old SmartPSS (v2.003) cannot connect to Dahua NVR starting today, but SmartPSS lite can.

[aforum]

I have many windows computers and android devices. SmartPSS is installed on both. Suddenly they cannot connect to the NVR, but SmartPSS lite (crippleware, they disabled things) and the DMSS app can connect. I cant restart NVR during peak hours. But anyone notice or know if Dahua kicked us off their [connection] servers for using original SmartPSS?
I need to save videos using the old SmartPPS (the lite disabled mouse click scroll and takes 3 times longer to save clips).
If I need to update a server IP or whatever, please say what it is called, and change it to what. Ty.

E.g. now I had to restart SmartPSS on PC. Now the Playback tab refuses to show my devices online, cant select camera channels to search. (And early in the morning, Live view was already disabled/broken, while Live view did work on only Smart Lite.)

 

[tigerwillow1]

My version v2.003.0000004.1 still connects. Are you talking about a local connection or P2P, or both? I'm using local today, and tested via P2P a day or two ago. My NVR is old with old firmware if that could be a factor.

 

[looktall]

if Dahua kicked us off their [connection] servers for using original SmartPSS

They seem pretty keen on us not using SmartPSS so if you're using it with a p2p account i would say it's entirely plausible that they have crippled it.

SmartPSS Lite is rubbish.
In particular when reviewing captures, which is really the entire point of using such software, so to not be able to actually perform the primary function of the software makes it pointless.

 

[aforum]

local connection or P2P

so if you're using it with a p2p account

I forgot what I use. In device setup (SmartPSS PC), I added the SN for 2 devices. Is that P2P or no?
One device > Im on the same network > can connect to NVR IP (webpage). But no longer connect on the same network using Smart Old app (while the same computer runs SmartLite > can connect). And for the 2nd device, it's at another location (network) > cant connect at all using Smart Old. Both devices say offline in device setup.
If P2P or whatever, please advise what to check. Log says a system time sync was performed early AM when I was not awake. Then I have a log for my user logged out when I wokeup to check that live feeds wouldnt show.

 

[tigerwillow1]

If you add a device via its IP address, that's a local network connection. If added with serial #, that's using P2P, where the Dahua servers point SmartPSS to the NVR (or camera) using its serial #. Like I said, P2P worked for me a day or two ago, with SmartPSS connecting via a cell phone hotspot. If they cut it off today I will have missed that.

 

[looktall]

If they cut it off today I will have missed that.

If they are cutting it off they may also phase it out rather than cut everyone off at once?

 

[aforum]

Thanks for the replies.
1. I restarted. And SmartPSS is still disabled! I checked Smart Lite > devices, both show online. But in SmartPSS (org) > both devices are offline. This proves to me that SmartPSS changed/they did something because I didnt touch the NVR of the other location, but both are disabled on 2 PCs, 2 Android devices on the same day.

• Also if I go to the web IP for NVR #1, it does say P2P is enabled and Online. But it wont show as online in the SmartPSS Org app.

2. If Dahua did indeed disable P2P for SmartPSS, then lets go class action. What they're doing is criminal. I'm not a business, Im not going to pay a subscription to use the modern/working program to access my NVR and save vids. Smart Lite is criminal crippleware. They purposely removed features to make it amature and annoying. It aggravates me that they were so corrupt that theyd remove features to force people to subscribe to the other program, while SmartPSS is buggy for Windows 11 (thus were forced to do something).

• I was forced to use Smart Lite on Win11 just to get 3 window views working.
• But I still have to use Smart ORG to save video clips, because Smart Lite is defective/crippled.
• They took away the setting in Smart Lite to set default camera view size (expand). So I have to reset 16 cam windows every d@mn time I restart my PC or their app crashes.
• And when downloading vids, it forces us to choose [file type setting or something] each time, instead of remembering the last chosen, like Smart Org does.

3. In the meantime, Can someone tell me/link me how to connect to 2 NVRs without the serial (without P2P)? (Is it possible?) I cant connect to the exact IP of the other location because the IP will change, thus I would think that direct IP connect wouldn't be a solution for me.

 

[steve1225]

Dahua from some time country by country (continent by continent) are blocking support for old version of P2P protocol, which were used by old versions of SmartPSS and iDmss/gDmss apps.

Thread 'Old Apps gDMSS/iDMSS and SmartPSS 2.0 will STOP support P2P from August 1'

Jul 4, 2024

Hi,
I received information from people in Dahua Poland, that starting August 1 Dahua cloud will stop supporting P2P connections from all old apps, which are not upgraded.
We are talking about: gDMSS/iDMSS apps and old SmartPSS 2.0 apps from 2019/2020..

The official recommendation is to move on DMSS and SmartPSS Lite... New 2023/2024 versions of SmartPSS should also work..

This limitation does not apply direct IP connections (over IP or DDNS) from old apps..

The official reason is to discontinue support for the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding.

• steve1225
• Replies: 10
• Forum: Dahua

• 

 

[wittaj]

Thanks for the replies.
1. I restarted. And SmartPSS is still disabled! I checked Smart Lite > devices, both show online. But in SmartPSS (org) > both devices are offline. This proves to me that SmartPSS changed/they did something because I didnt touch the NVR of the other location, but both are disabled on 2 PCs, 2 Android devices on the same day.

• Also if I go to the web IP for NVR #1, it does say P2P is enabled and Online. But it wont show as online in the SmartPSS Org app.

2. If Dahua did indeed disable P2P for SmartPSS, then lets go class action. What they're doing is criminal. I'm not a business, Im not going to pay a subscription to use the modern/working program to access my NVR and save vids. Smart Lite is criminal crippleware. They purposely removed features to make it amature and annoying. It aggravates me that they were so corrupt that theyd remove features to force people to subscribe to the other program, while SmartPSS is buggy for Windows 11 (thus were forced to do something).

• I was forced to use Smart Lite on Win11 just to get 3 window views working.
• But I still have to use Smart ORG to save video clips, because Smart Lite is defective/crippled.
• They took away the setting in Smart Lite to set default camera view size (expand). So I have to reset 16 cam windows every d@mn time I restart my PC or their app crashes.
• And when downloading vids, it forces us to choose [file type setting or something] each time, instead of remembering the last chosen, like Smart Org does.

3. In the meantime, Can someone tell me/link me how to connect to 2 NVRs without the serial (without P2P)? (Is it possible?) I cant connect to the exact IP of the other location because the IP will change, thus I would think that direct IP connect wouldn't be a solution for me.

Class action would likely go nowhere. Why. Because I bet all your gear was purchased by 3rd party resellers (grey market) and not from authorized Dahua distributers.

I suspect most of their intended business line (businesses) simply use the system connected via HDMI port to a monitor.

 

[steve1225]

Thanks for the replies.
1. I restarted. And SmartPSS is still disabled! I checked Smart Lite > devices, both show online. But in SmartPSS (org) > both devices are offline. This proves to me that SmartPSS changed/they did something because I didnt touch the NVR of the other location, but both are disabled on 2 PCs, 2 Android devices on the same day.

• Also if I go to the web IP for NVR #1, it does say P2P is enabled and Online. But it wont show as online in the SmartPSS Org app.

Here You have latest version of SmartPSS (FULL) - check is P2P working (I'm Mac user, so I can't)..

Index of /Firmwares/Software/SmartPSS

2. If Dahua did indeed disable P2P for SmartPSS, then lets go class action. What they're doing is criminal. I'm not a business, Im not going to pay a subscription to use the modern/working program to access my NVR and save vids. Smart Lite is criminal crippleware. They purposely removed features to make it amature and annoying. It aggravates me that they were so corrupt that theyd remove features to force people to subscribe to the other program, while SmartPSS is buggy for Windows 11 (thus were forced to do something).

• I was forced to use Smart Lite on Win11 just to get 3 window views working.
• But I still have to use Smart ORG to save video clips, because Smart Lite is defective/crippled.
• They took away the setting in Smart Lite to set default camera view size (expand). So I have to reset 16 cam windows every d@mn time I restart my PC or their app crashes.
• And when downloading vids, it forces us to choose [file type setting or something] each time, instead of remembering the last chosen, like Smart Org does.

I'm buying a big bag of chips plus Cola and I'll be happy to watch how you force Dahua to fix the mess with SmartPSS Lite

3. In the meantime, Can someone tell me/link me how to connect to 2 NVRs without the serial (without P2P)? (Is it possible?) I cant connect to the exact IP of the other location because the IP will change, thus I would think that direct IP connect wouldn't be a solution for me.

Magic VPN.. Open Port with DDNS...

I use Unifi consoles (routers) everywhere.. They support most popular forms of VPN (wireguard, openvpn, ipsec)..
Also they support Magic VPN's between different Unifi sites - where all routers can be on dynamic or even private (not routable) IPs and the routers can find themselves using Unifi P2P.

I have 4 networks at 4 different ISP (half are fiber with changeable public IPs, half are GSM LTE without public IP (private IP on WAN side)) in 2 countries - and they are connected to each other 24/7 using Unifi Magic VPN.. Works as magic

Compact UniFi Cloud Gateways - Ubiquiti

UniFi routing and cybersecurity in a strikingly compact form factor. Site Manager ready with multi-WAN load balancing and full IPS security.

ui.com

Alternatively You can open port on router to 37777 port on NVR. And Use DDNS to solve changeable public IP problem.. hundreds of examples how to configure on this forum or internet..

ps. open port + DDNS solution opens Your NVR to external attacks..

 

[tigerwillow1]

To verify, I just fired up the laptop and this morning smartPSS P2P will not connect. What worked 3 days ago does not work now, so there's a temporary outage or I just happened by chance to use P2P on its last day. I do not use smartPSS as my main remote access, it's only for backup. I use a method that's unusual for this forum. When I'm away from home I fire up a mini PC and access it with Team Viewer (a different P2P solution). I went this route in order to use Linux on the remote machine. The mini PC runs a barebones win 10, and I run smartPSS on it with a local network connection to the NVR. This same setup could also be used for remote BI access. The big downside is that video resolution is not as great as with smartPSS because Team Viewer sacrifices resolution to maintain the real-timeness of the connection. With smartPSS I get (got?) the full resolution but with high lag times on a slow connection and significantly greater data usage.

It would be good if a few other actual experience reports were posted.

 

[bigredfish]

Sunny Florida USA here..

Am connecting fine to 5 different remote NVRs with P2P using older version SmartPSS on my laptop - SmartPSS V2.003.0000004.0
Also connecting to those same NVRs via P2P on my iphone over 5G
And all of those also on SmartPSS Lite V1.003.0000002.4

No Problems with P2P here

 

[aforum]

Dahua from some time country by country (continent by continent) are blocking support for old version of P2P protocol, which were used by old versions of SmartPSS and iDmss/gDmss apps.

Thread 'Old Apps gDMSS/iDMSS and SmartPSS 2.0 will STOP support P2P from August 1'

Jul 4, 2024

Hi,
I received information from people in Dahua Poland, that starting August 1 Dahua cloud will stop supporting P2P connections from all old apps, which are not upgraded.
We are talking about: gDMSS/iDMSS apps and old SmartPSS 2.0 apps from 2019/2020..

The official recommendation is to move on DMSS and SmartPSS Lite... New 2023/2024 versions of SmartPSS should also work..

This limitation does not apply direct IP connections (over IP or DDNS) from old apps..

The official reason is to discontinue support for the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding.

• steve1225
• Replies: 10
• Forum: Dahua

• 

Thread 'Old Apps gDMSS/iDMSS and SmartPSS 2.0 will STOP support P2P from August 1'

Jul 4, 2024

Hi,
I received information from people in Dahua Poland, that starting August 1 Dahua cloud will stop supporting P2P connections from all old apps, which are not upgraded.
We are talking about: gDMSS/iDMSS apps and old SmartPSS 2.0 apps from 2019/2020..

The official recommendation is to move on DMSS and SmartPSS Lite... New 2023/2024 versions of SmartPSS should also work..

This limitation does not apply direct IP connections (over IP or DDNS) from old apps..

The official reason is to discontinue support for the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding.

• steve1225
• Replies: 10
• Forum: Dahua

• 

Thank you. I was wondering if someone knew of a notice. So in your post, who do you mean by "people in Dahua Poland?" And how did you get the notice/info? (Did you have to ask, or they sent a notice?) I'm not sure about Euro law, but in the US I was given no notice.

 

[bigredfish]

Where are you? I'm in Florida and connecting to both Florida and Pennsylvania NVRs via P2P No problem. SmartPSS, Lite, and DMSS

 

[steve1225]

Thread 'Old Apps gDMSS/iDMSS and SmartPSS 2.0 will STOP support P2P from August 1'

Jul 4, 2024

Hi,
I received information from people in Dahua Poland, that starting August 1 Dahua cloud will stop supporting P2P connections from all old apps, which are not upgraded.
We are talking about: gDMSS/iDMSS apps and old SmartPSS 2.0 apps from 2019/2020..

The official recommendation is to move on DMSS and SmartPSS Lite... New 2023/2024 versions of SmartPSS should also work..

This limitation does not apply direct IP connections (over IP or DDNS) from old apps..

The official reason is to discontinue support for the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding.

• steve1225
• Replies: 10
• Forum: Dahua

• 

Thank you. I was wondering if someone knew of a notice. So in your post, who do you mean by "people in Dahua Poland?" And how did you get the notice/info? (Did you have to ask, or they sent a notice?) I'm not sure about Euro law, but in the US I was given no notice.

Polish Facebook group 'Dahua Poland' (5k users)...
Information on Polish Dahua reseller / shop pages..

 

[aforum]

Class action would likely go nowhere. Why. Because I bet all your gear was purchased by 3rd party resellers (grey market) and not from authorized Dahua distributers.

I bought 2 from an authorized dealer on Amazon, who was selling the Dahua rebrands made for the US market.

• E.g. "Dahua OEM 5-in-1 Pentabrid"
• "Dahua XVR Pentabrid"

So I was led to believe I was buying (paid extra) to get a Dahua authorized OEM NVR. The seller would then forward my questions to Dahua techs when I asked on Amazon (some type of service agreement between Dahua and seller, which I got as service for buying). So I believe I have a claim.

My elderly relative called today and said they cant access their NVR either (on Android > gDMSS). This presents a safety risk, we use the fast security feeds to protect life and stop repeat thief. Thus Dahua is liable for damages to safety/property.

A class action lawsuit would seek:

• To force Dahua to update SmartPSS to working order and on modern devices (Windows 11, updated Android, iPhone, Mac whatever is the latest).
• I.e. it would force them to revert their illegal choice to discontinue SmartPSS, which was to illegal force existing buyers (extort a racket) to chose between crippleware or buy their monitoring service.
• Dahua cannot merely claim they discontinued SmartPSS access due to "the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding" because they have the ability to UPDATE SmartPSS to function (as they did with Smart Lite) - but they chose NOT to, to force us to buy their new service. That is illegal in the US and could be called extortion.

GPT: Extortion is the act of obtaining something, often money or property, through coercion or threats. It typically involves threatening harm to the victim, their loved ones, or their property if they do not comply with the demands. Extortion is considered a criminal offense and can take various forms, including blackmail, where the threat involves revealing damaging information.


Q: Can the coercion be without threats, if a company disabled a program, offered a crippled version, to then force users to buy the fixed version? (without saying any threat, merely the action of disabling features already paid for?)

GPT: "The situation could be considered a form of coercion, although it might not fit the traditional legal definition of extortion. If a company disables features that users have already paid for and then offers a limited version with the intent to force users to pay for a complete version, it could be viewed as an unethical business practice or manipulation."

While there may not be explicit threats, the action of withholding access to previously purchased features can create a coercive environment where users feel pressured to comply with the company's demands to regain full functionality. This could potentially lead to legal challenges or accusations of unfair trade practices, depending on consumer protection laws in the relevant jurisdiction.

In the U.S., the scenario you described could potentially fall under several legal categories, including:

1. Breach of Contract: If the company is not honoring the terms of the agreement with users, this could be considered a breach.
2. Unfair Trade Practices: Many states have laws against deceptive or unfair business practices that could apply.
3. Fraud: If the company misrepresented the nature of the product or its features, this could be considered fraud.
4. False Advertising: If the company advertised features that it later disabled, it might be liable for false advertising.
5. Antitrust Violations: If the actions significantly harm competition or consumers, they might be investigated under antitrust laws.
6. Consumer Protection Violations: Many states have specific laws designed to protect consumers from deceptive practices.
7. Coercion: While not as common, if the actions could be seen as coercing customers into a purchase, this could have legal implications.

Who else has a Pentabrid and in the US?
1. Everyone (for your own records) should document (take a picture or screenshot) if your device shows as offline in [whatever app or program worked before].
2. Then write a sentence (Impact statement) of how this affects you/wastes your time/your gut reaction to suddenly discovering the unfair change/denial of service. (You don't have to post here if you don't want. But it would be wise to document for yourself.)

For me it wasted yesterday, trying to find out what was wrong. It caused panic/stress that I couldn't see what was outside when I woke up to a sound. Dahua cannot expect us to wake up from a deep sleep and jump through hoops to use their new cripple app, or pull out our wallet to buy their working service while half asleep. Five seconds matter in CCTV terms, and Dahua is not taking their consumers' protection seriously. Last time I checked, they still had SmartPSS listed for downloads at their website. But the file was removed. And they refused to fix Smart Lite since the months I complained prior.

 

[aforum]

Magic VPN.. Open Port with DDNS...

Thank you. I'll have to look.

I'm buying a big bag of chips plus Cola and I'll be happy to watch how you force Dahua to fix the mess with SmartPSS Lite

Thank you lol. I know it is a challenge. But I figure that this forum would be a good start to see who is affected or to gain momentum about our options, since you guys know more.

To verify, I just fired up the laptop and this morning smartPSS P2P will not connect. What worked 3 days ago does not work now, so there's a temporary outage or I just happened by chance to use P2P on its last day.

Thank you, this is helpful.

Edit: RE to bigredfish: "Where are you? I'm in Florida"
Thank you. I'm in the US, other coast.

 

[wittaj]

I bought 2 from an authorized dealer on Amazon, who was selling the Dahua rebrands made for the US market.

• E.g. "Dahua OEM 5-in-1 Pentabrid"
• "Dahua XVR Pentabrid"

So I was led to believe I was buying (paid extra) to get a Dahua authorized OEM NVR. The seller would then forward my questions to Dahua techs when I asked on Amazon (some type of service agreement between Dahua and seller, which I got as service for buying). So I believe I have a claim.

My elderly relative called today and said they cant access their NVR either (on Android > gDMSS). This presents a safety risk, we use the fast security feeds to protect life and stop repeat thief. Thus Dahua is liable for damages to safety/property.

A class action lawsuit would seek:

• To force Dahua to update SmartPSS to working order and on modern devices (Windows 11, updated Android, iPhone, Mac whatever is the latest).
• I.e. it would force them to revert their illegal choice to discontinue SmartPSS, which was to illegal force existing buyers (extort a racket) to chose between crippleware or buy their monitoring service.
• Dahua cannot merely claim they discontinued SmartPSS access due to "the old version of the P2P protocol, which contained poor password/key encoding" because they have the ability to UPDATE SmartPSS to function (as they did with Smart Lite) - but they chose NOT to, to force us to buy their new service. That is illegal in the US and could be called extortion.

Who else has a Pentabrid and in the US?
1. Everyone (for your own records) should document (take a picture or screenshot) if your device shows as offline in [whatever app or program worked before].
2. Then write a sentence (Impact statement) of how this affects you/wastes your time/your gut reaction to suddenly discovering the unfair change/denial of service. (You don't have to post here if you don't want. But it would be wise to document for yourself.)

For me it wasted yesterday, trying to find out what was wrong. It caused panic/stress that I couldn't see what was outside when I woke up to a sound. Dahua cannot expect us to wake up from a deep sleep and jump through hoops to use their new cripple app, or pull out our wallet to buy their working service while half asleep. Five seconds matter in CCTV terms, and Dahua is not taking their consumers' protection seriously. Last time I checked, they still had SmartPSS listed for downloads at their website. But the file was removed. And they refused to fix Smart Lite since the months I complained prior.

Anything you bought on Amazon is 3rd party/grey market.

Doesn't mean you couldn't file a class action and who knows maybe win....about 25 bucks. These class action lawsuits never provide big payouts to the consumer.

But go ahead and call Dahua customer support. They will ask for the serial number and then tell you it isn't theirs and tell you that you are not able to get support from them. People here have been there/done that.

We get tremendous customer service from @EMPIRETECANDY and he works with Dahua directly on changes/issues we have and many of us have interacted with Dahua techs, but at the end of the day, his cameras are considered 3rd party/grey market. We know that and accept it.

Look at any consumer based camera - they offered freebies for awhile and then to continue you have to subscribe.

Cell phones are only updatable to a certain version, as are computers. Apps all the time are restricting their use below a certain Android version or iOS version. Why should this be any different? Almost every program has a sunset date and a date it will no longer be updated/maintained.

I have an older phone that is just used in the home. Doesn't have cell service. It is strictly a wifi device for looking stuff up and every couple of months apps disappear and when I try to load them from the play store, it says the android version is too old.

Many of us have known this was coming down the road. I think @steve1225 first posted about it several months ago.

To be clear, they didn't cut off access completely. They are not charging you to access your system (yet and honestly surprised they haven't gone to a subscription model). You have to use a new program that may or may not be to our liking.


Don't get me wrong, I feel your frustration. I have been there/done that with the cloud based systems before I found this site and now don't use any of that including Dahua P2P. As someone pointed out, use VPN or zerotier or some other VPN-like service to not need to rely on someone else's system.


These are the only places that are authorized by Dahua (but then you also have the quirk where Dahua sold off the US line last year-ish so you are probably running the old Dahua versus the new Dahua (and does anyone have a new camera from the new USA Dahua yet):

 

[looktall]

Can someone show me the law that says dahua must provide you with any software at all, let alone specific software products to access your nvr?

 

[wittaj]

Can someone show me the law that says dahua must provide you with any software at all, let alone specific software products to access your nvr?

Excellent point (unfortunately LOL).

I said it in this thread or one of the other many threads on this topic, that I suspect most of the intended market users (businesses) that buy from authorized distributors probably only use the NVR with a monitor and HDMI cable and do not use any of the programs or apps to view the system. Many probably have it as a true CCTV not connected to anything.

Up until the "ban" Dahua and Hikvision didn't care about us homeowners and folks buying the stuff from 3rd party resellers.

Now they have to pivot and are having to pay attention to us that can buy these "banned" devices, and that is why we are seeing animal detection showing up as an example.

So I think they have been working on a "lite" system to better compete with the consumer based stuff out there.