Hikvision NVR DS-7716NI-SP issue with generic cameras

[Bearlord]

Hello. I am a new poster to these forums, but I have used it plenty of times to troubleshoot my Hikvision NVR DS-7716NI-SP. This time however, I can't seem to find the problem.
Where I live it is hard to find ip cameras and related technology, so usually I am stuck with whatever brand of cameras a semi-local distributor is working with at the moment. I have ordered some cameras online but its also a nightmare to get them here (remote location). Due to this issue, I have 3 different brand of cameras connected to my NVR. One of those brands is Hikvision, so there were no issues at all with those cameras. Then I got some Dahua cameras, and after some tweaking I got them to work with my NVR. The problem comes with my last 2 cameras. They are from a brand named AVTECH, model AVM511.
I have tried a lot of tricks that I learned from these forums to get them to work. I have installed the Onvif Device Manager. So far, I have tried these methods to add them:
- I tried adding them the easiest way first. Plug and Play. It didn't work.
- I tried adding them with manual settings, using onvif protocol (used Onvif Device Manager to get the right port). Didn't work well. The camera shows on the camera management in the NVR but the livestream is black. It doesn't show any errors.

- Adding them using custom RTSP custom protocol, using the path I got from the ODM didn't work either. It shows an error.

Here is the info I got from the Onvif Device Manager:



Notes: The camera image does show up on the Onvif Device Manager. My laptop is connected to the NVR with the same ip segment as the cameras. The ip of the camera was changed to match the ip segment of the NVR's POE network via the web gui of the camera itself.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Sincerely,
Bear.

 

[alastairstevenson]

A common cause of ONVIF problems with unknown brand cameras is the ONVIF port being other than 80 - but I see that ODM has it as 80, as seen in the URI under Identification.
I'd have expected your ONVIF setup to work OK.
Does the camera GUI have an ability to change the ONVIF port away from 80?

Moving on - you are trying a Generic RTSP 'Custom' connection.
Unusually - ODM has the RTSP port as 80.
The usual default is 554.
Is this something you have modified in the camera GUI?
Can it be changed to the more usual 554?
In your Custom protocol, the Path should be:
/live/video/profile1
with port=80 as you already have it.
For continuous recording, I think that has a good chance to work.
And you can verify the RTSP URL with VLC Media Player, 'open network stream', with the full
rtsp://camera_IP_address:80/live/video/profile1
URL. I included the port above in case you are able to change it to the more standard 554.

And lastly - does the camera generate any motion events in the 'Events' page of ODM?
And does it list any Analytics Rules?

 

[Bearlord]

Hello Alastair. Thanks a lot for your fast reply.

I did not modify the RTSP port on the camera. I will try to change it to 554 on the camera GUI. It does have motion event capabilities, however I do not need these to work. All I need is the continuous recording.

I tested the strem with VLC media player and it works, using the port 80.

 

[Bearlord]

I went into the camera web GUI. I couldn't find anything related to analytic rules.
This is all that comes under the Onvif category in the web GUI:


It looks like it only supports events but not analytic rules, or maybe I am missing something.

Thanks again!

 

[alastairstevenson]

It looks like it only supports events but not analytic rules, or maybe I am missing something.

The Analytics Rules I was wondering about would be in ONVIF Device Manager, if the camera supports them. But as you've said you do get events, there should be the underlying rules showing. Your screenshot above suggests they will be Motion and Alarm.
It's impressive that the camera web GUI has ONVIF event configuration.

In your Custom protocol, the Path should be:
/live/video/profile1
with port=80 as you already have it.

Did you try correcting the Path in your Custom Protocol definition?
It should not include the 'rtsp://camera_IP_address' section.
And you've validated the correct full RTSP URL in VLC, that's good.

 

[Bearlord]

Did you try correcting the Path in your Custom Protocol definition?
It should not include the 'rtsp://camera_IP_address' section.
And you've validated the correct full RTSP URL in VLC, that's good.

Yes, I tried correcting the path to only <</live/video/profile1>> but it didn't work either. It marks an error "IP CAMERA EXCEPTION".

The Analytics Rules I was wondering about would be in ONVIF Device Manager, if the camera supports them. But as you've said you do get events, there should be the underlying rules showing. Your screenshot above suggests they will be Motion and Alarm.

Oh, I thought you meant Onvif events on the camera itself, not on the ODM. I do not see any events on the Onvif Device Manager, and it doesn't show any analytic rules.



I also wasn't able to find a setting to change the RTSP port. However, I tried to connect through the full url via VLC using port 554 instead of 80 and it worked! So I tried a new custom protocol on the NVR using 554 port, but same result. It gets detected but it marks an error.



I am really puzzled by this. I even tried upgrading the firmware on the cameras.

Thanks again and greetings!

 

[alastairstevenson]

Yes, I tried correcting the path to only <</live/video/profile1>> but it didn't work either. It marks an error "IP CAMERA EXCEPTION".

That's a pity, I would have expected that to work.
But do I see SubStream ticked in your screenshot?

 

[Bearlord]

Oh yeah, I had that option ticked on one of my tests. I tried with it ticked, unticked, with the full path, with the short path and with port 80 and port 554 and all the possible combinations of said settings. Still nothing. Same error "IP CAMERA EXCEPTION". The only way it works without showing an error is with Onvif protocol, port 80, no substream. But the live view is a black screen. I wonder if it has something to do with the video profiles instead, where I can change resolution and other values. I haven't changed any of those yet.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Well, that exhausts my standard suggestions.
What's the resolution of the camera main profile set to, and what does your NVR allow? Looks like a 2MP max camera.
What about the NVR web GUI Live View, does that behave in the same way? And when you select the substream in Live Vew?

 

[Bearlord]

It is a 2MP camera. I started playing with the profile 1 stream to see if it has something to do with that. I changed the 1920*1080 resolution it had for 1280 x 720 since that is what the cameras that are working on the Onvif protocol have. Still getting black screen. There's a setting I am not sure if I should play with. It says h264 and it lets me change it to JPEG. I don't want to be doing that. I am also out of ideas of what I can do. The cameras took long enough to get here and I really don't want to send them back and wait for new ones.

I really appreciate your help and the time you have taken to answer my questions alastairstevenson

 

[alastairstevenson]

Apologies if you've already covered this - how does the Live View via the NVR web GUI and the Live View via the NVR VGA/HDMI interface compare in terms of the problem?
Does the Live View in the web GUI show an image if substream is selected for the camera channel (on the Live View screen)?

 

[Bearlord]

I have issues with the live stream on the web gui, i don't use it because i can't. When i login it prompts me to download and install a plugin, I do, but it won't work. I've tried different browsers and still the same issue. I figured I didn't need it, since I just used the ivms 4200 to view the cameras and the direct hdmi. It doesn't show in the ivms4200 either.