Surely it is not that difficult - NVR operation

[Steve Bowman]

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am trying to get the hang of my new Dahua NVR.

Something as basic as playback has me stumped.

In my Easy Viewer web service, I am on the playback tab and can select dates and cameras to watch. I press play, and the video starts playing at 12:00 am - beginning of that particular day. I can change playback rate to 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x. However, choosing 16x results in 1x playback. That seems to be an issue.

I can't seem to figure out how to go to a certain time and start watching. This surely is possible.

Furthermore, once I start watching, if I stop and want to go to a different day, I have to get off of the playback tab, and then go back to it and start over. Very cumbersome to say the least.

I have not updated anything since I received my systems from Andy a couple of weeks ago. Web version is 3.2.3.98477. System version is 3.216.0000000.0, Build Date: 2018-06-05

Also, motion sensing "alarm" setup...
On the Setup tab, Event-Motion Detection, I have it enabled on both cameras. Default period and region. I am not seeing any of the colored tags in the green bar.

This is so disappointing after spending so much $$. A person just assumes these basic things would be easy.

Anybody help?

Thanks

 

[bigredfish]

What model NVR?

Im not familiar with Easy Viewer, but the most common two ways to manage your Dahua NVR would be through the Web interface of the NVR itself (see screencap), or the iDMSS /gDMSS Dahua app. I think you'll find they work just fine, and no jumping from tab to tab.

You can simply click on the time in the green recording timeline or choose a specific time which you enter.

 

[drrich1101]

What about smart pss? Is that another way? It seems the nvr has less available options then the web interface.

 

[bigredfish]

Yes SmartPSS works great.

 

[fenderman]

When you throw that NVR against the wall, look at blue iris.

 

[Steve Bowman]

Thanks for the help.

It's just so frustrating. I have spent hours researching cameras/systems. And more hours researching IP/network setup, VPN, mobile apps, etc. Sure, I read about Blue Iris, but so many have the the Dahua NVR's and I never saw any big red flashing warning lights. The warning lights where certainly there for Lorex and other commercially available systems. That is what steered me towards the Dahua. The problems I can't solve would certainly be deal stoppers for me, but I have already spent the $$$ for two NVR's. Now, looks like more hours researching and sorting through thread after thread just to operate the damn thing.

What model NVR?

Im not familiar with Easy Viewer, but the most common two ways to manage your Dahua NVR would be through the Web interface of the NVR itself (see screencap), or the iDMSS /gDMSS Dahua app. I think you'll find they work just fine, and no jumping from tab to tab.

You can simply click on the time in the green recording timeline or choose a specific time which you enter.

They are model NVR4208-8P-4KS2, I assume. That is what the tag says, but I didn't find it in the software.

Easy viewer is a Chrome app I am forced to use to get to the NVR web interface. It looks like your picture, except I have to scroll up and down to see it all - cumbersome. The tabs I refer to are the tabs within the Dahua interface. Clicks on the green line do nothing.

I read about pale moon, but I already was using Chrome and resisted installing another browser. I guess it is 6 of one, half a dozen of another. Might as well give Pale Moon a go. But my hopes are low. Why in the hell does it not work with a standard browser??


Maybe Smart PSS is the way to go. Is it free? Looks like it. https://dahuawiki.com/Template:SmartPSS

I guess I overlooked SmartPSS, or it was not very commonly mentioned.

One of these systems is for my uncle and I thought the Blue Iris route would have been more complicated. Sure, more powerful and flexible, but I wanted a simple solution for him. I assumed a commercially available NVR would do the basics simply. But with all these issues, I wonder if I made the right choice.

 

[catcamstar]

Maybe Smart PSS is the way to go. Is it free? Looks like it. Template:SmartPSS - Dahua Wiki

I guess I overlooked SmartPSS, or it was not very commonly mentioned.

One of these systems is for my uncle and I thought the Blue Iris route would have been more complicated. Sure, more powerful and flexible, but I wanted a simple solution for him. I assumed a commercially available NVR would do the basics simply. But with all these issues, I wonder if I made the right choice.

Yes, SmartPSS is the way forward with this NVR, and do not forget the free i/gDMSS Plus in Apple Store, Android Play thing - even with IVS triggers that's already a leap forward than using the 1990 NVR interface

 

[drrich1101]

I am right there with you unfortunately. As a children's dentist I close my office on Halloween and I spent the entire day yesterday trying to work with differing IP address subsets, importing cameras into the NVR and also smart PSS.
I am almost sure I installed an old version of smart PSS because it wasn't very easy to find on the dahua website. Forget about setting up the cameras. There's nothing intuitive about the nvr software.
I have the 2hdd 16poe version

I think I am getting through very slowly and only with the help of forum members. There are a lot of camera setups that cannot be changed through the NVR and you have to go directly to the camera login but after spending all day yesterday I woke up at 5 a.m. and looked at my front door camera that I had set to a nighttime schedule, or so I thought and the image was completely black. Did you ever put a bank of buttons in front of a monkey? Because that's what I was like trying to get a picture out of that camera in the dark. There really are no instructions. I cuddled everything I could find on and off and ultimately I got a fairly clear picture what I have no idea why.
I am voice dictating this as I drive so when I have a chance a little later I will type out anything I found out over the last couple of days. I still have tons of more issues and questions also including you're very first post which is how to find the motion parts when you are recording 24/7. I too have both full time and motion enabled and there are no notations I can find on the timeline regarding when there was motion detected. Arrrgh

 

[catcamstar]

I too have both full time and motion enabled and there are no notations I can find on the timeline regarding when there was motion detected. Arrrgh

I fully agree, the learning curve is steep, especially on this topic: do check your storage and storage schedule: all most be checked for these recordings. But then, you also need to configure for each channel (eg. D1) that it has to be motion detection recorden, plus additional IVS triggers to create these orange blobs in your timeline for easy allocation of these events.

 

[looney2ns]

This is a little dated, but hopefully will help some.
Step by step: https://dahuawiki.com/NVR

 

[bigredfish]

I have two of those NVR's NVR4208-8P-4KS2 in weatherproof boxes outside for the HOA. They work pretty good, a bit under powered compared to the 52XX series but they work fine. That model is 8 PoE

You shouldnt have to leave the Playback tab to accomplish anything related to playback... try increasing your screen resolution perhaps to prevent you having to scroll..

I think you'll find that you'll have many settings on the cameras themselves regardless of brand. The NVR does some of the basic functions, but no escaping fine tuning each camera. Lots to learn for sure on any IP based system if you're not already familiar. Frankly neither the cameras or NVR's are really marketed directly to consumers partially for this reason. Still, it shouldnt be that hard. The cameras should be recognized by the NVR automatically (assuming you're using Dahua cameras) You shouldnt need to fiddle with subnets and such to view via gDMSS or SmartPSS or mange via your NVR web interface.

Set recording up per the following screen caps and you should see the yellow hash marks indicating motion events on the green timeline (green being the continuous recording) like the example I showed above.

 

[Steve Bowman]

Dr. Rich, thanks for joining me in my suffering. lol

Bigredfish, thanks so much for the help. unfortunately, the laptop I am using for setup/testing has a max resolution of 1366x768. That likely explains the window size issue I have. Eventually, I will use my desktop, but for sure, I will still be using my laptop during the setup at my uncle's house.

I am using dGMSS Plus on my mobile, but am looking for a simpler option for an iPad for my uncle. Possibly the Light version???

I did go ahead and install Smart PSS 2.02 on my laptop. For playback, it is an improvement over the web interface. I am able to click on the green timeline and find specific times. Still no indication of event triggers. Even so, the selection of more than one camera is not easy. Actually, I have not figured it out yet. I can go back to the web interface and play both, but not in Smart PSS. Maybe try Pale Moon, but that seems like going backwards after finding out about the Smart PSS.

I think I have a handle on the camera and network configs, but have not played with the camera settings beyond zoom and focus.

Thanks for those screen shots. The 1st one showed the problem, I think. I did not realize that the motion and others had to be on the schedule, but it makes sense now. One might want the camera to record constantly - say in a retail environment. But only motion detect during hours the business is closed.

What of the other screens - sure the main stream is auto recorded, but why the different settings for the sub streams?

Loony2ns, thanks for the link. I think I have seen that, but it might be worth a 2nd look for me. But as you mention, it is a little old. I have read generality after generality. I am now at the point where I need specifics.

Still, the nagging problem trying to figure out the multiple cameras in Smart PSS....

 

[Steve Bowman]

Yes, SmartPSS is the way forward with this NVR, and do not forget the free i/gDMSS Plus in Apple Store, Android Play thing - even with IVS triggers that's already a leap forward than using the 1990 NVR interface

Are you sure?

I installed Pale Moon, and the extension. The playback operations are much improved over SmartPSS. I am able to easily playback on both cameras and go to any point in the recording. A very handy advantage that the Pale Moon solution has is the zoom on the timeline. Maybe SmartPSS does it, but I can't find it. Pale Moon allows viewing cameras at independent times. Not sure that is an advantage or not, but it is certainly something I can't do in SmartPSl

Crap like that should be a sticky - Pale Moon is really the only way. All the other stuff just wastes your time. At least that has been my experience.

I have 4 cameras on the other NVR and will try it next. But the my limited screen resolution is still an issue in Pale Moon. I will say that SmartPSS does have an advantage there. Everything is all on the screen - no scrolling required. Also, SmartPSS will fully login to the NVR when I run it. Pale Moon still prompts for a password after I enter the address. Maybe I can create a custom icon to accomplish that. I might at least set the NVR ip as my start page.

 

[bigredfish]

Glad that helped.

I use iDmSS on my iPhone, the only real difference between the Lite and Plus versions is greater control over device settings. Neither is intended or capable of replacing SmartPSS or the NVR web interface for total system management,. Their primary role is as a viewer.

As to the second screen selecting what streams to record, I have no reason, as most, to record the substream. This doesnt affect the output of the stream, just the recording of it. No sense in recording an additional copy of the low-res version of the main stream which is already being recorded. By leaving it set to manual, I can, from the NVR or SmartPSS, record specific clips if I choose to though. The 2nd substeam I simply have no use for.

Playback of multiple cams is easy. Just select 2 or more cameras on the left before choosing the time period. Both will be displayed however you must click each window and start playback separately as far as I can tell. see attached pic

 

[tigerwillow1]

I installed Pale Moon, and the extension. The playback operations are much improved over SmartPSS. I am able to easily playback on both cameras and go to any point in the recording. A very handy advantage that the Pale Moon solution has is the zoom on the timeline. Maybe SmartPSS does it, but I can't find it. Pale Moon allows viewing cameras at independent times. Not sure that is an advantage or not, but it is certainly something I can't do in SmartPSl

I prefer using smartPSS for playback, finding it easier to use. The only time I use the web interface is the rare time I want to single step through an event, which smartPSS does not handle correctly. It's easy to zoom the timeline in smartPSS, just position the mouse cursor on the timeline where you want the center of the zoom area, and scroll the mouse wheel. I do find it annoying that the two UIs are so totally different, as if they were designed on different planets. And in both cases, the instructions are extremely lacking. Fumbling around is the learning method, which is why this thread got started in the first place.

 

[Steve Bowman]

Thanks for that tip on the scroll wheel. Works great. Personal preference thing, but I still prefer the Pale Moon "interface" as it shows the timeline for both cameras at the same time, where the smart PSS only shows one at a time. I did get both cameras viewing in SmartPSS

I am definitely feeling better about this now.
Now, i am going to start fine tuning my recording triggers and not record 100% of the time. And Various IVS options - that looks very interesting...

Also, starting to setup my email options. I have created a new gmail account for the NVR to use, but have not yet been successful with a test email.

smtp.gmail.com, I assume. But is it port 465 for SSL or 587 for TLS? etc

 

[Steve Bowman]

I am following the advice for setting up gmail on my NVR.
Email/Email Notifications Setup GMail - Dahua Wiki

But, not having much luck yet.

 

[Steve Bowman]

As I mentioned, getting around much better now. I am now able to get email messages from my NVR by selecting the test button.

But I have an issue with my IVS settings.

I have a couple of lines - one on each of my cameras - and I have the IVS rule to send an email. I never get anything. No indication of the IVS trigger in my timeline either.

I have record channel, snapshot and email selected. On one channel, I am recording 24/7, motion and IVS, on the other only motion and IVS. Neither one will get triggered.

All this is done in my NVR, not the cameras. What am I missing?

 

[bigredfish]

4 things to get email alerts

1- You have the test shows email working so you have the Email enabled for the NVR
2- Set to record under 'Storage"/Schedule
3- Set Main Stream to Auto on the "Record" tab under "Storage"
4- On the Event MD or IVS tabs where you have IVS rule and/or MD, check "Enable" at top, plus tabs both have a "send email" box that needs to be checked further down.

 

[Steve Bowman]

4 things to get email alerts

1- You have the test shows email working so you have the Email enabled for the NVR
2- Set to record under 'Storage"/Schedule
3- Set Main Stream to Auto on the "Record" tab under "Storage"
4- On the Event MD or IVS tabs where you have IVS rule and/or MD, check "Enable" at top, plus tabs both have a "send email" box that needs to be checked further down.

1 - yes I am able to get email from the NVR
2 - I do have IVS, and motion set for 24/7 on both cameras, but only general 24/7 on the one.
3 - yes
4 - Only the motion has an Enable to select at the top. IVS does not have an enable to select.
I do not want email on motion, only IVS. Do I have to select the email on the motion for it to work with IVS also?
I have not made any changes to the Global tab under IVS. I tried both min and max size for the target filter.