Amcrest IP5M-T1179E freezing after 3 days using 2020-12-30 firmware

[ptzguy]

I wish that Amcrest Support had sent me a copy of the 2019-11-13 firmware as I had requested. I wanted to see if that would solve the problem.
I wonder if anyone on this forum has a copy saved on disk somewhere?

 

[ptzguy]

You might want to look into this ==>> Note that the firmware for YOUR cam (IP5M-T1179EW ) has the exact file name, date and file size as the firmware for the IP8M-T2599EW.

I think it could be Amcrest that screwed your cam. FWIW, if you have trouble getting resolution from their support, Amcrest does have a vendor forum here.

I downloaded the Dahua firmware and did a file compare with the Amcrest firmware. They are identical.

 

[CarlosBarletta]

Hello there, we have identified the issue after careful simulation here in our Houston, Texas testing facility. We feel this issue surrounds the new firmware. Please feel free to fill out our Support Form by clicking on this link - Amcrest support. Be sure to reference your model number of camera and a brief description of your issue. You will be assigned a service ticket number. That number will be given to one of our Escalation Team Members and routed into a basket of tickets with the same issue. We want to make good our equipment if given the opportunity to work with you one on one. Amcrest Team

 

[ptzguy]

Hello there, we have identified the issue after careful simulation here in our Houston, Texas testing facility. We feel this issue surrounds the new firmware. Please feel free to fill out our Support Form by clicking on this link - Amcrest support. Be sure to reference your model number of camera and a brief description of your issue. You will be assigned a service ticket number. That number will be given to one of our Escalation Team Members and routed into a basket of tickets with the same issue. We want to make good our equipment if given the opportunity to work with you one on one. Amcrest Team

Thank you. Amcrest Support already has sent me a new version of the firmware. I am in the process of testing it now on three cameras but the problem takes about 3 days to show up so I won't know until then whether the new firmware has fixed the problem. See this thread for more details.

 

[CarlosBarletta]

Thanks for the information.

 

[Mike A.]

I downloaded the Dahua firmware and did a file compare with the Amcrest firmware. They are identical.

Interesting. When you say identical, what did you compare? There are some differences when you look at the web interface, in some functions reportedly, and supporting files (e.g., logo) so I'm wondering why those don't show up?

 

[ptzguy]

Interesting. When you say identical, what did you compare? There are some differences when you look at the web interface, in some functions reportedly, and supporting files (e.g., logo) so I'm wondering why those don't show up?

I just did a binary file compare. It's possible, I guess, that both cameras use identical firmware and the firmware detects which type of camera it is running on and behaves accordingly. But it's been 20 years since I last did any programming and I have no expertise on camera firmware, so I could be way off base on that speculation.

 

[Mike A.]

Odd. Maybe. Seems a little strange that Dahua would build Amcrest stuff (logo, et. al) into their firmware but ~shrug~

 

[ptzguy]

Odd. Maybe. Seems a little strange that Dahua would build Amcrest stuff (logo, et. al) into their firmware but ~shrug~

Back when I was doing a lot of C programming (in the pre-C++ era) i remember analyzing binary code using some sort of utility. It would not show you the code, but would often show comments and other internals that would provide clues to the operation and history of the code. I can't remember now what the utility was.

Seems like the experts did something like that on the Stuxnet worm code to deduce its origins.

 

[ptzguy]

Back when I was doing a lot of C programming (in the pre-C++ era) i remember analyzing binary code using some sort of utility. It would not show you the code, but would often show comments and other internals that would provide clues to the operation and history of the code. I can't remember now what the utility was.

Seems like the experts did something like that on the Stuxnet worm code to deduce its origins.

After thinking some more about it, the utility probably was one for analyzing data on disk sectors.

 

[ptzguy]

After thinking some more about it, the utility probably was one for analyzing data on disk sectors.

Feverishly tossing and turning at 4 am, now I remember: a hex editor.
Downloaded HxD and examined the firmware file. I had expected to be able to see any English ASCII text strings embedded within the file; e.g "Amcrest" or "Dahua". No luck.
I examined a random PDF file just to make sure that I had the concept right and it worked fine.
So now I'm baffled. I had reasoned that text, such as the labels on input fields that you see when interacting with the firmware when accessing the camera via the Web interface, would be visible within the "decoded" binary of the file.

 

[ptzguy]

Feverishly tossing and turning at 4 am, now I remember: a hex editor.
Downloaded HxD and examined the firmware file. I had expected to be able to see any English ASCII text strings embedded within the file; e.g "Amcrest" or "Dahua". No luck.
I examined a random PDF file just to make sure that I had the concept right and it worked fine.
So now I'm baffled. I had reasoned that text, such as the labels on input fields that you see when interacting with the firmware when accessing the camera via the Web interface, would be visible within the "decoded" binary of the file.

Now that I'm deep down this rabbit hole, I'm wondering if the mfg encrypts the .bin file to protect their intellectual property from the prying eyes of nosy people like me - and, more importantly, competitors. The CPU in the camera could decode the firmware as it is being installed. That would account for why it takes a minute or two to load a new firmware file. If the camera was simply loading the binary, it seems like it would take only seconds. Then, on the other hand, the .bin file is about 22.5MB in size, so maybe it would take a while just to load it.

 

[CarlosBarletta]

Please feel free to fill out our Support Form by clicking on this link. - Amcrest support. Be sure to reference your camera model number and state firmware issues. Your service ticket will be assigned to an Escalation Team Member that will work with you one on one if given the opportunity. Amcrest Team

 

[Old Timer]

Now that I'm deep down this rabbit hole, I'm wondering if the mfg encrypts the .bin file to protect their intellectual property from the prying eyes of nosy people like me - and, more importantly, competitors. The CPU in the camera could decode the firmware as it is being installed. That would account for why it takes a minute or two to load a new firmware file. If the camera was simply loading the binary, it seems like it would take only seconds. Then, on the other hand, the .bin file is about 22.5MB in size, so maybe it would take a while just to load it.

It is possible that Amcrest keeps their info in the NVRAM with the rest of the setting.

 

[CarlosBarletta]

Please feel free to email us back at escalation@amcrest.com so a service ticket can be assigned to you. We have the new firmware that has been tested here in our Houston, Texas Escalation Department. When you email please put in the body of the mail the model number of the camera and mention firmware update. Amcrest Team

 

[Mike A.]

Now that I'm deep down this rabbit hole, I'm wondering if the mfg encrypts the .bin file...

I believe that's right. Compressed and encrypted.

 

[ptzguy]

I received an updated firmware version from Amcrest Support this evening. I'll install it in 3 of the cameras and see if it solves the problem.

UPDATE - Saturday 09/04/2021 11:00 AM EDT
After I received the new firmware, I installed it on 3 of the 4 cameras that were freezing. I left 1 of the cameras on the 2020-12-30 firmware as a control (in the scientific hypothesis sense)
The one control camera with the old software (short name EYD) froze up; the 3 cameras with the new firmware are still running

 

[ptzguy]

UPDATE - Saturday 09/04/2021 11:00 AM EDT
After I received the new firmware, I installed it on 3 of the 4 cameras that were freezing. I left 1 of the cameras on the 2020-12-30 firmware as a control (in the scientific hypothesis sense)
The one control camera with the old software (short name EYD) froze up; the 3 cameras with the new firmware are still running

UPDATE - Sunday 09/05/2021 8;08 AM EDT
The other 2 cameras running the firmware provided by Amcrest Support also froze up yesterday afternoon. So the new firmware did not solve the problem.

 

[ptzguy]

Until I get a firmware update that solves the problem, I have set the cameras that are affected to auto-reboot every morning at 3:30 am.

 

[TonyR]

Thanks for your work on this issue and keeping us in the loop. I bought one from amazon in Feb., got COVID with pneumonia a week later and by the time I was up to installing it, it was so hot outdoors I just could not deal with it. So I guess it's a good thing its still in the box but I am looking forward to this issue being resolved.

Amcrest sold TONS of these through promotions and through amazon and if they don't get it resolved soon I would think TONS of people will lose confidence in their products and may erase "Amcrest' from their future purchasing plans.

Thanks again...and fingers crossed!