Update firmware at your peril

[steve hollis]

My saga continues - it's become a bit of a hobby really. Those who read my previous posts know that in December I bought a Dahua SD52C225U-HNI from Andy and to be honest Ive spent hours fiddling about with it and it's been one big positive exercise summed up by the first one pieces of advice I read on IPcamtalk which was just experiment, experiment and experiment and you will get the hang of it, which in the main I now have. So far so good.
Move forward to February and I decide I'll get another one but this time Andy has no stock so it arrives courtesy of another business. However this second model has a mind of its own it's an earlier model going by the serial number and left to its own devices auto tracks the sky and areas that don't seem to be moving and this can be with the auto tracking disabled lol.
So it doesn't take me long to come to the conclusion I need to update the firmware which is an earlier version than Andy's camera and which I do after a slight struggle to find the most up-to-date.
Now my nvr, dislikes me connecting to the cameras directly and doesn't let me easily get them to them, so when everything goes right and I find myself having successfully updated the dodgy one, without a moment's hesitation I apply the updated software to my good camera the one that works perfectly, the one that lifts up when IVS is triggered and is spot-on tracking a vehicle into the distance from my corner plot.
BIG MISTAKE. Didn't take a back up. Didn't know you could till I came across it. Now I have two PTZ cameras that for half the time ignore IVS and just roll around going full circle on occasions now just pretty much useless. I read the rollback section in cliff notes but I'm no expert and it sounds a little out of my league.
I know raspberry pi is a mini computer and not something you eat for dessert but it doesn't help me out because I wouldn't know where to start to use one. I've had great help here in the past so if anyone can point me in the right direction or come up with some other option, you might yet save the day but do ignore what it says on the Dahua firmware page which is always update to the latest firmware. Of course, might not be a firmware problem but with 2 lackadaisical lazy cameras it sure does look like it!
Regards Steve
Ps software in question is as follows.
1st camera (Andy's) system version 2.623.0000000.1.R.E4.2512.3S.NR Build date: 2018-06-27
2nd camera system version
2.622.0000000.1.R.E4.2512.3S.NR Build date: 2017-11-21
Both running PTZ Version 2 300.0000000.10.RHNP_170926_24381

Now they've updated to system version
V2.623.0000000.13R.E4.2512.3S.NR, Build date: 2018-12-05
Still running the above PTZ 300 firmware version.

 

[tangent]

When firmware changes, sometimes there are bits of the flash that contain data or settings that for some reason are incompatible with the new firmware. This is why resetting the camera can be helpful, the reset generally clears things like this. If you have erratic behavior after a firmware update resetting to factory defaults through the web ui or holding the reset button for 30+ seconds can be helpful. Some have reported exporting and importing their configuration helps when a reset doesn't do the job.

As you know these big PTZs have two different firmwares. One is large 20+ mb and the other "PTZ" firmware is for a secondary processor / microcontroller and is much smaller. There have been reports of people bricking PTZs un-recoverable by flashing the wrong PTZ firmware. Be extremely careful if you mess with this part of the firmware.

The TFTP recovery method is an easier way to downgrade the firmware.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Resetting is a good call. I would also try if possible do a reset and then try reflashing the same version over the top if it allows it.

 

[steve hollis]

Hi, yes I’ve reset both cameras to factory settings via signing into the camera, In fact I did it three times in a row with each camera, I felt that if there was just a few bytes lingering around then this approach might wipe them - but to no avail unfortunately. Don’t know if it will allow to re-download the same firmware, but I’ll give it a try shortly.
Just looked at the TFTP link in Tangents post, that’s for Hikvision so not sure about Dahua, but am sure that I would mess it up lol

 

[tangent]

Just looked at the TFTP link in Tangents post, that’s for Hikvision so not sure about Dahua, but am sure that I would mess it up lol

Sorry, I didn't add that link. The forum has an auto linker that turns certain words into links automatically.
Search the dahua forum for: easy tftp and display the results as threads and you'll find it.

 

[steve hollis]

Well, an update really, not that there's much to report, in that tried to rerun the latest firmware again but they are not having any of that. So options are now limited...

 

[serger]

Well, an update really, not that there's much to report, in that tried to rerun the latest firmware again but they are not having any of that. So options are now limited...

Hi Steve,

I use also a recent DAHUA PTZ with IVS / Auto Tracking and it does the same : "just roll around going full circle on occasions". I was able to limit the problem bu setting up/down PTZ limits but it still does multiple full 360° rotations sometimes when it tries to auto track a subject. This is weird and I would really like to find a way to avoid that. I will post the question in the DAHUA forum with a video sample of what happens to try find some help...