Hello,
I'm reaching out about an OAK-D-PRO-W-POE camera (M12 PoE connector) whose PoE/Ethernet mode suddenly stopped working. The camera had been running perfectly on a Jetson over PoE for several months. One day it simply stopped responding over PoE on the Jetson, with no hardware or software changes on our end. This sudden failure is what led us to investigate further.
I then tried connecting it to a PC (Ubuntu, RTX 4070) to isolate the problem, and after several days of in-depth diagnostics, I identified a physical defect in the onboard flash memory.
Device information:
- Model: OAK-D-PRO-W-POE
- Platform: RVC2 (MyriadX)
- Bootloader version: 0.0.28
- DepthAI version: 3.2.1 (Python, API V3)
- Flash chip: Macronix MX25L6433F, 8 MB SPI NOR, JEDEC ID C2 20 18
- Connector: M12 PoE
- Cameras detected: IMX378 (4056x3040) + 2x OV9282 (1280x800)
The camera is fully functional over USB via the programming board — I get 29.7 fps at 640x480 BGR, all 3 cameras are detected, and the temperature sensor works. However, it no longer responds at all over PoE/Ethernet.
I connected the camera via the programming board (M8 connector + recovery button). The device shows up as 03e7:2485 Movidius MyriadX and the bootloader v0.0.28 is accessible.
I found a similar case on the Luxonis forum (https://discuss.luxonis.com/d/4178-oak-d-pro-poe-soft-bricked-after-factory-reset-next-step) where @jakaskerl recommends: "boot the device in recovery using the M8 adapter board, then flash the NETWORK bootloader — it should return to its normal operation mode." I followed this exact procedure, but in my case the re-flash fails:
flashBootloader(FLASH, NETWORK) -> "Failure verifying flashed memory" (~70-75%)
The operation fails consistently at the same point during read-back verification of what was just written. I reproduced the error multiple times, always at the same percentage.
Writing network configuration also fails:
flashConfig(staticIPv4) -> "Failure verifying while comparing configuration"
To understand the root cause, I read the entire 8 MB of flash memory. Two areas are clearly defective:
- Bootloader area (0x0C0000 – 0x0FFFFF): sectors contain only 3.5% to 65% valid data instead of ~100%
- Config area (0x7FC000): invalid/corrupted data
These areas correspond exactly to the verification failures during flashing.
With only PoE connected (USB disconnected), the physical Ethernet link is active (carrier=1, the camera is powered), but there is no network response at all — no ARP, no DHCP, depthai scan returns 0 devices. The camera is powered but the bootloader cannot start.
My conclusion is that the Macronix MX25L6433F flash chip has physically defective sectors at two critical locations. This explains the sudden PoE failure on the Jetson — the bootloader in flash likely corrupted over time due to degradation of these sectors. The camera can no longer boot autonomously in network mode.
Over USB via the programming board, everything works perfectly — the bootloader is loaded from the host and the flash is not used. I get 29.7 fps in RGB, stereo depth works, all 3 sensors are operational.
Is it possible to get a replacement for this camera? The defect is clearly hardware-related (defective SPI flash) and prevents any standalone PoE operation, which is the intended mode for my project (autonomous drone system).
Alternatively, is there a way to flash the bootloader while bypassing verification, or to load the network bootloader in some other way?
Thank you for your help.
Best regards,
Loic LEMASLE
