Does zoneminder work?

[iitywygms]

Hi All.
I hope this does not come across wrong.
Does zoneminder work at all? If so. what version of linux and what version of zoneminder?
I am trying 1.25 with Ubuntu 12.04
I have been trying to setup foscam cameras. They work fine with the software they come with.
With zoneminder, I can get a live video image.
I cant get the camears to move.
I cant get the events that happen to stream. The window just stays white.
If I choose to view the stills of events, It displays the same image over and over.
I get lots of socket_sendto errors,
I get access errors about folders that are not there, that really are there.
Permission errors on files that have full read and write to the world.
Tons of other errors.
I am not a linux guru, but I have been using it for years and know a little. I have setup mythtv throughout the house and it works well, so I know i can at least read directions.
I just cant get hardly anything to work, and I have no idea where to start.
I know this is free software, and I really appreciate the effort others have made toward it.
But If I could just hear what works with what for most people, I would be very very happy.
Sorry about the rant.

[Flasheart]

Yes, it works. I have five zm servers running 1.24.2 on debian.

Using ZM to move cameras is not simple. ZM provides the tools for pantilt but does require work to tailor them to whichever of the hundreds of different standards ip cameras adhere to. I can't advise on this as I use fixed ip cameras, or use direct access for pantilt.

Not being able to review events; If you're seeing the stills link you must be on the right page, and my first thought is there is something wrong with apache. Try tailing apache's error log after you've tried to view the event and post any likely looking errors and we might be able to give a pointer.

[iitywygms]

Thank you for the reply.
Here is the last few lines of my apache2 error

I replaced some stuff because I am paranoid, but I think the relevant info is here.
There is no css file in my var/www/ directory. Should I put something there?
This is on a mythbuntu 12.04 backend so I need to be careful not to crash anything editing files and such.

Again, thank you for the reply.

[Wed Nov 14 21:06:26 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-958654s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=36&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:08:16 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-958654s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=36&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:08:23 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-958654s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=36&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:10:14 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-388521s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=37&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:10:49 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-571247s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=36&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:17:25 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=log
[Wed Nov 14 21:18:58 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=log
[Wed Nov 14 21:19:36 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] ERR [socket_sendto( /tmp/zm/zms-084215s.sock ) failed: No such file or directory], referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=event&eid=37&$
[Wed Nov 14 21:39:01 2012] [error] [client 192.168.2.21] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/zm/index.php?view=log
[Thu Nov 15 11:05:24 2012] [error] [client 67.59.198.131] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://my.servers.domain.name/zm/index.php?view=log
[Thu Nov 15 11:10:01 2012] [error] [client 67.59.198.131] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://my.servers.domain.name/zm/index.php?view=log
[Thu Nov 15 11:10:50 2012] [error] [client 67.59.198.131] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http://my.servers.domain.name/zm/index.php?view=log
[Thu Nov 15 11:12:39 2012] [error] [client 67.59.198.131] File does not exist: /var/www/css, referer: http:/my.servers.domain.name/zm/index.php?view=log

[phowarth]

12.04 was a nightmare for me... I would go back to 11.

If you are sticking with 12 , my guess is that Java is not ... or is incorrectly installed. Current distro's don't include jre as it must now be downloaded from oracle.

[iitywygms]

Update.
I purged zoneminder and reinstalled.
After doing everyhing again, the cameras work and I can watch the events videos.
The errors are shrinking.

I still cannot move the camera.
Hopefully with some persistance I can get this working.
Thanks to all.