Adding non-Hik cameras to Hikvision NVR PoE ports

[yorkie]

I'm messing around with a DS7716NI-E4/16P NVR and currently testing which cameras will connect to it. Cameras connected by an external switch can be added to the NVR without issue using the manual adding method, but I'm finding issues trying to use the built-in PoE ports.

Firmware version 3.4.80

I have two Samsung/Wisenet cameras to add, as cameras 1 and either 4 or 6 in the network. I connected one up through an external switch and manually put in the IP address etc and it came up fine, but plugging that same camera in on the respective PoE port with the same credentials and it won't find the camera - the message back is either "network unreachable" or "network abnormal". I have subsequently set the camera IP to be allocated using DHCP and made sure UPnP is enabled where applicable, but all the NVR does is state "Offline (detecting)" for the camera and never progresses any further. Trying the 'One Touch Adding' function brings up an error "no more IP cameras allowed" so I'm a bit stumped at the moment.

The camera admin password is the same as for the NVR.

Am I being a bit dumb here or is there a key step I'm missing out to get these cameras detected on the built-in PoE ports?

I also have a DS-6704HUHI-K encoder which I am yet to try out but will also be connected to the PoE - there will be 2 channels on that used for certain, and I assume that will be automatically detected and channels seperated...?

 

[alastairstevenson]

Am I being a bit dumb here or is there a key step I'm missing out to get these cameras detected on the built-in PoE ports?

The NVR PoE ports are configured with an IP address (usually in the 192.168.254.x range for Hikvision) where the NVR expects to find the camera.
The camera IP address needs to be set to match the address that the NVR PoE port expects to find it at.

What protocol do the cameras support that the NVR also supports?
I'm guessing it's not going to be the Hikvision protocol, but likely ONVIF or even RTSP.
In which case the NVR PoE port will have to be changed to Manual mode instead of the default Plug&Play.

By the way - the NVR doesn't do DHCP, even with a Hikvision camera, so using that on the camera won't do anything useful.
And always turn off UPnP on both the NVR and router. If it's also enabled on the internet router (often is by default) the NVR will activate 'port forwarding' and allow the entire internet to be able to access it. Which could be pretty bad.

 

[yorkie]

What protocol do the cameras support that the NVR also supports?
I'm guessing it's not going to be the Hikvision protocol, but likely ONVIF or even RTSP.
In which case the NVR PoE port will have to be changed to Manual mode instead of the default Plug&Play.

Here's the odd thing, I have selected ONVIF and initially nothing happened with either camera, including one which I had then set a static IP address on the camera web interface. I checked an hour later and still "NO LINK" showing so I called it quits for the day and went to bed.... about 10 minutes ago today in the NVR's camera config menu it now shows one of the two cameras in question (the one with the static address) as now connected; when I chick the blue 'play' icon from that config menu, a pop up window appears showing the live feed from the camera which indeed shows it is working - BUT when I then go to the Live View page, I get 'No Link' - yet viewing from the web GUI it shows the camera feed. Bizarre.

It's a fisheye camera, and I've noticed the PTZ controls do nothing, and likewise using ePTZ only allows zooming in and movement within the domed/warped image without any dewarping or flattening the image out. I have banked up some firmware update files, so I'm wondering if updating the firmware (eventually to version 4) will better support dewarping.....

The other camera I'm still not sure it'll show even if it connects eventually, as it's 12mp. It's plugged into port 1 as D1 and there have been one or two datasheets I've seen which states that a single 12mp camera is supported in channel 1, whilst other datasheets say max 6mp.


The DS-6704HUHI-K encoder is being odd as well. Connected just to the normal ethernet switch and I can keep the live view connected for several days (just the usual login timeout every now and then) - BUT when connected to the NVR PoE port it will stay connected for EXACTLY 4 hours and then disconnects. I have disconnected it from the PoE and into the switch so the NVR finds the feeds again, then plugged back into the PoE port and the feeds show up again complete with PTZ movement - but once again it disconnects after exactly 4 hours.

By the way - the NVR doesn't do DHCP, even with a Hikvision camera, so using that on the camera won't do anything useful.
And always turn off UPnP on both the NVR and router. If it's also enabled on the internet router (often is by default) the NVR will activate 'port forwarding' and allow the entire internet to be able to access it. Which could be pretty bad.

It is turned off on the router, but I'll turn it off on the NVR too.

 

[yorkie]

As an update.... I've been looking into the settings on each camera, and despite having left them as default when I'd set DHCP on it turns out that one camera had completely different DNS settings to the other. After setting the DNS on both the 6mp fisheye and the encoder to match those on the 12mp fisheye now the cameras are showing on the NVR display.

The 12mp fisheye DOES show on this NVR, though the max resolution is 4000x3000 (4:3) and I can't see a setting to format the aspect ratio to 4:4, which is odd because the 6mp fisheye is set to 2048x2048 so is 4:4. In the Video & Audio settings, the 'video quality' for the 12mp fisheye automatically sets itself to "lowest" all the time - even if I set it manually to medium, 2 minutes later it has set itself back to 'lowest' again.

 

[yorkie]

I've been applying firmware updates to the DS-7716NI-E4/16P as it had been on version 3.4.80 which was a few years old. versions 3.4.82 and 3.4.90 were applied without issue. But from version 3.4.92 there started being some issues around the 12mp camera on port 1.... This includes firmware versions 3.4.92, 3.4.95, 3.4.96, 3.4.97, 3.4.98 - the primary issue being that the NVR would not keep a connection to the 12mp camera, it would connect and record for 2 seconds then drop the connection for just over 30 seconds, record for 2, and repeat (the 'playback' bar in the web GUI is what I would describe as "speckled"). I can't remember whether it was 97 or 98, but one version also affected the Live View in which the feed from the 6mp camera was also doing the exact same thing (yet it was still recording fine).... This situation has been resolved with firmware version 3.4.101 - however the web GUI Live View page does not show the feed from the 12mp camera even if I select the main stream (but records fine), whilst the VGA Live View page shows it fine. (likewise for 14 as 15, more below).

Whilst I guess it doesn't apply now because the feed from camera 1 isn't showing in the web GUI anyway, but before the firmware updates when this was showing I noticed an issue with the audio - in that if I went to turn on the audio feed by adjusting the slider away from the 'Mute' position, I'd get the error message "Audio On Failed" - likewise even now in Playback, there is no audio feed in the web interface (I've not checked the local playback or Live View feed for this yet as the VGA monitor only takes a 3.5mm jack plug so I need to find an RCA to jack cable in my big tub of AV cables). I know I have the audio enabled within the camera's own setup page, because I had initially set it up and was checking it on the PC using iSpy and the sound would come through fine. This particular camera doesn't seem to have substream, which I suspect may play a part in this.

One thing I'm finding odd is allocating the various segments of the Live View (VGA) page for various camera streams. Within the Configuration settings it can show the layout grid in which the camer feeds can be organised: so for example in the 1+7 layout I have the 12mp fisheye view as the large portal view with the ones down the right side being feeds from camera 2,3,4 and along the bottom is feeds from 5,6,8,9.... I have set up feeds 14 and 15 as dewarped RTSP streams from the two fisheye cameras (as the NVR's own PTZ or ePTZ doesn't seem to dewarp these when in fisheye view) and my idea was to include these in the 3x3 Live View grid, with 15 in the bottom right segment and 14 above it on row 2 - however when I apply this, in the 1+7 grid it has then automatically swapped out cameras 6 and 8 feeds for 14 and 15; and if I try and put 14 and 15 in a different place within the 3x3 grid it then swaps out a different feed in the 1+7 grid for either 14 or 15 (or it'll take out a feed on the 1+7 grid and put in a blank).