West Coast friends, Bob Scurlock is coming out to Carlsbad, California, to teach a rare five-day Virtual CRASH course. Registration details are here.

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