Hikvision NVR Streaming A Dahua NVR

View your Dahua NVR from your Hikvision NVR! Here is how to add a Dahua IP Camera connected to a Dahua NVR to a Hikvision NVR so you can view both systems from one interface. This can be useful if you have two sytems or monitoring two locations with different systems.

Login to the Hikvision NVR and go to Configuration -> Camera Management

Click Custom Protocol and fill in the following boxes:

 

Name the protocol after the camera you are adding.

Choose RTSP, Auto and Port 554.

In the stream path, enter the following: /cam/realmonitor?channel=10&subtype=1

10 in this case is the Front Door Camera, 1 is the Sub-stream. Change to 2 for the main stream.

Click OK.

Click Add, or Modify a offline camera. Enter the IP address of the Dahua NVR, Choose the protocol you created earlier, Enter the management port as port 80, enter the username and password for the Dahua NVR and click OK. 

 

Refresh the webpage and your camera should be online and viewable from the Hikvision NVR. Notice the Management Port automatically switched to 554.

Microsoft's Requires A Phone Number

 I QUIT MICROSOFT!!!

It has come to my attention that Microsoft makes it mandatory (in a sneaky way) that all accounts must have a phone number associated with it. This was the last straw for me, I had previously switched from Microsoft OS's to Linux and while it took some time to get used to, I will never go back. Microsoft is invading our privacy each and every which way they can. Windows 10 was the push I needed to ditch Windows as a OS. Now, I am ditching Microsoft and ALL their products completely!

What exactly am I talking about? Well, anyone can setup a Microsoft account for free, for a number of uses (Windows 10/PC/XBOX/Email/Cloud Storage/Etc.). Great! sign me up. But wait... After a day or up to a week or two, Microsoft will say "Your account has been locked" and you will not be able to login or use any services with that account. With a BS excuse of "We've detected some activity that violates our Microsoft Services Agreement and have locked your account." Microsoft will claim a number of vague reasons why your account was locked and will never admit that it's a complete and utter lie. Now in order to unlock your account, you need to provide Microsoft a phone number where you can receive a text with a code to be entered on the site to unlock your account.

No matter what you do, call, submit a ticket, etc. They will not accept anything in lieu of the number, not even the alternative email you provided during setup! Microsoft will claim that this is to cut down on spam and/or fake accounts. And why that is semi-reasonable, they should not force everyone to do this unless their account actually has suspicious activity. So why do they want your number? Besides the "reasons" they are telling you? Well, to track and monitor you. They can link all your accounts on their back end, with the phone number you provided for any accounts you created. If you aren't aware of all the privacy concerns around Windows 10, you should read up on that and then see why this is phone number issue is even more concerning.

But I am not here to convince you, read up on the issues I noted above and take action as you see necessary. I highly recommend that each and everyone of you file a complaint and voice your concerns to Microsoft, the Attorney General/Privacy Commissioner in your country/region and any activist/privacy groups you know of. This kind of privacy invasion cannot continue, where will it end!?!

Cheapest Video Baby Monitor

Looking for a good quality video monitor? Decent range, secure (relatively), cheap? Well, why don't you start by checking your cabinets and drawers? Can't find one or don't have one? Are you sure?

Take a second look, look at that unused Apple or Android Phone or Tablet. By installing your favorite video calling App such as Skype, WhatsApp, Facetime, etc. You can turn your old device (in combination with your current device) as a two way baby monitor! Best of all, your child can see and hear your voice when they wake up while you make your way to their bedroom/crib. But don't forget to mute your microphone while they are sleeping so they cannot hear all your noise.

Western Digital (WD) RED SMR Issues

Most of you are probably aware of the recent issues with WD RED Drives. These RED drives were built for NAS's (Network Attached Storage), they run specialized firmware and are built for reliability and resiliency. One key feature of RED drives was they used CMR or PMR technology for storing data on the platter. Well, WD decided to change from CMR/PMR to SMR without letting their users know. This can cause major problems for your NAS, especially if you use ZFS. Now, you can read more about this issue from dozens of internet sources. That's not why I am here, I am here to talk about what they are doing about it and why I do not agree.

 

WD has been replacing (for some who raise an issue with SMR) the SMR drives with PMR/CMR drives through a process called RMA. User are happy that WD is doing this, and it is good of them to do so. But here is where things get tricky. When you bought your drive, you purchased new, free from any defects (you would hope) and had a 1 year or longer warranty. The replacement drives they (WD) is using to replace the RMA's for the SMR issue are refurbished drives. Not NEW. So, you are replacing a reliable drive with a defective one that was "fixed" or "corrected" by WD.

Some of you may say, well they give you a warranty. Well fine, but are you prepared to replace your drive if it decides to quit right after the warranty? Do you want something used when you paid for new? This is even worse for those who bought the drive as a hot or cold spare. If you paid for a new car, new phone or new shoes, but received a refurbished one (used then reconditioned by the manufacturer), would you still be happy? I myself, would rather sell the SMR drives or re-purpose them and purchase NEW NAS drives from a different manufacturer.

Actively Cooling Flash Memory

During a recent data transfer to a new MicroSD Card, I noticed the memory card became extremely hot to the touch. There were several Gigabytes (around 30+ GB) transferred, due to transferring all the photos, music and videos from my old card to the new. This made me think, can this contribute to a reduced lifespan of the card? Will this affect the transfer speed during the process? Can heat increase the likelihood of data corruption?

So I set off to test some of these hypotheses. To do that I needed a few things; some software to test transfer speeds and stability, an external card reader/write, a small infrared digital thermometer to take the temperature and a mini-blower style fan to cool the MicroSD Card during the transfer. Below is what I used:

• 1 x USB Multi-Card Reader & Writer
• 1 x 12V DC Mini-Blower Fan
• 1 x Digital IR Thermometer
• 1 x HDD/SSD/SD Bechmarking Software – Crystal DiskMark
• 1 x HDD/SSD/SD Bechmarking & Stability Software – HDTune

Testing Phase

At the start of each test, the ambient temperature of the memory card was 72°F, removed from the reader. Each test started with the card and Reader/Writer removed and allowed to cool to 72°F.

NO FAN

For test one, I plugged in the memory card reader with the MicroSD already inserted. Ran Crystal DiskMark and took temperatures throughout the process, the purpose of this test was to get read/write speeds and the temperatures during each phase:

• Temp before start: 72°F
• Temp during test file creation: 97°F
• Temp (peak) during Read test: 92°F
• Temp (peak) during Write test: 100°F
• Temp at end of test: 92°F
• Temp resting after test: 77.5°F

For the 2^nd test, I ran HDTune to see the stability:

WITH FAN

For test 3, I plugged in the memory card reader with the MicroSD already inserted. Positioned the blower fan 1cm aware from the front of the card reader, allowing air to blow around all sides of the card and even into the Reader/Writer device through the unused slots, potentially cooling the controller inside as well. Ran Crystal DiskMark and took temperatures throughout the process, the purpose of this test was to get read/write speeds and the temperatures during each phase:

• Temp before start: 72°F
• Temp during test file creation: 80.5°F
• Temp (peak) during Read test: 74.5°F
• Temp (peak) during Write test: 77.5°F
• Temp at end of test: 80°F
• Temp resting after test: 72°F

For the 4^th test, I ran HDTune to see the stability:

Comparison

You can see the temperatures are significantly lower with the Fan On:

• 16.5° F Cooler during test file creation
• 17.5° F cooler during the Read test
• 22.5° F cooler during the Write test
• 5.5° F cooler resting after test

Well, obviously the temp’s were going to be less with active cooling. Was I expecting something else? No, what I was looking for was the impact of cooling. As you can see from the zoomed in screenshot below, the transfer was significantly more stable when we had active cooling.

 

Furthermore in the Crystal DiskMark screenshots, you can see the Read speeds was much more consistent with active cooling than without.

Conclusions

From the testing, I was able to prove the following:

• Transfer speeds are more consistent
• Transfer was more stable
• Memory card temperatures remained low

What does this mean? I believe that this indicates that actively cooling a flash memory device such as a memory card will provide the following benefits:

• Longevity of the flash device - Due to less temperature stresses, the device may last longer.
• Faster data transfer to/from the flash device - Due to the consistent speeds, the data will transfer quicker.
• Reduced chance of data corruption - Due to the lower temperatures and stable transfer, there is less chance of corrupted data during the transfer.

Considerations:

1. Extrapolating this for longer transfer’s may increase the need for active cooling.
2. Shorter transfers may have less impact on transfer speeds.
3. Test’s were conducted 3 times for each scenario.

So What? Well, most people don’t need or care about this. However there are a few that might, some of these folks would be:

Data Archivist would benefit from using active cooling as the data they are trying to preserve needs to be free from defect (corruption) and they need to ensure that all data is transferred before the source device (flash media in this case) fails. During large/long transfers, the likelihood of the device failing is higher due to the high temperatures.

Photographers may also find this beneficial as well, their photos can be worth thousands of dollar’s/pound’s/euro’s. Corruption of the source and/or destination image can result in a significant loss of revenue. Using a reliable external Reader/Writer (as opposed to connecting the camera to the computer) and active cooling on the card and Reader/Writer can help reduce the chances of corrupted data and lost revenue.

Thanks for reading and I hope this provided some food for thought. I had been wanting to test this for some time and never got around to it. Perhaps for the next one, I will take apart the Reader/Writer and liquid cool or active cool (fan and heat-sink) the entire card surface during the test.

***Disclaimer: I am not a scientist, these tests were for fun and for a proof of concept. Take the data and conclusions with a pinch of salt and decide for yourself if this information is of any relevance to you and make your own decisions based on your own thoughts and conclusions.

Ultimate Multiboot USD Drive

In my quest to make the ultimate bootable USB Drive, to boot multiple ISO's from a single USB device and that can boot both Linux and Windows 7/Window 10 ISO for installation. I found a number of issues getting it to work with all my desired ISO's. I tried tools Like Yumi, MultiBootUSB, SARDU and even manually creating a GRUB2EUFI USB.

Then I found out about some hardware devices that emulate a DVD/CD drive on PC's, including during boot. Such as the IODD 2531 and the Zalman ZM-VE350. You copy all your ISO's to the HDD, select which ISO you want to mount using the buttons and screen on the device and your done!

However some of these devices have been difficult to track down. So I thought if there was a smaller or DIY option, turns out there is! You can use a RaspberryPi Zero to do the same thing. All thanks this person on GitHub: https://github.com/tjmnmk/gadget_cdrom

Video Demo Here: https://video.ploud.fr/videos/watch/6d0b1014-bb39-4714-a984-15a24a9ac58e

Now, I have not tested this yet, but the video looks promising and I will be doing a project on it. I will take notes and pictures and be sure to post about it on here. If you end up doing the project before me, post in the comments and let me know how it went.
 

Free Windows Office 2016/2019

We all need it at some point, whether it's Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, 2016, 2019 or even Office O365. The fact is, it is too expensive to some and Microsoft's move to a subscription based model where you pay a yearly fee is not helping. That is why I switched to LibreOffice, permanently. LibreOffice is a free and open-source application available on Windows, Mac & Linux! There is even a portable version that you do not need to install.

You see, the more of us that use LibreOffice, the more standard it becomes and the minor incompatibilities diminish. Even Businesses can use it for free, and I hope more do. You can open and edit Microsoft Office created files (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) in LibreOffice without issues from my experience and even save in the same format.

So give it a try! Save some money and let's help Microsoft reverse their decision to move to a subscription based model.