Did I max out my cameras?

Okay, some may know from previous post I have over 30 cameras on one machine and have it running pretty smooth with very low CPU usage for the number of 3.1MP cameras. Well, those cameras are still working fine, but it seems every new camera I add isn't doing so well.

I added a camera the other week, just like I have many times before. They are the same brand (Longse), but different image sensors. Some are Sony IMX124 like the current ones, one is a OV4689 and one is a Sony IMX178. However, every one I've added has problems staying connected. I don't know if they loose connection because of a reboot or they stop responding and then reboot. I have tried different cables (handmade and purchased) and I have tried several different POE switches (TP-Link and Netgear). No matter what I do, they loose connection about once an hour. Sometimes they come back quickly, sometimes they take minutes. None of the other existing cameras are having the same issue.

Could I be a BI issue? Did I hit the max cams it wants to handle? It's only newly added cameras having this issue. The log in BI isn't very helpful, just the standard loss of connection and restored msgs. I also noticed that at times when BI is showing the loss of connection image in the display, I can't access the camera's web interface past the log in screen. It comes up, but it doesn't respond past trying to log in. It's not frozen, but not responding (if that makes sense).

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions for troubleshooting. This issue. BI is at its latest update and running perfectly for existing cameras.

Thanks

If you cant log into the camera via the browser as you stated then its certainly not a BI issue. It could be your network or crappy cameras...try disabling 5 working cameras and see if the new ones give you an issue.

I am trying to figure out if something in BI is hammering the camera with some kind of requests that keep it too busy to respond. I have just found some function that is now turned on for the new cameras that isn't for the existing ones (Get events with PullPointSubscription). This is under the network configuration and is another point of communication with the cameras. I have disabled it and am awaiting the results.

The cameras are by no means "crappy" and my network is just fine.

I heard a rumor it has new feature added, "IF CameraName = Longse THEN MessWithTheUser()". Seriously though, while there might be quality issues with these cams occasionally, if you have bunch of them which are having the same issue then it doesn't sound like a network/hardware issue, probably a configuration in the BI which I am not too familiar with. Aside from that have you tried removing a few cams from BI while adding a Longse cams to see if affects anything?

klasipca said:

I heard a rumor it has new feature added, "IF CameraName = Longse THEN MessWithTheUser()". Seriously though, while there might be quality issues with these cams occasionally, if you have bunch of them which are having the same issue then it doesn't sound like a network/hardware issue, probably a configuration in the BI which I am not too familiar with. Aside from that have you tried removing a few cams from BI while adding a Longse cams to see if affects anything?

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Its not a BI issue...the camera locks up and cannot be seen the the browser.

Tincanalley said:

I am trying to figure out if something in BI is hammering the camera with some kind of requests that keep it too busy to respond. I have just found some function that is now turned on for the new cameras that isn't for the existing ones (Get events with PullPointSubscription). This is under the network configuration and is another point of communication with the cameras. I have disabled it and am awaiting the results.

The cameras are by no means "crappy" and my network is just fine.

Click to expand...

There is nothing in blue iris that "hammers" the cameras. You can pull the rtsp stream no onvif there...

I played with rtsp streams rtsp://192.168.1.2/0 in vlc and it appears to "lock" up or stop working after a while, eventhough live stream via NVR is fine. Not sure if it's related to your issue, but if BI is pulling the same rtsp stream could be an issue worth looking into

klasipca said:

I played with rtsp streams rtsp://192.168.1.2/0 in vlc and it appears to "lock" up or stop working after a while, eventhough live stream via NVR is fine. Not sure if it's related to your issue, but if BI is pulling the same rtsp stream could be an issue worth looking into

Click to expand...

Onvif still uses rtsp to stream the video.

Well I disabled that setting under the network settings (Get events with PullPointSubscription) and none of the new cameras have stopped responding like they were. They have been up and working fine for almost 2 hours. The log before the change was filled with the errors and retries about every 20 minutes before the change, and none since the change. Each of those cameras used to go out at least once an hour.

I don't know what that setting is doing, but the cameras don't seem to like it. It might be an issue in the camera's firmware, but since there are three different image sensors and controllers, it seems odd all would have a bug, but you never know.

My next step is to take a camera that has worked for months and turn that setting on and see what happens to it.




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fenderman said:

Its not a BI issue...the camera locks up and cannot be seen the the browser.

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The camera can be seen by the browser, but it isn't going beyond the login screen. I can even ping it.

BI has the following on the function I just turned off. The last sentence is interesting. I'm pretty sure its what has been causing the cams to stop responding. Seems they might have been too busy to respond.

"The Get events with PullPointSubscription setting is set automatically if you use the Find/Inspect tool and it discovers that your camera supports Events. The software will monitor the events stream from the camera in order to facilitate camera-based motion detection and triggering, which also must be enabled on the Motion/Trigger tab. It has been found that some cameras do not properly support this, resulting in a high network activity as the software attempts to pull the events, in which case you may wish to override this feature by disabling it."

Seems like the camera has poor onvif implementation.

Tincanalley said:

I am trying to figure out if something in BI is hammering the camera with some kind of requests that keep it too busy to respond. I have just found some function that is now turned on for the new cameras that isn't for the existing ones (Get events with PullPointSubscription). This is under the network configuration...

Click to expand...

Hey @Tincanalley...nice completely half-ass post that will cause anyone who's interested to have to Google research "Get events with PullPointSubscription" in order to find out where this setting is located...

Blue Iris > Select Camera > Camera Properties > Video > Configure > Get events with PullPointSubscription

Pullpoints are interesting from the standpoint that they require an open and idle connection to the camera to "poll" for events. With each camera requiring an rtsp connection, ONVIF soap connection and a separate connection for the pullpoint I wonder if the event notification in BI is running out of resources.

Does it support ws-BaseNotification instead? The difference being with ws-BaseNotification the camera makes a connection to the server on each event, so it connects, pokes the event in the hole and closes the connection. It's a bit heavier on the network for cameras that have lots of events but it's quite a bit lighter on resources in the server as there is no need to manage active/idle connections. It just accept()s, recv()s and close()s on each event.

Brad_C said:

Pullpoints are interesting from the standpoint that they require an open and idle connection to the camera to "poll" for events. With each camera requiring an rtsp connection, ONVIF soap connection and a separate connection for the pullpoint I wonder if the event notification in BI is running out of resources.

Does it support ws-BaseNotification instead? The difference being with ws-BaseNotification the camera makes a connection to the server on each event, so it connects, pokes the event in the hole and closes the connection. It's a bit heavier on the network for cameras that have lots of events but it's quite a bit lighter on resources in the server as there is no need to manage active/idle connections. It just accept()s, recv()s and close()s on each event.

Click to expand...

The OP is likely not using the function at all..it was simply checked...OP is likely using the blue iris motion detection which is far superior to the cameras.

Q2U said:

Hey @Tincanalley...nice completely half-ass post that will cause anyone who's interested to have to Google research "Get events with PullPointSubscription" in order to find out where this setting is located...

Blue Iris > Select Camera > Camera Properties > Video > Configure > Get events with PullPointSubscription

Click to expand...

You feel better now?

fenderman said:

Seems like the camera has poor onvif implementation.

Click to expand...

I emailed them to see if they can reproduce the problem and hopefully fix it.

Tincanalley said:

You feel better now?

Click to expand...

I do. Until you make another lazy ass post that is.

Tincanalley said:

I emailed them to see if they can reproduce the problem and hopefully fix it.

Click to expand...

Are you using the cameras motion detection?

Brad_C said:

Pullpoints are interesting from the standpoint that they require an open and idle connection to the camera to "poll" for events. With each camera requiring an rtsp connection, ONVIF soap connection and a separate connection for the pullpoint I wonder if the event notification in BI is running out of resources.

Does it support ws-BaseNotification instead? The difference being with ws-BaseNotification the camera makes a connection to the server on each event, so it connects, pokes the event in the hole and closes the connection. It's a bit heavier on the network for cameras that have lots of events but it's quite a bit lighter on resources in the server as there is no need to manage active/idle connections. It just accept()s, recv()s and close()s on each event.

Click to expand...

According to BI after the find/inspect, the cameras respond to it having the ability. Now as to why it doesn't work, I couldn't say. Besides, I use the BI motion detection, not the camera's, so by default this should be off.

Q2U said:

I do. Until you make another lazy ass post that is.

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Well your panties are going to get pretty twisted if that's all it takes. Your OCD is not my issue.