Blue Iris settings issue

bslow47

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Hello all,

I have a couple of issues with blue iris and I'm sure it is a settings issue.

First: I just got through re-installing cameras back onto blue iris. For some reason I can not get the PTZ to work on the computer and the app.

Second: The cameras will record and event and stop but when you view the clips it is all the recordings under one clip. how do I change this?

Bonus problem: On the app in the home button screen it shows my disk space at 100%. I click on the "red" pie chart it shows another pie chart and red indicates used beyond allocation. In the computer I do not see where that is an issue. does anyone experienced this?

Thanks for any info!
 

TonyR

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First: I just got through re-installing cameras back onto blue iris. For some reason I can not get the PTZ to work on the computer and the app.
Please provide a screenshot of that cam's "PTZ/Control" settings in BI.
What is the cam's make/model?

Second: The cameras will record and event and stop but when you view the clips it is all the recordings under one clip. how do I change this?
In the clip viewer, do you have "Alerts" selected (the red lightning bolt) or "All Clips" (the stack of drawers) ?
Bonus problem: On the app in the home button screen it shows my disk space at 100%. I click on the "red" pie chart it shows another pie chart and red indicates used beyond allocation. In the computer I do not see where that is an issue. does anyone experienced this?
Try repairing BI's database:
Go to BI "Status" (the graph symbol up top), click on "Clip storage" tab, select at bottom "Repair DB".
 

bslow47

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Please provide a screenshot of that cam's "PTZ/Control" settings in BI.
What is the cam's make/model?


In the clip viewer, do you have "Alerts" selected (the red lightning bolt) or "All Clips" (the stack of drawers) ?

Try repairing BI's database:
Go to BI "Status" (the graph symbol up top), click on "Clip storage" tab, select at bottom "Repair DB".

Thank you for your reply,

here is a screen shot of the PTZ setting in BI. hope this is what you were talking about.
the cameras are hikvision DS-2DE3304W-DE

I appreciate the information and will give your recommendations a try.
 

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bslow47

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Uncheck that "use another IP/port"
Try another Hikvision cam in the drop-down menu other than "Axis".
Thanks Tony,

That worked along with the viewing of the clips. Those were oh duh moments but, then again, I am not very diverse in the IT world.

With that being said, here is a pic of my over allocation problem. I know it is probably just a settings error and I see the folders "New,Stored,Alerts" is where the problem is but don't see where to fix it or change it.
We have had the cameras about four years and this stared probably in November. Performance wise, nothing has changed. I tried the "Repair DB" that you recommended and it did change the red error "x" to a green check mark in blue iris status under messages now but, in the app it still shows that disk space is at 100%.

Back to the computer and the BI software. In options is where I'm guessing I need to change something.

Thanks,

Brian
 

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TonyR

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You've over-allocated the storage for New, Stored and Alerts, meaning you've allocated storage that doesn't exist.
We need 3 screenshots initially from "Blue Iris Settings" => "Clips and Archiving"; 1 of each: "New" folder, "Stored" folder" and "Alerts" folder.
 

bslow47

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You've over-allocated the storage for New, Stored and Alerts, meaning you've allocated storage that doesn't exist.
We need 3 screenshots initially from "Blue Iris Settings" => "Clips and Archiving"; 1 of each: "New" folder, "Stored" folder" and "Alerts" folder.
OK, here are my 3 screen shots. I don't know why we would need three to store because all of the clips are stored under the "new " folder. I am sorry I can't give you more information about the history
of these three folders and how they got allocated to the settings they are at. The only history I can give you is the current computer is a new build. 1 year old. Everything is new except the hard drive was brought over from original computer because of the software. BI and SDPT tool were already on it and just wanted plug and play when new computer was put in use. but a year later we started having issues and had to dump things to figure out problem. Found out it was the ram of all things. So I didn't have to dump certain things after all, who knew. So long story short I had to re-install Blue Iris and not being a Blue iris and/or a network guru here I am.

Thank you, I appreciate the help!
 

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TonyR

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JPEG or PNG images vs. PDF's would have been handier for screenshots but we're OK...

First off, contents of the "New" folder after 30 days is moved to itself so it just gets bigger and bigger.

Start over and follow @SouthernYankee 's "Standard Allocation Post" regarding setup of BI's storage.
 
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bslow47

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JPEG or PNG images vs. PDF's would have been handier for screenshots but we're OK...

First off, contents of the "New" folder after 30 days is moved to itself so it just gets bigger and bigger.

Start over and follow @SouthernYankee 's "Standard Allocation Post" regarding setup of BI's storage.
Good stuff TonyR,

all my Blue Iris issues seem to be resolved for now, anyway. I appreciate your help and time. You (and many other posters) have been better than any customer service person I have experienced.
I'm not and IT guy by any means. Just by default because I am the Youngest. Parents are getting harder and harder to raise these days. I may ride your coat tails on other settings in BI in the future.

This forum has helped me with 3 of the 4 IT problems I was having. I don't suppose you have any experience with MyQ garage door openers?. The phone app just quit working one day and I can't get it back
working..............

Thanks
 
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@bslow47,

Would you be able to post screen shots of your clips settings and perhaps what the folder structure in Windows looks like?

After many weeks' of struggles, I don't have an allocation problem any longer, but I'm still not set up per SouthernYankee's guidelines and I was unable to make things work like that, I'm a bonehead. I've also read the BI Help file ad nauseum and it's very short on details in this area.

Thanks in advance.
 

bslow47

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@bslow47,

Would you be able to post screen shots of your clips settings and perhaps what the folder structure in Windows looks like?

After many weeks' of struggles, I don't have an allocation problem any longer, but I'm still not set up per SouthernYankee's guidelines and I was unable to make things work like that, I'm a bonehead. I've also read the BI Help file ad nauseum and it's very short on details in this area.

Thanks in advance.
Hello Steve,

I am in the same boat as you and is why I thankfully found this forum for Blue Iris. All the help reads through Blue Iris is like trying to drink out of a fire hose. I sent one clip as to how I configured it with my interpretation of SoutherYankee's list. I did not do some of what he/she included because it was meant to save on CPU. My son built this computer so we would not have a CPU problem anymore but we had problems configuring BI and is why I am here.

The settings I have now worked for me and the issues I had. The more knowledgeable people on here may look at it and wonder why did you do it that way. My answer would be "I don't know" I am not a IT guy.
Right, Wrong, or Indifferent I will share with you what I have. Lets start with this attachment. GL
 

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Awesome, thanks for posting. I see your version of BI has a different message in the Database section of the dialog box: Mine reads "Important! Database and New should remain on Local/Fast storage." Whereas yours is worded in a less suggestive manner, with "(and ideally New folder)" to suggest that it's not such a strong recommendation. I surmise this was changed based on their observations or some folks e-mailed Ken at BI and pled their case with some good reasons to change it. This was a "head-scratching" issue for me, because roughly all the recommendations here on IPCT conflicted with that BI recommendation, now I see subsequent versions of BI address that.

I have another thread where I made a desperate plea for help, and asked for screen shots of what was right, but I was promptly directed to SouthernYankee's guide (which I'd already read), and the Help File. The BI Help File is almost no help in this area, and ironically, the BI webinar video online actually directs us to view the independent guys' videos. The only problem is, the independent guys don't cover this subject. One guy supposedly covered it in an early video, then he only has a Part 2 video; somebody in comments asked why he deleted his Part 1 video that covered Clips and Archiving, and he replied something like "There were mistakes, so I'm going to redo it." Only he never re-did it. As you can tell, I've done an exhaustive web search in the hunt for more answers. So we're left with no videos (at least that I can find) showing a step-by-step process on creating the ideal folder structure, and you're I've been the first one willing to post a screen shot. So thank you again.

I wish there was an entire discrete file or help topic on Clips and Archiving and the nuances of folder structure (a downloadable pdf like SouthernYankee's) but with photographs laid out in pictorial format. I will post some pics of mine as well so you can see what I did, even though I'm sure it's wrong in several respects, but it's gotten rid of all the fat red bars that I was encountering (overallocation), and the system is working great for me, at least at this point. I would write that pictorial myself for all the newbs except I'm no expert by any means, on any of these topics...but I have a feeling you and I are not alone.
 

SouthernYankee

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team

A 1GB folder of the new on the C drive is not the way to go. 1 GB will be about 1 hour of recording for a few cameras.

On one of the screen shots the new folder is being moved to new, this is 100% WRONG. You will cause problems with your system doing this.

The comment Important! Database and New should remain on Local/Fast storage was written before SSD existed in the consumer market. The new folder should not be on an SSD, you will kill the SSD.

The first question is what is your hardware setup.
Memory
CPU
disk drives, sizes, types.
==============================================
Use the correct folder names for your folders, do not change the names, just the drive letters. MY second drive is full dictated to BI, which is E:
c:\BlueIris\db
E:\BlueIris\New
E:\BlueIris\Stored
E:\BlueIris\Alerts
=====================

BI_FOLDER1.jpgBI_FOLDER2.jpgBI_FOLDER3.jpgBI_folder4.jpgBI_FOLDER5.jpg
 
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SouthernYankee, thank you for sharing your screenshots! The BI Status (Clip Storage tab) is a good one too. As much as I need to bounce my own screenshots off of your knowledge base, I don't want to hijack bslow's thread, so I will stand down until all of his concerns are resolved to contentment :thumb:

One thing I did notice in bslow's screenshot was, I believe he should have his "Compact/repair DB" box checked, for cleanup at some point during the day.
 
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bslow, I hope you don't mind this, but after rethinking it, I thought that maybe you seeing my screens might even assist in your situation, with SouthernYankee commenting on my issues as well. So at the risk of looking like I'm taking over your thread, I will post my screens. Hopefully this will help other newbs who happen upon this thread also.

SouthernYankee asked for: (and these are Steve.L's specs)

Memory 16GB
CPU i7-9700 @ 3.00 GHz
disk drives, sizes, types. C: 240GB SSD; D: 4TB HDD (I would of course like everything but BI and dB on this HDD)


NEW
New Allocation.jpg


STORED
The fatter I set the "Limit size:" (at 3000 GB), the more white bar space I added (Allocated free space in the storage status for D drive)
Stored Allocation.jpg

Storage Status.jpg

ALERTS
Alerts Allocation.jpg

C-drive Structure
C-Drive Structure.jpg


D-drive Structure
D-Drive Structure.jpg
 
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Well fellas, I have finally found zen, it's only taken 7 weeks :banghead:

Brian, thanks again for letting me jump on this thread...and SouthernYankee, thanks a million for posting your screens above, it helped immensely. The only thing on C is db, and you can see I have New and Stored under BlueIris now (they were on the root before). I had been dinking around so much and had so many iterations trying to figure this out that I don't even know how they got where they are, but it's finally clear to me.

The one thing I still can't figure out is why I seem to have a couple hundred gigs consumed by "other files" (the gray wedge), it seems a bit excessive, and I can't find those "files," but I'm so glad that my allocation status looks just like the example in the BI Help File (and to Yankee's).

I won't lie, this was keeping me up at night :confused:

Status, 2-13-22.jpgFolders, 2-13-22.jpg
 
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bslow47

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Well fellas, I have finally found zen, it's only taken 7 weeks :banghead:

Brian, thanks again for letting me jump on this thread...and SouthernYankee, thanks a million for posting your screens above, it helped immensely. The only thing on C is db, and you can see I have New and Stored under BlueIris now (they were on the root before). I had been dinking around so much and had so many iterations trying to figure this out that I don't even know how they got where they are, but it's finally clear to me.

The one thing I still can't figure out is why I seem to have a couple hundred gigs consumed by "other files" (the gray wedge), it seems a bit excessive, and I can't find those "files," but I'm so glad that my allocation status looks just like the example in the BI Help File (and to Yankee's).

I won't lie, this was keeping me up at night :confused:

View attachment 118802View attachment 118803
Good stuff Steve,

That will be my next venture is adjusting the settings more to get to where I like them. Just have to find/remember where they are. Our BI status bar looks a little different than yours plus I see your in the terabytes were as we are still on the gigs. I am assuming you are on the newer version of BI. Like you, all seems to be working well I just don't remember where to adjust # of days to keep recordings. Its is at 2 days right now would like to keep a little longer than that. I jus have been too busy in the field to mess with it.
 
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Hi Brian,

A couple of things: It looks like you are measuring in gigs because your drive is so small, and that's your C drive, which is probably an SSD (solid state drive), whereas if you have an HDD (hard disc drive) which is larger, that is where you want to be storing video clips. If all you have is the SSD right now, then that will have to do, but it's not ideal, it is hard on the SSD.

Second: Remember, based on SouthernYankee's recommendations, you don't want to adjust the number of days, you don't want to use time at all to determine when clips are deleted. Rather, if you set a size for allowable storage to accumulate (i.e. "allocation"), then Blue Iris will automatically delete the oldest ones to make room for the new ones. So look at SouthernYankee's first screen image above, look closely where the Limit Size is set to 3500 GB, and the Limit Clip Age box is UNchecked...that is how you tell BI to disregard time, and pay only attention to drive size (or capacity). When SouthernYankee tells Blue Iris to Limit (storage) Size to 3500 GB, that is another way of saying 3.5 TB. Similarly, since I have a 4 TB HDD, I've set my Limit Size to 3300 GB, or 3.3 terabytes.

Keep hollering and post images of your screens, we'll help you to get there!
 

bslow47

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Hi Brian,

A couple of things: It looks like you are measuring in gigs because your drive is so small, and that's your C drive, which is probably an SSD (solid state drive), whereas if you have an HDD (hard disc drive) which is larger, that is where you want to be storing video clips. If all you have is the SSD right now, then that will have to do, but it's not ideal, it is hard on the SSD.

Second: Remember, based on SouthernYankee's recommendations, you don't want to adjust the number of days, you don't want to use time at all to determine when clips are deleted. Rather, if you set a size for allowable storage to accumulate (i.e. "allocation"), then Blue Iris will automatically delete the oldest ones to make room for the new ones. So look at SouthernYankee's first screen image above, look closely where the Limit Size is set to 3500 GB, and the Limit Clip Age box is UNchecked...that is how you tell BI to disregard time, and pay only attention to drive size (or capacity). When SouthernYankee tells Blue Iris to Limit (storage) Size to 3500 GB, that is another way of saying 3.5 TB. Similarly, since I have a 4 TB HDD, I've set my Limit Size to 3300 GB, or 3.3 terabytes.

Keep hollering and post images of your screens, we'll help you to get there!

Yes Sir,

your are correct. The drive is small because it is taken off the old original computer that we started the cams with. I think we got that computer free with a happy meal!! When we built the new computer we just used the drive because I did not want to mess with Blue Iris stuff again. We were all good for exactly a year and started having shutdown problems (we traced it to the Ram, I know, Right) During the process of elimination I decided to wipe the drive and here we are. I guess we should have went ahead and upgraded the drive. But everything is working great now and learned a bunch..... until I forget it....The good thing is we only use
this computer for the cams.

Yes, I am planning on revisiting SouthernYankee's post again but, I think what you just reiterated should take care of my problem. Thanks. The main problem for me is remembering since I only mess with this stuff
every so often. To age myself a little I use to speak "Floppy".....I can hear half of the forum population going WTF is that...My parents wanted security cams because of their travels and is why I am roped into this
stuff. This is what they wanted but I think its a little bigger than what they need. Parents just don't understand (pop culture reference). They are like just call someone. I tell them it's not that easy anymore. Plus, If you by chance find someone to talk to they have a accent. THANKFULLY I found this forum. Thanks all!
 
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