How to get Hikvision cameras working?

[gwichman]

I upgraded from HS3 on linux to HS4 on linux (pi 4).
I'm trying to get my Hikvision cameras working.
Anyone get this working successfully and if so, how? What did you put for picture and stream URL's?

I have:

http://userw@192.168.x.y/Streaming/channels/1/picture
http://user:pw@192.168.x.y/Streaming...02/httpPreview

But when clicking on cameras in the UI and "Live" I just get a continuous spinning wheel like it's thinking. An image never shows up. This despite the fact that I know both URL's work if I open them in a browser (the first yields an image, the second the video feed for the sub channel).

[Demusman]

http://USER:PASS@IP/Streaming/channels/2/picture - for snapshot

rtsp://USER:PASS@IP/Streaming/channels/0101 - for streaming

Works fine on Ubuntu 19 and 20

[gwichman]

http://USER:PASS@IP/Streaming/channels/2/picture - for snapshot

rtsp://USER:PASS@IP/Streaming/channels/0101 - for streaming

Works fine on Ubuntu 19 and 20

hmm no improvement here. Still get the spinning wheel. I'm not sure what to try next. If I http the streaming URL i get XML output as follows. Camera seems to be responding to these URL's as expected.

[Demusman]

Do you have the cameras set up correctly?
Can you access those URL's in a browser?

[gwichman]

Do you have the cameras set up correctly?
Can you access those URL's in a browser?

yep.. thats what i said above.

[baudi]

US names Hikvision, Chinese security bureaus to economic blacklist

[Demusman]

yep.. thats what i said above.

If you're getting an XML output it's not set correctly. You should get the actual video.

[gwichman]

If you're getting an XML output it's not set correctly. You should get the actual video.

thats because i used http:// in the browser to see what the XML output looks like.
also you can't stream rtsp to a browser these days without some kind of proxy.
within HS4 i am using rtsp:// and yes it works as confirmed by entering the same URL into VLC in windows and watching the stream.

perhaps i'm missing something on my HS4/pi4 system? a package?

[Demusman]

No, even if you go to the http page you will get the video. Google hikvision http stream, you'll find the info you need. I forget the settings and can't look now but you have to enable a seeing in the camera

[gwichman]

No, even if you go to the http page you will get the video. Google hikvision http stream, you'll find the info you need. I forget the settings and can't look now but you have to enable a seeing in the camera

ah interesting per this pdf (https://www.hikvision.com/content/da...20Commands.pdf) it looks like the path was wrong. It's:

/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/102/httpPreview

When i change the path accordingly, it works. At least it seems to so far 🙃. Thanks so much!

[tin_1]

Stole this from another forum and it worked for me on a 2CD-2032-I

Live View URL

rtsp://<address>:<port>/Streaming/Channels/<id>/
rtsp://<username>:<password>@<address>:<port>/Streaming/Channels/<id>/

Where <address> is the IP address of your camera, <port> is the RTSP port of the camera, and <username> and <password> refer to the login credentials of your camera.

Using the first format, you will be asked to login and verify your credentials before being allowed to view the stream.
Using the second format, you will automatically login when requesting the stream

<id> refers to the channel number and stream type of the camera. For example, an <id> of 101 refers to channel #1 (first digit, 1xx) using the main stream (second and third digits, x01).

Typically, you'll use a program such as VLC Media Player to decode the RTSP stream.

Examples below.

Main Stream
rtsp://192.168.1.100:554/Streaming/Channels/101/
rtsp://admin:examplepass123!@192.168.1.100:554/Streaming/Channels/101/

Sub Stream
rtsp://192.168.1.100:554/Streaming/Channels/102/
rtsp://admin:examplepass123!@192.168.1.100:554/Streaming/Channels/102

_____________________________
Take a snapshot via HTTP URL

http://<username>:<password>@<address>:<httpport>/Streaming/Channels/1/picture

Where <username> and <password> are the login credentials of the camera in question, and <address> and <httpport> are the IP address of the camera and its HTTP port (default 80).

The above URL will present a snapshot of the camera's current live view. Typically, this is used to embed a regular snapshot based on a time interval on a web page, but there are of course many things you can do with the URL.

For example
http://admin:examplepass999!@192.168.0.150:80/Streaming/Channels/1/picture

_____________________________

This is only a brief look at a couple of commands available to you via RTSP or HTTP URLs. For further reading, I'd strongly recommend you take a look at the Integration and Development Materials section on the Hikvision European download portal which goes into greater detail.

[gwichman]

My cameras stopped working again. I didn't change anything other then upgrading HS4.

I see these errors when HS tries to take a snapshot:


I also see these errors in the HS logs:



I went and looked at this path and in fact there is nothing in /usr/local/HomeSeer/html/snapshots/ at all. The directory is empty.

I'm not really sure whats going on. If I go to the http or rtsp URL's as defined in setup->camera, they work fine. Although for some reason i get an authentication popup even though i have the l/p specified in the URL's. I haven't changed any of this and it was working before. I also didn't change the cameras in any way. Very odd.

Anyone having anything similar happening or any ideas? It feels like an update to HS a few versions ago broke it but i can't say for sure that's true.



Date/time=9/28/2020 9:05:15 PM PDT
Version=HS4 Standard Edition 4.1.7.0 (Linux)
MyHS Subscription=Basic
MyHS Subscription Backup Interval=No Backup
MyHS Subscription Max Cameras=1
Confguration File=/usr/local/HomeSeer/Data/HomeSeerData.json
Uptime=3 Days 8 Hours 47 Minutes 29 Seconds
Device Count=196
Event Count=48
Last Event Ran=Motion Sensing : Master Bedroom Motion Evenings, Ran at 9/28/2020 8:17:34 PM
# of unique event scripts=0
Plugins Enabled=Pushover 3P:,Ecobee:,Z-Wave:,PHLocation2:,mcsShelly:,weatherXML:
Modules/Threads=110 Modules, 64 Threads
Available Threads=399
HomeSeer Memory Used=112 Mbytes
Plugins Installed=Ecobee 3.0.0.33,mcsShelly 5.3.0.4,PHLocation2 3.0.0.63,Pushover 3P 0.0.0.48,weatherXML 3.0.1.19,Z-Wave 3.0.2.0

[mulu]

I would invest in BlueIris which is a great program with great support from users. Officially HS only supports their cams and the functionality is very limited. Granted, it is another ~$50 for this software and they have updates for which you need to pay but the major updated do not happen often (similar to HS). BI will safe you a lot of headaches and give you a lot of control over your cams.

[gwichman]

I would invest in BlueIris which is a great program with great support from users. Officially HS only supports their cams and the functionality is very limited. Granted, it is another ~$50 for this software and they have updates for which you need to pay but the major updated do not happen often (similar to HS). BI will safe you a lot of headaches and give you a lot of control over your cams.

I've been hesitant to go the blue iris route simply because of the hardware requirement and expense. I also don't know where i'd put the thing as i'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit in my shallow media cabinet unless i go out and spend a bunch of money on an intel NUC or something like that along with the windows license. I do have an older qnap running surveillance station that adequately records my camera data that sits at my feet in my office.

frankly i'm getting to the point where i may just give up on cameras and HS and rip out any configuration that i have there. Ever since I got my nest hello doorbell i've realized that google does such a good job with their ecosystem detecting things (people, packages, etc) i may just rely on their platform.

[mulu]

Where are you recording your videos now? Is it just the doorbell and it's recorded in the cloud? I have a Skybell doorbell and it performs reasonably well. But the doorbell is just a very small part of what people think of home automation. In my case lights automatically go on/off when you open closet doors, shades open/close depending on sunrise/sunset (I plan to add light level to the mix), awnings extend/contract automatically, announcements are made when the drier/washer is done, doorbell chimes are cast throughout the house via Alexa, some lights come on depending on light level, etc, etc. As for cameras, a lot of security cameras are pretty much useless because they perform so badly. Do you have any cams besides the doorbell where you probably have good lightning? Most of them won't see any license plates, not get a usable face shot at night, etc. That's why people walk right up to your house and still packages even if there are cams.

Having said all of that, all of this is a lot of work. So google and alexa/amazon have a huge potential. They have the power to also put AI into all of this so your home automation system learns from what you are doing and then creates its own automation without you having to 'program' anything. It will be a few years but it will come. The only problem is that they collect data on you, you will depend on an internet connection and you will depend on a monthly fee model. Also if you want to ever change vendor then amny of your sensor probably won't work anymore. You can avoid all of this by going with an independent vendor like HS. At the end it is your call what is important to you.