Issues after adding 2nd camera in Surveillance Station

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Issues after adding 2nd camera in Surveillance Station

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NAS
DS413J
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  1. Windows
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Hi, I'm new here and hope I've picked the right sub-forum. I'm not an expert in all things computer but try to keep up using Google where necessary. We have an older DS413j in the house that's mainly looked after by my brother, which I access mainly for its surveillance capabilities. I access the NAS's Surveillance Station through a client I view on my Windows 10 PC.

For almost a year now I've been running a single camera (HiLook brand). I use it to record continously and also run a continuous time lapse for it (easy to quickly scan hours of footage, should catch any activity that goes on for longer than the fifteen second interval). This worked ok most of the time, there was the occasional hickup when a recording block would be interrupted for a short while, but these instances were rare.
Nine days ago, I added a second camera (Reolink). This too I set to record round the clock (but no time lapse in this instance). The setup with both cameras worked ok for a week but two days ago things started to go wrong. On 15.12.20 I the recording of the first camera halted around 9.30 am and didn't come back until 5 a.m. the next day. Fast forward to today, and once again recording starts to falter around 9 a.m. and then cuts out entirely. That is the state of play at the time of writing.
Recording of second camera continues as normal.

I've done a few things.
Ping test seems ok: both cameras can be reached. Problematic first camera takes longer (1 ms on first block of four tries, 1, 1, 8 and 14 ms on second block half an hour or so later). Pings for second camera under 1 ms.
Second camera opens in VLC. First one doesn't. This might have something to do with the fact I'm not 100% sure about its password (I think I got it right at one instance as the VLC pop-up that asked for it disappeared after entering one of the possibilities, unlike what happened when I tried others; however, pop-up wouldn't budge when I tried the same password again a bit later).
Restart works on both cameras.

At one point after the problems started this morning, neither camera could be displayed in the 'live view' window. After restarting my Surveillance Station client, the second camera showed live view once again. First camera is announced to be 'activating'. Under 'IP Camera' I can not open the pop-up windown for camera 1.

In short, while pinging shows camera 1 to be active, all other things do not work as normal. Could this have something to do with the NAS and/or cabling somehow not being powerful enough to run both? Camera 1 is on h.265, camera 2 is h.264 - may connecting two cameras be too much of a drain on the NAS leaving it with enough computing power to handle 264 but not 265? Are there other explanations? In a way it's tempting to think camera 1 has just gone wrong, but I'm a bit suspicious for that explanation since this happens so shortly after installing camera 2. Also, if this has nothing to do with the NAS why wouldn't it do live view for camera 2 at one point...

Any thoughts appreciated. :)
 
Thanks. I was told by my brother we could run two cameras before needing additional licences, and indeed our 413 accepted the second camera when I added it without any issues (at that point). Licence information when I go to the menu item you pointed out also says two 'free' licences.
My guess is Synology threw in an additional licence some time after issuing the spec sheet you refer to and that they didn't update it. Thanks again anyway, all efforts appreciated here!
 
Pinged from Windows Command Prompt. I understood that to be a good way to check whether the camera was actually present and correct within our ethernet. That seemed to be the case.
 
Pinged from Windows Command Prompt. I understood that to be a good way to check whether the camera was actually present and correct within our ethernet.
You’re correct. This test will check the connectivity between the PC and the camera, which is good. We’re also interested in the connectivity between the DiskStation and the camera, as that’s where the problem lies (with the DS not seeing the camera).

Can you try pinging from the DiskStation while it’s working (can reach the camera) and when it happens (disconnects). You’ll need to access the DS via SSH to do that.
 
Try to check the logs first, if you’re not comfortable using SSH for now.

See this page.
 
Thanks for your suggestion, which at present I can't follow up because I can no longer access the camera following a particularly unhelpful action on my part where I tried to change things for the better (the irony) by replacing the starred password in Surveillance Station with what I thought would be the right password, but clearly wasn't.

What followed was a rather tedious process that took several hours and involved me finding out (from Hikvisions manky dedicated software and written support penned by someone who was setting his or her first steps in the wonderful world of the English language) that I now need to contact Hikvision (again, tedious list of questions etc.) in order to get a new password. I have just contacted them and hope they will come through tomorrow but in the meantime I'm also going to explore the possibilities of getting a replacement camera because I'm not convinced things will work out to get the Hikvision going again.

All this is rather frustrating and in parallel with waiting for Hikvision to reply I'm also going to see what camera I could get to replace the Hikvision with. I'm somewhat fed up with that brand I'm afraid. Of course, getting the Hikvision or a replacement going (again) would only get me back to the problem I was having in the first place, i.e. the NAS somehow not getting a stable camera feed. I wish they could just make these things to work properly all the time like, say, a nutcracker. :)
 
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I have 5 Hikvision cameras :)
They are good. Not excellent but for the money they are not bad at all. They’ve been working for a long time now. On the other hand their support is abysmal.

What Hikvision model do you have?
Take a look at this for how to reset the camera to factory defaults, if that’s ok with you.

You’ll then need to enter its IP address in a browser and reconfigure it. It should pickup an IP address from the DHCP pool, so you should find assigned IP address on the router.
Or if you have a network scanner, try scanning the LAN to discover the devices on it. Something like:
This is the free version. You can try it. Can’t recall what it can do for free. I use the paid version.
-- post merged: --

Here’s another link that works
 
Thanks for all the help, much appreciated!
The Hikvision I have is an IPC-D140H-M. It's a dome model from their HiLook line, bought late 2019. I have already looked at the option of using the reset button, but my impression is my model doesn't come with one. I went up a ladder to check, past midnight and armed with a torch, posing pretty much like the kind of visitor such a camera is supposed to deter, but my best guess after that examination is that this model doesn't come with a reset button.

There is, however, this:


...which mentions a 'reset button' under 'Interface'. Not sure what they mean by that, sounds as though this might refer to reset by doing something online rather than pushing an actual button.

I have installed SDAP and that seems to do what it should, apart from leaving me to guess what one of the security questions is because the box in which it is supposed to be displayed is too small, cutting off the question half-way through. Talk about abysmal. :) Also have something called 'HiLook Vision Client' installed, a piece of software that behaves sluggish and I never really got to work, possibly also because of the password issue.
I can't recall offhand why I never ventured into Hik-Connect, although checking it now I see I created an account for that at one point. I probably was just happy that with Synology I got a camera to work at all and stayed away from difficult (for me) bits of software.

Thanks for learncctv.com, which describes more than one interesting options. In particular, the QR option seems to come with a dedicated email address that I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere and which appears to generate its 'response' of a new password automatically, which may be a better option that hoping I'll get an answer from the general technical support email I used earlier today. The option of reflashing is also something worth seeking out - too technical for me, but I hope my brother would be able to do that, if necessary.

So, thanks again. Will probably be offline soon for the rest of the day, but am hoping to come back later.
 
posing pretty much like the kind of visitor such a camera is supposed to deter
🤣
I’m sorry that you’re going through all this.

Check the quick start guide (at the bottom of the page). Page 11, under notes. Says something about a reset button. But they don’t tell you where to find it 🤣


Firmware is there too.

I hate their software. I believe it’s designed by a bunch of blind hedgehogs in a dark basement. Try to find a reset button, it’s usually inside the dome, it’ll save you the agony :)

I never use any camera’s “cloud” connectivity. Hik Connect is designed to be a cloud solution. As a matter of fact, once I put them on Surveillance Station, I remove the default gateway and I tell them to use the DiskStation as a time server. I just cut them off from the outside world, in case they want to get chatty with the hedgehogs back in HQ. That’s the last thing I need.
 
Thanks for all the help. I had a look at that quick start guide and it seems to be a catch-all guide to several models rather than specifically the one I have. Many (most?) Hikvision dome cameras seem to come with a reset button, but mine doesn't seem to be one of them (and indeed, I have come across one or two confused people on the internet with the same combination of general guide and reset-less camera, and similar confusion).

Not a great fan of cloud solutions, there is an obvious safety advantage in having (additional) storage off-site, but it also tends to be an expensive solution. I prefer having some control (and would probably have looked into open source camera management software if we hadn't already had the Synology). Your clarification about Hik-Connect probably explains why it's a programme I never really bothered with. The HiLook Vision client is indeed lacking in... many ways :) but I think proprietary software is the only way of changing things like the time zone (You will of course know there are options for that through the Synology interface, but in our setup the camera apparently doesn't register that particular correction when fed from Synology.)

Anyway. My brother says he has made some headway with regards to connecting the Hikvision, although he isn't there yet. Here's hoping he"ll manage to get things working again.

Hikvision claims that if you contact them asking for a new password (using the non-automatic method of supplying them with the relevant information, as opposed to the apparently automated approach of the QR code option) they will reply within one working day. That has not happened. I'll cut them some slack because of the pandemic, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if they'll just never reply. Come on Hikvision, here's your chance to prove me wrong!
 
Thanks for all the help.
You’re welcome. Didn’t do much, just as we were about to start the camera got bricked 🤣

Come on Hikvision, here's your chance to prove me wrong!
Don’t hold your breath :)

Wouldn’t this (reset) be relevant to the users with cloud accounts where you have registered for their cloud service.
I don’t see how they can reset your camera’s password remotely, unless someone is going to guide you with instructions on how to do it using one of their crappy desktop tools. However, based on my single interaction with their support, they wanted to do a Webex on my Mac to check the camera. I said no and gave them direct access to the camera and nothing else. I don’t think they did anything and the communications instructions by them was like I was on a mission on the moon and they were giving me instructions about the deepest nook in the Mariana Trench. Then they disappeared!

I had a very simple problem. The date was always displayed as dd-mm-yy. I wanted yy-mm-dd. The stupid interface didn’t accept my changes (although it was an option). So after my fiasco with the support, I returned from my mission in the depths of the sea and managed to find the crappy SADP tool and the new firmware. I updated all of them and now everything is fine.

As I said the cameras are not bad. The camera’s web interface is manageable and not difficult. I’ve seen much worse. It’s their desktop tools and NVR software that looks like a nightmare to me.
 
No further information from my brother today, so looks like I will have to wait a little longer.

As I understand it, the QR method involves entering a code that has been sent to you by their support team. Whether that is possible without the camera being in their cloud, I have no idea, this is beyond my technical grasp. Of course SADP is online, couldn't it be the case that entering the supplied code starts a 'special' connection between the programme and the camera, at which point you can finally enter a new password?

Anyway, they make this needlessly complicated and while Hikvision may have good build quality, there's certainly also much to say for the Reolink I recently added - even I could get that to work within minutes (admittedly within the Synology interface that had been set up for me by my brother).

I can see for the moment to drawbacks to the Reolink - unlike the Hikvision, it doesn't support h.265, and the manufacturer has made the weird choice of forcing their logo upon the camera's images, meaning you have to take into account an unusable capture area when deciding how to point the camera. I often get the impression these things have been knocked together by people who never tried to actually use the things they made - stuff like vintage record players or tape recorders just worked (and sometimes still do!). Picture quality is supposed to be so-so, especially with night vision, but then again when you buy an outdoor camera for sixty euros you know you'll have to manage your expectations.
 
As I understand it, the QR method involves entering a code that has been sent to you by their support team.
I think it’s explained here, check page 23 (reset password).

unlike the Hikvision, it doesn't support h.265
Yes, H.265 is nice. Consumes almost 50% less storage than H.264. Network utilization is also more optimized. Try the H.265+ and see if it works for you too.

and the manufacturer has made the weird choice of forcing their logo upon the camera's images
That’s strange. Make sure the camera is not in some kind of a “demo mode”, like when you go to TV stores and they have all those high end TVs demoing the features all along while playing videos of penguins living a happy life in 4K.
 
Small update. Doing some reading I came across more reports of people having trouble accessing their cameras due to forgotten passwords, basically tales of people trying and getting nowhere due to Hikvision ducking their responsibilities (there's a report in a tread here about someone not getting a reset code out of them because Hikvision say they only want to deal with the distributor). I don't have the patience to deal with Hikvision customer 'support', especially when a good outcome is uncertain, so I've gone ahead and bought a new camera, something I should have done eleven days ago. WST16, thanks for your help anyway, you were very kind in looking things up for me and trying to explore various avenues, and I appreciate that.

I've ordered a second Reolink of the type I got back in July. It comes with that idiotic logo in the corner (forgot to reply to your suggestion, but I don't think it's in some kind of demo mode) but otherwise has an easy to use web interface and also has an SD card slot, which presumably would allow me to retrieve any recordings that are not sent live to the NAS if or when there are network issues (as long as the PoE keeps working of course, but that seems to be ok). Note that I can't currently actually view the cam with Reolink's web interface as it says it needs Adobe Flash Player, something Adobe themselves say they will stop supporting the new year. Ah well - another bit of shoddiness, but something that can be easily be worked around by opening the feed in Synology, VLC or a myriad of other options. And perhaps the web player will also work with an Adobe alternative.

I'm intending to keep the Hikvision for the time being, hopefully there'll be a way of getting to it eventually. There is perhaps a small opportunity it will forget its settings when we keep it unplugged for long enough - presumably these things come with small batteries that keep track of such details in case there's a power cut. You'd think these batteries won't keep going indefinitely, but then again only this week I came across the digital watch I stopped wearing when I got a mobile (around 2005, late adopter) and that's still going strong!
 
thanks for your help
You’re welcome.

it needs Adobe Flash Player
Flash is dead.
Steve Jobs killed it (good thing) :)
Your camera needs it (bad thing) :(

I'm intending to keep the Hikvision for the time being, hopefully there'll be a way of getting to it eventually. There is perhaps a small opportunity it will forget its settings when we keep it unplugged for long enough
I hope Hikvision’s support comes through or the camera develops amnesia.

I came across the digital watch I stopped wearing when I got a mobile (around 2005, late adopter) and that's still going strong!
Wow! Must be running on a speck of nuclear dust 🤣

Good luck with the new camera and I hope all goes well.
 

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