Problem with the resolution of IP cameras.

NeoFireRaziel · Post by **NeoFireRaziel** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:17 am

Hi everybody, I'm writing this because I have a problem with ZoneMinder and the resolution of the IP cameras that I trying to use.

I'm testing ZM with various IP cameras (public demos from Axis) and with
one IP camera that I bought which I could set and configurate in a PC with OpenSuse 11.1 32 Bits with no major problems.

Now I'm trying to do the same but in a PC with Debian 5.0.3. I could start
the ZM service with no problem and used the html management page,
but when I tried to add a camera with a "big resolution" (for example 720 x 576
D1 resolution) the main page of ZM shows that camera with some problems
(the source field is in red ), and then I can't get an image from that
camera (I see only a white page).

If I use a lower resolution for the camera (first I set the resolution
that I want in the configuration of the camera and then I set the
resolution in ZM), for example CIF resolution (352 x 288) the problem dissapear.

Now, when I look in the logs (/var/log/messages) this is what I get:

The following messageas appears always

Dec 4 12:32:13 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc
-m 9]
Dec 4 12:32:13 mafalda zmdc[30872]: INF ['zmc -m 9' started at 09/12/04
14:32:13]
Dec 4 12:32:13 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF ['zmc -m 9' starting at
09/12/04 14:32:13, pid = 30872]
Dec 4 12:32:13 mafalda zmc_m9[30872]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log =
<none>]
Dec 4 12:32:13 mafalda zmc_m9[30872]: INF [Starting Capture]
Dec 4 12:32:21 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc
-m 9]
Dec 4 12:32:21 mafalda zmdc[30873]: INF ['zmc -m 9' started at 09/12/04
14:32:21]
Dec 4 12:32:21 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF ['zmc -m 9' starting at
09/12/04 14:32:21, pid = 30873]
Dec 4 12:32:21 mafalda zmc_m9[30873]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log =
<none>]
Dec 4 12:32:21 mafalda zmc_m9[30873]: INF [Starting Capture]

And in the log file /var/log/apache2/errors.log:

No errors.

And this meesages appears whe I set the resolution of the IP cam (in the
configuracion of the IP cam) to a higher value (D1 for example):

Dec 4 12:38:07 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc
-m 10]
Dec 4 12:38:07 mafalda zmdc[30903]: INF ['zmc -m 10' started at
09/12/04 14:38:07]
Dec 4 12:38:07 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF ['zmc -m 10' starting at
09/12/04 14:38:07, pid = 30903]
Dec 4 12:38:07 mafalda zmc_m10[30903]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log
= <none>]
Dec 4 12:38:07 mafalda zmdc[19837]: WAR [Can't find process with
command of 'zma -m 10']
Dec 4 12:38:12 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc
-m 10]
Dec 4 12:38:12 mafalda zmdc[30914]: INF ['zmc -m 10' started at
09/12/04 14:38:12]
Dec 4 12:38:12 mafalda zmdc[19837]: INF ['zmc -m 10' starting at
09/12/04 14:38:12, pid = 30914]
Dec 4 12:38:12 mafalda zmc_m10[30914]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log
= <none>]
Dec 4 12:38:15 mafalda zms[30915]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log =
<none>]

And in the log file /var/log/apache2/errors.log:

[Fri Dec 04 12:45:33 2009] [error] [client 201.251.215.100] array (\n 0
=> \n array (\n 'file' => '/usr/share/zoneminder/ajax/stream.php'
,\n 'line' => 55,\n 'function' => 'ajaxError',\n 'args' =>
\n array (\n 0 => 'socket_sendto( /tmp/zms-323787s.sock ) failed:
No such file or directory',\n ),\n ),\n 1 => \n array (\n
'file' => '/usr/share/zoneminder/index.php',\n 'line' => 116,\n
'args' => \n array (\n 0 =>
'/usr/share/zoneminder/ajax/stream.php',\n ),\n 'function' =>
'require_once',\n ),\n), referer:
http://201.251.215.101/zm/index.php?view=watch&mid=10

I don't know what more should I do. It's a extrange situation because in
OS11.1 it works very well with almost no effort and because in a
lower resolution the problem dissapear.

I can't use a lot of Axis IP cameras demos because they are set in 640 x
480, I only can use two, one from Axis in 352 x 288 and my IP camera
in the sme resolution (352 x 288) or lower.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my bad english.

Mauro.

KeithB · Post by **KeithB** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:43 pm

Usualy working at a low resolution but not a high resolution is a shared memory problem. Set shmmax and shmall to correctly for your RAM and then restart the Zoneminder service and all should work.

NeoFireRaziel · Post by **NeoFireRaziel** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:08 pm

Sorry for my ignorance but... How can I do that???

Thanks a lot.

NeoFireRaziel · Post by **NeoFireRaziel** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:35 pm

Thanks a lot! I fix the problem.

A little of search in Google about shmmax and shmall and I understand what you want to tell me.

To solve the problem (extract from internet):

###########################################
Shared Memory:
Problems arrise if the resolution of the captured images is set to
as high value as it requires more shared memory than is available.
To check your system's shared memory amount:
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/shmall
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/shmmax
To set it to a higher value (128MB) temporarily:
# echo 134217728 >/proc/sys/kernel/shmall
# echo 134217728 >/proc/sys/kernel/shmmax
Permanently you can do this by modifying the parameters kernel.shmall
and kernel.shmmax from /etc/sysctl.conf. (If these parameters don't
exist in sysctl.conf, create them)
############################################

Thanks again!

Regards.

Mauro.