Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

I have a small BI installation with 3 Uniview 4MP IP cameras and an old Vivotek 2MP.
All has been working well for several years.
I generally only use the console when making changes and do everything else through the Web UI.

I recently added two more Uniview cameras, one is the same model as the others, the other is a slightly newer 8MP 4K camera.
I was having a minor issue with sorting out some triggering events so, since I had let my support in BI lapse a couple of years ago my installation was pretty outdated, I renewed support and upgraded BI to 5.7.9.7.
BI is running on an old Win 10 desktop with an i7-3770 and an NVIDIA GTX 750. It's in need of replacement but so far isn't having any issues that I'm aware of. CPU load is a little high when the console is open but fine otherwise.
I have added in my new cameras, configured everything I needed, and also set up DeepStack to minimize some of the false notifications that I get via email using ordinary motion triggers.
Everything is fine, until I close the Admin Console.
When I went back into the console the next day to adjust a trigger zone, I was no longer able to edit the new cameras. I couldn't click on them to select them. If I right-clicked on one and chose to edit, the configuration window that opened up would be for whichever other camera had gotten selected. Using the keyboard keys to select cameras shows each of the pre-existing cams would be highlighted and the new ones would just be skipped over.
Everything was continuing to function exactly as it was set up, I just couldn't access the camera settings, or view either cameras as solo in the console. The Web UI worked fine.
It occurred to me that I hadn't done a reboot after upgrading BI, and installing DeepStack so I gave that a go. After the reboot my two new cameras were gone.
I reconfigured the new cameras again and left it be leaving the Admin Console open.
When I came back a few hours later I was again unable to modify my new cameras, but everything was still working as intended.
This time I restarted just the Blue Iris Service and again had my new cameras disappear.

I tried setting up just one camera, and not inheriting settings from one of the pre-existing cameras, just manually setting it up from scratch. That wasn't my issue as the new camera was again inaccessible a short time later.

It's not a critical issue for me really as my cameras work just fine, as long as I get them all set up as desired on the first try, and don't restart anything.
Any ideas as to what I'm missing would be greatly appreciated.
IAmATeaf
Posts: 464
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:48 pm

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by IAmATeaf »

What happens when you select All or All cameras from the Groups drop down in the top right of the BI console?
Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

This occurs even with All Cameras selected. The cameras are visible, but cannot be selected for editing. After a restart they are gone completely.

I checked on them this morning. There was an alert generated around 3AM that was turned out to be nothing. I launched the WebUI and both of the new cameras were missing, I can view the alerts that were generated from the new camera at 3AM, but the cameras are no longer in live view via the console or WebUI. It's like they've been deleted.
I left a notepad window open on the Blue Iris host and when I logged in, that Notepad window was still open so it seems like Windows 10 didn't reboot overnight, the cameras somehow disappeared without a restart this time.
louyo
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:16 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by louyo »

Just a WAG but you might look in the registry and make sure the cameras "stick" in there:

If not, could be a permission thing. Running as administrator?
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Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

Interesting. Cameras are definitely gone from the registry too. Both of the new Driveway cameras are missing. Only the 4 previously configured cameras are there.

The first time I set them up, I wasn't logged in as Admin. I figured it was just my own foggy brain and once I logged in as Admin I'd be fine.
No luck, I'm afraid. I've been careful to log into BI as Admin each time.
I confirmed that the Azure AD user account that I'm using on the BI machine is in the Administrators group.

I haven't run into this until the most recent update. I added a new camera just a few months ago without any issues. The only thing that I'm aware that is new is the upgrade to 5.7.9.7.
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TimG
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Location: Nottinghamshire, UK.

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by TimG »

Any chance this is something protecting the registry from malicious changes ?
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Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

I haven't installed anything on it other than a copy of the Vivotek Installation Wizard when I was tinkering with that last Vivotek camera I installed.
The Blue Iris machine and the cameras are on a separate VLAN that is isolated. The cameras have no access to the Internet. BI has outbound Internet access but is never used for anything other than occasionally tinkering with a camera.
I only access BI internally or via a local VPN when I'm away.
Apart from BI and DeepStack I haven't installed anything on the machine, preferring to keep it as bare bones as possible.
Whatever is causing it to lose the cameras wouldn't have been there when I added the last camera a few months ago.

I did have some issues when I upgraded from BI4 to BI5 after my Homeseer upgrade. I backed up my config and imported it into the new installation but any time I launch BI now it pops up an error stating that it's "unable to delete registry key to complete import".
That has been there since my BI5 upgrade and doesn't seem to have bothered anything. It certainly didn't impact my ability to add that last camera a few months ago.
Weird that the error claims it can't delete a registry key, given that my issue now seems to include registry keys being deleted.

Since it's such a small installation wiping it out and rebuilding it all from scratch is a pretty viable option. Feels like taking the easy way out. Finding the problem would be more fun.
Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

This is sort of interesting.

Blue Iris and Windows have different views on the currently installed version. I realize that Windows shows the version as of installation but it does still feel weird, like something is wrong with permissions.
As the machine is logged into so rarely I would expect any issues with permissions to exist prior to the 5.7.9.7 upgrade that I did a couple of days ago yet I haven't had any issues until then.

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louyo
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:16 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by louyo »

At the risk of asking the obvious, are you selecting run as administrator when running Blue Iris. Different than logging in as an administrator.
Cyber-Wizard
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:35 am

Re: Cameras cannot be managed on next launch of console

Post by Cyber-Wizard »

Yes. When I run the Blue Iris Admin console it's pretty good about reminding me that it won't open unless I do. I've never bothered to reconfigure the shortcut as I appreciate the reminder.

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