No Video in ZM Console

[robertdaleweir]

I have a PI-4 with 4GB and a 250GB SSD running ZoneMinder. I have never used any software like this in the past, so I am a novice at setting it up. I used a PPA (ppa:iconnor/zoneminder-1.32) and managed to get it installed. I further upgraded to 1.34.1, successfully. I have managed to get it displaying within Firefox and it seems to present properly. I can see my cameras but I cannot get them to show video. I was able to use ONVIF, through a WIN7 machine, and view camera output (so the camera(s) are working. I attach a screenshot of the current state of things. I am not sure exactly what to do next.
My system is a PI 4 running a Ubuntu distro and ZM 1.34.1 . I have attached a text file which shows the Distro that I am using in detail.
Any help would be greatly appreciated...
Robert

Distro.txt

(336 Bytes) Downloaded 304 times

[snake]

It sounds like you have everything working except the camera. See https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Finding_Camera_Stream_Paths

You could also post the logs, that may help. Don't put a Max FPS in ZM. Do ensure you get the Resolution correct. You can test it in VLC gui or ffmpeg first to get the resolution.

Since you mentioned you are using a PI, you might want to use the headless PI, as opposed to one with X. Also try lowering the FPS / Resolution on the cameras configuration page. See https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Single_Board_Computers

With the PI, start one camera at a time. Don't try to get both working at once. Start with low res, and scale up as long as performance is acceptable. Someone mentioned a gpu ram config adjustment in a boot file. See the wiki link above for more details. that may or may not help.

[robertdaleweir]

It sounds like you have everything working except the camera. See https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Finding_Camera_Stream_Paths

You could also post the logs, that may help. Don't put a Max FPS in ZM. Do ensure you get the Resolution correct. You can test it in VLC gui or ffmpeg first to get the resolution.

Since you mentioned you are using a PI, you might want to use the headless PI, as opposed to one with X. Also try lowering the FPS / Resolution on the cameras configuration page. See https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Single_Board_Computers

With the PI, start one camera at a time. Don't try to get both working at once. Start with low res, and scale up as long as performance is acceptable. Someone mentioned a gpu ram config adjustment in a boot file. See the wiki link above for more details. that may or may not help.

Hi snake
I have included a log as you suggested. I am not entirely sure what it means but it appears some lines, here or there, are not correct in a couple of 'cpp' files. Maybe you can help...
Robert

[snake]

What is the model of camera? What install instructions did you use? What are your source settings for the camera?

Can you watch the stream in VLC or FFMPEG?

[bbunge]

I am currently running a headless Pi 3b+ on Debian with Mariadb and NGINX with ZM 1.34.0.
I have run the Pi with Ubuntu 18.04 and 19.10 with both LAMP or LEMP. I find that LEMP setup is a bit faster running Zoneminder.
For Ubuntu install see: https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Ubuntu (was written for PC but works for Pi). I recommend Mariadb-server on a Pi.

AS for your camera issues, Camera resolution in Zoneminder does not match camera output. Use VLC (Tools, Media Information, Codec) to check camera Display Resolution. I also feel that x264 (video writing) works better than jpegs.

[robertdaleweir]

What is the model of camera? What install instructions did you use? What are your source settings for the camera?

Can you watch the stream in VLC or FFMPEG?

Hi snake
I have a friend who has a system running on Windows using Blue Iris and he mentioned it to me. I obtained two IP Cameras which are: JOOAN Model JA-734ERI-P Pixel: 2.0MP 1080P 3.6MM. Although I gave it several approaches I believe that I used the image I obtained from someone on this forum and it was called: ubuntu-18.04.3-preinstalled-desktop-arm64+raspi4.img.xz I, initially burned it onto a MicroSD card but I now have it on a 250GB SSD. Then, according to my notes, I ran a script which I will attach as a file called Script.txt. I am not entirely sure what you mean by 'source settings' for the camera. I setup the Camera on a WIN7 machine with ONVIF tool and called it GARAGE or BACKYARD and set them with up with their addresses of 192.168.2.237 and 192.168.2.236 respectively. I was able to view both camera's output through that ONVIF Device Manager Tool.
Beyond that I am unsure exactly what I have but it has been updated and hence I now have the following:
ubuntu@PI-4:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic
ubuntu@PI-4:~$

root@PI-4:~# apt list * | grep zoneminder

mythzoneminder/bionic 2:29.1+fixes.20180414.329c235-0ubuntu3 arm64
zoneminder/bionic,now 1.34.1-bionic1 arm64 [installed]
zoneminder-dbg/bionic 1.34.1-bionic1 arm64
zoneminder-doc/bionic,bionic,now 1.34.1-bionic1 all [installed,automatic]
root@PI-4:~#

Hoping this helps in where I am currently...
Robert

[robertdaleweir]

I am currently running a headless Pi 3b+ on Debian with Mariadb and NGINX with ZM 1.34.0.
I have run the Pi with Ubuntu 18.04 and 19.10 with both LAMP or LEMP. I find that LEMP setup is a bit faster running Zoneminder.
For Ubuntu install see: https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Ubuntu (was written for PC but works for Pi). I recommend Mariadb-server on a Pi.

AS for your camera issues, Camera resolution in Zoneminder does not match camera output. Use VLC (Tools, Media Information, Codec) to check camera Display Resolution. I also feel that x264 (video writing) works better than jpegs.

Hi bbunge
I just installed VLC, which I have used for years. I, however, have never used it for 'IP Cameras' before. I am trying to see what it will do with VLC. The process hasn't exactly lined up in my brain as yet. In the phrase 'Camera resolution in Zoneminder does not match camera output', how does that affect what I am trying to do? In the comment 'I also feel that x264 (video writing) works better than jpegs.', isn't x264 more relevant to 'mpegs' than 'jpegs'. I am still looking at what might be wrong and will continue studying.
Robert

[iconnor]

Post the settings from the source tab of your monitors. I suspect that the url to the camera is wrong.

[robertdaleweir]

Post the settings from the source tab of your monitors. I suspect that the url to the camera is wrong.

Hi iconnor
Hope this is what you are looking for. By the way are the IP Cameras, I am using, work with ZoneMinder?
Thanks...
Robert

[bbunge]

Usually you need more in the source path than an IP address. This can be different for each make and model of camera. Here are a couple of examples of Source Path I use for my old cameras:
http://192.168.1.231/mjpg/video.mjpg
http://192.168.1.233/img/video.mjpeg
rtsp://192.168.1.241/live.sdp
Your camera manufacturer should have information on accessing the stream. Otherwise Google is your friend...
As for my comment on resolution, the wrong resolution setting in Zoneminder is a problem with a vast number of "can't see video" problems. We recommend testing the camera in VLC as it will adjust itself to what the camera puts out and, per my instructions, will show the resolution the camera actually uses which can be different from the published specs.
I really do not know much about computers as I've only been at this stuff since the days of DOS. Am a relative newbie at Zoneminder as I've only been doing this for about nine years or so. Yes, I am opinionated to a preferred Linux OS and spend more time playing with computers than I should. I make mistakes and learn, sometimes, from them.

Best of luck with this!

[robertdaleweir]

Usually you need more in the source path than an IP address. This can be different for each make and model of camera. Here are a couple of examples of Source Path I use for my old cameras:
http://192.168.1.231/mjpg/video.mjpg
http://192.168.1.233/img/video.mjpeg
rtsp://192.168.1.241/live.sdp
Your camera manufacturer should have information on accessing the stream. Otherwise Google is your friend...
As for my comment on resolution, the wrong resolution setting in Zoneminder is a problem with a vast number of "can't see video" problems. We recommend testing the camera in VLC as it will adjust itself to what the camera puts out and, per my instructions, will show the resolution the camera actually uses which can be different from the published specs.
I really do not know much about computers as I've only been at this stuff since the days of DOS. Am a relative newbie at Zoneminder as I've only been doing this for about nine years or so. Yes, I am opinionated to a preferred Linux OS and spend more time playing with computers than I should. I make mistakes and learn, sometimes, from them.

Best of luck with this!

Hi bbunge
OK. I understand what you are saying. I will attempt to obtain the information, of which you speak. I can relate to your comment 'I am opinionated to a preferred Linux OS and spend more time playing with computers than I should.' I definitely do the latter but I am agnostic as to which Linux OS I prefer. At the 'command line', they all look very similar. I have used many and they all have their strengths (and weaknesses). I am, however, adamant about not using the 'Seattle Virus'.
I will do some more investigation and hope to get it all working. Thanks again for your help...
Robert

[ruffledrooster]

Not sure if you got this figured out yet but I had a similar issue where I wasn't able to display the video stream because I had not set the timezone in the new settings. In 1.34 you have to set this in options/system. Once I set it there my video streams showed up again when I clicked on the monitors from the console. HTH.

[robertdaleweir]

Post the settings from the source tab of your monitors. I suspect that the url to the camera is wrong.

iconnor
I was able to get by this problem and finally found the problem. The Source Path turned out to be:

rtsp://192.168.2.237//stream1

I never would have guessed that one.
I used VLC and some information from the Camera Vendor to get the Video to Stream properly. I am now able to get back to ZoneMinder and hope to use it soon. I just post here to let you know that my JOOAN JP-734ERI-P Cameras are working fine. I am looking forward to getting up to speed on ZoneMinder and I have installed Version 1.34. It has installed and seems to be running fine on my Raspberry PI system. Thanks for the help...
Robert

[robertdaleweir]

Not sure if you got this figured out yet but I had a similar issue where I wasn't able to display the video stream because I had not set the timezone in the new settings. In 1.34 you have to set this in options/system. Once I set it there my video streams showed up again when I clicked on the monitors from the console. HTH.

ruffledrooster
I actually have gotten by my prior problem. As usual it seems that it was an improper syntax problem. The Source Path turns out to be:

rtsp://192.168.2.237//stream1

I have learned some things since my last posting. I am using 1.34 and I have set the 'timezone', as you mention. I now have a proper stream from my cameras. I will get going on ZoneMinder soon and see if I can get it working properly.
Thanks for your post and have a great day...
Robert