No logs for my IPC-D140 cameras :-(

[Bat 'n' Ball]

Hello

I have 2 x IPC-D140 cameras. Both cameras record to a NVR-108-A/8P NVR, with Kingston 240 GB SSD.

All works fine, but there are no logs to view for both cameras.

If I access the web GUI for the NVR via <NVR IP> System >> Maintenance >> Log, clicking the Search button lists all the logs just fine.

If I access the web GUI for either camera via <Camera IP> System >> Maintenance >> Log, clicking the Search button always returns no results.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, logs are not stored on a non-volatile memory chip on the hardware; they are stored on media storage i.e., disk or memory card.

If the NVR logs are being written to the SSD with no issues, how do I get the cameras to write logs to the drive, too?

Any help much appreciated.

Happy Easter !

 

[alastairstevenson]

If I access the web GUI for either camera via <Camera IP> System >> Maintenance >> Log, clicking the Search button always returns no results.

In all the Hikvision cameras and firmware I've seen, I've never seen one where the Search button in the Log tab of the Maintenance menu gives any results.
Despite logfiles existing internally in flash storage, even in older cameras.

However, in current models and newer firmware there is now a Security Audit log that provides local results and the ability to send to a log upload server.
Also, relatively new, is a Diagnostics Export button which dumps the internal logfile as well as other records and device-specific info.

 

[Bat 'n' Ball]

Hi alastairstevenson,

Thanks for your reply

Unfortunately I don't have the Security Audit Log in my IPC-D140 firmware (V5.5.82 build 190909). As far as I know, I have the very latest firmware for the camera.

But I do distinctly remember the logs for the cameras used to work a few years ago when I bought the cameras. My sister occasionally accessed one of the cameras remotely, and to check she was logging in okay, I checked the logs by hitting the Search button. Overwhelmed by the amount of info, I filtered the results like this instead:

• Major Type: Operation
• Minor Type: Remote: Login

This used to list when she (or I) logged in, thus confirming she was able to access the camera okay.

There are two things I've changed since then:

1. I've changed the recording method from a Net HDD on a PC, to the NVR. I can't remember if I used NFS or SMB/CIFS when I used a PC hard drive but the latter seems to ring a bell.
2. I've updated the firmware.

One of these things has stopped the logs from working.

If I knew which firmware to download, I'd roll back to the one which was on the camera when I bought it to try it out - around 2018 - but I would have no idea where to find this.

But, I suspect the storage could be the problem. The 'Help' section on the help page says, 'Before you view or export the log information, please make sure the network storage of the camera is configured, or the local storage (memory card) is working'.

The camera doesn't support a memory card so the network storage is the only thing I can think of.

​

 

[Bat 'n' Ball]

Hi Peeps,

Just a quick post to let you know I've got my logs working again! Turns out this is an external storage issue with my D140 cameras . It's not quite the solution I wanted, but here's my workaround...

On my LAN I have a Windows fanless mini PC in the loft which is always on. I use it for various geeky hobbies and I thought I'd try sharing a USB memory card on my network which was inserted into a spare USB slot. I formatted the card in Windows and created a folder within it. I then shared the folder with a user account and gave that user full permissions.

I then enabled CIFS File Sharing Support on the PC.

• Click Start
• Type “features”
• Click on Turn Windows features on or off
• Check SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support and click OK
• Wait for Windows to find and install the required files
• Restart the PC

I went back to the web GUI for the cameras and added a Net HDD (essentially, the shared folder on the USB memory card).

• Server Address: IP address of the PC
• File Path: /foldername
• Type: NAS
• Mounting Type: SMB/CIFS
• User Name: Windows user account name with full permissions to the folder
• Password: Windows user account password
• Test
• Save

Surprisingly, all this went fine!

I then formatted the added Net HDD via the HDD Management tab which created a shed load of files on the memory card.

When I went back to System >> Maintenance >> Log and clicked on the Search button, it was populated with some initial logs and stuff - yay! It's now happily logging all activity.

This was a lot of effort just to get my logs back. It would have been nice if they were just written to the NVR drive together with my recorded video files. Surely this can be done?

Anyway, just thought I'd post my workaround for future reference - someone might find it useful

 

[alastairstevenson]

Turns out this is an external storage issue with my D140 cameras .

Interesting - you live and learn!
That explains why I've never seen logs via the camera web GUI - I don't use external storage.

Anyway, just thought I'd post my workaround for future reference - someone might find it useful

Very likely - thanks for sharing!