authentication

[Jenny Homewood]

My Hikvision records to the NVR for about three or four days, and then the NVR stops recording and asks for authentication. I then re-enter the camera's password, the NVR recognises it, and it starts recording. Does anyone know if this is a problem with the camera or the NVR? Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[StewartM]

Please post the model of your NVR and camera. If possible include the firmware version they are currently running. Updating to the most recent firmware often resolves these issues.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

Please post the model of your NVR and camera. If possible include the firmware version they are currently running. Updating to the most recent firmware often resolves these issues.

Sorry I can't give you that information as the NVR has no identification on it, and all I can find out for the camera is its serial number, which is 20140419CCCH460397509. It is build V5.1.6 140409. All this stuff was put in by previous owners and it looks like it is all grey market. Other cameras don't have this problem. I cannot update firmware on NVR or camera and just wanted to know whether it was most likely a camera or NVR problem.

 

[Phil]

Install Hikvision's SADP utility on a PC on the same network and share the results here.
It should reveal what your NVR is - assuming it is found on the network.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

Install Hikvision's SADP utility on a PC on the same network and share the results here.
It should reveal what your NVR is - assuming it is found on the network.

SADP only sees the three cameras, not the NVR.

 

[Phil]

Is the NVR wired to your network?
I assume it IS a Hikvision NVR?

 

[fullboogie]

That's odd. If the cameras are plugged into the NVR, it should be the opposite.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

Is the NVR wired to your network?
I assume it IS a Hikvision NVR?

The NVR is wired into the network, but I don't think it is Hikvision.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

That's odd. If the cameras are plugged into the NVR, it should be the opposite.

The cameras all go into a switch in the loft, then into the router, then into the NVR.

 

[Phil]

The NVR is wired into the network, but I don't think it is Hikvision.

OK, that explains why their SADP utility did not find it.

 

[Phil]

You'll need to identify your NVR (make & model) and see if you can update it to the newest firmware, then see if you are still having problems.

You could also try updating the cameras to their latest firmware.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

You'll need to identify your NVR (make & model) and see if you can update it to the newest firmware, then see if you are still having problems.

You could also try updating the cameras to their latest firmware.

Thank you, Phil, for your suggestions. Unfortunately there is nothing on the NVR nor in its software to identify it. All I was trying to establish was whether the problem was camera related or NVR related. For instance, at the moment the NVR says it is recording the cameras footage, which I can see, but when I go to playback, there is no recording. As all our other cameras are recording perfectly well, I tend to think it is a problem with the camera. I may just try setting it back to factory settings. As I said earlier, I cannot update its firmware unless I put on Hikvision's Chinese version, which may or may not work. Thanks anyway for your help. I hate chucking things away which should work, but I think this is what is going to happen.

 

[StewartM]

It's going to be a challenge narrowing the issue down this blindly. Would you be able to attach a photo of the camera configuration page from your NVR? The problem could be related to how the NVR is connecting to the camera. Usually a third party camera connects to the NVR via ONVIF. It's possible to see a camera on the NVR but not have the stream recorded if improperly configured. Why the NVR is misreporting the recording is part of the puzzle. Don't upgrade the firmware on the camera. The Chinese grey-market cameras are at risk of bricking. How is IP address of the camera assigned? Did you give it a static IP or did the NVR assign it an IP with DHCP? Having to re-enter a password every 4 days (I'm taking a long shot here) may be related to DHCP lease times. Any additional info and pictures of the NVR camera setup screens would help.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

First of all, thank you for taking the time to try and help me. I attach two photos from the NVR screen, and from those you will see it connects via ONVIF. It does have a static ip address. I have just had to re-enter the password again this morning. I have an identical camera (stream no.3) which has absolutely identical settings, and yet works fine and has never done this.
Thanks for advice re Chinese firmware update. I did consider using the English version on Hikvision's EU portal, but again, I was scared it would brick it.
Because other cameras on my setup do not have this problem, I have tended to think it must be a camera-related problem.

 

[StewartM]

Most of the Hikvision cameras I’ve worked with require ONVIF to be manually enabled and a user account to exist for ONVIF to function correctly.

I don’t think the camera is faulty, I’m fairly certain it’s just configured incorrectly. Your grey market camera may just need ONVIF to be properly configured. Looking at your attachments, the NVR is configured to connect to port 80, the camera’s HTTP port. This might explain why you see a preview stream but have no recordings. Ideally your NVR should record the main stream using RTSP via ONVIF.

Try change the camera’s device port to 8000 from 80 on your NVR. This will allow the NVR to connect via the management port on the camera. This will allow the NVR to make changes to the cameras settings. Let me know the result if it produces an error message.

To make things easier, are you able to take a picture of the underside of the camera? Usually there is a sticker with all the cameras details. If not, are you able to connect a laptop to the switch in the loft? If so, let me know the make and model of the switch or take a picture of it before proceeding.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

Most of the Hikvision cameras I’ve worked with require ONVIF to be manually enabled and a user account to exist for ONVIF to function correctly.

I don’t think the camera is faulty, I’m fairly certain it’s just configured incorrectly. Your grey market camera may just need ONVIF to be properly configured. Looking at your attachments, the NVR is configured to connect to port 80, the camera’s HTTP port. This might explain why you see a preview stream but have no recordings. Ideally your NVR should record the main stream using RTSP via ONVIF.

Try change the camera’s device port to 8000 from 80 on your NVR. This will allow the NVR to connect via the management port on the camera. This will allow the NVR to make changes to the cameras settings. Let me know the result if it produces an error message.

To make things easier, are you able to take a picture of the underside of the camera? Usually there is a sticker with all the cameras details. If not, are you able to connect a laptop to the switch in the loft? If so, let me know the make and model of the switch or take a picture of it before proceeding.

OK, I have now changed the device port to 8000 on the NVR, and I shall have to wait a while to see if it continues recording. As you know, it usually records perfectly for three or four days, then suddenly stops recording. So I shall keep checking it everyday to see how long it goes. I will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

Just checked the NVR to look at some footage, and discovered it was not receiving a signal from the PTZ. It appears that after changing the port to 8000 yesterday, it recorded for approximately 7 hours, and then stopped receiving a signal. Back to square one.

 

[StewartM]

Since it did not improve the situation change the settings back. Just to clarify, you have an identical camera on Channel 03 that is not giving you any hassles? If so, please try disable the working camera on channel three for a day. If the recording improves for the camera on channel 4 it may hint at a limitation on the NVR.

 

[Jenny Homewood]

OK, I have disabled the other camera and will now have to wait a few days to see what happens. Crossing my fingers!

 

[Jenny Homewood]

On reviewing the NVR recorded camera footage , it recorded correctly for a few days, and then left a big gap where - when reviewing the footage - it was showing old footage (the attached photo will explain: looking at late morning, all was ok, but then in the afternoon it was showing night-time footage). This is with one of the other PTZs disabled. I regularly check the cameras via my iPad and there didn't appear to be any problem. The PTZ with the problem is about 200 yards from our house (we live on a farm), connected by Cat 5 cable, but with local power at the camera. This problem has occurred on and off, but now is happening very frequently. Perhaps it is time we bought a new NVR?