bricked foscam fi9828p

xavier00

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this is a video, on it im pressing keys at ranfom, some times it stops but gets no input until i press enter,
if i type things i can see them on the screen but it would just loop around it , https://www.dropbox.com/s/p57vqde0kmq27wt/File Aug 16, 7 18 49 PM.mov?dl=0

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this is a video, on it im pressing keys at ranfom, some times it stops but gets no input until i press enter,
if i type things i can see them on the screen but it would just loop around it , https://www.dropbox.com/s/p57vqde0kmq27wt/File Aug 16, 7 18 49 PM.mov?dl=0
 

alastairstevenson

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I notice on the video that just before the 'hit any key' message - which does seem to pause, there is an auto-update check:

Auto-update from TFTP: trying update file 'recover_image.bin'
Hisilicon ETH net controler
MAC: 00-00-23-34-45-66
Up/Down PhY not link.-
Can't load update file, aborting auto-update
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 1  0
Do you have the file 'recover_image.bin' ?
Do you know what the default IP address would be when the camera is trying an auto-update?
Do you have a tftp server on your PC?
It does look like there is a chance to do an auto-update if the details can be understood.
 

xavier00

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i have the update file, it got bricked with the wrong one,on the video shows very quick ip and mac adress i think, here is a better looking one
 

alastairstevenson

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,on the video shows very quick ip and mac adress i think
I don't see an IP address on the video where the bootloader is running.
There is an IP address showing where Linux has started up - but that may be different from the one the bootloader by default uses.

Have you used the tftp auto-update recovery method before?
Do you have the file 'recover_image.bin' ?
i have the update file, it got bricked with the wrong one
Definitely the recovery file?

It looks to me that you need the 'recover_image.bin' file, a tftp server, and need to know the IP address the bootloader uses when checking for the tftp auto-update service.
 

xavier00

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how i do this? i have the recover bin file, and tftpd program provided from the seller
 

alastairstevenson

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how i do this?
No instructions provided with the recover_image.bin file?

I have never done this for a Foscam camera, so I'm guessing a bit.
Set the PC IP address to be in the same range as is used by the Foscam auto-update process.
Run the tftpd tftp server, have the recover_image.bin in the same folder.
Power cycle the camera, observe the result.
 

GaryTTirn

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I also got a bricked Foscam FI9828Pv2 and Foscam is ignoring my emails requesting the recovery_image.bin which should be all that is needed for recovering the camera via TFTP as far as I understand.

Could you share that recovery_image.bin you got with me so I can have a go at recovering my 9828 via TFTP ?

I found from the web that one guy managed to get the image for C1 from Foscam and since it has a SD card slot, all he had to do was put the file in proper directory on the card and he was done.

http://arielbarreiro.com.ar/en/recovering-bricked-foscam-c1-ip-camera

For P9828 it takes bit more work to get the file installed via TFTP server.

I checked with wireshark that the camera is requesting the recovery file from a TFTP server with address 192.168.233.233 (netmask 255.255.255.0 or /24 depending on OS, I used Linux),
as it says on the uboot log as well, so that needs to be the IP address of the computer you have the TFTP server running on and connected via the Ethernet to the camera.

Knowing the file size of the normal firmware for P9828 didn't match with the recovery-image of C1, I still gave a go at loading up the Step1.bin firmware file via TFTP after renaming it the recovery_image.bin.
The camera fetches the file allright from the server, but obviously checks for checksum etc. and determines the file is damaged and reboots and tries again. I didn't have serial setup so I couldn't check logs.

I didn't dare trying with the C1 recovery_image.bin as C1 has different SoC Chip and using wrong recovery probably bricks the camera forever as recovery-image could also update the uboot bootloader.
I found the Foscam SoC chips are listed here : https://support.aartech.ca/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/220/1/foscam-chipset-listing

Thanks in advance and best regards
 
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alastairstevenson

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That detail is really helpful, thanks for sharing it.
I was wondering how @xavier00 was getting on with trying to fix his camera.
It doesn't seem to be a procedure that lends itself to a google search solution - before now!
 
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GaryTTirn

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What you know, Foscam came back after the last email I sent today and they promised to send the recovery file after confirming the MAC address of the camera.
I suppose they have to do that to restore the original MAC and DDNS functionality.

Anyways, I'll share the upgrade procedure after I've tried it our myself.

Basically for me as Ubuntu Linux user it should be something like this :

1* Install TFTP Server and enable it
http://askubuntu.com/questions/201505/how-do-i-install-and-run-a-tftp-server

2*Copy the recovery_image.bin to the root of the TFTP server, /tftpboot in the guide I linked.
sudo cp recovery_image.bin /tftpboot

3*Change file permissions on the recovery_image.bin just in case

sudo chmod 755 /tftpboot/recovery_image.bin

4* set the IP address of the computer ethernet interface to 192.168.233.233/24
sudo ip a a
192.168.233.233/24 dev eth0

5*Connect the camera to the same LAN as the computer and boot it.

6* Wait for camera to install the recovery image and reboot.

Procedure should be about the same for Windows users I would think. Just to additional trouble of finding the TFTP srver app, unless you already have one handy.

 

xavier00

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the seller gave me his usser and password for foscam and i tried to downlpad as many tools as posible for various cams, feel free to try them and if some one finally recovers this cam please tellme how!!!!
 

xavier00

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im stalled with this , tried everything, on google there is nothing, tricked my seller into giving me his access on exclusive foscam files, downloaded them and here they are, this camera is driving me crazy!
 

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im stalled with this , tried everything, on google there is nothing, tricked my seller into giving me his access on exclusive foscam files, downloaded them and here they are, this camera is driving me crazy!
It's driving you crazy because it is essentially...junk. You're working your ass off trying to fix it and the only thing you're learning is how to fix junk. How much time have you spent on this Lazarus project? How much is your time worth? Maybe it's time you gave up and purchased a Dahua or Hikvision camera so you can spend your time learning things which will benefit you in the future rather then how to resurrect junk.

But if you get an Hikvision from China don't flash the firmware or you'll be back to trying to fix junk! rant.gif
 

xavier00

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i have 4 of these , like many buyers im not so thech savy as you, many people are having the same problem as me, the reason i posted was for help , not critism from some one like you ok. make fun of somebody some where else,
 

Q™

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i have 4 of these , like many buyers im not so thech savy as you, many people are having the same problem as me, the reason i posted was for help , not critism from some one like you ok. make fun of somebody some where else,
I'm not making fun of you Xaxier. I'm telling you what I believe to be the truth: after investing an incredible amount of time you will eventually come to understand that you are dealing with junk hardware. You'd be better off to cut your losses now, consider it a lesson learned and move onto more reliable hardware so you can spend your time exploring your hardware's capabilities and not trying to fix it's flaws and trying to be it to work reliably. This should not -- by any means -- be construed as criticism of you. It is criticism of the junk hardware you have purchased and offers a solution which -- in time -- you will come to understand is reasonable assessment of your predicament. /peace
 
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