Dixit

Realistically it seems probably all I need to do is just change that file SimpChinese.txt. To keep the other strings intact could just take the English.txt one, open it, and copy it, and put it all inside the SimpChinese.txt. But issue is trying to get this .bin to extract fully (wont extract the Install file in there) and then the .img files to open (which I can using 7zip) and close it back intact without modifying the format of the .img Need to research this more to see how to open these .bin and .img and keep it intact. Dixit

I have a DH-IPC-HDW4421S that I bought off Aliexpress. It currently has the "V2.400.0000.15.R.20150830" firmware when I look at the information page. Looking at Dahua site and link below http://download.dahuatech.com/kit_det.php?cid=3877 Seems like latest version is DH_IPC-HX4X2X-Themis_Chn_PN_Stream3_V2.400.0000.30.R.20160604.bin. I found the file in ENG version and its DH_IPC-HX4X2X-Themis_Eng_P_Stream3_V2.400.0000.30.R.20160604.bin but it fails to load saying File Unmatch. Then tried the file of General_IPC-HX4X2X-Themis_Eng_P_Stream3_V2.400.0000.30.R.20160604.bin, still same thing. I havent tried the Dahua file itself, since its Chinese, not sure if thats going to cause the entire webui to be in chinese. Technically these are connected to my QSee NVR so i dont actually go much if at all into the camera webui itself. Any insight on why I cannot seem to get this to update? Dixit

So here was the File unmatch error I would get So decided to go ahead try to Chinese version and it actually upgraded. Initially it still came back as English was interesting, but then opening another browser noticed it wasn't, was in Chinese. So it definitely upgraded but now in Chinese. I thought let me try to Telnet into it and change the language like this thread shows viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45089 But the telnet port is not open even after doing a port scan. So they must have got smart and disabled it. So Im left with a Chinese version, which so far isn't too big of a deal since my QSee NVR can still record from it and change whatever settings it needs to. Just when I go to upgrade it again later, I sort of know which menus to click through on the left since there isn't too many. But would be nice to understand or get this to be on English. Wonder if I need to maybe play a bit more with the actual bin file itself in extracting it and piecing it back together, probably not that simple either. Dixit

Q-See's manuals are horrible. Doesn't explain what the setting means technically and what side of the scale means what. Sensitivity - I know this means how sensitive it is on movements, is 0 the lowest or 100 the lowest? Im thinking 100 means very sensitive. Btw some manuals on Qsee only show something like 1 to 7, but this one has 0 to 100 I believe. Threshold - This goes from 0 to 100, again not really sure what this means, and don't know what 0 means or what 100 means. I have a problem where I feel like its not recording the initial parts of a video clip, like if I walked up to my garage door and it can see a good portion of me walking upto it, the clip usually has just me standing in front of the door, and missed all the walking up to it, the pre-record is set to 10secs (highest I can set it). So not getting why Im missing parts of the beginning on a lot of activity. Dixit

I want to say I think I got it working. First off, turns out the default storage mode for the HDD is QUOTA. You need to change this to GROUP mode which is page 144 on that manual. Then once you do that, you need to assign the HDD to a group. First one is defaulted to Group1. Then the one you add say NAS or IPSAN should be Group1 as well, but check that to make sure. Now on the webGUI side, it refused to let me set the Redundancy option, kept saying Parameter Error. I went to the unit itself and set it to Redundancy and it took it and still sitting on it. So Im guessing it took and is actually recording in redundant mode. I see traffic going to my IP SAN. I cannot tell for sure if its writing to both without disconnecting the IPSAN to see but Im going to assume it is for now.

I want to setup a network HDD to a remote location so it can duplicate the recordings across a WAN to a network drive. I have a Windows Server 2012 setup but I have no idea how to use this NetHDD feature. Its asking for either a NAS or IP SAN type. This link I found online has some info, but its got dead picture links but the text is there. http://support.swann.com/customer/portal/articles/1745532-configuring-nvr-hdr-for-nas-san-storage They are asking for IP and then /VOLUME/PATH I tried this as say a SHARE NAME on windows and path. Like /2TB/FTP but doesn't work. But there is no place to put a username/password, so I know there is no way this is going to connect to my windows server without a u/p present. Is this NetHDD feature not feasible with Server 2012? Dixit

Sorry I should've read that manual that JoeyJoey linked. That setting according to the manual is tied to the option of Redundant setting on the HDD which I cant seem to set. So not sure if when a 2nd non-internal HDD is added (like a NAS or IPSAN) does it fill the internal first, the go to the NetHDD then fills that, then goes back to internal and so on? Or is the 2nd non-internal HDD duplicate the files. Manual doesn't make it clear on that. Wish there was a remote backup feature on this, like I said my QSee (16channel one) has this FTP feature where it basically writes the file as soon as its closed to the FTP server so its basically near real time as far as remote syncing. Dixit

Thanks. I managed to add a NFS share to my windows 2012 server using the NFS server feature. I got the Swann to connect to it, but it still wont let me set it to Redundant mode under the HDD. Im assuming that feature is only available to a 2nd internal HDD. Gives me same error. If I set it to say standard R/W mode. And the system sees it as a 2nd HDD (this one being a NAS HDD), will it write the files in redundant mode? There is a setting under the Camera settings for Schedule and then Advanced, I attached a screenshot here. What does this Redundant Record setting do when I set to Yes? Does it write to both HDDs (regardless if one is Internal and one is NAS and both are set to R/W) or is there something else on this feature? Dixit

I understand the feature but cannot set it on the IP SAN. I wonder if it is only available on both HDDs being internal. I'm trying to see if the redudant record feature in Schedule and Advanced settings works. I'm seeing it write to my IP SAN but not sure if it's going to one HDD then the IP SAN as it fills one drive then goes to next. Dixit

I figured out how to create a virtual iSCSI target on Windows 2012 server. I got the SwannNVR to connect to it, but it wont let me set it to Redundancy mode. Only option is R/W which basically means I believe it fills the internal, then writes to the ISCSI drive, then fills that's, then goes back to the internal HDD. I want redundant mode so that if the internal HDD fails or if the entire unit is stolen I still have copies of the capture files on my NetHDD configured drive. Any option for this? I have a Q-See NVR as well and that uses FTP which writes the file within seconds of when the file is done writing to internal disk. So essentially it keeps it practically realtime backup. This is the screenshot of the error. Dixit

Lorex/Swann are rebadged Hikvisions USA models and can use the firmware. The NVRs can use the firmware too, but will require some password resets, as Hikvision's firmware update process is hokey. Where do you get these Hikvision firmwares from? Ive never updated my Swann (Costco model) with any other firmware, only Swann did it awhile back when I had some issues. The cameras never been updated either. I don't see this firmware on Hikvision's site. Dixit

Not sure why the previous person mentioned it doesn't come with rack mount ears, because it did for me. Attached is a picture of the box inside with the remote, sata cable, HDMI cable, etc and the rack ears.

Your probably right, looked at the reviews of he HikVision app and you can see recent complaints about the remote viewing not working via mobile data network but works on wifi. These are very similar, almost like they are built by one main developer and then different companies are just putting their skin/theme onto it. Dixit

Don't know if it's the app itself. Cause same problem exists on the Hikvision app. Doubt it's same problem on both apps. Makes it seem like it's the NVR itself. Thats just my take since two different company apps showing same black screen on mobile data.

That HikVision app still has same issues in that over cellular data it shows a black screen. And I'm doing it from an AT&T LTE Galaxy S3 phone. Not sure why you can't view this over mobile data network. Works fine over wifi even if you are remote. Also not sure why they said there is no android app. Clearly there is. It's pretty much the same. It's called Swannview NVR Dixit

Only thing I would point out from what I noticed, not sure if this matters or not, but the Swann IP Cameras appear to be using some proprietary protocol when using the NVR. Not sure if this means the Camera doesn't support anything else or not. I just noticed under "Camera Management" the "Protocol" says "SWANN". So thought I would point that out. I have no experience using this with anything else, not have I tried. Dixit

That's odd. Initially when the first car went by I thought it could've been the windshield at the right angle basically blinding the camera for that split second which caused the camera to get blinded and then reset itself for the correct exposure. But then I saw it happen again with no cars, so that odd for sure, seems like camera somehow loses exposure for a split second and then resets itself. On the Android PC thing, I was thinking, couldn't you run the Swannview NVR app (I see they don't have an HD version of it yet) and use that to view the cameras instead of the IPCamera application? That should work for sure right? Dixit

interesting, any links? http://www.in4dealz.com/deals/Dual-Core-Mini-PC-UG802-Rockchip-3066-Android-4-0-4-1-2GHz-Cortex-A9-Quad-Core-GPU-1GB-RAM-4G-ROM-IPTV-TV-Box-600195/ That's one of them that was on networkcameracritic. $45. But as zikronix mentioned previously, it seems the IPCamera program/app doesn't seem to work with this NVR8-7200 unit, so this is probably not an option for this unit. Dixit

I bought a 1000ft of Cat5 bulk and going to be doing the wiring soon, in a few days hopefully. Original owner had 8camera analog system they took them when they sold the house. I had the roof/attic entirely spray foamed, so the analog cables going to the outside of the house are basically embedded in this spray foam. So I plan on just tying/taping the new cable to it from the outside, tug on the analog cable from the inside and pull it through hopefully. then just need to crimp the ends on. What does sort of disappoint me about the cameras is the large female end RJ45 connector, its going to require almost a 1" hole to clear that through the soffit portion. I wish they made the pigtail shorter and somehow basically sit in the bracket portion of the camera, that way you would only need practically a 1/4" hole for just the cable to pass through, nothing else. Dixit

Ah man....... guess that is out the picture now. Guess that HDMI with Mouse via wifi is my option then as well. Will have to see if the range is truly 100ft through walls. It will be going a good 60-70ft through roof, walls, ceiling. Dixit

$180 is a bit much for that. Be easier and I think better to buy the Mini Android PC which would work through the network and I think I saw those for $50. And it gives you other features like a media player too. Dixit

That's not going to work, it says 30ft line of sight, so that means no walls. I have at least 60-70ft with a few walls as well. Wireless mouse isn't going to travel that far either, most of those work at most 5-10ft away from their transmitter. Looking more into it, seems like these Android PCs might be the better option and running the IP Camera viewer app to basically hook into the RSTP port and show the feed from each camera. Dixit

Im with some of these other folks too on viewing elsewhere in that I intend on putting this unit tucked away somewhere and really no way to run 70ft cable to where I want to view it. So HDMI using twisted pair wont work. Id like to look into some way of viewing it on my TV. HDMI over IP sounds interesting but quick search make it seem this is going to run me close to $500 for the transmitter and receiver modules. Cause I have Gigabit network all over the place so that's easier. My friend just mentioned VGA over IP, but not sure about that, cant remember if my LG Plasma takes VGA in. That Android Mini computer seems interesting but realistically looking at the default view would be nice. But now that I think about it, that might also have disadvantages in that obviously id have no way of selecting a cam for full screen view, it would be a fixed view. That might be a problem. Dixit

Here the most accurate method I can give to you folks on how loud this unit is or isn't. I used my calibrated db meter I use to calibrate my Home Theater system. This is with the unit on. This is dialed to the lowest range on the db meter (60). So its about 54db with the Unit on, there is nothing else in this room on, its dead silent when its off. Here is with the Unit off, you can see my db meter cant pickup anything, its basically saying its below 50db which is the lowest reading possible on this meter. And to confirm its pretty much the same as the fan on your desktop running full tilt. Its not hair dryer loud for sure, no question about that. My hair dryer on low is 81db, at high its 90db. So to say its as loud as a hair dryer is a bit stretching it. It basically has this single speed fan on the CPU from the pictures I put earlier. It would've been nicer I guess if they put a PWM based fan on it (ones where it ramps up speed as it needs). And since the unit is so slim, the heat sink isn't large either, so to compensate, they probably just got a more CFM/RPM fan to blow as much air through that small heat sink to make sure the temps don't go outside the range. They could've solved it a bit better by putting those slim heat sinks but it covers like 4x6" area, basically they make it slim but use a large surface area then had maybe two small low speed fans. But this is the design they went with, they were probably not concerned with noise considering this thing came with rack mount tabs as well. Dixit

Heres the indepth details about this processor. Its an ARM Cortex A8 Core Features 1234567891011 • High-Performance DaVinci™ Digital Media Processors – ARM Cortex™-A8 RISC MPU •Up to 1.2 GHz – C674x VLIW DSP •Up to 1.0 GHz •Up to 8000/6000 C674x MIPS/MFLOPS •Fully Software-Compatible with C67x+™and C64x+™ • ARM Cortex™-A8 Core – ARMv7 Architecture •In-Order, Dual-Issue, Superscalar Microprocessor Core •NEON™ Multimedia Architecture – Supports Integer and Floating Point (VFPv3-IEEE754 compliant) •Jazelle RCT Execution Environment • ARM Cortex™-A8 Memory Architecture – 32K-Byte Instruction and Data Caches – 256K-Byte L2 Cache – 64K-Byte RAM, 48K-Byte Boot ROM • TMS320C674x Floating-Point VLIW DSP – 64 General-Purpose Registers (32-Bit) – Six ALU (32-/40-Bit) Functional Units •Supports 32-Bit Integer, SP (IEEE Single Precision/32-Bit) and DP (IEEE Double Precision/64-Bit) Floating Point •Supports up to Four SP Adds Per Clock and Four DP Adds Every Two Clocks •Supports up to Two Floating-Point (SP or DP) Approximate Reciprocal or Square Root Operations Per Cycle – Two Multiply Functional Units •Mixed-Precision IEEE Floating-Point Multiply Supported up to: – 2 SP x SP → SP Per Clock – 2 SP x SP → DP Every Two Clocks – 2 SP x DP → DP Every Three Clocks – 2 DP x DP → DP Every Four Clocks •Fixed-Point Multiply Supports Two 32 x 32 Multiplies, Four 16 x 16-bit Multiplies including Complex Multiplies, or Eight 8 x 8-Bit Multiplies per Clock Cycle • C674x Two-Level Memory Architecture – 32K-Byte L1P and L1D RAM/Cache – 256K-Byte L2 Unified Mapped RAM/Caches • DSP/EDMA Memory Management Unit (DEMMU) – Maps C674x DSP and EMDA TCB Memory Accesses to System Addresses • 512K-Bytes On-Chip Memory Controller (OCMC) RAM • Up to Three Programmable High-Definition Video Image Coprocessing (HDVICP2) Engines – Encode, Decode, Transcode Operations – H.264, MPEG2, VC1, MPEG4 SP/ASP • SGX530 3D Graphics Engine (available only on the DM8168/DM8166 device) – Delivers up to 30 MTriangles/s – Universal Scalable Shader Engine – Direct3D OpenVG™ 1.1, OpenMax™ API Support – Advanced Geometry DMA Driven Operation – Programmable HQ Image Anti-Aliasing • Endianness – ARM/DSP Instructions/Data – Little Endian • HD Video Processing Subsystem (HDVPSS) – Two 165 MHz HD Video Capture Channels