New BI doesn't return the signal for some cameras after router/switch reboot, gets stuck at no signal, was fine on old BI

[xperiahole]

Hello!
I am having an issue that I didn't have with BI 5.4.4 before upgrading to latest (5.7.9.4 and now on 5.7.9.7), when I for example restart the router or switch (for troubleshooting purposes) or disable the ethernet adapter, all my cameras go no signal (obviously) but the problem is that when I get the connection back, BI doesn't return the signal for many of them and I have to go to each of those camera settings and only click OK (without changing any settings) for BI to recognize the signal again. You can easily re-produce this by disabling the ethernet adapter in device manager, wait for the cameras to all show "no signal" and then re-enable the adapter, many of them will stay no signal no matter how much you wait. In BI 5.4.4 I didn't have this issue and I just tried again on that old version to confirm. I also tried on another PC (installed trial version) and I am having the same issue with 5.7.9.7

What I tried so far:

1. Tried on another PC.

2. Tried a lot to change the camera settings and IP camera configuration including stream timecode and keep-alives etc.

3. Tried to replace the switch and router

4. Tried disabling recording, enabling trigger or disabling it, nothing helped.

5. Tried changing RTSP make and model and matched them with my cameras, also didn't help.

6. Tried on old BI version (5.4.4) and everything is working fine and the signal is returned quickly after a router reboot or adapter disable/enable.

Sometimes 3 out of 7 of my cameras don't return the signal at all and I wait more than 20 minutes, but once I go to camera settings and only click OK, the signal returns after around 30 seconds. Restarting the camera doesn't get the signal back as well. When I try to close BI when it's at this no signal state for some cameras, it gets stuck and I have to end it in task manager. It's also random, sometimes 6 out of 7 return the signal fine and sometimes only 1 of them is returned.

So it must be an issue with new BI versions. (also same problem on 5.7.9.4)
Is there anything I can do to fix this? as I said, you can re-produce it easily. This problem is really annoying since I work in a big workshop and I sometimes need to restart the router or switch (for various reasons), then many of my cameras are stuck at no signal and the recording is stopped.
All my cameras are IP, the brand is hikvision.

I sent support already and waiting for their reply, but hoping someone has an idea of what could be causing this in newer versions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[looney2ns]

Do you have static IP's assigned in all of the cameras?
If not, you should.
The nework should be setup as such that you could reboot the router, without affecting the cameras.
To do this: plug all cameras into the POE switch.
Plug the BI computer into this same switch.
Use another cable to connect the switch to the router.

 

[xperiahole]

Thanks for the answer. Yes they all have static IP and the PC is connected to the same switch, I even tried to dedicate a switch only for cameras without using a router and the same thing happens. Like I said, was and is still fine without this issue on old BI 5.4.4 using the same network (just tried again), there must be a new setting or something in new versions that is causing this but I can't find it or figure it out.

 

[looney2ns]

May or may not be the issue, but it's best to only install versions of BI that are deemed stable, otherwise you are a Beta tester.
You might read the what's new section of the help file to see if it notes the change.
The current beta release vers is 5.7.9.7.
The current stable release is 5.7.8.3

 

[TonyR]

Please post a screen shot of any "troubled" camera's "video" => "configure" page.

 

[xperiahole]

@TonyR here's a screenshot, it's random so any camera is prone to display and get stuck at "no signal" after connection reset:



I tried changing all the checkboxes in advanced (unchecking RTSP keep-alives, checking skip initial MAC etc.) and also tried to change the make and model to my exact camera but the same happens.

 

[TonyR]

@TonyR here's a screenshot, it's random so any camera is prone to display and get stuck at "no signal" after connection reset:

View attachment 171636

I tried changing all the checkboxes in advanced (unchecking RTSP keep-alives, checking skip initial MAC etc.) and also tried to change the make and model to my exact camera but the same happens.

I was going to suggest Checking the box "skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" but you say you've done that, so......
I'm thinking @looney2ns is right.

 

[xperiahole]

Thanks guys, I tried again just now to "uncheck skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" to make sure and it's still doing the same. I will try again tomorrow and go back to previous versions one by one and see in which version this started happening and then read the changelog in the PDF file as suggested by @looney2ns for the version where it started happening. Any idea where I can download previous versions? I saw a link here in ipcamtalk but looks like it's only for update files and not full installation files.

 

[looney2ns]

All you need are the update files to roll back, no need for the full install file.
There are a few previous versions you can install from the Blue Iris about page.
If any changes were made they would be noted. In the what's new section of even in later editions of the install.

 

[bp2008]

I've noticed similar behavior on one system a few times in the last several months. Probably caused by a bug in Blue Iris making the camera instance get stuck in a partially loaded state or something. As the affected cameras and the server weren't at my house, I haven't reproduced the issue on-demand and so I haven't reported it to the developer.

I think the solution is in the camera properties > Watchdog tab, where there are options to have the camera restart occur automatically.

See "Restart camera window after". I have set it to 2 timeouts, but it is possible it will need to be 1 timeout in order to work properly. I really don't understand fully what this option does but I must assume it is a "more complete" restart than Blue Iris was already doing when a video stream is lost.



Aside, I have no idea what the "Interpret monochrome video as a loss of signal" means since it isn't mentioned in the help file. Monochrome video happens all the time with IP cameras (IR mode, lol). But the box is checked by default and obviously cameras aren't getting restarted constantly so I don't know what that option does. I turned it off on one camera and haven't noticed any difference in behavior.

 

[wittaj]

Aside, I have no idea what the "Interpret monochrome video as a loss of signal" means since it isn't mentioned in the help file. Monochrome video happens all the time with IP cameras (IR mode, lol). But the box is checked by default and obviously cameras aren't getting restarted constantly so I don't know what that option does. I turned it off on one camera and haven't noticed any difference in behavior.

In my experience, I think it means an all black screen. Those of us running LPR will get loss of signal errors at night because we run such fast shutters that the image is black except when a plate goes by. Unchecking that and the error goes away.

 

[bp2008]

@wittaj good to know. My LPR doesn't get anywhere near full black at night I wouldn't think it is even possible for a camera to use exactly the same color value for all pixels without it being a malfunction.

 

[xperiahole]

@bp2008 wow setting watchdog to restart the camera window after 1 timeout fixed the issue for me. Thanks a lot! It's only about restarting the camera and new versions don't restore the signal properly for all cameras without restarting the camera either manually or via the watchdog tab. I hope BI fixes this issue as it's really annoying but glad a workaround exists. Thanks again.

 

[xperiahole]

OK so I installed updates one by one until I reached the update where the problem started happening. 5.6.2.0 is the version where the issue started happening, 5.6.1.3 was fine without this problem.

Here's the changelog for 5.6.2 (where the issue started)



So I guess it's about the new MAC address camera discovery. Now to find how to disable this in new versions.
If someone knows how to make the new versions behave like 5.6.1.3 (or earlier) I would highly appreciate it.

 

[wittaj]

OK so I installed updates one by one until I reached the update where the problem started happening. 5.6.2.0 is the version where the issue started happening, 5.6.1.3 was fine without this problem.

Here's the changelog for 5.6.2 (where the issue started)

View attachment 171677

So I guess it's about the new MAC address camera discovery. Now to find how to disable this in new versions.
If someone knows how to make the new versions behave like 5.6.1.3 (or earlier) I would highly appreciate it.

The fix is what @TonyR posted in #7, which you already had unchecked, so your issue is something different or a bug with your system.

New BI doesn't return the signal for some cameras after router/switch reboot, gets stuck at no signal, was fine on old BI

Hello! I am having an issue that I didn't have with BI 5.4.4 before upgrading to latest (5.7.9.4 and now on 5.7.9.7), when I for example restart the router or switch (for troubleshooting purposes) or disable the ethernet adapter, all my cameras go no signal (obviously) but the problem is that...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[xperiahole]

"skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" is already unchecked by default on old BI versions and new versions so it doesn't have anything to do with this IMO, anyway I already checked it and it didn't fix the problem. Currently trying to find the setting to get new versions to behave like old ones. It should be something to do with ONVIF discovery according to the changelog.

 

[wittaj]

"skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" is already unchecked by default on old BI versions and new versions so it doesn't have anything to do with this IMO, anyway I already checked it and it didn't fix the problem. Currently trying to find the setting to get new versions to behave like old ones. It should be something to do with ONVIF discovery according to the changelog.

And yet there are dozens of threads here where this happened to folks when this update happened and checking the box fixed it. So then it is something else. Here is a small sampling.

5.6.2 - September 23, 2022

5.6.2 - September 23, 2022 The Camera Discovery window now finds MAC addresses along with IP addresses. You also have the option of using the previous ONVIF discovery, or the new full LAN IP and port scan. With this, it should no longer be necessary to use the external website service Advanced...

ipcamtalk.com

Blue Iris is changing IP addresses randomly

Hello All I have a system with 4 cameras and recently 2 squares in BI are displaying the same camera. I change it back and a few hours/days there will be 2 the same again. Here you can see that at 12 noon two changed to 192.168.2.50. There is no cameras here. then about 40 min later they...

ipcamtalk.com

BI changes cameras ip address automatically overnight

Hi - any ideas why randomly BI changes several cameras all to the same ip address in BI? I woke up this morning and find most (not all) cameras have ip address of .33 as and ending. i have to edit each camera back to known IP and they work fine This has happened several times now. Thank you, Daniel

ipcamtalk.com

Try the find/inspect button on one of the problem cameras and see if that gets it going.

When you first set up the camera, did you type in the IP address, username and password and then find/inspect or did you go straight to find/inspect and let it pull up all the cameras it found and then you selected from there? If you did the latter, that could be the issue.

 

[xperiahole]

When you first set up the camera, did you type in the IP address, username and password and then find/inspect or did you go straight to find/inspect and let it pull up all the cameras it found and then you selected from there? If you did the latter, that could be the issue.

I used the former, I always set my cameras manually and don't rely on the inspect feature.

And yet there are dozens of threads here where this happened to folks when this update happened and checking the box fixed it. So then it is something else. Here is a small sampling.

5.6.2 - September 23, 2022

5.6.2 - September 23, 2022 The Camera Discovery window now finds MAC addresses along with IP addresses. You also have the option of using the previous ONVIF discovery, or the new full LAN IP and port scan. With this, it should no longer be necessary to use the external website service Advanced...

ipcamtalk.com

Blue Iris is changing IP addresses randomly

Hello All I have a system with 4 cameras and recently 2 squares in BI are displaying the same camera. I change it back and a few hours/days there will be 2 the same again. Here you can see that at 12 noon two changed to 192.168.2.50. There is no cameras here. then about 40 min later they...

ipcamtalk.com

BI changes cameras ip address automatically overnight

Hi - any ideas why randomly BI changes several cameras all to the same ip address in BI? I woke up this morning and find most (not all) cameras have ip address of .33 as and ending. i have to edit each camera back to known IP and they work fine This has happened several times now. Thank you, Daniel

ipcamtalk.com

I don't really see where "skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" fixed the issues for these guys, it was all speculation in these threads, like I said, that option was already unchecked before v5.6.2 anyway, I really appreciate your help but I believe it's something else and my problem has to do with what exactly the changelog for 5.6.2 is saying which is the new MAC discovery feature. The changelog says that we can get it back to the old ONVIF discovery method but I am failing to see how to achieve that (Checking the box for "Get ONVIF trigger events" option didn't fix it). Unless they hardcoded something in the software with new versions and we can't really completely go back to the old method after a camera has lost the signal.

 

[TonyR]

I don't really see where "skip initial MAC, HTTP, DNS reachability tests" fixed the issues for these guys, it was all speculation in these threads....

Then you didn't read ALL of the links @wittaj posted...it WAS definitely the cure in the last one.
Your issue is apparently something else.

 

[xperiahole]

@TonyR then you didn't read my first post here, my issue isn't about BI changing the IP address of my cameras like his last link says. That's a completely different issue.
Meanwhile I will use the fix in the watchdog tab as suggested by @bp2008
Thanks for your help guys.