Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231RN-Z not working :(

[Andyhhhdx]

Hello all.
I have got a Starlight IPC-HDW5231RN-Z camera which i have been using since December 2016 with no problems at all. This morning i woke up and could hear the camera clicking as though it was booting up and i didn't really think anything off it but it kept clicking after about a minute so i tried logging into the camera through the web browser which i was able to do. I could see the video stream and then it went off and said "resource is limited, open video failed" so i rebooted the camera and it came back on for about 10 seconds and then i get the click again and the camera stops working and i have to wait about a minute for it to click again to come back on and then it will work for about 10 seconds and then it freezes again.
It is being powered by POE
So far i have:
Changed the network cable
Powered it using a power pack
Reboot POE switch
Rebooted router
Factory reset the camera
But still having the same problem of getting a video for about 10 seconds and then it freezes and goes off. I don't think i can even risk trying to update firmware because i'm pretty certain it will brick the camera.

Any ideas?
Thanks
Andy

 

[bjornhallberg]

I seem to be having the same issue with my camera. I've only plugged it in to test it but when I finally got around to installing it, it seemed dead. Can still ping the IP and if I do a reset I might just be able to enter the web interface before it crashes. Upon boot-up after a reset I get some sort of mechanical noise, like the zoom or autofocus working incessantly for a few seconds. I've gone through the same troubleshooting checklist but to no avail.

Tried powering the camera from 12V but same result. If I'm quick I can get into the web interface and see a few seconds of video before the whole thing freezes and I can do no more. If I keep the frozen interface up it seems to come back to life every few minutes like a boot loop.

Tried doing a long reset, like holding the button a minute or more, but while some settings did reset, the camera still remembers the time setting so I do suspect that the reset isn't taking.

 

[Andyhhhdx]

I seem to be having the same issue with my camera. I've only plugged it in to test it but when I finally got around to installing it, it seemed dead. Can still ping the IP and if I do a reset I might just be able to enter the web interface before it crashes. Upon boot-up after a reset I get some sort of mechanical noise, like the zoom or autofocus working incessantly for a few seconds. I've gone through the same troubleshooting checklist but to no avail.

Tried powering the camera from 12V but same result. If I'm quick I can get into the web interface and see a few seconds of video before the whole thing freezes and I can do no more.

Yes that's exactly the same issue i'm having. I can get onto the web interface if i'm quick and view the camera live which will work for about 10 seconds and then it will just freeze completely, i have to wait for the noise which sounds like the zoom/autofocus which you mention and then it will come back on for another 10 seconds. I've e-mailed the seller i've had it off to see if i can get any more information but not holding out much hope. I think i may need to purchase a different camera.

 

[fenderman]

Yes that's exactly the same issue i'm having. I can get onto the web interface if i'm quick and view the camera live which will work for about 10 seconds and then it will just freeze completely, i have to wait for the noise which sounds like the zoom/autofocus which you mention and then it will come back on for another 10 seconds. I've e-mailed the seller i've had it off to see if i can get any more information but not holding out much hope. I think i may need to purchase a different camera.

Very rare for these to fail... take it down and bench test with short premade cable

 

[Andyhhhdx]

I have just tried pinging the camera whilst it was froze and it continues to ping for a while then it will drop a couple of pings and make the noise then it comes back on for around 10 seconds again

 

[Andyhhhdx]

Very rare for these to fail... take it down and bench test with short premade cable

I've currently got it sitting on my desk next to me with a short cable plugged in and still get the same result.

 

[bjornhallberg]

Tried several cables as well. Plus direct 12V.

Not that I think it's relevant, but I do recall that the last thing a did while the camera was working a few days ago, was loading the camera into a trial version of Blue Iris and trying to view (and operate the zoom) via tinyCam Monitor. Can't quite remember but there may have been some sort of lockup or some such, particularly when trying to run the zoom from tinyCam. Perhaps something here managed to fudge the firmware?

 

[Sander kerkhoff]

I have the same issue here, with a different camera, 5231r
IPC-HDW5231R-Z troubles

 

[fenderman]

Tried several cables as well. Plus direct 12V.

Not that I think it's relevant, but I do recall that the last thing a did while the camera was working a few days ago, was loading the camera into a trial version of Blue Iris and trying to view (and operate the zoom) via tinyCam Monitor. Can't quite remember but there may have been some sort of lockup or some such, particularly when trying to run the zoom from tinyCam. Perhaps something here managed to fudge the firmware?

that would be impossible

 

[fenderman]

I've currently got it sitting on my desk next to me with a short cable plugged in and still get the same result.

what are you plugged into?

 

[fenderman]

Are your cameras exposed to the internet via port forward?

 

[Sander kerkhoff]

mine is not
i can see in my nvr that it started crashing at around 6pm in the morning
After that it comes up every 10 minutes or so with some video, and then its off again

 

[Andyhhhdx]

what are you plugged into?

It's currently plugged into my POE switch which is where it's always been plugged into. I have got a hikvision camera plugged into the same POE switch which hasn't had any issues. I've tried rebooting the switch again but still having the same problem. The camera is not being port forwarded either.

 

[fenderman]

It's currently plugged into my POE switch which is where it's always been plugged into. I have got a hikvision camera plugged into the same POE switch which hasn't had any issues. I've tried rebooting the switch again but still having the same problem. The camera is not being port forwarded either.

was the camera connection properly sealed and waterproofed?

 

[Andyhhhdx]

was the camera connection properly sealed and waterproofed?

The camera has never been outside. I set it up and as i'm off work for a week i was going to install it during my week off outside. It has just been sitting indoors.

 

[Sander kerkhoff]

same here, connection is inside my house
and have 2x 4431c-a cams that work just fine

 

[bjornhallberg]

Also never been outside. Been connected via PoE maybe four times, perhaps a day in total as I left it with Blue Iris to see how the OptiPlex would fare. Did not portforward. Are you supposed to do some sort of shutdown procedure or is it safe to just pull the plug? In retrospect I kind of wonder.

Next stop serial unbricking?

 

[Sander kerkhoff]

No idea. I just uninstalled it from 4 mtrs height. I reverted it to default settings, ip is default 192.168.1.108, but after a few seconds its gone again...
login admin:admin is not working...i have no idea

 

[Sander kerkhoff]

i must say that i also tried tinycam and its zoom function....But that was a day before it started crashing

 

[Andyhhhdx]

I've had mine plugged in and never unplugged it from the POE switch and has always been working fine. Shame really because the quality on the camera was good. Just a little frustrating because this camera was my most expensive one and has been the first one to fail.