Cameras jam at night

MD · Post by MD » Sun Oct 05, 2008 12:55 pm

I've got ZoneMinder 1.22.3 working on Ubuntu 8.04 server. There are two Edimax IC-1500 IP cameras connected to it. The system is working just fine except it jams at night. To be more precise, the cameras jam, suddenly they stop accepting connections.

Let me illustrate the problem with some log snippets.

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Oct  5 04:15:04 camaro zmc_m1[4994]: INF [WejscieABCD: 269000 - Capturing at 4.98 fps]
Oct  5 04:15:18 camaro zma_m1[4996]: INF [WejscieABCD: 269000 - Processing at 5.00 fps]
Oct  5 04:16:12 camaro zmc_m2[5446]: INF [WejscieFront: 98000 - Capturing at 4.98 fps]
Oct  5 04:16:12 camaro zma_m2[5451]: INF [WejscieFront: 98000 - Processing at 4.98 fps]
Oct  5 04:17:01 camaro /USR/SBIN/CRON[6220]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Oct  5 04:18:02 camaro dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 192.168.0.203 from 00:1f:1f:02:b3:11 via eth1
Oct  5 04:18:02 camaro dhcpd: DHCPACK on 192.168.0.203 to 00:1f:1f:02:b3:11 via eth1
Oct  5 04:18:02 camaro dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 192.168.0.202 from 00:0e:2e:f5:09:85 via eth1
Oct  5 04:18:02 camaro dhcpd: DHCPACK on 192.168.0.202 to 00:0e:2e:f5:09:85 via eth1
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmc_m1[4994]: ERR [Select timed out]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmdc[4972]: ERR ['zmc -m 1' exited abnormally, exit status 255]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -m 1]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmdc[6222]: INF ['zmc -m 1' started at 08/10/05 04:18:05]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmc_m1[6222]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF ['zmc -m 1' starting at 08/10/05 04:18:05, pid = 6222]
Oct  5 04:18:05 camaro zmc_m1[6222]: INF [Starting Capture]
Oct  5 04:18:07 camaro zmc_m1[6222]: ERR [Select timed out]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -m 1]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmdc[6223]: INF ['zmc -m 1' started at 08/10/05 04:18:12]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmc_m1[6223]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF ['zmc -m 1' starting at 08/10/05 04:18:12, pid = 6223]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmc_m1[6223]: INF [Starting Capture]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmc_m1[6223]: ERR [Can't connect to remote camera: Connection refused]
Oct  5 04:18:12 camaro zmdc[4972]: ERR ['zmc -m 1' exited abnormally, exit status 255]
Oct  5 04:18:22 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -m 1]
Oct  5 04:18:22 camaro zmdc[6224]: INF ['zmc -m 1' started at 08/10/05 04:18:22]

As you can see both cameras were working fine. Then zmc_m1 died and couldn't restart properly. ZM tried to restart capture process again but it failed. Then the camera refused connection. At the same time the other camera was working fine:

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Oct  5 04:19:32 camaro zmc_m2[5446]: INF [WejscieFront: 99000 - Capturing at 5.00 fps]
Oct  5 04:19:33 camaro zma_m2[5451]: INF [WejscieFront: 99000 - Processing at 4.98 fps]

But some time later it died too:

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Oct  5 05:46:26 camaro zmc_m2[5446]: INF [WejscieFront: 125000 - Capturing at 5.00 fps]
Oct  5 05:46:27 camaro zma_m2[5451]: INF [WejscieFront: 125000 - Processing at 4.98 fps]
Oct  5 05:48:03 camaro dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 192.168.0.203 from 00:1f:1f:02:b3:11 via eth1
Oct  5 05:48:03 camaro dhcpd: DHCPACK on 192.168.0.203 to 00:1f:1f:02:b3:11 via eth1
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmc_m2[5446]: ERR [Select timed out]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmdc[4972]: ERR ['zmc -m 2' exited abnormally, exit status 255]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -m 2]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmdc[6261]: INF ['zmc -m 2' started at 08/10/05 05:48:07]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmc_m2[6261]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF ['zmc -m 2' starting at 08/10/05 05:48:07, pid = 6261]
Oct  5 05:48:07 camaro zmc_m2[6261]: INF [Starting Capture]
Oct  5 05:48:09 camaro zmc_m2[6261]: ERR [Select timed out]
Oct  5 05:48:09 camaro zmdc[4972]: ERR ['zmc -m 2' exited abnormally, exit status 255]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -m 2]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmdc[6262]: INF ['zmc -m 2' started at 08/10/05 05:48:14]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmc_m2[6262]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmdc[4972]: INF ['zmc -m 2' starting at 08/10/05 05:48:14, pid = 6262]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmc_m2[6262]: INF [Starting Capture]
Oct  5 05:48:14 camaro zmc_m2[6262]: ERR [Can't connect to remote camera: Connection refused]

My initial idea was that some scheduled cron job is messing with zmc process, which connects to the camera and dies blocking the connection. However the problem doesn't occur at exactly the same time each night and it doesn't affect both cameras at once.

So far I know:

So far the problem occurred only at night, between 4 and 6 am.
The only way to enable cameras is to powercycle them.
The cameras were working just fine for long periods of time in standalone mode.

I would be grateful for any suggestions what to do about this issue.

Post by **cordel** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:26 pm

Since it craps out after a dhcp request in both cases, maybe try setting a static IP on your server.

MD · Post by MD » Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:45 am

I should have mentioned that I tried static settings and that didn't change anything. It is pure coincidence that the crash occurred just after renewing a DHCP lease.

Anyway I tried two other things. First I noticed that all my cameras (in the meantime I connected third camera) have firmware 1.30 whereas the newest version is 1.34. So I upgraded the firmware in one camera and right now it is online for more than 48 hours. Hopefully that will solve the issue. Secondly I tried to reboot the other two cameras more less every 12 hours and so far they are online too.

EDIT:
It looks like upgrading the firmware was the solution. Right now all my cams are working just great.