hikvision camera vanished from network after firmware upgrade
- Thread starter pr1970
- Start date
fenderman
Staff member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2014
- Messages
- 36,905
- Reaction score
- 21,279
It's got nothing to do with quality this is simply a case of updating a China region camera with Western firmware.
Q™
IPCT Contributor
Which means it's simply a case of @pr1970 making a newbistic mistake. Camera quality has nothing to do with it.
Alternatively, if you want to argue that the firmware update routine should check to ascertain that the firmware being applied is the correct firmware for the camera and -- as a result -- the quality of the firmware update routine is severely lacking...well that's another argument, eh?
Last edited by a moderator:
Q™
IPCT Contributor
pr1970
Young grasshopper
- Joined
- May 18, 2016
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 16
Yes stupid me for following the manufacturers instructions to update its firmware going by what the label on the camera said to fix a problem of not working with ftp domain names.
I bought a local produced camera for £60 more, the quality is better and it comes with a great ios app and worked out of the box, and i`ve updated the firmware remotely without a hitch. I had it setup and running in 15minutes of taking it out of the box. The hikvision I spent a few hours initially and then a further 6+ hours trying to fix issues with it. Utter cheap junk as far as i`m concerned.
Where did you get it from?
Certainly the aliexpress sellers I buy from put a clear Don't Upgrade Firmware! message on their pages - did your seller do that (wherever it was from)?
If not then I agree with you that is very poor and misleading. Should give grounds to return it I would have thought.
Actually a few recent cameras I bought won't actually upgrade even if you try and checking with the seller looks like their hacked firmware prevents web upgrade to avoid these problems for non savvy people - though TFTP works if you REALLY want to.
Certainly the aliexpress sellers I buy from put a clear Don't Upgrade Firmware! message on their pages - did your seller do that (wherever it was from)?
If not then I agree with you that is very poor and misleading. Should give grounds to return it I would have thought.
Actually a few recent cameras I bought won't actually upgrade even if you try and checking with the seller looks like their hacked firmware prevents web upgrade to avoid these problems for non savvy people - though TFTP works if you REALLY want to.
Q™
IPCT Contributor
I did not say you were stupid pr1970, nor do I believe that you are stupid. What I did imply is that if you were more experienced -- and had researched upgrading the firmware on this camera -- you most likely would have uncovered the fact that the camera was a "Chinese Region" unit and that a firmware upgrade was a ticket to brick it.
I agree with almost all your posts
But in this case I think unless the seller indicated customers shouldn't upgrade at point of purchase then I wouldn't expect camera owners to know. Even if OP had read firmware update notes and glanced at Hikvision's websites etc it wouldn't be obvious. Sure coming on this forum and reading a bit would ring alarm bells for someone thinking of upgrading, but most people are understandably only going to do that when a problem occurs.
Q™
IPCT Contributor
Thanks for helping me think this through a bit more @Enabler.
These Hikvision Chinese Region cameras are essentially advertised by the sellers as consumer camera "appliances." The average user has no clue of these firmware upgrade issues which come as part and parcel of the cameras. The firmware flash routine is PROFOUNDLY DEFICIENT in that the camera flash routine fails to check that the firmware being flashed is appropriate for the camera; the result is that the consumer destroys the camera by flashing inappropriate firmware.
(Unfortunately many users then come here and ask the same question over and over and over and over again" Post 1: I bricked my camera please help..usually appending 3 or 4 exclamation marks to the topic subject)
This is a cycle of shame for Hikvision, and a pain in the ass for everyone here.
When will the madness end?
The issue is though the firmware upgrade routine is good and does check to make sure appropriate for the camera. But because the firmware is modified so the camera thinks it's English/World region, things go awry and the routine then thinks the firmware is appropriate so the safety check falls down a bit
You could blame the sellers/Chinese hackers I suppose but in fairness they didn't really have much choice given the manufacturers silly region locking which kinda forced them to come up with a solution. And also as I say for my few recent cameras they've made it so the web page upgrade fails though TFTP still works should the need to really flash firmware be needed.
I blame Hikvision for making any of this needed - very good cameras for the most part but silly pricing outside of China (or at least it is in the UK) and silly region locking.
fenderman
Staff member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2014
- Messages
- 36,905
- Reaction score
- 21,279
You didn't buy a local produced camera unless you live in China or Korea...if it took you a few hours to setup a hikvision camera then you simply don't know what you are doing... This is why manufacturers don't like selling to and supporting end users...
Q™
IPCT Contributor
So why isn't the flash routine checking the camera's serial number to determine is the firmware is correct? This seems like a very easy issue to fix by the developer.
Last edited by a moderator:
I guess because the way it's coded would mean if they took CH in the serial into account, the camera would identify itself as Chinese. Then the hackers would be forced patch the serial so it would be read WR - that would lead to even more confusion for people trying to identify the firmware to use for their camera.
Q™
IPCT Contributor
Based upon Hikvision's past conduct it seems to me that they would care little is they created such a further fiasco.
glenm
n3wb
When people stop buying the product because of that deficiency, I suppose. One has to motivate the change one wants to accomplish. But so long as the customer, at time of purchase, thinks of the camera as an appliance, they won't select for upgradability.
How many of us know you can reimage many consumer network switches (ie using DD-WRT) to get better features, performance, etc? How many have tried it, or have chosen a switch with that in mind? I have. A looong time ago.
How many of us know you can reprogram the computer in your car to tune fuel mix? usually only those who are trying to run at higher elevation or greater load or something. By and large, consumer see all these devices as appliances. Use 'em as they come. Unless they have a very specialized requirement.I've got 5 cameras now. They've been pretty clear to not upgrade with stock firmware, work with the seller instead. The hard part is remember which seller goes with which camera. :/