How To: ODM / Active X Controls / RTSP / Live Stream / Windows 11

[ErikH]

Greetings; I'm new to the forum (as an indication of my lack of knowledge in this area, it took me 30 minutes to figure out how to post this question).

A couple years ago, I purchased a "Chinese-made" SecuPlug 2.0 MP IP PTZ camera with 30x optical, and a POE injector. I set up the camera as part of a bird nest monitoring project, and it worked great.
I used software called "iSpy" (or maybe similar software called Agent UI) which I believe simply allowed me to view the image captured by the camera with my laptop on my Local Area Network (I think LAN is the term for the modem/router, desktop, laptop, printer, and IP camera that I have set up in my apartment).

I also used Onvif Device Manager (ODM) - like Agent UI, this allowed me to pan, tilt and zoom the camera, and importantly, I think ODM revealed the RSTP URL that I needed to stream the camera video on OBS.

I also used OBS software to stream the camera video to YouTube.

It took me several days to figure out all the settings to make that old project work, but it was very successful, and was part of a larger project that led to some very important new discoveries.
Then I put the camera in a closet for 2 years, and did not use it.

Now I have a new project, and need to set up the PTZ camera again. I've been at my laptop for 2 days, and, I'm pretty frustrated. I've tried lots of things, and searched lots of threads on this forum, and lots of internet browser questions, but I'm really stuck. I think I have some options:

Option 1: Recreate the Agent UI / Onvif Device Manager / OBS / YouTube software settings. I'm stuck here, however, because ODM, asks me to "click here to Download Control" (I think these are Active X controls), and I don't know how to get my Windows 11 laptop to download/add Active X controls. (screenshot attached)

Option 2: Find alternate software for Onvif Device Manager. I tried Onvif Device Tools and ONVIFViewer; I wasn't able to get them to work.

Option 3: Use my Windows 11 laptop to "add camera". The laptop recognizes the camera is present, and connected, but when I click "add camera" and enter the username and password, Windows 11 gives an error message "Couldn't add device. Try again."

Option 4: other.

I think two things are true: (1) someone who knows what they are doing could get this camera operational in a short amount of time; and (2) I can go down endless rabbit holes trying to figure out how to get the camera working.

If anyone can provide advice on how I should proceed, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[TonyR]

You could try this:

How to enable Native Internet Explorer in Windows 11 to access your IP cams.

How to enable Native Internet Explorer in Windows 11 to access your IP cams. Open Notepad: Paste the single line of code below: CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application").Visible=true Save as forceIE.vbs Make sure the the file name ends in .vbs not .txt, If it ends in .txt you must...

ipcamtalk.com

If no joy, try Palemoon browser 32 bit AND temporarily set it in Windows "defaults" as your default browser. ODM then should launch it (hopefully) when you click on "Web page".

 

[ErikH]

Thank you kindly for your answer. I was able to follow the instructions to do this:
CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application").Visible=true

and sure enough, there was a window that sort of looked like the old internet explorer, but... I couldn't figure out how to make it my default browser. So I set Edge as my default browser, and found some (very complicated, poorly written) Microsoft instructions on how to allow some sites to "reload in IE mode", and, through a process I could not possibly remember (about 45 minutes), I managed to get ODM working again!

So, I'm giving you credit for your thoughtful reply, which motivated me to try some more, and think it through (with the little understanding I have, and the enormous challenge of understanding words appropriated by Microsoft to have different meanings), and get ODM working. Good!

ALSO, an entirely different approach (late last evening): I purchased BlueIris (the "lite" version), and got my PTZ camera working, and streaming! I need to find a better location for my PTZ camera. I managed to do a little testing just before it got dark (I'm trying to identify field marks on birds, about the size of a license plate, at 400'). I looked like it was working. (But BlueIris focus buttons weren't interacting properly with my camera - so that's the next challenge I'll tackle).

Thanks.