Bricked again with this firmware. I will try to unbrick it again. This is not fun.
Upgraded firmware on a IPC-T5442T-ZE IP not responding
- Thread starter joelones
- Start date
As we have pointed out, many here are running older firmware. As we said, don't fix what ain't broke.
Any update has a chance to break something you had working and that applies to Windows updates, phone app updates, or anything really. I have had Windows updates screw up something, apps get updated and something got messed up. Heck my phone updated and now it has issues it didn't have prior.
The difference about these cameras are we isolate these cameras from talking to the internet. Usually the updates are only to patch security vulnerabilities, which since we do not let the cameras talk to the internet, it is a useless update.
Now the 5442 series is different and depending on the firmware you were running, it added SMD 3.0 and Smart IR. I tested SMD 3.0 on one camera and found the previous version of AI was better for my field of view and then almost bricked it going back. I run my cameras in color, so SmartIR was useless to me. So based on that experience, I left my remaining 5442 series cameras on the firmware it came with.
Is the firmware that keeps bricking it adding something that would make the camera better?
Just because they are the same camera and same model doesn't mean that the internals are identical. We were hit with a pandemic and a chip shortage. We have noticed that chipsets have been different as companies sourced items to keep up with demand, so maybe there is just something about that particular unit that doesn't like what is in the update.
We see new posts here DAILY where someone updated just for the sake of updating and bricked their unit. Do not do it unless the update notes specifically mention adding something that would be of benefit to you; otherwise, it is probably just a security patch and even then we see daily posts of it taking away a feature someone had that they used and needed...
Any update has a chance to break something you had working and that applies to Windows updates, phone app updates, or anything really. I have had Windows updates screw up something, apps get updated and something got messed up. Heck my phone updated and now it has issues it didn't have prior.
The difference about these cameras are we isolate these cameras from talking to the internet. Usually the updates are only to patch security vulnerabilities, which since we do not let the cameras talk to the internet, it is a useless update.
Now the 5442 series is different and depending on the firmware you were running, it added SMD 3.0 and Smart IR. I tested SMD 3.0 on one camera and found the previous version of AI was better for my field of view and then almost bricked it going back. I run my cameras in color, so SmartIR was useless to me. So based on that experience, I left my remaining 5442 series cameras on the firmware it came with.
Is the firmware that keeps bricking it adding something that would make the camera better?
Just because they are the same camera and same model doesn't mean that the internals are identical. We were hit with a pandemic and a chip shortage. We have noticed that chipsets have been different as companies sourced items to keep up with demand, so maybe there is just something about that particular unit that doesn't like what is in the update.
We see new posts here DAILY where someone updated just for the sake of updating and bricked their unit. Do not do it unless the update notes specifically mention adding something that would be of benefit to you; otherwise, it is probably just a security patch and even then we see daily posts of it taking away a feature someone had that they used and needed...
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Believe me, I understand about the ill effects of the pandemic as it impacted my health in a negative way. I have no idea whether the firmware, check that, firmwares that keep on bricking the unit would be adding value or not - I don't know but it's nice to know if it does at some point, then I have path to correct the problem in the future and not be stuck with an under-performing device - a new device that cannot take any updates at all.
Two devices, same models, bought at the same time, behaving differently is not right no matter how you attempt to rationalize this experience. More so, the fact the Andy kept on throwing me random firmwares with the same outcome, does not inspire confidence. I'm only glad through posts and members here, I was able to get it working again. But thanks for your opinion and help.
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I'm sorry to hear about your poor health!
Keep in mind the 5442 series is an older camera and it is rare for ANY camera to get updates other than security patches after the first year of being sold. So the likelihood that it would get a future update to add something new is slim. That is why companies come out with new models.
Many of my cameras have firmware going back to 2019 and even though there are updates, after I set it up and if it is performing satisfactory for my needs, I don't update it and risk it.
It is common to see two things bought at the same time and be different. It is the whole reason why stuff has a lot#.
Anyone that does home improvement for example knows that you need to match lot# so that you don't get a variation in color or fit. Maybe you get lucky and color matches two different lots, but maybe not.
Or medicine or food recalls. I bought two jars of peanut butter at the same time and later one came up with a recall and the other didn't. They were different lot# and thus different production runs.
Did you ever buy a pair of jeans and take 3 of the same brand/style into the dressing room and one fits good and the other two don't? Same thing.
So cameras would be no different and they have different production runs and potentially different insides.
Here are issues I have seen people report here where they were upgrading just for the sake of upgrading (and look in some instances the manufacturer DELIBERATELY removed functionality in an update - like an autotracking PTZ having auotracking removed in an update - we used to get a post a week of someone coming here after they updated and lost autotracking):
None of this helps you now, but something to think about for future cameras.
Keep in mind the 5442 series is an older camera and it is rare for ANY camera to get updates other than security patches after the first year of being sold. So the likelihood that it would get a future update to add something new is slim. That is why companies come out with new models.
Many of my cameras have firmware going back to 2019 and even though there are updates, after I set it up and if it is performing satisfactory for my needs, I don't update it and risk it.
It is common to see two things bought at the same time and be different. It is the whole reason why stuff has a lot#.
Anyone that does home improvement for example knows that you need to match lot# so that you don't get a variation in color or fit. Maybe you get lucky and color matches two different lots, but maybe not.
Or medicine or food recalls. I bought two jars of peanut butter at the same time and later one came up with a recall and the other didn't. They were different lot# and thus different production runs.
Did you ever buy a pair of jeans and take 3 of the same brand/style into the dressing room and one fits good and the other two don't? Same thing.
So cameras would be no different and they have different production runs and potentially different insides.
Here are issues I have seen people report here where they were upgrading just for the sake of upgrading (and look in some instances the manufacturer DELIBERATELY removed functionality in an update - like an autotracking PTZ having auotracking removed in an update - we used to get a post a week of someone coming here after they updated and lost autotracking):
- A Dahua Z12E that someone updated and then constantly reboots comes to mind.
- The Dahua 49225 and 49425 PTZ that loses autotracking with an update come to mind.
- The Hikvision DS-2DEA425IW-DW PTZ that loses autotracking with an update comes to mind.
- A Hikvision ANPR camera losing half the FPS and loses the ability to read US plates - those are big deals to have happen.
- A Hikvision ANPR DS-2CD4A26FWD camera that lost all ability to read plates - kinda makes the camera useless.
- A Hikvision camera that the user lost ability to control the LED light function at night.
- A Hikvision wifi camera that loses the ability to use wifi after a firmware update.
- Hikvision iVM4200 v3.8 - loses the free ability to use the computer as storage.
- Dahua IPC-HFW1320S that started phoning home using 60MB/hr and costing someone thousands of dollars in data overages.
- Dahua 5442 that will not allow playback of the SD card.
- Countless other instances where the camera or NVR simply bricked and became useless.
- Countless examples where the camera or NVR went into Chinese.
None of this helps you now, but something to think about for future cameras.
I don't have the energy nor the patience to turn this thread into a battle of words with you. I am thankful for your help and advice but you seem insistent in having the last word and more importantly, insistent on pinning the blame squarely on the user. What if indeed the intention was to fix a problem, patch a security hole or to add a desired feature, what you would have to say then? User fault, user error still? It still amounts to the same outcome. I did not see a huge sticker on the camera warning that any update to the camera would result in a 50% chance of bricking the camera because those are my odds with a sample size of two. At least with the lot# on peanut butter, one would hope that they'd trace the root cause and provide some sort of explanation and/or compensation - I received neither from Andy at this point.
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Like I said, my comments after the initial attempts of factory resets, etc. to try to get it going again were more for documentation purposes for others (and not a battle of words with you) that come here considering an update and doing a search and coming across this thread so that maybe someone doesn't have to go thru this ordeal and can learn from it.
You are right, we get labels on everything including McDonald's coffee after someone spilled it on them and now the cup is labeled "Caution - contents are hot"....so maybe it is time for camera manufacturers to include in the instructions that updating a firmware always comes with inherent risks including bricking the camera.
I have been burned too many times by updates on many devices, not just cameras, that I resist the urge. Like I mentioned, my phone updated automatically after pushing it off too many times and now it stopped receiving texts. The release notes showed nothing about security fixes or important things, it was all fluff I don't need like adding more text emoji's and improving this experience or that. Phone provider is telling me tough luck and I must have done something. I have factory reset it and did everything they suggested, so now I am stuck with a useless phone for texts. Like I literally received a text just before the update and nothing after. I can send texts fine, just don't receive any. But hey at least now I can send emojis I couldn't before LOL. And the mobile provider and the phone manufacturer are calling it user error, so I totally understand your frustration. But they are the one that pushed out the update as I pushed it off because I saw it added nothing I needed. Fighting with them now to try to get a replacement.
You are right, we get labels on everything including McDonald's coffee after someone spilled it on them and now the cup is labeled "Caution - contents are hot"....so maybe it is time for camera manufacturers to include in the instructions that updating a firmware always comes with inherent risks including bricking the camera.
I have been burned too many times by updates on many devices, not just cameras, that I resist the urge. Like I mentioned, my phone updated automatically after pushing it off too many times and now it stopped receiving texts. The release notes showed nothing about security fixes or important things, it was all fluff I don't need like adding more text emoji's and improving this experience or that. Phone provider is telling me tough luck and I must have done something. I have factory reset it and did everything they suggested, so now I am stuck with a useless phone for texts. Like I literally received a text just before the update and nothing after. I can send texts fine, just don't receive any. But hey at least now I can send emojis I couldn't before LOL. And the mobile provider and the phone manufacturer are calling it user error, so I totally understand your frustration. But they are the one that pushed out the update as I pushed it off because I saw it added nothing I needed. Fighting with them now to try to get a replacement.
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Perhaps the one reason you might consider updating an older Dahua camera is that with newer Dahua firmware you can see video without needing a browser plugin. Of my 4 Dahua cameras on my Ubuntu desktop PC here I can see live views via my Hikvision NVR's Virtual Host feature. As I've reported before this is a bit flaky. If a lose Dahua browser login, I login to the NVR, deselect the Virtual Host feature, save, re-enable, save, and it's back working. This is only one part of my setup here, I have BI too.
I'm not sure if recent Hikvision camera firmware allows plugin-free browser live video, as does recent Dahua camera firmware. Please let me know if this has changed and it is now available with Hikvision's cameras.
My view about firmware updates, I fully accept if I screw things up. I wouldn't like it but the upside is that I might learnt something new for next time.
I'm not sure if recent Hikvision camera firmware allows plugin-free browser live video, as does recent Dahua camera firmware. Please let me know if this has changed and it is now available with Hikvision's cameras.
My view about firmware updates, I fully accept if I screw things up. I wouldn't like it but the upside is that I might learnt something new for next time.
fresnoboy
Young grasshopper
One thing about security updates with these cameras - you should never consider these cameras as any kind of trusted device, no matter if it has "patches" or not! The NVR's are even worse! A huge % of DDOS networks today are being powered by NVR's and security cameras hooked up to high speed internet networks. See this preso from NANOG by Craig Labovitz $25 for a 100 Gbps DDOS attack!
Please, not just for your sake, but for the sake of the Internet, please connect your camera in a way that doesn't allow it any Internet access. Mine are connected on a VLAN that only allows one way access to the cameras from my BI NVR host, and for NTP messages from my PFSense firewall. No DNS, no ability to initiate traffic to anything, and absolutely no access to the Internet for the cameras on NVRs please!
Please, not just for your sake, but for the sake of the Internet, please connect your camera in a way that doesn't allow it any Internet access. Mine are connected on a VLAN that only allows one way access to the cameras from my BI NVR host, and for NTP messages from my PFSense firewall. No DNS, no ability to initiate traffic to anything, and absolutely no access to the Internet for the cameras on NVRs please!
Yes, obviously. Likewise here. These cameras and a few of the wyze untrusted cameras sit on its own VLAN with no access to the internet, not even NTP. My BlueIris NVR VM sits on two networks which give me access to the cameras only VLAN. My BlueIris VM is only accessible via VPN through pfSense.
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