Is there a Blue Iris equivalent for Linux?

[DesertRat]

This is off topic, but I thought someone in this thread might have an answer for me.

My daily driver is an HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF, and I am trying to try out Linux Mint from a USB stick. But I can't figure out how to get access to the BIOS to change the boot sequence. I've tried to get in while on the Windows desktop and also by using F10, F11, and esc. Nothing I tried gets me into the Bios. I know I must be doing something dumb but I can't figure out what. Any help would be appreciated.

DesertRat

Just to close this out: I never was able to boot into the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF's BIOS, so I tried it on my BI machine which is a G1 TWR. No problem. Accessed the BIOS on the first try. So I admit defeat on the G2. I give up.

I want to thank everyone for their responses. This is the best forum on the interweb.

DesertRat

 

[Smilingreen]

I wonder what the NVR vendors use as their basis, surely they don't all write their own from scratch. I am assuming that the majority of the NVRs are linux based

I believe my Hikvision NVR has embedded linux on it. It is a DS-7604NI-Q1/4P.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

... I never was able to boot into the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF's BIOS, ...

Herrumph! Did you try all the usb ports?

Time to vent....

 

[fenderman]

Just to close this out: I never was able to boot into the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF's BIOS, so I tried it on my BI machine which is a G1 TWR. No problem. Accessed the BIOS on the first try. So I admit defeat on the G2. I give up.

I want to thank everyone for their responses. This is the best forum on the interweb.

DesertRat

Try disconnecting the boot drive so it doesnt have a chance to boot.

 

[concord]

Just to close this out: I never was able to boot into the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF's BIOS, so I tried it on my BI machine which is a G1 TWR. No problem. Accessed the BIOS on the first try. So I admit defeat on the G2. I give up.

I want to thank everyone for their responses. This is the best forum on the interweb.

DesertRat

Check out the user manual, section 8. You may need to reset the passwords and BIOS in order to get into the BIOS (F10) for the 800 G2...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04832374.pdf

 

[DesertRat]

Try disconnecting the boot drive so it doesnt have a chance to boot.

Well, it looks like you guys aren't going to let me give up on my old G2. You've given me too many additional possibilities. I'm leaving town in about an hour, so I'll get back to the forum in about three days. Thanks everybody.

DesertRat

 

[DesertRat]

This is off topic, but I thought someone in this thread might have an answer for me.

My daily driver is an HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF, and I am trying to try out Linux Mint from a USB stick. But I can't figure out how to get access to the BIOS to change the boot sequence. I've tried to get in while on the Windows desktop and also by using F10, F11, and esc. Nothing I tried gets me into the Bios. I know I must be doing something dumb but I can't figure out what. Any help would be appreciated.

DesertRat

Do I feel like and idiot. After all the help and suggestions given to me by several generous forum members, I found out why I couldn't boot into the BIOS. It was because I had an HDMI and a VGA monitor both hooked up at the same time. The BIOS goes to the HDMI monitor first, which I wasn't using. I unplugged the HDMI monitor and problem solved. Thanks again everyone for nudging me toward a solution. I was ready to give up.

DesertRat

 

[seaton]

You are a snob. Profanity, dont make me *** laugh (now that is a profanity). This forum is NOT an internet safe space. If you need one with coloring books and horses to pet because you have been called a snob, go elsewhere and dont let the door hit you on the way out!
Windows is fantastic and some of the best and high end VMS like avigilon is developed for windows.

They asked a very pointed question is there a Linux option, probably for a specific reason. If your someone that works in IT and familiar with security, we all know very very well all of the security implications of running Windows PC's on your networks. While that is acceptable for most home users, there are absolutely many cases where you don't want the security problems that come with having Mr. Softy the most attacked platform in the industry on your network.
Blue Iris is super cool, not cool enough that you want to put your entire network at risk, but cool. Now in most cases you can setup VPC's and VLANS etc etc to keep Mr. Softy at bay and keep hackers at bay if your in an environment that is high risk, but be that as it may there are downsides to windows.

 

[fenderman]

They asked a very pointed question is there a Linux option, probably for a specific reason. If your someone that works in IT and familiar with security, we all know very very well all of the security implications of running Windows PC's on your networks. While that is acceptable for most home users, there are absolutely many cases where you don't want the security problems that come with having Mr. Softy the most attacked platform in the industry on your network.
Blue Iris is super cool, not cool enough that you want to put your entire network at risk, but cool. Now in most cases you can setup VPC's and VLANS etc etc to keep Mr. Softy at bay and keep hackers at bay if your in an environment that is high risk, but be that as it may there are downsides to windows.

How unfortunate for you that you don't possess the skill set to set up a Windows machine without putting yourself at risk. No worries there are a bunch of posts to help novices like you.

 

[IAmATeaf]

They asked a very pointed question is there a Linux option, probably for a specific reason. If your someone that works in IT and familiar with security, we all know very very well all of the security implications of running Windows PC's on your networks. While that is acceptable for most home users, there are absolutely many cases where you don't want the security problems that come with having Mr. Softy the most attacked platform in the industry on your network.
Blue Iris is super cool, not cool enough that you want to put your entire network at risk, but cool. Now in most cases you can setup VPC's and VLANS etc etc to keep Mr. Softy at bay and keep hackers at bay if your in an environment that is high risk, but be that as it may there are downsides to windows.

If you expose either system or don’t properly protect then you are asking for trouble.

The reason W10 is the most attacked is simply due to its much wider and larger user base. If things were reversed and Linux was more popular than W10 then I’m sure that it would be the most attacked.

I currently working on a project for a very large bank and guess which OS they are using? Guess which OS The Bank of Tokyo or Nomura are using?

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Iiissss iiittttt.... not an OS with a penguin as a mascot?

 

[mrvelous01]

I see there has not been any new discussion on this topic in about a year... I too am interested in a Linux flavored NVR. I have used BI for several years and it does work fine on its Windows PC but I would like to explore a unix implementation, simply because I want to. I have been testing the most current versions of Zoneminder and Bluecherry on an HP DL380G9 running Ubuntu Server and KVM.

I'm pretty sure I have followed most all of the recommendations I have seen for reducing camera FPS, coding both main & sub, and creating zones with both products, but I am finding ZM to be quite frustrating, and quite the CPU pig. Last week I was in touch with the devs of Bluecherry and they gave me links to their upcoming newest releases for their Ubuntu server and desktop clients. I've had some frustrations with their docs on PTZ cameras and I am waiting on their post-holiday replies. Has anyone else tried the latest versions of these products with any success/failure? Thanks for your time.

Please note insults and flames will be ignored.

 

[CanCuba]

I see there has not been any new discussion on this topic in about a year... I too am interested in a Linux flavored NVR. I have used BI for several years and it does work fine on its Windows PC but I would like to explore a unix implementation, simply because I want to. I have been testing the most current versions of Zoneminder and Bluecherry on an HP DL380G9 running Ubuntu Server and KVM.

I'm pretty sure I have followed most all of the recommendations I have seen for reducing camera FPS, coding both main & sub, and creating zones with both products, but I am finding ZM to be quite frustrating, and quite the CPU pig. Last week I was in touch with the devs of Bluecherry and they gave me links to their upcoming newest releases for their Ubuntu server and desktop clients. I've had some frustrations with their docs on PTZ cameras and I am waiting on their post-holiday replies. Has anyone else tried the latest versions of these products with any success/failure? Thanks for your time.

Please note insults and flames will be ignored.

ZoneMinder has had it's day. Short of a complete rewrite, it's done.

I've looked at Frigate and it looks promising with support for Coral TPUs but doesn't seem to have PTZ support (unless that's been added since I last checked).

I, too, am a Linux diehard. I may surrender myself to Window to run BI later this year if there isn't a suitable Linux VMS.

Holding my breath.

 

[actran]

Frigate clip playback feels basic compared to BI5.

If you need to review clips efficiently and step thru frame by frame or view recorded activity across multiple cameras (UI3 timeline tab), you will have a much better and more responsive experience with BI5.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

I miss knoppix

 

[fenderman]

ZoneMinder has had it's day. Short of a complete rewrite, it's done.

I've looked at Frigate and it looks promising with support for Coral TPUs but doesn't seem to have PTZ support (unless that's been added since I last checked).

I, too, am a Linux diehard. I may surrender myself to Window to run BI later this year if there isn't a suitable Linux VMS.

Holding my breath.

There are plenty of VMS that will run on Linux including NX witness and exacq among others....

 

[dmcIPCAM]

ZoneMinder has had it's day. Short of a complete rewrite, it's done.

I've looked at Frigate and it looks promising with support for Coral TPUs but doesn't seem to have PTZ support (unless that's been added since I last checked).

I, too, am a Linux diehard. I may surrender myself to Window to run BI later this year if there isn't a suitable Linux VMS.

Holding my breath.

As @mrvelous01 mentioned, you might have a look at Bluecherry:

Bluecherry

Powerful Video Surveillance Software

www.bluecherrydvr.com

 

[dmcIPCAM]

In my humble opinion, installing Unraid provides the easiest scaffolding for VM's and dockers.
Unraid provides a web-based interface for interacting with the server, including configuring drive storage,
users, dockers, VM's, shares, and apps. But there's no requirement to configure any storage - all you need is one
hard disk to tinker with. Unraid also includes a 30-day trial... meaning you could download, fire it up, and
try a Windows VM or a docker.

Unraid provides thousands (1889) of pre-built dockers, including Blue Iris, Frigate, Zoneminder , Shinobi, etc.



All the VM functionality is straightforward with templates for these Operating Systems:

I currently have five VM's configured, for example (including a Windows 10 instance):

The VM's are configured using Unraid's web interface (here's part of the config for my Debian MQTT Server):


And Unraid is built on Slackware, so you can always SSH in and use the command line.


Anyway, something to think about.

 

[mrvelous01]

Thanks for the reply. I did look at Unraid a few years ago and had a bad experience (don't recall why now). TBH I actually started down my insane path with MS Windows Storage Server before they wrecked it. I now run one Synology array (only using it for NAS), and it backs up to a desktop PC running Ubuntu server and ZFS.

As I am a recovering Unix Sysadmin (30+years of HP-UX, Solaris, and Redhat at the office, Ubuntu and Mint at home) I am partial to *nix solutions. I recently purchased an HP DL380G9 with a ridiculous amount of RAM, CPU, and disk, and have been quite happy moving my apps from Ubuntu server on desktop PC's and turning the PC's off. My primary goal was to reduce the number of physical boxes to deal with and try to find an NVR that runs on *nix, too. My secondary goal was to remove the last Microsoft Windows PC from my home. Ironic since I support Winders for friends, family and a local business too. Please, lets not go down the path of Windows vs. unix, that's not why I'm here. I simply prefer Unix.

My camera needs are simple. Motion recording (zone masking-damn trees), remote and local viewing of 16 various IP cams in and around my home. So far ZM has been a CPU killer and for no apparent reason. I boot, it runs half a day, then eats all the CPUs, then I reboot again. After I figured out the "zoning" part things were better but local viewing through the "Montage" was a disaster. Follow the forums - don't click Montage! I built a crappy HTML page to pull the live video and hit the browser limit of 6 cams (yeah, use ports, I know), but it's still kludgy.

Bluecherry has had a few moments too, but the setup was ridiculously simple. I am still working on motion detection and PTZ and although some docs are lacking the developer is very responsive and the price is very fair (still in 30 day trial). With the big box running Ubuntu Server and KVM it has been easy to spin up new VMs in just a few minutes. I am reasonably sure that Bluecherry could be what I am looking for.

Thanks again.

In my humble opinion, installing Unraid provides the easiest scaffolding for VM's and dockers.
Unraid provides a web-based interface for interacting with the server, including configuring drive storage,
users, dockers, VM's, shares, and apps. But there's no requirement to configure any storage - all you need is one
hard disk to tinker with. Unraid also includes a 30-day trial... meaning you could download, fire it up, and
try a Windows VM or a docker.

Unraid provides thousands (1889) of pre-built dockers, including Blue Iris, Frigate, Zoneminder , Shinobi, etc.
View attachment 164464
View attachment 164466

All the VM functionality is straightforward with templates for these Operating Systems:
View attachment 164463
I currently have five VM's configured, for example (including a Windows 10 instance):
View attachment 164467
The VM's are configured using Unraid's web interface (here's part of the config for my Debian MQTT Server):
View attachment 164468

And Unraid is built on Slackware, so you can always SSH in and use the command line.
View attachment 164465

Anyway, something to think about.

 

[mrvelous01]

Oops, forgot to comment on the BI docker suggestion... I read some time ago, maybe in camera forums, that the BI dev did not support a BI docker. Well, at least at that time. Not wanting to go too far out on a limb without some type of support, I decided to not go that route.

Thanks for the reply. I did look at Unraid a few years ago and had a bad experience (don't recall why now). TBH I actually started down my insane path with MS Windows Storage Server before they wrecked it. I now run one Synology array (only using it for NAS), and it backs up to a desktop PC running Ubuntu server and ZFS.

As I am a recovering Unix Sysadmin (30+years of HP-UX, Solaris, and Redhat at the office, Ubuntu and Mint at home) I am partial to *nix solutions. I recently purchased an HP DL380G9 with a ridiculous amount of RAM, CPU, and disk, and have been quite happy moving my apps from Ubuntu server on desktop PC's and turning the PC's off. My primary goal was to reduce the number of physical boxes to deal with and try to find an NVR that runs on *nix, too. My secondary goal was to remove the last Microsoft Windows PC from my home. Ironic since I support Winders for friends, family and a local business too. Please, lets not go down the path of Windows vs. unix, that's not why I'm here. I simply prefer Unix.

My camera needs are simple. Motion recording (zone masking-damn trees), remote and local viewing of 16 various IP cams in and around my home. So far ZM has been a CPU killer and for no apparent reason. I boot, it runs half a day, then eats all the CPUs, then I reboot again. After I figured out the "zoning" part things were better but local viewing through the "Montage" was a disaster. Follow the forums - don't click Montage! I built a crappy HTML page to pull the live video and hit the browser limit of 6 cams (yeah, use ports, I know), but it's still kludgy.

Bluecherry has had a few moments too, but the setup was ridiculously simple. I am still working on motion detection and PTZ and although some docs are lacking the developer is very responsive and the price is very fair (still in 30 day trial). With the big box running Ubuntu Server and KVM it has been easy to spin up new VMs in just a few minutes. I am reasonably sure that Bluecherry could be what I am looking for.

Thanks again.