SMTP timezone locked at GMT+8?

[Mufasa]

Hi, I have found a strange issue and wonder if there is a fix available..

In the IP Cams (mini black face and startlight turret) I have set the timezone to PDT (UTC -7), and I can see the timestamp on the image is correct.

However, when Gmail receives the alert email from the camera, it shows that it is from a UTC+8 timezone ( the default timezone set in the camera)

Is there some where I can change this secret timezone setting? Or is there something else I done wrong?

here is the relative line in the Email header, and attached the setting page and timestamp on camera capture:

=====
Received: from localhost ([good_IP_address])
by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id k198sm19177412pga.54.2017.04.23.21.57.35
for <myemail@gmail.com>
(version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128);
Sun, 23 Apr 2017 21:57:37 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <58fd85c1.cf3d630a.5f58c.d75a@mx.google.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2017 21:57:35 +0800
From: <somewhere@gmail.com>
=====



Any pointer? TIA!

 

[Mufasa]

Opps. I just found out that the timezone was set wrong on this camera... ( strange, I thought I have it set to PDT.. )

However, the same sympton still shows on other camera which have the timezone set right. Was there something else I need to do about the SMTP time zone setting?

 

[marigo]

There are several issues reported here with this time offset when email is sent.
I have the same problem. Emails sent from the camera's are always 6 hours behind. All my camera's are NTP synced and correct time zone.

When receiving the emails on my android phone they display the correct time in the body and timestamp in the snapshot. Only the timestamp of the email itself is incorrect. (-6 hours)

It's a minor issue but it should be great if there is a solution for this problem.

 

[Mufasa]

So I guess there is no current solution for this? More a firmware issue?

 

[marigo]

I have it on both International and Chinese camera's. The Chinese are 6 hours behind and the International only 1 hour.

My 5231 turret is on last firmware. I think all camera's have this "feature".

 

[Mufasa]

Thanks for the info. Guess I just need to live with it.

Funny how this reminds the user that there is a easy to bust bug in their firmware that Dahua failed to address with each alarm email.

 

[marigo]

Maybe a workaround is to create a dummy mail account and forward the emails from the camera to your account. I think the messages gets a new timestamp according to the correct time (zone).

Have not tested this but maybe worth the try?

 

[Fastb]

Maybe a workaround is to create a dummy mail account and forward the emails from the camera to your account.

I don't think this will work. My reasoning:
1) When an event occurs, 3 emails are sent. Of the 3, one, and sometimes two, are off by an hour.
2) Some email alerts go through a 2nd dummy account. I was trying to solve a problem where often times, 1 of 3 emails for an event gets lost, and almost always it's the email with the snapshot of the event. I thought maybe the gmail email server was the problem, so I used a second email service to receive NVR emails and to then forward them to gmail. a) Dropped emails continue. b) And the wrong time stamp problem continues.

I went into excruciating detail in my post: Timestamp error in emailed "Events"
Maybe too much detail, since my post didn't get any replies.

But my post might give some ideas on how to track down your problems, which may be slightly different than mine!

Fastb

 

[marigo]

You are right. Another email account doesn't fix this problem. The timestamp will not change.
I have been playing around with the timezone settings on the camera and I had a correct timestamp, although the local time isn't correct anymore.

I think the email alerts have a hardcoded timestamp (zone) or it's a bug.

Will go through your post this evening.

 

[Mufasa]

I have tried setting up dummy account to forward the email, and nope. at least Gmail forwarding keeps the original mail timestamp, so I still get the email that says 15 hrs earlier in the Mail interface.

Although that did not fix the issue, this setup actually is nice as I can forward only the email with attachment so that I can avoid having all the "intrusion start" "intrusion end" emails clogging up my main inbox, and only get the money shot.

From what it seems it does look like the timezone in SMTP function is hard coded, which is not so smart for Dahua..

 

[Fastb]

Hi, I have found a strange issue and wonder if there is a fix available..

In the IP Cams (mini black face and startlight turret) I have set the timezone to PDT (UTC -7), and I can see the timestamp on the image is correct.

However, when Gmail receives the alert email from the camera, it shows that it is from a UTC+8 timezone ( the default timezone set in the camera)

=====
Received: from localhost ([good_IP_address])
by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id k198sm19177412pga.54.2017.04.23.21.57.35
for <myemail@gmail.com>
(version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128);
Sun, 23 Apr 2017 21:57:37 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <58fd85c1.cf3d630a.5f58c.d75a@mx.google.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2017 21:57:35 +0800
From: <somewhere@gmail.com>
=====

Any pointer? TIA!

I too am in PT (Pacific Time)
I have the exact same symptom as above. An email sent by an NVR Event is listed as "15 hours ago" when in reality it was only moments ago.

This my the email info for a message of April 25, 2017 at 12:36 pm PT. Colored text is by me:
======
Return-Path: <my valid email addr@gmail.com>
Received: from localhost (c-67-x-x-x.hsd1.wa.comcast.net. [67.x.x.x])
by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id 65sm38021862pgc.1.2017.04.25.12.36.02
for <my valid email addr@gmail.com>
(version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128);
Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:36:03 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <58ffa523.4402630a.67b9c.8171@mx.google.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:36:03 +0800
From: <my valid email addr@gmail.com>
To: <my valid email addr@gmail.com>
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?RHd5IDEybW0=?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed;boundary="======DAHUA_TECH======"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

=====

The 15 hour error is the result of [UTC-7] and [UTC+8]
This behavior is limited to one cam.
The time displayed in the snapshot image is the correct time, BTW. And the time displayed in Settings, Date & Time is correct.

Fastb

 

[Fastb]

From what it seems it does look like the timezone in SMTP function is hard coded

You may be correct.
Most snapshot emails are sent by my NVR. On two cams, the snapshots are sent by the cam. Maybe I'll change that to see if symptoms change. That may provide some more clues where the SMTP hard coding bug exists....

Fastb

 

[n0xlf]

Anyone ever find a workaround for this? 3 of the 4 Dahua cams I have are locked at UTC+8 for SMTP...Obviously a firmware issue, but figured there may be a workaround (checking/unchecking something in a certain order, etc...)

 

[n0xlf]

This has been fixed with more recent firmware releases - Of the 4 cams I have now, only 1 still has this behavior (SD59225U-HNI now works, IPC-HDW5231R-Z always worked, IPC-HFW8232E-Z remains broken)...