One duplicate camera disconnecting, the other still connected

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KevinTNZ
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:23 pm

One duplicate camera disconnecting, the other still connected

Post by KevinTNZ »

Hi all,

For each of my 10 Dahua cameras I want to continuously record as well as record any detected motion and store motion detection video in one location (NAS) and continuous video somewhere else (USB drive to avoid constant writes to my NAS).

I've set this up by following some advice I found here (I think) that suggested setting up two cameras in BI which point to the same IP camera. So for example I have "Garage" and "contGarage" with exactly the same connection information (IP address, user, video config etc) with the only difference being "Garage" triggers on motion and stores in 'New' etc and "contGarage" constantly records and saves video into "Aux1". I've done this so that video from motion detection and continuous are stored on different locations.

This seems to work well with one exception. Regularly the "contGarage" camera has a yellow triangle next to it and the video feed stops in the GUI. The "Garage" camera is still working though so the camera is still working. Also it appears the continuous recording is still happening so again BI is still talking to the camera.

I've checked the frame rate - cameras are set to 5fps as are the config for both "Garage" and "contGarage". I also can't see anything in the logs that indicates why there's a problem.

I'm using ver 5.5.4.2

Any ideas?

Thanks
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YrbkMgr
Posts: 587
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:56 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: One duplicate camera disconnecting, the other still connected

Post by YrbkMgr »

See this thread, and pay particular attention to the advice from wittaj in that thread.

The triangle error suggests that you do not have dual streaming enabled. If it's not enabled, do so. Post a screenshot of the Camera Status Tab (example below)
Camera Status Window Using Sub Streams.JPG
Camera Status Window Using Sub Streams.JPG (90.91 KiB) Viewed 824 times
Also, post some screenshots of what you're seeing to avoid confusion. Do any of the other cameras have an issue, or just one?
  • "Whenever I take something apart to fix it and put it back together again, I end up with like six really important looking pieces left over" -Tim Allen
  • If you know what your after, you'll recognize it when you see it.
KevinTNZ
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:23 pm

Re: One duplicate camera disconnecting, the other still connected

Post by KevinTNZ »

Thanks for your advice. I had copied "Garage" and created "contGarage" but I haven't set one of them to "Clone Master". I'll try that and see what happens.

To answer your other questions; it seems to happen with all the cameras that are copied and set to continuous... and it happens to all of them, not just the garage one. The image below shows the yellow triangle on the "contGarage" camera next to the normal garage camera. I tried to take a capture of the camera stats but the "contGarage" camera started to work again as I was about to take the image. Typical. The FPS/Key all reads 5.00/0.50 if that helps??
1.jpg
1.jpg (46.61 KiB) Viewed 822 times
I don't use sub streams - I didn't think I would need to. The sub streams are not the same HD image and I want to capture HD for both continuous and motion detection. Also I assumed the camera would be happy with multiple clients connection and pulling down the HD image - I've also got a couple of tablets displaying the live images from the cameras so it seems to work.

Thanks for your help.
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YrbkMgr
Posts: 587
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:56 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: One duplicate camera disconnecting, the other still connected

Post by YrbkMgr »

I've been using BI since v3, upgraded to v5 last July. I can't even SPELL streaming...Avoided it like the plague. I had a problem and streaming was the answer. The following is based on my trial and error and hours of "why the fck does this have to be so confusing?"... here's my advice.

The yellow triangle you reference means that your frame rate and key frame rate are too low. If you set both to 20 in the camera itself, the triangle will go away. Before doing that, read the last paragraph.
p 64 of the help file:
BI Clip Warning Icon.JPG
BI Clip Warning Icon.JPG (13.63 KiB) Viewed 819 times
The FPS/Key all reads 5.00/0.50 if that helps??
BI recommends that the number after the slash be a value of 1.0 - key frame = frame rate.

Enable Dual Streaming - a MUST.
p24 of help file - 5.2.7 - May 1, 2020
You may now specify a second “sub” stream for an RTSP camera. The software will pull video from both streams, using the main stream only for audio and direct-to-disc recording (and playback) and the sub-stream for everything else. This really has become a necessity with the popularity of 4K (8MP) cameras (and beyond).
When you make a clone, you toggle clone master to ON for the original camera that you're cloning. That's the master. Then, Add Camera and Copy from another camera. Note: the cloned camera will have an asterisk next to it's name. Here's how I named mine as an example.
BI Clone Master composite.JPG
BI Clone Master composite.JPG (25.02 KiB) Viewed 819 times
Now here's the important part - I have to send you to the dark side (inside joke amongst veterans) so that you can get a handle on how to set things up properly. It takes some study, but it's solid information that will help. First, read Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage. Then the go through the Sub Stream Guide. If you follow every optimization and streaming recommendation, you should have no trouble. The community there can be cantankerous, but the information is solid.
  • "Whenever I take something apart to fix it and put it back together again, I end up with like six really important looking pieces left over" -Tim Allen
  • If you know what your after, you'll recognize it when you see it.
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