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

ptzguy

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Back around Jan/Feb 2021 I bought several Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cameras to replace older IP2M-844E 1080P Amcrest domes. After running the new cameras for several months and comparing them to similar cameras from another vendor I decided to buy a few more. I bought the new ones 1 or 2 at a time (ending up with 5 more) beginning in August 2021. I configured the new ones exactly the same as the old ones (usually 5-10 FPS with matching Iframes number) and installed them on existing POE cables that had been working without problems for several years.

I started with just one camera. After about 3 days it froze up. The port on the Cisco 48-port switch was still flashing - looked normal, but I could not access or reset the camera from Blue Iris V5 or from Amcrest Surveillance Pro. I had to reset it by unplugging it from the POE switch and plugging it back in. It came back up normally, but then froze again after 3 days.
Meanwhile, I had ordered two more of the cameras. After I installed them using the same process, they too both froze up after 3 days. Very strange.

All of the older Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cams as well as 8 other cams of different types were all chugging along normally.
I noticed that the new cams all had a newer firmware version than the old ones. I downloaded and installed the latest firmware (2020-12-30) from the Amcrest web site and reset the cameras to factory defaults. They came up normally. I then reloaded the configurations that I had saved before installing the new firmware. Three days later, all 4 of the new cameras were frozen up again.

To rule out the problem from any changes I had made to the configuration (I had been experimenting with VBR vs CBR bit rate), I left one of the cameras with factory default config. It, too, froze up.

All 5 of my older Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cameras are running firmware dated 2019-11-13 and have been running without a glitch since the days I installed them back around Jan/Feb 2021. Yesterday, I contacted Amcrest support and asked them to send me a copy of the older 2019-11-13 firmware so that I can try installing it on the new cameras to see if that fixes the problem. I hope to get that later today, but it is Saturday, so I may not hear back from Amcrest until Monday 8/30.

The fact that the cameras all freeze up like clockwork after about 3 days makes me suspect some type of hardware counter-overflow problem. I saw a problem like that back in 1998 when setting up about 50 IBM OS/2 servers- they ran fine for a few months, then all started freezing up in the same sequence in which they were installed. I got suspicious and calculated that they were crashing after exactly 65,536 (2^16) ticks of the hardware clock. We got around the problem by having the servers automatically reboot once a month.
 

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Flintstone61

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Im running three of these at the job site. not able to see firmware version from home. They've been in operation as laundry room cams, for 1 year. purchased july 9th. no issues yet. on a 24 port cisco 3560x Poe 802.3 AT switch, with a HP elitedesk running BI. I have tried adding them via find inspect,, and also via the drop down list. If I remember right, their audio capability, begain working automagically, when I let BI find them. and/or when I moved from the Amcrest Blue Iris Software to more recent versions.
 

ptzguy

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Im running three of these at the job site. not able to see firmware version from home. They've been in operation as laundry room cams, for 1 year. purchased july 9th. no issues yet. on a 24 port cisco 3560x Poe 802.3 AT switch, with a HP elitedesk running BI. I have tried adding them via find inspect,, and also via the drop down list. If I remember right, their audio capability, begain working automagically, when I let BI find them. and/or when I moved from the Amcrest Blue Iris Software to more recent versions.
Excellent audio on these cams - one of the factors that made me decide to standardize on them. Also very easy to install. I really like the mounting bracket system they use. Not very secure, but nearly all of my cameras are 10 ft up.
 

looney2ns

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Back around Jan/Feb 2021 I bought several Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cameras to replace older 1080P Amcrest domes. After running the new cameras for several months and comparing them to similar cameras from another vendor I decided to buy a few more. I bought the new ones 1 or 2 at a time (ending up with 5 more) beginning in August 2021. I configured the new ones exactly the same as the old ones (usually 5-10 FPS with matching Iframes number) and installed them on existing POE cables that had been working without problems for several years.

I started with just one camera. After about 3 days it froze up. The port on the Cisco 48-port switch was still flashing - looked normal, but I could not access or reset the camera from Blue Iris V5 or from Amcrest Surveillance Pro. I had to reset it by unplugging it from the POE switch and plugging it back in. It came back up normally, but then froze again after 3 days.
Meanwhile, I had ordered two more of the cameras. After I installed them using the same process, they too both froze up after 3 days. Very strange.

All of the older Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cams as well as 8 other cams of different types were all chugging along normally.
I noticed that the new cams all had a newer firmware version than the old ones. I downloaded and installed the latest firmware (2020-12-30) from the Amcrest web site and reset the cameras to factory defaults. They came up normally. I then reloaded the configurations that I had saved before installing the new firmware. Three days later, all 4 of the new cameras were frozen up again.

To rule out the problem from any changes I had made to the configuration (I had been experimenting with VBR vs CBR bit rate), I left one of the cameras with factory default config. It, too, froze up.

All 5 of my older Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cameras are running firmware dated 2019-11-13 and have been running without a glitch since the days I installed them back around Jan/Feb 2021. Yesterday, I contacted Amcrest support and asked them to send me a copy of the older 2019-11-13 firmware so that I can try installing it on the new cameras to see if that fixes the problem. I hope to get that later today, but it is Saturday, so I may not hear back from Amcrest until Monday 8/30.

The fact that the cameras all freeze up like clockwork after about 3 days makes me suspect some type of hardware counter-overflow problem. I saw a problem like that back in 1998 when setting up about 50 IBM OS/2 servers- they ran fine for a few months, then all started freezing up in the same sequence in which they were installed. I got suspicious and calculated that they were crashing after exactly 65,536 (2^16) ticks of the hardware clock. We got around the problem by having the servers automatically reboot once a month.
This a lot of times comes down to wiring issue's.
If they are outdoors, are the connections properly water proofed?
WaterProofing Connections

The cable that is being used, is it pure solid copper cable of at least 24awg size wire and NOT copper clad aluminum?
No flat ethernet cable's? Cable runs are direct from the camera to the POE switch, no patch panels or keystone jacks involved?
Was the cable pulled hard around sharp corners when it was installed?
Take a camera down, use a factory built cat 5e 24awg cable, and bench test the cam.
Is the cisco poe switch near it's max wattage output?
Unplug all but one camera, to test.

FYI, Amcrest are simply rebranded Dahua cams, that typically have features stripped out to lower the price.
 

ptzguy

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This a lot of times comes down to wiring issue's.
If they are outdoors, are the connections properly water proofed?
WaterProofing Connections

The cable that is being used, is it pure solid copper cable of at least 24awg size wire and NOT copper clad aluminum?
No flat ethernet cable's? Cable runs are direct from the camera to the POE switch, no patch panels or keystone jacks involved?
Was the cable pulled hard around sharp corners when it was installed?
Take a camera down, use a factory built cat 5e 24awg cable, and bench test the cam.
Is the cisco poe switch near it's max wattage output?
Unplug all but one camera, to test.

FYI, Amcrest are simply rebranded Dahua cams, that typically have features stripped out to lower the price.
Thanks for the tips.

I agree with all of those recommendations and I follow them except that I started using copper-clad AL before I realized its potential for problems.

In this case, I have 22 cameras all wired the same way, all carefully waterproofed and sealed and all working for years with no problems. The switch is a Cisco commercial-grade 48-port POE switch and I'm using "only" 22 ports currently. When I swap the new cameras with stable cameras in various locations, the problem always moves with the new cameras, so I'm pretty sure that it's not a cabling or switch capacity issue.

I was an IT guy doing hardware, software, networking and IT-management for 40 years (retired in 2010) so I'm pretty familiar with the things that can go wrong.

I have also tested two of the cameras on the bench, plugged into the POE switch with short cables, and had the same problem. The only thing in common to the cameras that are failing, as far as I can tell, is the firmware version.
 

TonyR

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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.
 

ptzguy

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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.
Thanks for the tip. I had started thinking along those lines, searching the web for the exact file name match. Up until now, I had not had any reason to get down to this level. Everything just worked as it should. Now I've had to dust off some of my ancient IT sleuthing skills.
 

CarlosBarletta

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Please feel free to fill our our Support Form by clicking on this link - Amcrest support so you can work with one of our Escalation Team Members here in Houston, Texas in possibly resolving your issues. Or they will be able to assist you with the RMA Process. Amcrest Team
 

ptzguy

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Please feel free to fill our our Support Form by clicking on this link - Amcrest support so you can work with one of our Escalation Team Members here in Houston, Texas in possibly resolving your issues. Or they will be able to assist you with the RMA Process. Amcrest Team
Thank you, that would be a big help. I submitted a Support Form on Friday, Aug 27 at 3:48 PM EDT (#420114). As of today, Monday, Aug 30 at 11:04 AM I have not gotten any response to my request.
 

ptzguy

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Still haven't heard from Support.

If my theory is correct, I predict that 4 of the cameras that had frozen and that I reset around 4PM on Fri. 8/27 will freeze up again sometime tomorrow afternoon.
 

ptzguy

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Still no response from Support.

What I requested is a copy of the earlier 2019-11-13 version of the firmware that is working on the (5) IP5M-T1179 cameras that I installed early in 2021.
I want to install that older version in the newer cameras that have the 2020-12-30 version of the firmware to see if the problem goes away.
 
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ptzguy

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Still haven't heard from Support.

If my theory is correct, I predict that 4 of the cameras that had frozen and that I reset around 4PM on Fri. 8/27 will freeze up again sometime tomorrow afternoon.

PREDICTION CONFIRMED: all 4 cameras froze up "just like clockwork" Tues 8/31/2021 AM
Here are the times from the attached screen shots: DRE - 9:26, GEN - 9:27, WYD - 9:27, EYD: 9:19

Well, strictly speaking, I wasn't correct - they froze up in the morning instead of the afternoon. Still, not too bad, I think.
 

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ptzguy

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So, what's the underlying cause? Based on having seen a similar situation back in 1998 involving IBM OS/2 servers, here's what I suspect...
Somwhere in the firmware there's a routine that depends on a hardware timer on the camera circuit board. Let's assume that a programmer working on the firmware referenced the timer but used a signed long integer to reference the timer rather than using an unsigned long integer. When the timer ticks (operating at GHZ frequencies??) count up to the MSB of the word, it goes negative. Code then fails and camera freezes.

Disclaimer: I have not done any programming since around 2000, so you might say that I'm a little rusty.
 
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Mike A.

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You can also run the Dahua firmware on these. I've not changed mine but there's a thread here discussing.

Edit to add link. Done at own risk obviously, I've not tried but seems to be OK based on other's reports:


My cams running the 2019-11-13 firmware have been fine too.
 
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ptzguy

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Thanks.
I was looking into that yesterday based on a tip from TonyR above.
Not sure if want to spend the time pursuing it now that I have a fix (I hope), but it might be interesting for other reasons.
 
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