Reset Samsung DVR to Factory

micro server 2 RAID

I recently had a customer ask me to reset a Samsung DVR. Of course,  I first checked to see if there was a hardware switch to reset it. There wasn’t.

Googling the reset procedure, I discovered all of the resets for Samsung DVRs were pressing a combination of buttons on the front of the machine or remote. My machine had no buttons and none of the combination of buttons worked.

I did find a YouTube video that had a 7th combination of buttons that did work. This combination should work for SDR-3300N or the SDR-3040N and perhaps a few others.

On the remote, press:

freeze
alarm
freeze
alarm
freeze
return

in quick succession. I was able to get it on the first attempt. It will prompt you to reset to factory which you select OK.

Special thanks to 4k Vlogs for the info.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSwb7aaPIY8

MRGB

NVR Can Record Your Phone Camera

Gigabytes NVR can record IP and web cameras at megapixel resolutions. With the help of an app, you can now record your phone camera using the Gigabytes NVR.

How did we do it?

First, you have to install a program called IP Webcam from Google Play. There is a pro version that removes ads, etc. but, for testing, we went with the free version.

After that, we configured a few things, played with some settings, but we essentially just pressed start. The video url was http://IP.ADD.RE.SS:8080/video.

We will post this information on our NVR IP Camera Compatibility page.

Neat, huh? Why would anyone do that?

For several reasons.

  1. Automatic pictures. Let’s say you want pictures of a particular landmark. You can set the NVR on snapshot mode and take 1 picture every second from your phone and send it to your desktop.
  2. Personal security. With the help of a proxy like the DynDNS client, you can walk around and capture video of a place you are visiting. If you are the victim of a crime, your phone can be a silent witness.
  3. Phone security. If your phone gets stolen, you will have video of who stole it.
  4. Dashcam anyone? No need to buy a separate device. Capture your road trip or commute. If your phone is lost or damaged in an accident, you will still have documentation of the crash.
  5. No more missing out. No more “Man! I wish I had my camera!” moments.
  6. Baby monitor or home security. No need to buy a camera. Just use an old android device.

NVR: Drive Full, not recycling

Relates to: Gigastrand and Next Level NVR Software

We have seen where the drive appears to fill up but there is no apparent reason for the drive being full. Three of the reasons we have seen so far are caused by 4 different but related issues.

  1. Apache errors – for some unknown reason, the Apache log file (located in /var/log/apache2/) sometimes grows to an incredible size. Deleting the log file resolves this issue.
  2. Virtual Ramdisk error – The Gigastrand NVR has a virtual ramdisk where it caches images. Sometimes (especially if the motion daemon is fiddled with) the ramdisk will start writing to the user folder. Deleting the files and and NVR restart will resolve that issue as well.
  3. Storage Limit – If you have a full complement of cameras, the default storage size of 20Gb will fill up very fast (less than 12 hours in some cases). This is too fast for the machine to effectively clean up. This issue manifests itself in the same way as the other 2 issues, but the system is essentially working.

To fix this issue, edit the /etc/kmotion/kmotion_rc file and change the images_dbase_limit_gb to something higher than 20Gb but less than your total available storage. Do an NVR Restart to make the changes go into effect.

Give Gigastrand OS about 64Gb in your storage calculations. Subtract that from your total drive space so that it does not interfere with your video storage.

4. Firefox – If you use live view on the NVR regularly, Firefox will save all the images it downloads in /home/user/.cache/mozilla/firefox/[profile].default/cache2/entries/. Clear this out first. Then, open Frefox and go to menu>Preferences>Privacy. Under History click Never Remember History. Close Firefox and restart the computer.

Security Camera and CCTV Reference Guide

Common Lenses Focal Length to Viewing Angle
Gigabytes uses cameras with 1/3″ CCD or larger. Gigabytes prefers the lenses highlighted in green. Most budget manufacturers use lenses in the 6mm range. The wider the viewing angle, the more can be captured with a single camera and fewer cameras will be required to capture the same area.

Lens(mm) 1/3″CCD
Left/Right
1/3″CCD
Up/Down
1/4″CCD
Left/Right
1/4″CCD
Up/Down
2.5mm 96.4° 86.2 ° 81.9° 72.9°
2.8mm 89.9° 79.8° 75.6° 66.8°
3.6mm 75.7° 66° 62.2° 54.3°
4mm 69.9° 60.7° 57° 49.5°
6mm 50° 42.6° 39.8° 34.2°
8mm 38.5° 32.6° 30.4° 26°
12mm 26.2° 22.1° 20.5° 17.5°
16mm 19.8° 16.6° 15.4° 13.2°
30mm 10.6° 8.9° 8.3°
60mm 5.3° 4.5° 4.1° 3.5°
100mm 3.2° 2.7° 2.5° 2.1°
200mm 1.6° 1.3° 1.2° 1.1°

CCTV Power over Ethernet (PoE) Successful Runs
Gigabytes has successfully run 5v and 12v power down the following cable lengths. Beyond that, it is advisable to power the camera locally or use a higher voltage to transmit the power and step down at the camera.

5v – Up to 100ft Cat5e using 2 pair
12v – Up to 250ft Cat5e using 2pair

Wiring for PoE (B)
Gigabytes will use adaptors or custom connector wiring (sometimes referred to as “poor man’s” PoE) to create PoE connections.

Pin Function
1 Data
2 Data
3 Data
4 PoE +
5 PoE +
6 Data
7 PoE –
8 PoE –

Gigabytes NVR Storage Matrix

“How much can my NVR hold?” is the most common question we get, yet the answer is not as straightforward as we would like to think. It depends on how much storage, how many cameras, what resolution they run at, how much motion is on those cameras, etc.

So, for the last year, we have been studying our systems in the real world to come up with an average storage matrix. Your results will vary depending on the aforementioned variables.

480p (640×480) Days of Storage
Cameras / Drive Space 250Gb 500Gb 1000Gb 2000Gb 4000Gb
4 30 60 120 240 480
8 15 30 60 120 240
12 10 20 40 80 160
16 7 14 28 56 112
720p (1280×720) Days of Storage
Cameras / Drive Space 250Gb 500Gb 1000Gb 2000Gb 4000Gb
4 15 30 60 120 240
8 7 14 28 56 112
12 5 10 20 40 80
16 3 6 12 24 48
1080p (1920×1080) Days of Storage
Cameras / Drive Space 250Gb 500Gb 1000Gb 2000Gb 4000Gb
4 6 12 24 48 96
8 3 6 12 24 48
12 1 2 4 8 16
16 0 1 2 4 8

Gigabytes NVR Supported IP Cameras

Works Works with Config Not Working

This list contains a list of IP cameras that have been tested with the Gigabytes NVR. Most cameras that support MJPEG or have a snapshot URL should work with motion-based NVR software (like Gigabytes NVR and MotionEye) but, occasionally, the camera contains some quirk that makes it incompatible or requires special / additional configuration to make it work.

Agasio M1051
URL /videostream.cgi Port  81
User admin Pass
Notes
Dlink DCS‑930L, 932L, 934L
URL /video.cgi Port 80
User admin Pass admin
Notes Will DHCP on wired connection first. Can configure wireless from there (where available).
Dlink DCS‑935L
URL  /image/jpeg.cgi Port 80
User  admin Pass
Notes This uses the still image URL.
Tenvis IP602W IP391W
URL  /vjpeg.v?user=operator&pwd=
/vjpeg.v
Port 7777
User admin
operator
Pass  admin
Notes  Gigabytes configures the port to 80
IP Webcam Android App
URL  /video Port  8080
User Pass
Notes  This is an Android app that turns a phone into a webcam.
IP Webcam | IP Webcam Pro
TP-Link TL-SC3130G
URL /jpg/image.jpg Port
User Pass
Notes
Linksys WVC54GCA, WVC80N
Sensormatic/ADT OC810
Level One FCS-0040, WCS-0020
URL /img/video.mjpeg Port
User Pass
Notes
Amcrest  IP2M-844E
URL MJPEG: /cgi-bin/video.cgi
HD: /cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi
Port 80
37777
User  admin Pass admin
Notes 1. Set Substream to MJPEG
2. Set Main stream to 720p
Foscam FI9851P, FI9853EP, FI9804P, FI9821W
URL Snapshot (HD): /cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=snapPicture2&usr=admin&pwd=

MJPEG Init: /cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setSubStreamFormat
&format=1&usr=admin&pwd=

MJPEG Stream: /cgi-bin/CGIStream.cgi?cmd=GetMJStream&usr=admin&pwd=

Port 88
888
User admin Pass
Notes See also: Foscam SetupUse Snapshot URL for HD. Init URL enables MJPEG stream but may not work on cameras with newer firmware. Pan/tilt controls (where applicable) should be operated from camera back-end. User and password must be transmitted in the stream URL (ex. &usr=admin&pwd=1234)
Dahua DH-IPC-DW13A0SN
URL /axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi Port 80,37777
User  admin Pass 12345
Notes You will need to configure the sub stream for MJPEG and 640×480 before this will work. See also Amcrest IP2M-844E.
Sricam AP003
URL  /videostream.cgi?user=admin&pwd= Port 81
User admin Pass
Notes User and password must be transmitted in the stream URL.
Uniden AppCam21
URL  /videostream.cgi?stream=0 Port  80
User admin Pass 123456
Notes Motion errors: Unrecognized content type Error reading first header – re-trying Wireless SSID: Serial#  Password: 12345678
Tenvis IP391W-HD
URL Currently testing the following URLs:
/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/snap.cgi?&-getstream&-snapone
/videostream.asf?user=[USERNAME]&pwd=[PASSWORD]
/tmpfs/auto.jpg
/snapshot.jpg?account=[USERNAME]&password=[PASSWORD]
Port 80
User  admin Pass admin
Notes Use firefox for video: download browser-plugin-vlc from Apper. You may need to disable the Mplayer/gecko plugin so it does not conflict. One of the above URLs is reported to work but we have not tested to verify.

Configuring Foscam Cameras in Linux

Foscam cameras come in a wide variety for sizes and styles and have a number of features, however, they are not very Linux friendly. Just to access the back end to change camera settings, a Windows executable is required. This is the case on some other cameras as well.

The good news is that the Foscam cameras can be configured to stream video to the Gigabytes NVR without having to access the back-end. Using the default username and password, you can reserve the IP address it pulls down in the router. Then, follow the instructions below. Source: http://foscam.us/forum/how-to-fetch-snapshots-and-mjpeg-stream-on-hd-cameras-t4328.html

Fetching JPEG snapshots by URL (HD Video)
http://ip address:port/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=snapPicture2&usr=admin&pwd=

Fetching MJPEG stream by URL (SD Video)
There are two steps needed to fetch the MJPEG stream.
Step 1: Set the stream to MJPEG.
http://ip address:port/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setSubStreamFormat&format=1&usr=admin&pwd=
Here “1” sets an MJPEG stream, if we don’t want to set the MJPEG stream, we would set the number to “0” which sets an H.264 stream.
When inputting this URL and pushing “Enter” in your browser, it will return the following result:
<CGI_Result>
<result>0</result>
</CGI_Result>

Step 2: After setting the MJPEG stream, it can be fetched using an HTTP URL.
http://ip address:port/cgi-bin/CGIStream.cgi?cmd=GetMJStream&usr=admin&pwd=
Simply replace the IP address, port, username, and password into the above URL to access your camera’s MJPEG stream.

Accessing Foscam Back-end Natively in Linux
If you absolutely have to access the camera back-end, it can be done with a Virtual box running Windows, however, there is a less complicated way to do this.
Using Crossover, install Firefox 20. You can use this Windows version of Firefox to download and install the web components executable. This has been tested to work, though you will not be able to view video directly from the camera. You can get around this by using the MJPEG video URL in a native browser.

Adding a Storage Drive to NVR

Using a secondary storage drive was not originally in the design for the Gigastrand NVR software however, it is a critical feature for many users to be able to separate out the video storage from their main system drive. It also solves a host of other issues with storage and even allows for an external device or a RAID to be used for storage.

At some point we will release a script file to do this automatically. For now, this is how you can do it manually.
NOTE: This could result in data loss if not done properly. If you are not comfortable doing this on your own, Gigabytes can help you remotely.

  1. Format and setup the drive (using Parted or Gparted)
    NOTE: If you format the drive EXT3, the rest of the instructions will work fine. Otherwise, in step 4, change ext3 to the file system that you set the drive up with.
  2. edit fstab (/etc/fstab) as root (right-click on the file>Root Actions>Open As Text)
  3. Add the line
    for Gigastrand NVR Software:
    /dev/sdb1 /etc/kmotion/images_dbase ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 2
    for Ivideon:
    /dev/sdb1 /home/user/.IvideonServer/archive ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 2

    be sure to change “sdb1” to the appropriate drive or partition.
  4. Save the file
  5. Open the drive in Dolphin or Konqueror (or click on Computer on the desktop)
  6. Change ownership to active user (right-click>Root Actions>Ownership to Active User)

If you are running Gigastrand or Next Level NVR software you may have to edit an additional file.

  1. Edit /etc/apache2/envvars as root
  2. add the following 2 lines
  3. export APACHE_RUN_USER=user
  4. export APACHE_RUN_GROUP=user
  5. restart Apache
    Open a terminal and type in sudo service apache2 restart

It wouldn’t hurt to restart the computer to make sure all the settings took hold but that is optional. Be sure to stop the NVR before you start and start the NVR (icons on the desktop) once complete.

Video Security Server Software

Linux NVR Software
NVR NVR Software (current version)
Gigastrand NVR Gigastrand NVR Software (deprecated)
MotionEye Installer
MotionEye MotionEye Installer
Zoneminder Installer
Zoneminder Zoneminder automated install file (BETA)
Other Linux Software
Reindexer Reindexes video files to repair the video database. Includes both an automatic and manual shell script.
WARNING: EXPERIMENTAL. May result in Data loss.
Wallpaper Gigabytes NVR Wallpaper
Windows Unisight DVR/HVR/NVR
Standard Standard DVR Server for older DVR systems (v1.12.0725)

Professional

Professional HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v2.17.0711)

Professional

Professional HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v2.15.1216)

Professional

Professional HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v2.14.0328)

Professional

Professional HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v2.12.0725)

Enterprise

  Enterprise HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v3.15.1216)

Enterprise

Enterprise HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v3.14.0328)
Enterprise Enterprise HVR Server Software for Hybrid and Network Video Recorders (v3.12.0725)
Other Software
Amcrest IP IP tool for Amcrest cameras for Windows (works in Crossover Linux)
Foscam IP IP and camera search tool for Foscam cameras for Windows (works in crossover for Linux)
Amcrest Pro Amcrest Pro View software. Client / server for Windows