New RCA HSDB2A 3MP Doorbell IP Camera

[shoulih]

Sorry for late reply, busy morning. So question, when did you upgrade to LaView FW? If this issue just recently happened and you have had LaView FW installed for awhile, it may be a temporary cloud issue, we have all had those. I have had times that I was unable to view recorded videos, times where my doorbell calls to our phone, when the doorbell button was pressed, was delayed or even never happened. Strangely enough, they would start working again in a day or two, or I think 2 times it took almost a week. I have had my DB for almost a year now. Since we could not determine what causes these we just blamed the cloud. Guarding Vision App is an App designed differently, independently that is.

If you just recently upgraded to LaView FW and this problem started then, several here have found Resetting the DB after an upgrade helps in fixing several issues they were having. This is the present recommendation.
My experience is an older experience, where most of us older DB owners that upgraded/changed firmware did not Reset our DBs, I have tried 3 different FWs on my LaView DB without Resetting and have had no problems, BUT that is just my experience. It won't hurt anything if you Reset, just make sure you follow the new Reset procedures listed in the 101.

If it were me, I would give it some time and if in a week it does not fix itself, then try a Reset.

Oh one last thing, we use to have a warning that if you planned to do a Reset with a different firmware other than the brand DB you have, it was best to go back to your brand's firmware first then do the Reset, it just made it easier back at that time and you did not have the SSID changing issue.

Hope this helps.

I have flashed my RCA to LaView FW for several months already and this issues seem to be intermittent. I probably will do a reset anyway.

Thanks!

 

[shoulih]

When upgrading to another vendor's firmware, a software reset is always mandatory. The data structure of the firmwares are different, you can have issues.

Thanks Alex! I know how to do a hardware reset, but how do I do a software reset?

 

[RandomBit]

First post --- lurker, researching db cams for a while.

Purchased the Ezviz DB-1, installed over the weekend. It has fw v190304 installed and is prompting me through app to install v191211. Considering installing ONVIF fw, but don't really need it just yet. (anyone recommend a good linux sw - not ZM?)

I have 2 mechanical chimes, main and basement. Power kit installed on main where the db is located and no power kit on the basement. Basement is buzzing, assume I need to install power kit there, too. Current transformer is 16v/30va with 2 chimes, 1 db. I don't think I need to upgrade to 24v/40va based on what I've read in this forum( >200 pages!). Where can I get a 2nd power kit? Ezviz or one of the other suppliers? Recommendations? TIA

 

[David L]

First post --- lurker, researching db cams for a while.

Purchased the Ezviz DB-1, installed over the weekend. It has fw v190304 installed and is prompting me through app to install v191211. Considering installing ONVIF fw, but don't really need it just yet. (anyone recommend a good linux sw - not ZM?)

I have 2 mechanical chimes, main and basement. Power kit installed on main where the db is located and no power kit on the basement. Basement is buzzing, assume I need to install power kit there, too. Current transformer is 16v/30va with 2 chimes, 1 db. I don't think I need to upgrade to 24v/40va based on what I've read in this forum( >200 pages!). Where can I get a 2nd power kit? Ezviz or one of the other suppliers? Recommendations? TIA

Try EZVIZ, gjortz had luck going to Nelly's and getting his second one.

New RCA HSDB2A 3MP Doorbell IP Camera

I guess to sum it up succinctly 1) I won't flash the RCA with Nellie firmware! 2) has anybody flashed RCA with ezviz firmware to get Google assistant support? 3) I'm curious about how people get this thing powered up just for testing as I don't want to do a full physical install and brick and...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[alexdelprete]

Thanks Alex! I know how to do a hardware reset, but how do I do a software reset?

Step 2 of my general Firmware Upgrade Procedure

 

[shoulih]

@ Alex. I think I found the issue as I still got the error after a soft reset:
The playback started working after I stopped the background mode of the tinycam pro app, which is doing a 24x7 recording of my RCA DB and using up to 2 connections.
Somehow there is a max # of (ONVIF/RTSP) connection limitation of LaView FW. Do we know how to increase it?

Thanks again!

 

[alexdelprete]

@ Alex. I think I found the issue as I still got the error after a soft reset:
The playback started working after I stopped the background mode of the tinycam pro app, which is doing a 24x7 recording of my RCA DB and using up to 2 connections.
Somehow there is a max # of (ONVIF/RTSP) connection limitation of LaView FW. Do we know how to increase it?

Thanks again!

Good. But reset is always recommended.

The limitation of the connections is fixed, because the camera doesn't have the processing power to manage too many flows, I think 3 total is the maximum. I read it somewhere.

Why does tinycam use 2 connections 24x7? One is more than enough.

 

[alexdelprete]

@David L probably we should put this disconnection issue due to the max connections of the camera in the FAQ section of 101.

 

[David L]

@ Alex. I think I found the issue as I still got the error after a soft reset:
The playback started working after I stopped the background mode of the tinycam pro app, which is doing a 24x7 recording of my RCA DB and using up to 2 connections.
Somehow there is a max # of (ONVIF/RTSP) connection limitation of LaView FW. Do we know how to increase it?

Thanks again!

Best way to test RTSP connections is opening VLC windows. I have had 4 feeds running 24/7 before, did a test for 3 days, but we have found 3 is really the limit of the processor of the DB. Reason is, it is different when recording verses just viewing in VLC. Now I know the VLC test was a good network test, I recommend it for anyone with a IP CAM.

⦁ RTSP Streaming for VLC (VideoLAN Media Player) Under Media/Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N)...Enter your RTSP Link/Info for Live Video Stream

 

[David L]

@David L probably we should put this disconnection issue due to the max connections of the camera in the FAQ section of 101.

I have a small statement at the bottom of the STREAMING VIDEO TIPS: section of the 101, it is easy to miss, agreed we need a better statement/location...Maybe we should move it to the Q/A section?


STREAMING VIDEO TIPS:
It has been mentioned the Doorbell has a 3 Stream limit, 4 Streams is too much for it's processor - rafale

 

[alexdelprete]

Best way to test RTSP connections is opening VLC windows. I have had 4 feeds running 24/7 before, did a test for 3 days, but we have found 3 is really the limit of the processor of the DB. Reason is, it is different when recording verses just viewing in VLC. Now I know the VLC test was a good network test, I recommend it for anyone with a IP CAM.

⦁ RTSP Streaming for VLC (VideoLAN Media Player) Under Media/Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N)...Enter your RTSP Link/Info for Live Video Stream

I never went over 3 actually, weird problems over that number.

For VLC, I created a doorbell.xspf file on my desktop to check the camera on the fly. Once created, you double-click on it, and VLC plays the stream.

This is the content (replace the password XXXXXX and the hostname citofono with your IP or hostname):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/" xmlns:vlc="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/ns/0/" version="1">
    <title>Scaletta</title>
    <trackList>
        <track>
            <location>rtsp:/admin:XXXXXX@citofono:554/Streaming/Channels/101</location>
            <extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
                <vlc:id>0</vlc:id>
                <vlc:option>network-caching=1000</vlc:option>
            </extension>
        </track>
    </trackList>
    <extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
        <vlc:item tid="0"/>
    </extension>
</playlist>

 

[alexdelprete]

I have a small statement at the bottom of the STREAMING VIDEO TIPS: section of the 101, it is easy to miss, agreed we need a better statement/location...Maybe we should move it to the Q/A section?


STREAMING VIDEO TIPS:
It has been mentioned the Doorbell has a 3 Stream limit, 4 Streams is too much for it's processor - rafale

You can leave the tip and also add a line in QA regarding the disconnection issue.

 

[David L]

I never went over 3 actually, weird problems over that number.

For VLC, I created a doorbell.xspf file on my desktop to check the camera on the fly. Once created, you double-click on it, and VLC plays the stream.

This is the content (replace the password):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/" xmlns:vlc="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/ns/0/" version="1">
    <title>Scaletta</title>
    <trackList>
        <track>
            <location>rtsp:/admin:XXXXXX@citofono:554/Streaming/Channels/101</location>
            <extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
                <vlc:id>0</vlc:id>
                <vlc:option>network-caching=1000</vlc:option>
            </extension>
        </track>
    </trackList>
    <extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
        <vlc:item tid="0"/>
    </extension>
</playlist>

Awesome, I will use your code, thanks...Much easier than copy/paste to VLC. I will have to make a Doorbell icon for it kewl.

 

[alexdelprete]

Awesome, I will use your code, thanks...Much easier than copy/paste to VLC. I will have to make a Doorbell icon for it kewl.

Not my code. I found out that when you open rtsp stream from VLC, you can "Save As" from VLC to a file, and it produces the .xspf file. Cool feature.

 

[David L]

You can leave the tip and also add a line in QA regarding the disconnection issue.

Done, thanks

 

[alexdelprete]

Done, thanks

No need to thank me my friend, you are the one to thank, always, for what you did and do to help other people.

 

[Pilot04]

It's been a while so checking in to see how many RCA HSDB2 users have upgraded their FW to latest V5.2.4 build 200321 from 191211(or lower) since March. Since I've been getting the nagging Hik-Connect and Ezviz app compat expiring Aug 1st message on my Galaxy phone, I might need to upgrade before then but don't want to upgrade if issues have arisen since I'm 6 months past my warranty expiration date

They might be removing more accounts from SSO like they did a little over a year ago between LaView and Hik/Ezviz/RCA/etc which forced me to create an identical account within the separated backend databases. My future hope of Ezviz eventually allowing RCA units to traverse their Amazon Alexa gateways may seem bleak now that they're looking to further decouple more accounts from Ezviz.

 

[shoulih]

Thanks Alex and David again for your help and I probably turn off the TinyCam recording of my RCA DB for now.
I remembered that TinyCam uses one stream for live view and the other for recording in its unique implementation.

 

[Pilot04]

Thanks Alex and David again for your help and I probably turn off the TinyCam recording of my RCA DB for now.
I remembered that TinyCam uses one stream for live view and the other for recording in its unique implementation.

As an fyi, I have been running my RCA HSDB2 variant fine for ~1.5yrs now with (1) 24x7 recording to my Dahua NVR, (2) 24x7 RTSP streaming to my MotionEye rPi3 machine for viewing on all my wall mounted home automation tablets, (3) occasional TinyCam live view, (4) occasional gDMSS live view, (5) occasional Hik-Connect/Ezviz app remote viewing or video doorbell answering. I think I tested up to like 4-5 streams for brief periods before I see load issues on the doorbell so might be optimizing combination of Router/Wireless AP/transformer power/signal dB strength/etc.

 

[Repster]

Looking at getting one of these DB soon to marry up with my soon to be purchased Hikvision CCTV/NVR. I have had a look at the 101 and can't seem to find an answer for my question so an answer would be appreciated. I am looking for something than will enable me to have a (ideally) plug in chime that can be moved around the house if needed. EG: I am asleep after night shift and the other half is chilling in the garden/elsewhere (she often leaves her phone elsewhere). Can this be done somehow? I guess something like the Ring Chime type of thing. Thanks in advance