Hikvision DS-7608NI-I2/8P blinking green power light/blinking red LED on motherboard.

cstroman

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Hello fellow security camera techies.

I own one Hikvision DS-7608NI-I2/8P NVR which works great.

I purchased a 2nd Hikvision DS-7608NI-I2/8P used.

However the 2nd one won't boot up. Upon plugging it in and flipping on the back switch, the front panel "power" LED blinks. Upon opening the chassis, there is a blinking RED LED on the motherboard that blinks in sync with the front green power light.

Also the POE switch external lights don't light up or the LAN connection port lights either.

The fans of the unit do turn on (one is the Power Supply fan and the other is the side panel fan) but it doesn't move into a boot sequence at all.

There isn't a HDD attached to it AND it doesn't have the proprietary Hikvision HDD power cable or SATA cable attached to the MB right now. I don't think that would stop it from booting however (please correct me if I am incorrect).

In looking at other threads with bricked Hikvision NVRs, etc. I'm wondering IF it's worth buying the serial cables necessary to TFTP in to the MB or if it's just "dead" and there's no way to recover it. IOW if I don't get any beeping, the other components other than the fans do not show power (no GUI, No NIC/POE lights coming on, etc.)

I can provide any snapshots of the MB if needed, etc. or answer any questions.

Looking for any help to "recover" it if possible as it's a decent 8 channel NVR. Any links or videos or guides that would help would be much appreciated.
 
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cstroman

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It was sold "As-is" but claimed since the power light "lights up" that it worked. Seller did say they hadn't tested it but just plugged it in and lights turned on. It's my own fault for assuming that since it powered up that it was probably "working". I rolled the dice and lost.

I guess you live and learn to be more critical/questioning than I was.

But if it is recoverable/fixable with buying some TFTP cables, loading some software, etc. I'm willing to do it and I'll still come out ahead. But if it's fried and no software/firmware can recover it, I'd like to avoid my loses being greater than they actually are.
 

alastairstevenson

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Assuming it doesn't have an RS232 DB9 connector on the back panel :

A serial TTL to USB convertor, such as a PL2303TA based version is a couple of dollars.
A 4-pin 1.5mm JST ZH wired connector is about the same cost, in a 10pack.
It's your time you'd be investing in exploring it as opposed to money.
 

alastairstevenson

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But if it is recoverable/fixable with buying some TFTP cables, loading some software, etc. I'm willing to do it and I'll still come out ahead. But if it's fried and no software/firmware can recover it, I'd like to avoid my loses being greater than they actually are.
It's actually not too difficult to hook up to the device serial console.
That's should provide a good indication of whether any recovery actions may be possible.
 

cstroman

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As with many things since delving into IP Cameras...let the tinkering begin! Just ordered the USB connector and a 10 pack of 4 pin connectors (they also look like the same 4 pin connectors Hikvision uses for their HDD power cable) but those ship from China so it may be a little bit before I can get it setup.

I'm assuming once I have that stuff here, I just follow the lengthy thread here:

I've read a bunch of threads (and watched a bunch of videos showing the same thing) and my only concern was that I read (or saw) that there was a file limit size for TFTP to transfer over and that the latest Hikvision firmware was larger than could be transferred to the device via the serial console. I know that's step 9 or 10 however where step 1 is just seeing if any data is returned from the device via the serial console at all.

Now to turn the "patience" part of my brain on to wait for China post.
 

bretnsid

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Hi ! I have the same issue you posted here. Before i go order the parts to repair the red motherboard flash / green power button flash - was wondering if it fixed the NVR for you or did you have to junk it? Any advice appreciated since i didnt see your results posted - thanks so much!
Mike
 

alastairstevenson

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Before i go order the parts to repair the red motherboard flash / green power button flash - was wondering if it fixed the NVR for you or did you have to junk it?
@cstroman last seen 6 months ago, so unlikely to respond. But you never know.

An easy and low-cost first step, to determine the cause of the problem and if it's fixable - would be to get hold of the required parts to hook up to the serial console.
Be aware that the higher-end NVRs have RS232 connectors on the back panel.
These are in the minority though - most will use the on-board serial TTL interface.
What model of NVR do you have?
 

bretnsid

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@cstroman last seen 6 months ago, so unlikely to respond. But you never know.

An easy and low-cost first step, to determine the cause of the problem and if it's fixable - would be to get hold of the required parts to hook up to the serial console.
Be aware that the higher-end NVRs have RS232 connectors on the back panel.
These are in the minority though - most will use the on-board serial TTL interface.
What model of NVR do you have?
Thanks! I have the:
DS-7608NI-I2/8P
It doesnt have an RS232 on the back but one confusing thing when I open it up is that it has 2 of the "four pin JST ZH header" on the mainboard, right side by side with each other. I assume i can use either one but found it odd since other models all seemed to just have 1 of these outlets.
 

alastairstevenson

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