Monday, December 28, 2015

Hikvision NTP Problem

I ran into a problem with some of my Hikvision IP Cameras and their NTP (Network Time Protocol) update time being off even though the time zone was correct. Now what was weird was it wasn’t on all cameras(Different FW, Different Region).

What I had to do was swap the DST start and end times. 

Example

Before Swapping:

After Swapping:

The start time was now the end time and the end time was now the start time. And it worked!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Hikvision DS-7616N-E2/16P NVR

Recently I  decided to purchase a Embedded NVR for my IP Camera as my Zoneminder setup was getting maxed out and I needed to add a couple more camera's to my system. So I purchased a Hikvision NVR with 16 POE ports and it recently arrived so I thought I would post some pictures and some of the specifications.
NVR Front

NVR Back

NVR Inside

Some Specs:
  • 16 100MB POE Ports
  • 16 Channels
  • 2 SATA Ports
  • 1 HDMI
  • 1 VGA
  • 2 USB Ports (1 Front, 1 Rear)
  • 1 RCA Audio In
  • 1 RCA Audio Out
  • 1 Gigabit Ethernet LAN


Partial output  of cat /proc/cpuinfo:
[root@dvrdvs /] # cat /proc/cpuinfo
Processor       : ARMv7 Processor rev 1 (v7l)
processor       : 0
BogoMIPS        : 1987.37
processor       : 1
BogoMIPS        : 1993.93
Features        : swp half fastmult edsp tls

Partial output of cat /proc/meminfo:
[root@dvrdvs /] # cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:         526256 kB
MemFree:          239404 kB


The NVR turned out to be a good purchase, I like the features and performance. Although it is the Chinese version modified to English it still works great (although I am afraid to upgrade the firmware). 

I heard that Hikvision is trying to stop these Chinese market cameras and NVR's from being made to English and sold abroad for cheaper, but I do not think they realize that they will be severely reducing their sales by doing so, they sell more Chinese versions which are later modified to English than region specific hardware. This is due to the lower cost, thus making this affordable to people who would of been purchasing lower end no name device's. Hikvision should not mess with something that works!, their business and professional customers will continue to purchase official region specific hardware as they are already buying cameras at those prices and or higher. These customers are coming from expensive professional brands such as Acti, BOSCH, Axis, etc.

Look at Nintendo for example, they stopped the original Wii came out with something that was less hackable and their sales are suffering severely.


I do not condone or encourage any illegal activity. The contents of this posts are my personal opinion and are just a form of expression.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Hikvision NVR Sub Stream Unavailable

So I ran into an issue with with iVMS Android APP being unable to stream fluent mode or sub-stream from my Hikvision NVR. The option for Balanced and Fluency was Greyed out.

Here is how to resolve it:

1) Factory Reset the IP Camera from the Web Browser.

2) Once the camera is back up, then power off the camera by removing the power plug or POE cable connection going to the camera. Wait 30 seconds and then plug it back in.

3) Sub-stream should now be available.

You will have to reconfigure your settings and preferences on the camera. Hikvision no sub stream problem should now be fixed.

***I take no responsibility for damage to your device or any re-percussion's for following this information. My usual disclaimer also applies. This worked for and and I am posting in case I come across this issue again and do not remember what to do.

Hikvision TFTP Tool

Hikvision TFTP Tool. I am uploading a copy here for my archival purposes.

TFTP.zip(tftpserv.exe)

This was originally downloaded from Hikvision's Website.

PiKVM to NVR

  Trying to connect to your IP Camera Network Video Recorder (NVR) via your PiKVM and it’s not working? No video from the NVR on...