HikVision NVR stops working with yi-hack camera

[cyrax]

Looking to fix an issue that is annoying me, and you smart people here might be able to help.

NVR - DS-7608NI
Camera - I had a spare yi indoor camera (amazon link) which I flashed with this hack (link) that enables Onvif/RTSP.

Problem is, the NVR will see the live feed and can record from the channel for some period of time before it stops working. It's not the camera, as I can still discover it via onvif, and the stream is still active if I use VLC or other app. Clearly, some issue with this combination of NVR (on latest firmware) and the hack.

I've tried many ways of troubleshooting, and no closer to finding out what is happening. So looking for fresh ideas, or someone with the experience to tell me how to debug using the tools within the NVR.

For life of me, I can't understand why this would not work. I know I can just go buy another Hik camera, which I likely will do but this is my challenge for the weekend. To at least find out what is going wrong.

Thanks!

 

[TonyR]

Problem is, the NVR will see the live feed and can record from the channel for some period of time before it stops working. It's not the camera, as I can still discover it via onvif, and the stream is still active if I use VLC or other app. Clearly, some issue with the NVR (on latest firmware) and this camera/hack.

How long have you streamed to VLC to see if it also quits?
Also, does "Live View" with ODM also stop after a time?

 

[cyrax]

How long have you streamed to VLC to see if it also quits?
Also, does "Live View" with ODM also stop after a time?

I've always only tested for a matter of mins in VLC. This time I left it for 20mins and the stream was fine. However, in the past the NVR could record for many hours before it fails.
Also worth mentioning I have added the camera via Onvif and RTSP url directly (how I access it for VLC), and it does not make a difference. The only solution has been to reboot the camera, and it works for some time before it fails again. Going to try a few different combination of settings in the NVR with onvif and rtsp directly specified.

To your second question, in all occasions I have tried, the "live video" does not work. I get the "No Signal" message in ODM, even if I have just restarted the camera. So something might be going on here. I can't seem to find a log for ODM. That might indicate cause of the no signal.

Edit: I tested using Onvif Test Tool, and the stream works in live view. I left that running for 10mins and was fine too.

 

[cyrax]

Still not been able to work out why this is not working with my NVR, and why ODM cannot connect to the stream. None of the many settings I tried worked. Anyone with any suggestions?

 

[alastairstevenson]

Still not been able to work out why this is not working with my NVR, and why ODM cannot connect to the stream.

Both of these suggest that the ONVIF implementation in the camera is flawed.

 

[cyrax]

Both of these suggest that the ONVIF implementation in the camera is flawed.

I am coming to that same conclusion, even though the official Onvif Test tool is able to connect to the stream. The NVR may be less tolerant like ODM. Time to chuck yi cameras away, and buy something with offical onvif/rtsp support.

 

[cyrax]

Update for anyone that comes across this...I did chuck away the yi cameras with the yi-hack. Just could not get it to stop dropping the streams, and what the root cause was.

Went for another budget IP camera, the Tapo ones e.g. Home Security Wi-Fi Camera and it supports ONVIF by default, and has been great with the Hik NVR. No drops and been working for last few months.

 

[wacko911]

I know this is an old thread but was having exactly the same problem and was able to fix it by changing the rtsp transfer from Auto to UDP. Hope it helps someone.

 

[cyrax]

I know this is an old thread but was having exactly the same problem and was able to fix it by changing the rtsp transfer from Auto to UDP. Hope it helps someone.

I'm fairly certain I tried every different option at the time, including forcing UDP, but perhaps I didn't. Anyways, glad it's working for you. I replaced the yi cameras with the much better Tapo ones. Same price range, but better hardware and support ONVIF out of the box.