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SS generating errors while view only SS is fine

mtsmts
edited April 2019 in SecuritySpy
The subject says it all. I have SS running on 2 different machines, one of them in View-only mode. That one has no problem communicating with my device named LH1 (a Sunba PTZ). However the fully-licensed instance of SS running on another machine on the LAN is generating many/continual errors. Ironically, this happened right after I upgraded to 4 cameras and added a second camera.

The fully-licensed SS has the same problem when the view-only SS is not running. Also Sunba's VMS is able to connect from the same machine as the fully-licensed SS and pings to the device work fine.

Here is a snippet from the fully-licensed SS log:

04/13/2019 16:51:33: Error communicating with the network device "LH1". 4.2.9,70212,4001 Failed to obtain video frame from network device.

04/13/2019 17:02:30: Error communicating with the network device "LH1". 4.2.9,70212,4001 Failed to obtain video frame from network device.

04/13/2019 17:13:07: Error communicating with the network device "LH1". 4.2.9,70212,4001 Failed to obtain video frame from network device.

04/13/2019 17:23:20: Error communicating with the network device "LH1". 4.2.9,70212,4001 Failed to obtain video frame from network device.

04/13/2019 17:33:57: Error communicating with the network device "LH1". 4.2.9,70212,4001 Failed to obtain video frame from network device.

...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Martin

Comments

  • Hi Martin,

    It's strange that you are getting different results on the two different Macs, but there must be some relevant difference in the two setups that we should be able to identify. The error is a non-specific problem decoding the video stream, whereby SecuritySpy can't identify positions of video frames in the stream. This usually occurs due to dropped packets. Here are things to check:

    - CPU: open Activity Monitor, click the CPU tab, and check the "Idle" percentage shown in the bottom left. If it's less than 10%, this indicates that the Mac's CPU is overloaded.

    - Network: are all devices on the LAN, or are any connected by WiFi? If LAN, are they all connected to the same switch or is there some difference in the way that the two Macs are connected?

    - Settings: are you using the same device settings in both instances of SecuritySpy, and have you set up the same number of cameras in each?

    - Software versions: what version of macOS are running on these Macs? Are you using SecuritySpy version 4.2.9 on both?
  • Hi Ben,

    Thanks for your quick response.

    I have done some investigation and found that another server (Indigo - home automation server) on the mac in question seems to be spawning processes and sending an inordinate amount of packets. (Maybe the Cynical Spy plugin for Security Spy - I need to check this out). I need to investigate this further and will report.

    Martin
  • Hi Ben,

    Okay I did some further investigation. I quit the Indigo Server and rebooted the machine, I also disabled the second camera.

    Unfortunately the behaviour has not changed. SS on Mac #1 is able to connect once in a while to the Sunba camera but loses the connection within a minute or so, generates an error email and then keeps trying to connect. It does succeed once in a while but only maintains this connection for under a minute.

    When I try SS on Mac #2 it comes right up connected to both cameras and is able to maintain both connections consistently. But just recently I have seen errors on this SS as well. Maybe there is a problem with the camera?

    Here are answers to your questions and some more info

    Mac #1, running the fully-licensed SS
    - Hardware:
    Mac Mini Late 2014, 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5
    Memory: 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Graphics: Intel 5000
    - Software
    Security Spy 4.2.9
    OS 10.12.9

    Mac #2, running the view-only SS
    - Hardware:
    MacBook Pro (15-inc 2017), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7
    Memory: 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
    Graphics: Radeon Pro 560 4 GB
    Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB
    - Software
    Security Spy 4.2.9
    OS 10.14.4

    - CPU on Mac #1: Activity Monitor shows > 90% idle time, consistently

    - Network: Here is the topology
    Mac #1 - connected to to the local network via Ethernet to a D-Link switch.
    D-Link switch: connected directly via ethernet to the router: EdgeRouterX (ER)
    Mac #2 - connected via WiFi to A UniFi AP which is connected directly via Ethernet to the ER.
    Sunba Camera (405-D20X) - connected via Ethernet to the D-Link switch. Note that this camera is on a different subnet (192.168.1.10) from both Mac #1 (192.168.2.x) and Mac #2 (192.168.2.x). The ER bridges the subnets. I don't think this could be a problem since both Macs are on a different subnet from the Sunba.
    2nd Camera (Wyze Cam) - running ONVIF firmware; connected via WiFi to a UniFi AP which is connected via WiFI to another UniFi AP which in turn is connected to the ER. This camera is on 192.168.2.x subnet.

    - Settings: are you using the same device settings in both instances of SecuritySpy, and have you set up the same number of cameras in each?
    Both instances of SS have exactly the same settings for the Sunba camera
    Mac #1 has only the Sunba camera enabled
    Mac #2 has both cameras enabled

    Any help would be much appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Martin
  • Hi Martin,

    I would suggest that your network topology is not ideal for communication from Mac 1 to the camera. Because they are on different subsets, bridged by the router, the packets have to go first to the D-Link switch, then to the router, then back to the D-Link switch to get to the other device.

    I would recommend you change the camera’s IP address to be on the same subnet as Mac 1 (and then set this new IP in SecuritySpy). Then you have a much more direct connection between the Mac and the camera.

    Please let me know the results once you have tried this.
  • I have set the camera and Mac1 to the same subnet. I also reset the camera and then changed it's ip accordingly.

    Sunba's VMS (under VMWare) running on Mac1 and Mac2 both connect to the camera reliably and the connection remains up. So I suppose the hardware including the DLink switch and the EdgeRouter are okay?

    The frustrating thing is that SS used to work with only a few disconnects per week. I don't know what changed but I am ready to start over completely.

    How would you recommend I proceed now?

    Many thanks,
    Martin

  • Hi Martin, are you saying that after the change, the problem remains the same?

    I take it that you did put the new IP address for the camera into SecuritySpy, and that you are (at least sometimes) seeing the video feed from the camera correctly in SecuritySpy?

    One further thing to try: I presume that you are using the ONVIF profile for the camera's device settings in SecuritySpy, is this correct? In that same window there is a Format option that gives you a choice between RTSP TCP and RTSP UDP. Please try both in turn - most cameras work best with TCP but we have come across a few that seem to work better with UDP, and it's possible that may be the case here.
  • This problem seems to be resolved. I used the settings for this camera from this discussion and so far it is working reliably.
    http://bensoftware.com/forum/discussion/comment/5536#Comment_5536
    Note that the fps he recommended is only 8.
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