Blue Iris

Good Tickets • Record issues

2022-02-24T22:40:20+00:00

Introduction

Users report gaps in recordings without providing any actionable evidence that points to an issue. Before submitting a ticket, confirm you have an issue by reviewing the Record troubleshooting guidelines and try to self-correct.

If you believe you have an issue, below is the needed evidence.

When triggered

As discussed in the Record troubleshooting guide, the When triggered record setting works as follows:

Camera triggers (trigger tab settings) -> Record

Details
Trigger: Camera triggered (motion event in logs). Easy to confirm whether camera triggered (besides checking the logs). In the Trigger tab, set Add to alerts list: = Hi-res JPEG files. If the camera triggers, a corresponding alert image is created in your Alerts folder! Easy way to use BI to tell you what is going on.

--> Record: Recording occurs until the trigger ends

Camera trigger
So if you believe recordings are missing first show the camera triggered. How?

As stated above, in the Trigger tab, set Add to alerts list: = Hi-res JPEG files. If the camera triggers, a corresponding alert image is created in your Alerts folder! Easy way to use BI to tell you when a camera triggered.

Pro tip: If an alert corresponding to the trigger is listed in the Alerts list on the console, you can right click on the Alert -> Open containing folder and BI will find the Alert image for you. If the trigger is cancelled, you should still be able to find the Cancelled alert in the Cancelled alerts folder. Therefore, regardless of whether a trigger results in an alert or cancelled alert, the trigger event should always be recorded in the database!

Record
How do you show a recording did not happen?

With a little creativity. Unselect Combine or Cut video. Camera settings -> Record tab.
This tells BI to create a new recording file every time the camera triggers. If you have an alert image without a corresponding recording, you have just shown a camera triggered but did not record.

Submitting a ticket

Latest log file
Camera stats: Status button -> Cameras tab -> Export
Camera settings
Alert image confirming a trigger event
Screenshot of Confirmed or Cancelled alert in Alerts list

When alerted

When alerted record setting works as follows:

Camera triggers (trigger tab settings) -> AI (if enabled) -> Alert filters (if any. set in Alerts tab) -> Record

Details
Trigger: Camera triggered (motion event in logs). Easy to confirm whether camera triggered (besides checking the logs). In the Trigger tab, set Add to alerts list: = Hi-res JPEG files. If the camera triggers, a corresponding alert image is created in your Alerts folder! Easy way to use BI to tell you what is going on.

-> AI: If using AI, DeepStack analysis will tell you if an object was found, i.e. confirmed alert. Fortunately a DeepStack event will also be registered in the logs.

-> Alerts tab: Filters in the AIerts tab can block an alert. Easy to check. Do you see the alert in the Alerts list. If not, then you know the Alerts tab is somehow blocking the Alert!

-> Record: Recording occurs until the trigger ends

Camera trigger

So if you believe alerts are not being recorded, first show the camera triggered as described above.

Alert

Show the trigger led to an alert. Easy. If the corresponding alert is in the Alerts list, then an alert was created.

Record

Confirm a recording was generated using same settings as above.

Submitting a ticket

Latest log file
Camera stats: Status button -> Cameras tab -> Export
Camera settings
Alert image confirming a trigger event
Screenshot of Confirmed alert in Alerts list

Continuous+ record settings

If Continuous recording is causing issues, you probably have a drive issue. Best to visit the Storage troubleshooting link.

If you have other issues with recordings, best to visit the record gotchas in the Record tab article first.

Work in progress

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:40 pm

Good Tickets • Storage Ticket

2021-12-29T17:47:10+00:00

Introduction

This article explains the needed information to troubleshoot Storage issues. Before submitting a ticket, users should first go through the Storage article to try and self correct.

Customer ticket

Issue

What is the issue?

Storage fills up
New folder fills up resulting in crash

Server health

Confirm any and all errors in the logs were addressed and resolved prior to submitting a ticket.
Logs from current month. If logs are less than 10 days, also provide the logs from the previous month.
Camera stats. Status button -> Cameras tab -> Export
Storage. Screenshot of Status button -> Storage tab.

Drives

What drives are being used?

Internal drives.
USB / External drives
NAS drives
RAID drives

Clips and archiving

What is your current setup in Global settings -> Clips and archiving?

New -> Stored -> Aux 1 -> etc.

Screenshots of setup. Only as much as is needed initially. For example, if the New folder fills up causing BI to crash, then the New and Storage settings are only needed.

New folder

Stored folder

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:47 pm

Good Tickets • User Interface

2021-10-26T18:07:13+00:00

Introduction

Explaining user interface issues effectively is challenging.

Video

I strongly recommend creating a short video with a narrative of the issue.

Customer Ticket

If you decide not to create a video below is an example of a clear ticket.

Steps to reproduce the issue.

Went to clips list.

Double clicked on a clip. Does not matter which one.

Used Next/Previous item button to move to an adjacent alert

For example with the Previous button, I saw clip list move from Green to Pink

Why it's a good ticket

The steps to reproduce plus the screenshots makes it crystal clear what was tried.
The above was actually a rebuttal from me for a ticket produced by the user.
Below is what the user stated in the ticket.

First noticed in .14, clip list filters on camera clone as soon as it's played back.
Playing through Blue, orange is not filtered:
As soon as first Orange is played back, blue is filtered out:

The before / after screen shots were a little helpful, but Steps to reproduce would have made it crystal clear.

Final resolution

Bug fix was identified based on ticket. My feedback is very similar to my feedback on the Motion & DeepStack article. Providing screenshots with your description makes understanding what is happening much easier.

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Tue Oct 26, 2021 6:07 pm

Good Tickets • Smart Alerts - Motion & DeepStack

2021-10-19T23:40:08+00:00

Introduction

In order to really help provide guidance on smarter alerts, a fair level of understanding and detail needs to be provided in the ticket.

Summary
While I may have preferred if the user provided the camera settings (camera settings -> general tab -> export), he did a really good job providing the detail needed to understand what he was trying to do in a concise manner. The combination of screenshots of relevant camera settings with his description made understanding clear.

Customer ticket

This is my second time trying to track down this issue. As a quick rehash of the issue:

I have cameras with multiple zones, A and B. A is a larger zone and contains everything where I want to detect motion. B is a smaller zone that overlaps on A. I want to analyze all motion with Deepstack and trigger an alert on all confirmed objects (person,car,truck,bus,motorcycle,bicycle) in zone A, but I want alert actions to only occur on zone B when a person is confirmed by Deepstack.

Under trigger, artificial intelligence.. I have all zones selected. That allows Deepstack to analyze all motion detections.

Under Alerts, Trigger sources and zones: I have all zones selected with "Any" in the drop-down. This should allow both A and B to create alerts when DS detects an object.

Under Alerts -> Actions -> On Alert: Each action has zones/sources set to "=AB" and the required objects set to 'person:50'. This should only fire the alert actions when the motion is detected in both zones A and B, correct?

A few minutes ago this alert caused my alert action to fire:

BI correctly identified this alert as motion A, but it fired the alert actions anyway.

Code:

3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.552 PM FrontCam             MOTION_A3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.670 PM Rear_PTZ             MOTION_A3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.851 PM Front_Cam_247       GROUP0 10/18/2021 1:52:38.852 PM Driveway             DeepStack: person:60% [2032,325 2085,468] 480ms0 10/18/2021 1:52:42.620 PM FrontCam             DeepStack: person:59% [872,295 932,436] 332ms10 10/18/2021 1:52:42.910 PM Server               ::: Connected0 10/18/2021 1:52:43.035 PM FrontCam             Push: OK to BIApp0 10/18/2021 1:52:45.451 PM FrontCam             SMS: xxx@.google.com with 1 attachment/s

This has happened multiple times today. I am running on 5.5.1.12 (10/17/2021).

It's windy today. Is it possible that the alerts are happening because there are shadows moving in zone B even though the detected object is not in zone B?

I'm going to try to switch my alert actions from "=" to "All" with zones A and B checked. It seems like those should produce the same results.

Comments / Feedback

This is my second time trying to track down this issue. As a quick rehash of the issue:

I have cameras with multiple zones, A and B. A is a larger zone and contains everything where I want to detect motion. B is a smaller zone that overlaps on A.

Motion zones
While I would have preferred the camera settings (camera settings -> general tab -> export) in order to see the actual zones, the zones description will suffice since the concept of a larger zone (A) which contains the field of view of the camera and a smaller zone (B) that overlaps on A is a widely understood concept. Easy to grasp.

I want to analyze all motion with Deepstack and trigger an alert on all confirmed objects (person,car,truck,bus,motorcycle,bicycle) in zone A, but I want alert actions to only occur on zone B when a person is confirmed by Deepstack.

Objective
Objective is clearly identified.
The use case is this camera faces the street and zone A detects cars and people passing by. Zone B is the approach to my front door and the alert actions push alerts to mobile devices when a person approaches the door. The user clearly states what he is trying to do.

Under trigger, artificial intelligence.. I have all zones selected. That allows Deepstack to analyze all motion detections.

Under Alerts, Trigger sources and zones: I have all zones selected with "Any" in the drop-down. This should allow both A and B to create alerts when DS detects an object.

Under Alerts -> Actions -> On Alert: Each action has zones/sources set to "=AB" and the required objects set to 'person:50'. This should only fire the alert actions when the motion is detected in both zones A and B, correct?

Supporting evidence

The user describes his settings and his reasoning for the settings. Also asks to confirm his understanding. He also provides just the right screenshots to easily understand his setup. Again, I would have preferred to have his camera settings just to confirm my understanding.

A few minutes ago this alert caused my alert action to fire:

BI correctly identified this alert as motion A, but it fired the alert actions anyway.
Code:
3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.552 PM FrontCam             MOTION_A3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.670 PM Rear_PTZ             MOTION_A3 10/18/2021 1:52:38.851 PM Front_Cam_247       GROUP0 10/18/2021 1:52:38.852 PM Driveway             DeepStack: person:60% [2032,325 2085,468] 480ms0 10/18/2021 1:52:42.620 PM FrontCam             DeepStack: person:59% [872,295 932,436] 332ms10 10/18/2021 1:52:42.910 PM Server               ::: Connected0 10/18/2021 1:52:43.035 PM FrontCam             Push: OK to BIApp0 10/18/2021 1:52:45.451 PM FrontCam             SMS: xxx@.google.com with 1 attachment/s
This has happened multiple times today. I am running on 5.5.1.12 (10/17/2021).

It's windy today. Is it possible that the alerts are happening because there are shadows moving in zone B even though the detected object is not in zone B?

I'm going to try to switch my alert actions from "=" to "All" with zones A and B checked. It seems like those should produce the same results.

Current Issue

Based on his understanding and his settings he then explains the issue.

A few minutes ago this alert caused my alert action to fire...

The Alert screenshot and Logs clearly and concisely explained the issue with evidence. He closes with additional thoughts and possible tests.

Support Response

Below is further correspondence regarding the ticket and final resolution if you are curious. (optional read)

Interesting. Good analysis.

It's windy today. Is it possible that the alerts are happening because there are shadows moving in zone B even though the detected object is not in zone B?

I think you are right. No where do you specify the object from A moved to B or vice versa (A-B). So BI (I think) is alerting because there is Motion in A and B and a person was detected somewhere (A or B, in this case A).

What are the requirements?

You want to create alerts in the clip list when person/vehicles are in A
However, you only want alerts when person/vehicle are in B

So break it down by requirement.
The first requirement is simple. Your current settings are fine, i.e. create a Zone A and turn on DeepStack.

The second part is a little tricky (and brittle). You need to approximate how much time would be needed for a person to walk to Zone B or park the car and walk to Zone B. Say it should happen in 10s.

In the alert action map, you need to create a wait action = 10s.
Then create the alert action (push,etc). The logic for the Push action would be B only.
I think this would prevent the person on the street from alerting.

Alternatively, you can clone the camera.
Use the camera for requirement 1, i.e. create no alerts.
For the clone, create the alert for people in Zone B.

Keep me posted what works.

FYI, I go through a similar example in the Trigger webinar at 42:13.
See Case Study: Creating Triggers -> Alerts section.

Final Resolution

After consulting with engineering, we realized the current functionality cannot support his use case.

The user 's Push Notification (from email):

After more back and forth, more details about the Push notification.

The user understood the Push settings to mean only fire an alert if there is motion in A and B AND a person is identified in A and B.
Currently, DeepStack object detection is independent of motion zones.
What that means for this case is if there is Motion in A and B, then the alert logic passes the motion test.
Then in the frame that is sent to DeepStack is there a person identified in the image?
The key understanding here is the object does NOT have to be in A and B.
The object only needs to be in the image.
Thus BI sent the alert because there was motion in A and B and a person was identified in the frame.

However, engineering is working to associate the object with the Zone.
So if the alert map stated B and person, the Alert would be sent correctly when a person was found in Zone B.
(Notice how sharing a screenshot of the settings associated to my description provides instant clarity. Exactly what user did as well)

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:40 pm

Good Tickets • Server issues - Isolate Issue

2021-10-14T15:06:53+00:00

Introduction

There are many reasons why BI can crash. Support often requests:

Verify all Security Software Exemptions. See Windows Tuning article for details.
Monitor RAM and CPU usage to verify these are stable and not leading to the issue.
If RAM is continuing to grow, it is often due to incorrect Security Software exclusions.
If CPU utilization is >65%, re-add your cameras using best practices.
The biggest CPU savings are dual streams on all cameras / Direct to disc recording / hardware acceleration (e.g. Intel QuickSync).
The Connect cameras correctly section in the Checklist walks through connecting cameras correctly.
Attempt to isolate any source of instability by temporarily disabling specific cameras.

This article is about how do you isolate any source of instability by temporarily disabling specific cameras.

Isolate the Issue

Recently, an update caused instability to my machine. The symptom was switching Profiles caused BI to crash.
This is often where a user stops with ticket information.

Below is the information I provided which led to resolution.
Engineering started working on the issue at 1:50 PM.
Engineering resolved the issue at 2:50 PM.

With the right information, it is easy to resolve software issues that result in a crash.

Can you provide steps to reproduce the issue?
Can you isolate the issue to a particular camera?

I started with a video showing the steps to reproduce the issue. Sometimes, there are enough clues in the video for engineering to have ideas.
This time they needed more information.

Engineering response:

Hello Sam ... same as for a customer:

See troubleshooting in help for instructions on locating/reporting error details.
Does this happen if not running as a service?
Does it happen if camera X is enabled?

My responses as I investigated to isolate the issue.

Crashes as a service. Still crashes when not running as a service.

Faulting application name: BlueIris.exe, version: 5.5.1.8, time stamp: 0x61659f5b
Faulting module name: mfc140u.dll, version: 14.26.28720.3, time stamp: 0x5e74b0d1
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000002c34b0
Faulting process id: 0x1670
Faulting application start time: 0x01d7bf92f0a6f7e3
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Blue Iris 5\BlueIris.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\mfc140u.dll
Report Id: 744bd896-188f-4447-ab99-3ba5384b2adf
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Testing cameras. Standby.

Provided visual to engineering so EASY to understand.

With one camera. Switching from Profile 0 -> 2
I can now reproduce the issue with just one camera.

Faulting application name: BlueIris.exe, version: 5.5.1.8, time stamp: 0x61659f5b
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.19041.1202, time stamp: 0x4f115fac
Exception code: 0xc0000374
Fault offset: 0x00000000000ff199
Faulting process id: 0x1494
Faulting application start time: 0x01d7bf935d7d72f7
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Blue Iris 5\BlueIris.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 253e4276-0f40-4ed5-888d-3d902572255f
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

More test cases to isolate the issue: Is the Profile switch the problem or something else?
Is the Profile switch just a red herring for something else?
Confirmed the active cameras + profile change is causing the issue.

Disabling camera.
Switching profiles.
Enabling camera.
Software runs.

Turn stuff off on the one camera. Are the camera settings for this one camera causing the issue?

Camera settings: H/W Accel = Intel.
H/W Accel on/off has no impact.
Still crashes on profile switch.

Visuals always help understanding.

Suspicious of clones. Enabled non-cloned camera.
No issues switching profiles so far.

Another visual for better understanding.

Two non-cloned cameras.
No issues switching profiles.
Let me know when you can reproduce the error.

Reconfirmed my suspicion that clones are causing the crash.

Enabled bottom left camera (also a clone).
Switch from Profile 2 -> 0 caused a crash.

Faulting application name: BlueIris.exe, version: 5.5.1.8, time stamp: 0x61659f5b
Faulting module name: mfc140u.dll, version: 14.26.28720.3, time stamp: 0x5e74b0d1
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000002c34b0
Faulting process id: 0xd48
Faulting application start time: 0x01d7bf94c030fef0
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Blue Iris 5\BlueIris.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\mfc140u.dll
Report Id: 24b89ecf-c541-418f-be7f-fe3232d7f47c
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

In Event Viewer Crash Event always followed by:

Fault bucket 1677643144606994550, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: BlueIris.exe
P2: 5.5.1.8
P3: 61659f5b
P4: mfc140u.dll
P5: 14.26.28720.3
P6: 5e74b0d1
P7: c0000005
P8: 00000000002c34b0
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC6EA.tmp.mdmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC891.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC8A2.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC8B0.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC8D0.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_BlueIris.exe_c687f6ab5d0f4b5206f43e9c6e677773abae78_9f5cc1ae_23a5bd04-3fd0-497a-a405-30d5b2f15853

Engineering Addresses Issue

Engineering requested BI Settings.

Some more feedback I shared:

FYI, under profile 2, the clone masters become inactive. That could be the key.
The clones however become active.

An hour later, Engineering found the issue.

I asked engineering for details on how they resolved the issue:

Good work. Thanks!

I'm assuming you had to replicate the crash before resolving the issue.
What helped you get to the root cause.
Did any of my symptoms help?
Did you simply import my registry, assign valid IP addresses to my cameras and reproduce the crash?

I want to document this example so users know what it takes to resolve crashes.

Engineering response:

I just started eliminating things.

Deleted all of the groups.
Disabled other cameras.
It was the clone.
Disabled deepstack on it then no crash

Conclusion

I was able to Isolate the issue by identifying a single camera (clone) with steps to reproduce the crash.
From there, Engineering turned off settings on the camera to identify the root cause.

The core issue was incorrectly handling static object detection when camera streams turn off.

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:06 pm

Good Tickets • Camera issues

2021-10-04T19:54:57+00:00

Introduction

Reporting a problem or restating you still have a problem will not lead to resolution. This article is an example of a good ticket that led to a resolution. A resolution could be a bug fix or a settings change that resolves the issue. In this example, BI engineering had to fix the connector to the camera.

Customer ticket

I recently am noticing realtime slippage in what i see in blue iris and what i am seeing when viewing the camera directly from a browser. This time delay can be 10+ minutes. Restarting blue iris fixes the issues temporarily but they come back. I am using fast SSD storage for new recordings, and the database. I am recording direct to disk, I am not using any sort of overlay in blue iris or rendering the video as it comes in. The server it is running on is a Dell PowerEdge R620 with 12 logical processors with hyper threading so 24 cores total with 32GB of ram. There is no video card in this server. There does not appear to be any sort of resource contention issue. I have the server stats below and have taken a crystal disk mark test with Blue Iris turned off on the disk that is storing the Blue Iris Database and where "new" recordings are kept. I have also attached a copy of my config. I am seeing this time slippage on 4k cameras. I have screenshots of their configs for both blue iris and for the camera itself attached below as well.

Code:

Opening 192.168.254.68 port 80...HTTP Get / request...OKONVIF GetSystemDateAndTime2021-12-23T02:26:26.000ZRequesting device information...Manufacturer: BoschModel: AUTODOME IP starlight 7000 HDFirmwareVersion: 7.10.0076GetCapabilities...Querying servicesHas Search services: /onvif/search_serviceHas Imaging services: /onvif/imaging_serviceHas media services: /onvif/media_serviceHas RTP_RTSP_TCP, requesting profilesprofile token 0profile name H26x_L1S1profile source is 1profile source config is 1profile token 1profile name H26x_L1S2profile source is 1profile source config is 1profile token 2profile name JPEG_L1S3profile source is 1profile source config is 1requesting URI for profile 0RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?p=0&h26x=4&aon=1&aud=1requesting URI for profile 1RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?p=1&inst=2&h26x=4&aon=1&aud=1requesting URI for profile 2RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?h26x=0&aon=1&aud=1Has Event services: /onvif/event_serviceRelayOutputs: 4RelayOutput: Output_1/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_2/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_3/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_4_(Relay)/Bistable/openInputConnectors: 7Has Device IO services: /onvif/DeviceIO_serviceAudioOutputs: 1Has PTZ service: /onvif/ptz_servicePreset: 1=ForwardPreset: 2=Left 90 DegreePreset: 3=Right 90Done

Comments/Feedback

Clear and concise explanation of issue
The issue is with camera connectivity, so really the bold highlights is the essential information. The user is clearly an IT professional based on the tools referenced. The information is informative but definitely not necessary.

I recently am noticing real-time slippage in what i see in blue iris and what i am seeing when viewing the camera directly from a browser. This time delay can be 10+ minutes. Restarting blue iris fixes the issues temporarily but they come back. I am using fast SSD storage for new recordings, and the database. I am recording direct to disk, I am not using any sort of overlay in blue iris or rendering the video as it comes in. The server it is running on is a Dell PowerEdge R620 with 12 logical processors with hyper threading so 24 cores total with 32GB of ram. There is no video card in this server. There does not appear to be any sort of resource contention issue. I have the server stats below and have taken a crystal disk mark test with Blue Iris turned off on the disk that is storing the Blue Iris Database and where "new" recordings are kept. I have also attached a copy of my config. I am seeing this time slippage on 4k cameras. I have screenshots of their configs for both blue iris and for the camera itself attached below as well.

Supporting evidence
The supporting evidence is often the missing piece. Why is it important?

1. Supporting evidence provides clarity to the issue, making it much easier to understand what you are trying to do.
2. It establishes credibility that we know you know what you are doing. We take comments like "Have been a BI user for many years..." with a grain of salt. Show us vs telling us you know what you are doing.
3. It let's us jump into troubleshooting immediately. There is no back and forth on please share a screenshot of or send your camera settings etc.

Additional comments on supporting evidence for this ticket:

Screenshot/Video
Visual of delay by overlaying stream from Camera UI against UI3. Clever, but not necessary. Simple screenshots of console or a video would have sufficed.

Connecting cameras - best practices
If you notice in the Connecting cameras article, there are three main steps to connecting cameras:

Camera setup: Setting the camera correctly to work well with BI.
Camera connector: The actual connector settings to a camera.
Video tab: Server settings that can affect the video.

This user shared exactly those settings in supporting evidence to help us confirm his setup.

Camera setup

By providing a screenshot of the encoding settings, there is complete clarity on the Camera setup for review by Support.

Camera connector (IP Config Dialog)

IP Config settings: Easiest way to know the connector settings is by sharing a screenshot. Helps confirm whether the connector settings are correct or can be improved.

The output of the Find/Inspect dialog from ONVIF is also of benefit.

Code:

Opening 192.168.254.68 port 80...HTTP Get / request...OKONVIF GetSystemDateAndTime2021-12-23T02:26:26.000ZRequesting device information...Manufacturer: BoschModel: AUTODOME IP starlight 7000 HDFirmwareVersion: 7.10.0076GetCapabilities...Querying servicesHas Search services: /onvif/search_serviceHas Imaging services: /onvif/imaging_serviceHas media services: /onvif/media_serviceHas RTP_RTSP_TCP, requesting profilesprofile token 0profile name H26x_L1S1profile source is 1profile source config is 1profile token 1profile name H26x_L1S2profile source is 1profile source config is 1profile token 2profile name JPEG_L1S3profile source is 1profile source config is 1requesting URI for profile 0RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?p=0&h26x=4&aon=1&aud=1requesting URI for profile 1RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?p=1&inst=2&h26x=4&aon=1&aud=1requesting URI for profile 2RTSP URI: /rtsp_tunnel?h26x=0&aon=1&aud=1Has Event services: /onvif/event_serviceRelayOutputs: 4RelayOutput: Output_1/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_2/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_3/Bistable/openRelayOutput: Output_4_(Relay)/Bistable/openInputConnectors: 7Has Device IO services: /onvif/DeviceIO_serviceAudioOutputs: 1Has PTZ service: /onvif/ptz_servicePreset: 1=ForwardPreset: 2=Left 90 DegreePreset: 3=Right 90Done

Video tab

Video tab clearly explains video settings.

Camera stats

The final step of the Connecting cameras - best practices article is to check the camera stats. Is the video working well with BI. Easiest way to know how the camera is performing is via the camera stats (General tab).

Camera stats. Camera stats are the easiest way to know whether the camera is setup correctly. From above I know the mainstream is connected but the sub stream is not. The FPS and key frame ratio are both very low. Something is NOT right with the camera encoder settings or the camera stream.

Summary

From the Checklist, there are 3 distinct steps to connecting a camera.

Camera settings
Connector settings
Video tab (BI server settings)

The user provided the Camera settings, Connector settings, the Video tab and the BI camera stats up front. This allowed support to dive into next steps and resolution immediately. Instead of screenshots of IP Config dialog and Video tab, it is easier if users just send the camera settings. Camera settings -> General tab -> Export

Final Resolution

We ran further tests such as connecting the camera to VLC.
The final resolution turned out to be engineering had to get involved to fix the BI connector.

Submitting a ticket / Next steps

Before opening a ticket go through the self-help content. The Connecting cameras article of the Checklist walks through connecting cameras. Good guide for connecting cameras the first time and double-checking your settings.

Review the troubleshooting guides in the Cameras section of the Troubleshooting toolkit to self-correct.

If you need support, the following information is needed:

Support info

It's easy to share support info. It's important as well in order to understand your computer stats and the version of the software you are running.
Before submitting a new ticket, click the Help button (? button).
Copy Email support info to copy critical system info to the clipboard.
Then paste the clipboard into the top of your support email. Below is a snippet from my "Email support" button.

Email to: support@blueirissoftware.com

Support data:
Version: Release 5.3.8.12 x64 (1/22/2021)
Service: No
License: XXX
Name: John V
Email: @yahoo.com
Support: Basic

Issue

Clearly articulate the issue. Playback from the mobile app sometimes has a black screen is NOT sufficient.

Is this true for all cameras?
Does playback work from the console? UI3? mobile app?
With UI3 or the app, does playback work from the LAN? WAN?

What are the steps to reproduce the error.

Additional information

Camera stats. Status button -> Cameras tab -> Export
Settings on the camera. Screenshot of camera encoding settings.
Camera settings. Camera settings -> General tab -> Export.
Server health: Confirm any and all errors in the logs were addressed and resolved prior to submitting a ticket.

Remote testing
Similar to this ticket (see final resolution section), occasionally engineering needs to get involved in order to tweak the BI connector to get the camera to work. If the issue is still not resolved, we will need remote access to the camera.

If asked, please send a WAN address for this camera for testing purposes with necessary ports, usually just 80 and 554 (RTSP) and 8999(ONVIF if available). Don't forget a temp login as well. If you put the camera on the internet we can take a look. This video explains how to do so. To be clear, we need direct access to the camera, not the BI web interface.

Send your camera settings as well. Camera settings -> General tab -> Export.

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Mon Oct 04, 2021 7:54 pm

Good Tickets • Server issues

2021-10-04T18:41:20+00:00

Introduction

Reporting a problem will not lead to resolution. This article is an example of a good ticket that led to a resolution.
A resolution could be a bug fix or a settings change that resolves the issue. In this example, a settings change led to resolution.

Original ticket

I have a program crashing issue. Beginning on the 18th of this month, BI crashes when the ‘Night’ profile changes to ‘Day’ profile. Synced with sunrise. No other profile changes affect the program.

I marked those locations in the log with ‘*******’.

It started 4-5 days after an update on the 14th. I doubt that was the problem but I tried reverting to a previous version anyway and the problem is persisting.

I can only hope it is a known issue and you have an easy fix. As it is, I have to start the program as soon as I wake up every day.

Why is it a good ticket

Clear and concise explanation of issue

User suspects Profile changes linked to the sunrise is causing the issue.
Furthermore, he is very specific based on his analysis.

Supporting evidence

This user does not just make blank claims.
He also provides the supporting evidence, I marked those locations in the log with ‘*******’.
Again, this information was provided on the initial ticket. No back and forth for more information.
If you do not know what information to provide, you may want to review the self-help content in the Checklist first to understand how BI works and try to self-correct.

Highlights from his attached logs:

// comments at top of log to guide support
crash issues began on the 18th. marked them with ***********.

0 8/19/2021 5:29:58.808 AMNew Move: 11 items 35.6M [988/2160 hrs, 40.0G/40.0G, 29.6G free]
3 8/19/2021 5:30:09.245 AMCam19 MOTION_A
3 8/19/2021 5:31:17.845 AMCam19 MOTION_A
0 8/19/2021 5:32:00.050 AMApp Current profile: day
************************* Crash
2 8/19/2021 7:31:50.012 AMApp Restarted after unexpected shutdown (5.4.9.18/1500/230)
0 8/19/2021 7:31:50.840 AMServer Started on port 9005
0 8/19/2021 7:31:50.886 AMApp Shield: Green
108/19/2021 7:31:50.948 AMlocal_console ::: Login

4 8/19/2021 7:31:56.918 AMClips F:: 9924, 242.7G/3.41T (+225.6G)
0 8/19/2021 7:32:00.962 AMAction Email: Skip <skiponpost@gmail.com> with 0 attachment/s
0 8/19/2021 7:36:57.109 AMNew Move: nothing to do [982/2160 hrs, 39.9G/40.0G, 29.7G free]
108/19/2021 7:49:27.970 AMlocal_console ::: Logout, 17:37
*********************** Tried reverting to previous version to fix crash problem
0 8/19/2021 7:49:27.972 AMApp Stopped
0 8/19/2021 7:49:33.560 AMApp Started version 5.4.7.11
0 8/19/2021 7:49:33.560 AMApp Updated from version 5.4.9.18
0 8/19/2021 7:49:35.459 AMServer Started on port 9005
0 8/19/2021 7:49:35.500 AMApp Shield: Green
108/19/2021 7:49:35.535 AMlocal_console ::: Login

4 8/21/2021 4:55:57.905 AMCam19 Signal: restored
3 8/21/2021 5:06:01.888 AMCam10 MOTION
3 8/21/2021 5:27:29.470 AMCam15 MOTION
0 8/21/2021 5:35:00.391 AMApp Current profile: day
************************** Program crash
2 8/21/2021 7:47:15.334 AMApp Restarted after unexpected shutdown (5.4.7.11/1500/240)
0 8/21/2021 7:47:15.873 AMServer Started on port 9005
0 8/21/2021 7:47:15.923 AMApp Shield: Green
108/21/2021 7:47:15.992 AMlocal_console ::: Login

The attached log file had 8969 lines. I would have preferred he just copy/pasted the above into the ticket to make it easier on me. But perhaps it was also good he sent the entire log. I was able to identify other issues that were worth fixing.

Either way, his analysis led to a level credibility. It was clear that he was not just a user making empty claims.

Final resolution

Turned out Profile changes were not causing crashes, it was just a red herring.
We resolved other errors in the logs that improved stability. See Routine Maintenance section of Windows Tuning article.
We also switched BI to run as a service so the software would automatically restart.

Conclusion

Identifying the root cause for a crash can be challenging.
The Windows Tuning article is where you start.
The goal is

Identifying root cause by isolating features/functionality.
Support can then simulate/reproduce the same conditions on their servers to recreate the crash and identify the issue.
Or be able to identify the steps to reproduce the crash.

Statistics: Posted by varghesesa — Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:41 pm