I can answer this. I installed the newest version of smart-pss and changed the port to 37785 and it does record believe it or not. You cannot go into the hdd manager and do anything because that portion is not functional but it does indeed record.
Here is a link to the manual but I am unable to find an actual software download location so far.
https://dahuawiki.com/Manuals/DSS_Windows/Express/DSS%20Express%20User%20Manual_ENG.pdf
I wasn't really looking for "features" I was just looking for a functional PC-NVR. I noticed that recently Dahua pulled the old versions off of their servers so I don't know if there was some security issues or maybe they were end of support? Recently I had to nuke my PC that does my NVR stuff...
So are you saying that it is now fully functional with this OR you can only use one of your cameras because if that is the case it is pretty much useless :-)
Please let us know as I have fought this issue for hours and hours and gave up only to use pre 2.x software which doesn't exhibit this issue.
Yeah disable the IR and flip it from B/W to Color you will likely be surprised how well the starlight works for you especially if you have a streetlight nearby.