Retrieve Video When a Vehicle Gateway Is Lost, Stolen, or Damaged

Recommendations for Video Retrieval Before You Move or Replace a Vehicle Gateway

Footage captured by a Samsara dash cam is associated with a specific vehicle and its VG. When a camera is moved from one VG to another, the camera automatically clears historical footage not already uploaded to your Samsara dashboard. If you need to move or replace a VG, review the following recommendations to retrieve all video footage on your current cameras:

• Retrieve all footage before you move or replace the camera.

  To retain important footage, request video retrieval from the dash cam storage before you disconnect the dash cam from the VG. To verify the amount of footage available, review dash cam storage capacity.

• If your vehicle has crashed, do not move the camera to a new vehicle gateway.

  If your vehicle or vehicle gateway has damage due to a crash event, please contact Samsara Support. When you connect the dash cam to a different VG, the dash cam automatically clears any stored footage.

To move a VG to a different vehicle, see Move a Vehicle Gateway from One Vehicle to Another. If you need to retrieve footage from a dash cam and no longer have access to the VG or have questions about anything else not covered here, please contact Samsara Support.

Recover Dash Cam Footage with a New VG

In certain situations— such as a vehicle accident or Vehicle Gateway (VG) theft— the VG is damaged or otherwise unrecoverable. As a result, you may not be able to retrieve video footage through the dashboard. However, if you are able to recover the dash cam, you may still be able to recover the footage. The process to recover the footage involves pairing a new VG to the old vehicle in the dashboard and then connecting the dash cam to that VG.

Warning

These steps only apply to camera models CM31 or CM32. Following these steps with a camera model older than a CM31 or CM32 will erase footage.

You must complete the steps in order. Plugging the dash cam into a new VG before that gateway is paired to the vehicle that was in the accident will result in deletion of any existing video footage on the camera.

1. Locate the dash cam from the original vehicle.

2. Procure a separate vehicle that has a VG already installed.

3. Record the serial number of the VG in the new vehicle from the Devices > Gateways page.

4. Deactivate the VG in the new vehicle.

   

5. Reactivate the VG in the new vehicle.

   Click Activate Devices in the top right of the Devices page. Then follow the prompts to activate the VG.

   

6. Search for the serial number of the new VG and then pair it to the original vehicle.

   

   

   Note

   After you retrieve the video footage, you will later repeat the process to deactivate, reactivate, and pair the new VG back to the new vehicle.

7. Plug the dash cam from the original vehicle into the new VG.

8. After the dash cam is connected, you can retrieve the video footage from the original vehicle through the Video Library.

   For more information, see Video Retrieval.

9. After you obtain the footage, deactivate the VG from the old vehicle and unplug the dash cam. Then activate the VG and pair it back with the new vehicle.