accessing Avtech DVR from Linux [Ubuntu]?

[Merlin 0]

Hi,

 

I'm looking at either the 8ch AVC785 or possibly the 16CH version, but I was reading something about using the software that comes with it to download the video in case there's an incident and I have to give a DVD to the cops...

 

* I'm guessing the software that comes with it is going to be windows only, am I right?

 

* Is it possible to access the files on the hard drive from a Linux machine [either Ubuntu or Redhat], either by USB or CAT5?

 

* Are the files plain .AVIs or ,MPGs, or are they in a proprietary format?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for any replies or tips.

[scorpion 0]

You can try this before you buy.

 

Go to:

http://scorpiontheater.com/cpcamtechsupport.aspx

 

Scroll down till you see a blue box labeled Video Serve E

 

 

You can down load the viewer software, and you can give it a try on your linux machine. Please keep me posted to your exact findings as I have never done this, and I would like to know.

 

Hit the links around as there is a wealth of information for the AVTech / CPCam DVRs. I hope you enjoy it!

http://scorpiontheater.com/troubleshooting.aspx

 

I have never used this either, but it has been mentioned.

http://www.videolan.org/

 

 

I can tell you that you cannot take the hard drive out of the DVR, and just pop it in to a computer as it will not work.

 

The files are in a proprietary format and the Video Server E can convert it to AVI.

 

Do not forget that you can take the monitor out and hook this up to a video input to record such as a computer or a VCR.

[CollinR 0]

Keep in mind the unit itself is linux based, so you should have decent odds on swapping the HDD. However I would still assume the video to be in a private format for security purposes.

 

You might try for shell access to it, you may be able to get it to transcode from the shell. I dunno, wish you luck!

[scorpion 0]

Is it possible to access the files on the hard drive from a Linux machine

 

Steve Evans has been instrumental in putting something together for the MAC, SOLARIS, AND LINUX users.

 

The JAVA APP can be downloaded here..

 

http://scorpiontheater.com/javaapp.aspx

 

We request your feedback on how it worked for you.

 

Thanks to everyone involved.

[epipe 0]

I am currently in process of writing an efficient and small AV TECH DVR client software which runs on Linux and *BSD operating systems. It is still in early stages of development, but already performs the following functions:

 

- displaying the DVR video stream on display

- saving video stream frames to individual JPEG files on disk at specified time intervals

- storing file attachments in e-mails sent by the DVR device (a separate Perl script)

 

There is no DVR control yet and many other things are also still missing, and it is distributed in source code format only right now.

 

I would encourage any owners of AV TECH DVR equipment to try out this software to see if it functions with their specific DVR model. Doing this right now requires that you have the skills to use Unix shell to compile and run software. Please report any successes or failures to me at my e-mail address included in the software documentation and the web site.

 

The software is licensed under GNU AGPL which means that everybody is allowed to use the software for free (including commercial purposes) and it can be re-distributed under certain conditions.

 

As this is my second post to this forum, I am not allowed to tell you where to find the software, as there is the odd policy against posting links.

 

You might be able to find it if you use a popular search engine to look for snavtclient. If you end up at SourceForge pages, select "Project Web Site" at the right edge to get to the actual site you want to find. You will see my username on this board as a part of the domain name when you have found the right place.

 

Sorry about the complex instructions but I wouldn't like to get banned. Maybe some older member would be able to post a link to the software web site? I hope I will not be considered a spammer, at least there is no profit involved because the software is free.

 

I would like to repeat: the software is still in its infancy and lacking many essential features, but it could be useful to someone already, and I would also like to get some feedback... It is under active development. Stay tuned!

[epipe 0]

There is no DVR control yet...

I just wanted to give heads up that I implemented keyboard based DVR control today and released a new version 0.0.3 of snavtclient software.

 

For me using the keyboard to switch channels etc. is quite a lot more faster and convenient than clicking around with a mouse (as is the case with vendor supplied software).

[RickA 0]

As a ubuntu user also, you might want to try Wine and install the e server there and try it to connect, I don't have any AVC dvrs to try out so I cannot do any of this.

[junglejim42 0]

I use Fedora core 8 and although I havent managed to use the video E server software. I can however access via the web interface

[scorpion 0]

Sounds interesting!

[aquanuke 0]

Hi im wondering if your program does not support port numbers higher then XX as if I do

 

./snavtclient -s -H 192.168.1.104 -p 8080

 

I errors with

 

aquanuke@TOSHIBA-User:~/Desktop/snavtclient-0.0.4$ ./snavtclient -s -H 192.168.1.104 -p 8080

./snavtclient: SDLNet_TCP_Open: Couldn't connect to remote host

./snavtclient: login to 192.168.1.104:80 failed

 

Should I reconfigure my DVR with a XX port range ?

 

Thanks Chris

[aquanuke 0]

Ooops sorry was a typo should have been -P have the ports correct now.

 

However still not up and running, if I do...

 

sudo ./snavtclient -s -H xx.xx.xx.xx -P 8080 -q 0 &

 

Should that pop up a window with the cctv in?

 

What I get is

 

aquanuke@TOSHIBA-User:~$ sudo ./snavtclient -s -H xx.xx.xx.xx -P 8080 -q 0 &

[1] 5533

aquanuke@TOSHIBA-User:~$

 

and nothing else. After a few minutes that then stops

 

[1]+ Stopped

 

Im running ubuntu remix

[djg000111 0]

I have just installed this Java app on my Mac. Wow! This app is great. My DVR version is 732. I am planning to install this app on my Acer AspireOne netbook.

 

Thanks for the link.

 

I wish I had an app to store video clips from my DVR to my Mac and view the video clips with a standard video player.

 

 

Is it possible to access the files on the hard drive from a Linux machine

 

Steve Evans has been instrumental in putting something together for the MAC, SOLARIS, AND LINUX users.

 

The JAVA APP can be downloaded here..

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone involved.

[djg000111 0]

This post is about my success with Snavt Client and CCTV_1.0.dmg on my MacBookPro and thanking Scorpion for having a web site with links to these two programs. Both are good programs.

 

The jar from CCTV_1.0.dmg worked as is on my MacBookPro. I did recompile the source using Xcode because I wanted to make a few very minor changes. CCTV does use a high percent utilization of CPU processing. CCTV does work on my Acer AspireOne netbook but response to commands are slow and video frames are dropped.

 

Snavt Client can be compiled using Xcode. A lot of minor changes are required to use the Xcode IDE. I have an Objective-C main file that calls all the Snavt Client C code. Snavt Client is a super efficient and fast program. No GUI for Snavt Client and I would not have a GUI for Snavt Client. The keyboard commands are logical and better than a GUI. My DVR has 4 Channels. The function key for 4-cut (F10) did not work so I reprogrammed key 0 as the command for 4-cut.

 

Thanks to the developers of Snavt Client (Janne Snabb) and CCTV (Steve Evans) and thanks to Scorpion for his web site.