ZoneMinder Forums

I have a zoneminder 1.24X system and am having trouble getting video from a generic analog color IR camera with these specs:

1/3 Sony Super HAD CDD Sensor
270K/420 TV Line (enhanced)
0.1 LUX (W/CDS Sensor on 0.00 Lux
Built in 12 IR LED
NTSC or PAL
510(H)X492(V) for NTSC / 500(H) X 582(V) for PAL
Resolution - Over 420 TV LINE (horizontal)
Video Output Signal 1.0 Vp-p 75 OHMs
Sensitivity - 0.1 LUX (CD Sensor on 0.00 LUX)
Scanning System - 2:1 Interlaced
Sync System - Internal

I am using a bluecherry PV-981A-8A 8 port DVR card. I can see that all the cameras work using

xawtv -c /dev/video0-3

but I cannot get any of the cameras to work under zoneminder. I have tried every resolution from 320X240, 360X240, 510X492, 500X582, PAL, NTSC, channel 0,1,2,3 and etc and nothing works.

when I run zmu -d /dev/video0-3 -q -v

Video Device: /dev/video0
General Capabilities
Driver: bttv
Card: BT878 video (ProVideo PV150)
Bus: PCI:0000:04:00.0
Version: 0.9.18
Type: 0x5000015
Supports video capture (X)
Does not support video output
Supports frame buffer overlay
Supports VBI capture
Does not support VBI output
Does not support sliced VBI capture
Does not support sliced VBI output
Does not support video output overlay
Does not have tuner
Does not have audio in and/or out
Does not have radio
Supports read/write i/o (X)
Does not support async i/o
Supports streaming i/o (X)
Standards:
NTSC
NTSC-M
NTSC-M-JP
NTSC-M-KR
PAL
PAL-BG
PAL-H
PAL-I
PAL-DK
PAL-M
PAL-N
PAL-Nc
PAL-60
SECAM
SECAM-B
SECAM-G
SECAM-H
SECAM-DK
SECAM-L
SECAM-Lc
Formats:
8 bpp, gray (GREY)
8 bpp, dithered color (HI24)
15 bpp RGB, le (RGBO)
15 bpp RGB, be (RGBQ)
16 bpp RGB, le (RGBP)
16 bpp RGB, be (RGBR)
24 bpp RGB, le (BGR3)
32 bpp RGB, le (BGR4)
32 bpp RGB, be (RGB4)
4:2:2, packed, YUYV (YUYV)
4:2:2, packed, YUYV (YUYV)
4:2:2, packed, UYVY (UYVY)
4:2:2, planar, Y-Cb-Cr (422P)
4:2:0, planar, Y-Cb-Cr (YU12)
4:2:0, planar, Y-Cr-Cb (YV12)
4:1:1, planar, Y-Cb-Cr (411P)
4:1:0, planar, Y-Cb-Cr (YUV9)
4:1:0, planar, Y-Cr-Cb (YVU9)
Crop Capabilities
Bounds: 1063 x 608
Default: 924 x 576
Current: 924 x 576
Inputs: 2
Input 0
Name: Composite0
Type: Camera
Audioset: 00000001
Standards: 0xffbfff
Power on (X)
Signal detected (X)
Colour Signal detected
Horizontal Lock detected
Input 1
Name: Composite1
Type: Camera
Audioset: 00000001
Standards: 0xffbfff
Power on (X)
Signal detected (X)
Colour Signal detected
Horizontal Lock detected

v4l-info:

vbi capture
VIDIOC_G_FMT(VBI_CAPTURE)
type : VBI_CAPTURE
fmt.vbi.sampling_rate : 35468950
fmt.vbi.offset : 244
fmt.vbi.samples_per_line: 2048
fmt.vbi.sample_format : 0x59455247 [GREY]
fmt.vbi.start[0] : 7
fmt.vbi.start[1] : 320
fmt.vbi.count[0] : 16
fmt.vbi.count[1] : 16
fmt.vbi.flags : 0

controls
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+0)
id : 9963776
type : INTEGER
name : "Brightness"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 256
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+1)
id : 9963777
type : INTEGER
name : "Contrast"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 128
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+2)
id : 9963778
type : INTEGER
name : "Saturation"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 128
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+3)
id : 9963779
type : INTEGER
name : "Hue"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 256
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+6)
id : 9963782
type : INTEGER
name : "Balance"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 655
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+7)
id : 9963783
type : INTEGER
name : "Bass"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 655
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+8)
id : 9963784
type : INTEGER
name : "Treble"
minimum : 0
maximum : 65535
step : 655
default_value : 32768
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(BASE+9)
id : 9963785
type : BOOLEAN
name : "Mute"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+0)
id : 134217728
type : BOOLEAN
name : "chroma agc"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+1)
id : 134217729
type : BOOLEAN
name : "combfilter"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+2)
id : 134217730
type : BOOLEAN
name : "automute"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+3)
id : 134217731
type : BOOLEAN
name : "luma decimation filter"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+4)
id : 134217732
type : BOOLEAN
name : "agc crush"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+5)
id : 134217733
type : BOOLEAN
name : "vcr hack"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+6)
id : 134217734
type : INTEGER
name : "whitecrush upper"
minimum : 0
maximum : 255
step : 1
default_value : 207
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+7)
id : 134217735
type : INTEGER
name : "whitecrush lower"
minimum : 0
maximum : 255
step : 1
default_value : 127
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+8)
id : 134217736
type : INTEGER
name : "uv ratio"
minimum : 0
maximum : 100
step : 1
default_value : 50
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+9)
id : 134217737
type : BOOLEAN
name : "full luma range"
minimum : 0
maximum : 1
step : 0
default_value : 0
flags : 0
VIDIOC_QUERYCTRL(PRIVATE_BASE+10)
id : 134217738
type : INTEGER
name : "coring"
minimum : 0
maximum : 3
step : 1
default_value : 0
flags : 0

### video4linux device info [/dev/video0] ###
general info
VIDIOCGCAP
name : "BT878 video (ProVideo PV150)"
type : 0x2d [CAPTURE,TELETEXT,OVERLAY,CLIPPING]
channels : 2
audios : 0
maxwidth : 924
maxheight : 576
minwidth : 48
minheight : 32

channels
VIDIOCGCHAN(0)
channel : 0
name : "Composite0"
tuners : 0
flags : 0x0 []
type : CAMERA
norm : 0
VIDIOCGCHAN(1)
channel : 1
name : "Composite1"
tuners : 0
flags : 0x0 []
type : CAMERA
norm : 0

tuner
ioctl VIDIOCGTUNER: Invalid argument

audio
VIDIOCGAUDIO
audio : 0
volume : 0
bass : 0
treble : 0

picture
VIDIOCGPICT
brightness : 32768
hue : 32768
colour : 32768
contrast : 32768
whiteness : 0
depth : 24
palette : RGB24

buffer
VIDIOCGFBUF
base : (nil)
height : 0
width : 0
depth : 0
bytesperline : 0

window
VIDIOCGWIN
x : 0
y : 0
width : 320
height : 240
chromakey : 0
flags : 0


What could it be ???????????

Anything intresting in the logs?

under
/tmp
or
/var/log/

i looked at /var/log/messages and pulled this:

May 29 01:38:32 Security zmdc[4529]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' started at 10/05/29 01:38:32]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: WAR [Different video standards defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: WAR [Different video palettes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: WAR [Different capture sizes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: INF [Starting Capture]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmc_dvideo0[4529]: INF [Got signal 6 (Aborted), exiting and forcing backtrace]
May 29 01:38:32 Security zmdc[4315]: WAR [Can't find process with command of 'zma -m 1']
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmdc[4315]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -d /dev/video0]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmdc[4315]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' starting at 10/05/29 01:38:37, pid = 4540]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmdc[4540]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' started at 10/05/29 01:38:37]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: WAR [Different video standards defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: WAR [Different video palettes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: WAR [Different capture sizes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: INF [Starting Capture]
May 29 01:38:37 Security zmc_dvideo0[4540]: INF [Got signal 6 (Aborted), exiting and forcing backtrace]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4315]: INF [Command 'zmc -d /dev/video0' removed from pending list at 10/05/29 01:38:41]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4315]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' starting at 10/05/29 01:38:41, pid = 4549]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4549]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' started at 10/05/29 01:38:41]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: WAR [Different video standards defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: WAR [Different video palettes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: WAR [Different capture sizes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: INF [Starting Capture]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4549]: INF [Got signal 6 (Aborted), exiting and forcing backtrace]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4315]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -d /dev/video0]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4315]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' starting at 10/05/29 01:38:41, pid = 4552]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4552]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' started at 10/05/29 01:38:41]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: WAR [Different video standards defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: WAR [Different video palettes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: WAR [Different capture sizes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: INF [Starting Capture]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmc_dvideo0[4552]: INF [Got signal 6 (Aborted), exiting and forcing backtrace]
May 29 01:38:41 Security zmdc[4315]: WAR [Can't find process with command of 'zma -m 1']
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmdc[4315]: INF [Starting pending process, zmc -d /dev/video0]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmdc[4315]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' starting at 10/05/29 01:38:46, pid = 4563]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmdc[4563]: INF ['zmc -d /dev/video0' started at 10/05/29 01:38:46]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmc_dvideo0[4563]: INF [Debug Level = 0, Debug Log = <none>]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmc_dvideo0[4563]: WAR [Different video standards defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmc_dvideo0[4563]: WAR [Different video palettes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmc_dvideo0[4563]: WAR [Different capture sizes defined for monitors sharing same device, results may be unpredictable or completely wrong]
May 29 01:38:46 Security zmc_dvideo0[4563]: INF [Starting Capture]

I noticed that this card would only create 4 X /dev/video0-3. I spoke to Bluecherry and they told me that you have to use the 2 channels on each /dev/video0-3, channel 0 and 1 for each camera to give you 8. I had a hard time beleiving that because i had a PV-183 and it created 8 X /dev/video0-7. I was told to add an option to /etc/modprobe.d/option and add some stuff which i did and did not see any difference. ??????????

ok, I can run multiple programs like mplayer and I get video with a line in the bottom of the screen with this output:

mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:width=384:height=288:device=/dev/video0
MPlayer SVN-r1.0~rc3+svn20090426-4.4.3 (C) 2000-2009 MPlayer Team
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing tv://.
TV file format detected.
Selected driver: v4l2
name: Video 4 Linux 2 input
author: Martin Olschewski <olschewski>
comment: first try, more to come
Selected device: BT878 video (ProVideo PV150)
Tuner cap:
Tuner rxs: MONO
Capabilites: video capture video overlay VBI capture device tuner read/write streaming
supported norms: 0 = NTSC; 1 = NTSC-M; 2 = NTSC-M-JP; 3 = NTSC-M-KR; 4 = PAL; 5 = PAL-BG; 6 = PAL-H; 7 = PAL-I; 8 = PAL-DK; 9 = PAL-M; 10 = PAL-N; 11 = PAL-Nc; 12 = PAL-60; 13 = SECAM; 14 = SECAM-B; 15 = SECAM-G; 16 = SECAM-H; 17 = SECAM-DK; 18 = SECAM-L; 19 = SECAM-Lc;
inputs: 0 = Television; 1 = Composite1;
Current input: 0
Current format: YVU420
v4l2: current audio mode is : MONO
open: No such file or directory
[MGA] Couldn't open: /dev/mga_vid
open: No such file or directory
[MGA] Couldn't open: /dev/mga_vid
[VO_TDFXFB] This driver only supports the 3Dfx Banshee, Voodoo3 and Voodoo 5.
[VO_3DFX] Unable to open /dev/3dfx.
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video
VDec: vo config request - 384 x 288 (preferred colorspace: Planar YV12)
VDec: using Planar YV12 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is undefined - no prescaling applied.
VO: [xv] 384x288 => 384x288 Planar YV12
Selected video codec: [rawyv12] vfm: raw (RAW YV12)
==========================================================================
Audio: no sound
Starting playback...
v4l2: 93 frames successfully processed, -15 frames dropped.

I can run vlc and get video with a line in the bottom:

vlc v4l2:// :v4l2-dev="/dev/video0" :v4l2-channel=0 :v4l2-width=320 :v4l2-height=240

but when i go into zoneminder and put (pal, yuv420, /dev/video0 and etc)

????????????????????

Ok I have made great progress. It turns out that from the ubuntu zoneminder package, after the install it doesn't set all the permission appropriately and found out that the www-data user wasn't added to the video group so apache or zoneminder didnt have access to /dev/video. Even sifting through the /var/log/messages or /etc/apache2/error.log, it had slipped by. The issue that I am having now is when I setup the cameras using /dev/video0-3 and using all the channels 0 and 1, I am getting duplicates on half the screens. I have swapped many channels and cant get all seven cameras on different screen. So now I will nag bluecherry. hehehe

I think you need to set the CAPTURES_PER_FRAME under options/config in ZM. Set this to how many cameras are running on 1 chip.

For an example a 4 camera 1 chip card you would put 4 for the option. And I think for an 8 camera 2 chip card you put 4 for the option. an 8 camera 8 chip would use 1 for the option.

You have a 4 chip 8 camera card? I think you set your option to 2.

I know its been a couple of years, and never had he chance to thank the forum so here it is:

many thanks.

theforce, you hit it on the pinhead with "CAPTURES_PER_FRAME" and changing it to "2". It solved that issues specifically. Issues resolved.

Awesome!!!!!