Foscam FI9803P support?

[joseph85750]

Hello, I just got a Foscam FI9803P camera, but having difficulty making it work with ZoneMinder 1.28.1

I saw this post:
http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... 803#p90049

But all I get is a blue rectangle for video. The Source column for the camera is green, so it appears to be talking to something.

I can actually get to the snapshot with this URL: https://my.ip.of.cam/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.f ... r&pwd=pass
But I can't use HTTPS in ZoneMinder.
So, I'm thinking the post I referenced above is probably the better way, via RTSP. But I can't seem to get it to work properly.

Anyone have more info?

Thanks!

Regards,
Joseph Spenner

[joseph85750]

... and about 45 seconds later I got it to work. I removed the port 88 from the URL and everything worked.

So, in case anyone else has a F19803P, the post I referenced works.

Cheers!

[cenobium]

Hi, I just recently joined. I have two FI9803EPs, and seven FI8721Ws in my ZM setup running on Debian.
I was wondering if I could get some help, I'm having an issue with the FI9803EPs.
My ip cams are defined as remote monitros via HTTP, with source as: "cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=snapPicture2&usr=username&pwd=password" .
RTSP stream from these cameras work with VLC, but when putting the rtsp settings into ZM it will never render the stream, so I'm using the above method.

The FI9803EPs are fine for viewing when the frame is still, but whenever there's a bunch of motion, the stream freezes, then goes to blue for several seconds, then the stream returns. It's fine for continuous motion... but sudden changes cause a bluescreen. In the Events, it lists Signal: Reacquired when this happens. I can simultaneously view the video from e.g. VLC when ZM bluescreens the stream, and the video never drops. Cannot figure out what's happening in ZM to lose signal. This has happened on a physical server as well as an identical setup on a virtual machine, using different PoE powersources, I've tried a lot of different things to get this to work and still having bluescreens, please help.

[bbunge]

https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Foscam_FI9803EP

The trick with Foscam and most other cameras is to get the resolution right. There are plenty of forum topics that discuss this and give recommendations for h264 cameras.

bb

[cenobium]

Okay. Well I read the wiki page, I tried some things it suggested; I tried altering the resolution to something lower than 720p, lowering framerate, resolution, etc. I'm still getting the bluescreen. Also I'd like to mention that I've searched the forums already for "blue" and related search terms, and haven't found anything that helps. Everyone seems to be using RTSP streams or ffmpeg and while *I* can access RTSP streams from these problem cameras, e.g. via VLC, when I try to use the exact same parameters in ZM, the stream doesn't render or show up or whatever when I try to view the camera (from within ZM). The only option that has worked for me is HTTP... from the searches I've done most people aren't using this. Also, altering the resolution in ZM without altering it in each camera webinterface lead to ZM reporting monitor down... so that doesn't help very much. My options from the camera are either 720p, then down to 640x480, which won't give me much in terms of a criminal's face or a license plate... so that's not viable.

The weirdest thing is that the stream is usually NOT bluescreen. It only does it when there's suddenly a lot of motion. When there's continuous motion, it shows just fine. Only when changing from still to motion, does it go into bluescreen for a couple seconds, and there is an Event generated in ZM saying "Signal: Reacquired" as though it was lost.

I just want to know why is it dropping signal for a second, then coming back up? The signal isn't dropping from the camera, because I can watch it from another player, and it seems fine. It's done it on a physical and a virtual machine, so it's not the server itself, it really seems to be a ZM issue.

I guess how do I figure out why ZM loses the signal or what amounts to signal being lost or how does ZM know this, are there any logs I should be looking at or like a debug mode I can use or something? This bluescreen stuff is driving me bananas.

[joseph85750]

What happens if you try to disable all the other cameras first, then enable the new camera? That would rule out the bandwidth suspect.

I would try a bit more to get the RTSP working. If you go this path, the resolution takes care of itself in Zoneminder.

The info here helped me get it working:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=23586&p=90049&hilit=Fi9803#p90066

I believe I left all the default setting on the camera itself. I found it annoying that I needed to use Windows and install some plugin in the browser in order to use the camera, but once I got past that I never needed to go there again.

[cenobium]

Okay. I deleted all my other cameras out of my instance of ZM and tried it out. I am still getting the bluescreens when there is a large change in the amount of motion in the frame. I tried RTSP out again also, and the image stream from the cam just will not load in ZM when trying to view while it's set to RTSP mode. The same settings work in VLC, so I dunno what the problem with that is, but it's kinda beside the point.

Anyway, I have put my cameras back in HTTP mode.

I was able to get a volunteer to walk in front of the camera while I was able to watch the logs. During a bluescreen event, I got some interesting log messages (log is ascending, oldest msg on bottom):

Code: Select all

2015-11-12 12:32:10.831860	zma_m10	4709	WAR	Signal: Reacquired	zm_monitor.cpp	1190
2015-11-12 12:32:09.080189	zma_m10	4709	INF	back_door: 1927 - Closing event 4147, signal loss	zm_monitor.cpp	1193
2015-11-12 12:32:09.079784	zma_m10	4709	WAR	Signal: Lost	zm_monitor.cpp	1190
2015-11-12 12:32:09.071748	zmc_m10	4701	WAR	Unable to capture image, retrying	zm_remote_camera_http.cpp	1092
2015-11-12 12:32:09.071550	zmc_m10	4701	ERR	Connection dropped by remote end	zm_remote_camera_http.cpp	603
2015-11-12 12:32:09.071119	zmc_m10	4701	WAR	Select timed out	zm_remote_camera_http.cpp	143

Can anybody give me a better idea of what's going on here? The first thing that tips me off is the Select Timeout, is this referring to the database? Then there is the connection drop by remote end, which is weird, since it doesn't seem to be dropping from the camera, as I am viewing it on a different machine with VLC at the same time, and the signal never cut out.

[joseph85750]

Try using your browser to Admin the camera, and fiddle with the video resolution.
I think I was changing this during my testing, but ended up going back to the default.

[cenobium]

I've tried messing with resolution and almost every other setting, camera-wise. My choices are 720p, or 640x480, or lower. Setting the resolution lower doesn't solve the bluescreen problem either, moreover it's mostly useless to me from a security standpoint to have a camera that won't give me clear, high-res images so that I could discern facial features or license plate numbers, etc. But yeah, I've tried setting the settings lower: resolution, bitrate, frame rate, key frame interval, tried turning VBR on / off. None of it solves the blue screen problem.


I'm going through some ZM config settings to see if any of these can help me.

[SteveGilvarry]

FYI master has some changes to remote http cameras that may improve this, firstly doesn't drop the camera when it experiences a data issue. I do wonder if something is going on with connection, and vlc is just not showing it. No easy way other than building package from github on debian to get latest code.

RTSP does seem to work on these cameras, based on Joseph and baekmark, and simply by being used by more people is likely to work better. Maybe Joseph can screen shot his cam and zm settings for that monitor to assist you.

[joseph85750]

Ok, here is a screenshot.
The left side of the shot is the admin interface for the camera video.
The right side is the General tab, and the Source tab.

That should be everything!

[RobLevine]

Just thought I'd jump in here - had the same problem. Turns out in the Source tab under Source Path you need to OMIT the port in the string