ZoneMinder Forums

I'm pleased to announce that I have just made a preview release of ZoneMinder version 1.22.0 available at http://www.zoneminder.com/downloads/Zon ... rc1.tar.gz.

Please note that this is not a production quality release but is intended for early adopters to test and evaluate. It will have bugs in it, some of which may be serious!

Althought the code has been modified for the features described below, the documentation has not yet been updated to reflect this at all. This version also contains a number of perl modules, all still awating pod documentation. Thus please post queries about this release on the forum until such time that the documents are available. I have created a new forum for 1.22.x queries so please ensure you use that one.

It is expected that this preview may be followed by subsequent releases of 1.22.0 and that the first full release will be 1.22.1 once any obvious bugs have been identified.

This release is the first that does not require a zmconfig.pl step.

Thus for a new install follow the steps below

0) Stop ZM
1) Unzip, untar etc.
2) Run the configure script. Note that initial database config can be passed as parameters to this script, and this is recommended for new releases.
3) If you did not specify the db config, edit zm.conf and db/zm_create.sql to reflect your database setup.
4) Run 'make', you may have to do this twice to generate the perl makefile.
5) Run 'make install'
6) Start ZM

For an upgrade follow these steps
0) Stop ZM
1) Unzip, untar etc
2) Run the configure script. Note that initial database config can be passed as parameters to this script.
3) If you did not specify the db config, edit zm.conf to reflect your database setup.
4) Run 'make', you may have to do this twice to generate the perl makefile.
5) Run 'make install'
6) Run scripts/zmupdate.pl -v <version> from the zm build directory. You do not have to run this as root, though you may need to pass additional options to have privileges to modify your database. It is advised to accept the option to take a backup of your database.
7) Start ZM

Changes in this release are as follows

Major architectural changes as well as a whole raft of other enhancements and fixes.
o FEATURE – Zones can now be (virtually) any shape of polygon. This means that triangular, octagonal, duo decahedrons etc are now supported. The only exceptions to this are self-intersecting shapes which will be flagged. This adds a lot more flexibility to the definition of zones. Zones can be drawn semi-interactively.
o FEATURE – Certain preset zones settings are now supplied to allow quicker configuration of zones. These are intended to be a guide only, and not definitive settings but form a useful starting point.
o FEATURE – The zmpkg.pl scripts now attempts to determine the supported syntax of the ‘su’ command so it should work even with distributions like Slackware that don’t support the –shell option. Previously this required a hand edit.
o FEATURE – A number of common perl functionality has been moved to perl modules which have been included. This also allows other scripts to use the ZoneMinder modules to create additional functionality particularly in the area of triggering. All scripts have been converted to use these modules.
o FEATURE – A (small currently) number of monitor presets have been added to the monitor configuration view. This allows quicker initial configuration of certain (mostly network) cameras without having to know all the paths. Contributions detailing other cameras will be gratefully accepted.
o FEATURE – The zmtrigger.pl script has been completed revamped to support both incoming and outgoing triggers. Certain example triggers and connections have been included in the trigger modules but this is intended to be an example only and to provide a basis for users to customise and add their own functionality. Users will also be able to contribute modules tailored to specific external systems.
o FEATURE – More configuration has been moved to the zm.conf file. All components now use this file for initial configuration. Scripts may also use a local copy, in the same directory, to allow overrides etc.
o FEATURE – The zmconfig.pl script is no more! Building now only requires the ‘configure’ step and then make etc. Database parameters can be supplied to the configure script.
o FEATURE – The configure script now includes more system suitability checks including checks for required and optional perl modules.
o FEATURE – All libjpeg output is now trapped and handled as regular format debug.
o FEATURE – Some jpeg data is cached on first use instead of being regenerated each time. This should speed up jpeg handling to some degree.
o FEATURE – Event data can be optionally saved to COM fields in the jpeg file header.
o FEATURE – A system summary command has been added to zmu.
o FEATURE – Filtering can now be done on the event id field.
o FEATURE – Filtering can now be done on the event description field.
o FEATURE – The ‘check all’ on event lists etc is now a toggle checkbox.
o FEATURE – In Mocord mode, events can now be forced to close when the event has reached the section length even if an alarm is in progress. Previously this would have resulted in an extended event.
o FEATURE – The ‘groups’ view has been overhauled and rationalised.
o FEATURE – A default event replay rate has been added.
o FEATURE – Videos can now be created from filters.
o FEATURE – There is now a separate auto-execute checkbox from filters to allow definition of a script but not execution if this is not desired.
o FEATURE – When filters are loaded, a hint appears to indicate what automatic function options they have been saved with.
o FEATURE – Improved the behaviour of the automatic PTZ stop feature when using Pelco type PTZ cameras.
o FEATURE – The configure script now allows an option to compile all debug out from the binaries.
o FEATURE – The configure script now takes a generic ‘extra libs’ option to allow specification of any extra libraries that may be required for compilation due to additional ffmpeg options etc. The mp3lame option has been removed.
o FEATURE – Mime support for streaming has been enhanced to allow easy configuration of additional formats of data streaming. The streaming daemons themselves have also been improved to support the generation of other stream formats.
o FEATURE – The handling of video viewing via the ‘video’ view has been improved to allow embedded viewing of videos as well as easy saving locally.
o FEATURE – The alarm sound that can be configured to play when viewing a monitor with a current alarm has now been improved to not depend on the refreshing of the status which resulted in clipped audio.
o FEATURE – Script debug now follows the same format as all debug and uses the syslog facility. This means that all important messages go into the /var/log/messages file (or equivalent). This can be modified by redirecting the local1 facility in syslog.conf to go elsewhere, or be ignored, if so desired.
o FEATURE – A new raw streaming format has been added for live monitor streams. This produces a low cpu impact raw rgb feed.
o FEATURE – A zm.pid file is now placed in /var/run/zm when ZoneMinder is running, and removed when stopped. This can be used by other elements to check the status of ZoneMinder. The pid in the file is that of the master zmdc.pl server instance.
o FEATURE – The continuous/triggered settings for monitors have now been removed. They have been replaced by an Enabled flag that indicates whether a monitor is actually doing the task assigned to it. This can be used by scripts to disable or enable monitors depending on external triggers without having to change the Function or start and stop daemons. The state of this flag is now saved in ‘run states’ to allow ZoneMinder to be started with some monitors initially disabled.
o FEATURE – Restructured zmfilter.pl to better handle filters and ensure that auto functions are performed in a logical sequence (e.g. not deleted before being archived).
o FEATURE – Added link to Zones configuration to the live watch view.
o FEATURE – The event link in the xHTML interface now goes somewhere useful.
o FEATURE – Reformatted a number of xHTML views to use tables for better layout.
o FEATURE – The default reference image blend percentage has been changed to 7% to persist events slightly longer.
o FEATURE – The monitor configuration view has been re-organised slightly and some fields have moved between tabs.
o FEATURE – When motion is detected the centre of the region of motion is written to shared memory, where is can be used for tracking. This can now optionally be a simple median of the motion extents or (in blob mode) a weighted centre for better location of irregularly shaped events.
o FEATURE – The zmcontrol-kx-hcm10.pl script has been renamed to the more generic zmcontrol-panasonic-ip.pl script as it should work with all Panasonic IP cameras.
o FIX – The zms script has been corrected to accept any authentication method regardless of what has been configured to be used.
o FIX – The zmc processes now exit if any 4xx error is reported from remote network image sources.
o FIX – The experimental zmtrack.pl script was broken and didn’t work. This has now been corrected.
o FIX – Versions 0.4.8, 0.4.9-pre1 and CVS ffmpeg are now supported correctly.
o FIX – A problem with event statistics not always being output was fixed.
o FIX – A problem with the JPEG file quality setting being ignored was fixed.
o FIX – A problem with brackets in filters has been fixed.
o FIX – The console view previously could spawn instances of zmdc.pl when ZM wasn’t running. This has now been corrected.
o FIX – Scaling of stills event views has now been rationalised to not ever be smaller than 100% as the image is always sent at at least this resolution.
o FIX – A problem with zmaudit.pl mishandling recovered events has been fixed.
o FIX – Fixed number of minor memory access issues.
o FIX – Fixed ‘undefined pid’ error in zmdc.pl.
o FIX – Some configuration has had default values changed.
o LANGUAGE – A Czech translation has been included..

Good luck!

Phil

Please note that following bug reports, the current version of the preview is rc2 and can be found at http://www.zoneminder.com/downloads/Zon ... rc2.tar.gz

Phil

I've not had a lot of feedback on this version yet. It may be that I've put people off downloading it with all my warnings

However if there are things you think are broken or could be done better then just leave a comment here and I'll take a look.

Phil i havnt left feedback cos i aint messed with it yet, as you know i have yet to build anything properly yet but i might give it a go if its a while til rpm's. I have moved my test rig to coreys distro to make things easier

James

Just a quick one, it's nearly midnight here

I downloaded 1.22 after our conversation yesterday. I must say, the installation seems a lot easier, but that might just be because I had a previous config and all the req's installed etc.

I couldn't upgrade, because when I ran the update script I got an error: So, to continue testing I just created a new database and started again.

2 new deps - openssl-devel and Date::Manip
Had to update zmu.cpp with XLIST instead of LIST (as per the other post here)

make - no probs 1st time
make install - no probs first time
http://localhost/zm - no probs first time

I did get an error adding a cam for the first time, but that's already been discussed here somewhere too, and so I knew to do the DB updateSo got through that okay

The first time I open the new-zone-edit box I seem to get errors in the fields TYPE and UNITS., and in the lower text-boxes.

Moving any of the corners, or doing anything else to submit the form fixes the list boxes, but not the text boxes One other thing I just thought of, the default seems to be to have no zones at all, I assume a cam with no zomes is the same as one with a 100% zone? Not too worried about that as it's more of a documentation thing than something functional, I think.

Hi.

I didn't quite managed to try it this week, but I will surely do it during the next week. Then I will submit all my impressions, as usual .

Thanks, this is exactly the sort of thing I was after!

Cylindric wrote:I couldn't upgrade, because when I ran the update script I got an error:

Code: Select all

perl scripts/zmupdate.pl -v 1.21.4
Can't locate LWP/UserAgent.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.7/i586-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.7 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.7/i586-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.7 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.7/i586-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.7 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl .) at scripts/zmupdate.pl line 141.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at scripts/zmupdate.pl line 141.

The configure script should warn you if this module is missing, did it not do so? I have changed the wording anyway to make it clrearer what the dependencies are.

Cylindric wrote:So, to continue testing I just created a new database and started again.

2 new deps - openssl-devel and Date::Manip
Had to update zmu.cpp with XLIST instead of LIST (as per the other post here)

make - no probs 1st time
make install - no probs first time
http://localhost/zm - no probs first time

I have updated the release to remove the LIST problem, though I don't get it here anyway.

Cylindric wrote:I did get an error adding a cam for the first time, but that's already been discussed here somewhere too, and so I knew to do the DB update

Code: Select all

alter table Zones change column Coordinates Coords tinytext NOT NULL;

So got through that okay

The first time I open the new-zone-edit box I seem to get errors in the fields TYPE and UNITS., and in the lower text-boxes.

Moving any of the corners, or doing anything else to submit the form fixes the list boxes, but not the text boxes

Code: Select all

<br />
<b>Notice</b>:  Undefined index:  MinAlarmPixels in <b>/srv/www/htdocs/zm/zm_html_view_zone.php</b> on line <b>682</b><br />

There was an additional error_reporting statement left in zm_html_view_zone.php. I have removed it now. You can do the same if you want to remove this issue. There was also a problem with one set of co-ordinates missing in default zones (causing the triangular issue).[/qupte]

Cylindric wrote:One other thing I just thought of, the default seems to be to have no zones at all, I assume a cam with no zones is the same as one with a 100% zone? Not too worried about that as it's more of a documentation thing than something functional, I think.

The default is to have one zone that covers the whole image. It's possibel the above errors messed this up though.

Thanks for the report anyway, very detailed.

No probs. I'm liking ZM quite a lot at the moment Nice to see an active project, so many I've tried to use recently are either dead since 1976 or completely ignore all non-author feedback.

Good work

I got the zones to work in the end, made up some figures, then read the manual
Played with sound in the web-interface too, Da Missus was somewhat put out that she couldn't move from the other PC - where she was supposed to be working - without a loud claxon coming from my laptop

I suppose further bugs should be reported in separate threads, to keep resolutions and progress clear?

Incidentally, I did a clean install of SUSE today, the "minimal with X" config, and pretty much installed 1.22 out-of-the-box. I didn't actually get camera feed, because I haven't gotten around to installing the pwc drivers for my poxy webcam yet, but it all built and installed cleanly.

Just updated my website with a new SUSE install document. I'll probably be trying a different distro soon(tm), just to check it out some others for a change, so will do the same for that. I don't think SUSE is an ideal distro for this sort of thing, as I image ZM will mostly be run headless and with remote monitoring and admin.

i think if we had a menas of displaying the images on the serer itself we would, i know id love to pipe mine to my tv card and modulate into my aerial feeds on channel 8 or something. But yes at the moment most are run headless.
You say suse isnt ideal,do you prefer the server based distro's then or is there another reason?

James

Don't know really. It's mostly a 'feeling'. Possibly because I've used a Linux Firewall for a long time, and tend to think of ways of getting a system to run headless and unnatended. I thought SUSE was a bit too 'heavy' for this sort of thing, coming in at over 2Gb, but having just reinstalled and picked a minimal X config, I've got it to about 1Gb without KDE/Gnome. Probably a good bit less if I remove the sources again. (I can remove them now I've finished compiling, right?)

I've actually only recently started using Linux again, after a 10-year break (!) and SUSE is the one I've been using. Mainly because it worked almost out-of-the-box on my laptop (apart from my ATI and wireless), and I also used it for a server I built for someone.

I really like it, but due to my out-of-date experience (I used Slackware in '95, about 2 years after it came out, when X would still fry your monitor), I tend to think there must be something better out there - I can't have gotten it right first time!

jameswilson wrote:i think if we had a menas of displaying the images on the serer itself we would

I'm not sure what you mean by this, why can't you view it on the server? Or are you refering to the fact that it won't show on any other apps, due to /dev/videoX being locked?

no im refereing to the fact that montage view (firefox) wont stay running for days on end.

The big problem lies in the fact that you have firefox eating up memory (As I have noted before some time back if you disable disk and memory caching in FF it helps) and for each stream a process is started. This is why when I put something together for friends, I make it a headless system. I helps keep me from having to go back and fix things. Something else I do is set the mysql tables to be checked just before the database starts and repair as needed. People seem to really like to press the reset when things aren't functioning properly which will create errors in the DB.
ZoneMinder/CTU Core does a headless install and takes about 750MB. I'll get around to redoing it some day and make that even smaller.

I started playing a bit with QT. If I manage to wrap my head around how to make the interface it should be able to build an x app to pull the pics strait out of shared mem (yet this has been a dream for some time). It's still beyond me for the moment.

well if your gonna do that in qt ill stop my realbasic version as that will be better, plus the shared mem thing is a dream of mine too

I have just uploaded rc3 for your ZM'ing please. You can get it from http://www.zoneminder.com/downloads/Zon ... rc3.tar.gz

It contains a number of fixes and a couple new features I couldn't resist putting in, such as the event progress bar being discussed elsewhere. I don't have the full list to hand but will put it up when I can.

There are a couple of configuration changes in this release (but no database changes), so you will need to run zmupdate.pl -f to freshen your database. This must be done post installation but before restarting ZM.