Refreshing Image URL quit working for IP Video Cameras

Using Indigo Pro 6.0.14 on OS X 10.9.4.

I am using the "Refreshing Image URL" function with my HIKVision IP cameras on some control pages, and it has been working perfectly with the following format:

http://username:password@ip:port/Stream ... /1/picture

However, on new versions of the camera firmware, they have changed the URL format to be this:

http://ip:port/Streaming/channels/1/preview?auth=xxxxxx
(where xxxxxx is the base64 encoded username and password)

If I put the new URL format in a regular web browser, it works perfectly. However, when I use it with the refreshing image URL, I just get a blank image placeholder on the web, or a white rectangle on the Indigo touch app.

Any ideas on why this URL format does not work correctly?

Thank You

[matt (support)]

I'm not sure what would cause that to stop working. Is the image returned by the newer URL a JPEG?

Yes, just confirmed it is returned as a JPG.

If there is any logging or sniffing I can do to try and troubleshoot, I would be happy to.

[matt (support)]

Can you temporarily turn off authentication to see if it works without the ?auth=xxxxx URL argument?

I was able to turn of authentication, and confirmed it works fine in a web browser.

But it still does not load on the control page when omitting the ?auth=xxxxxx part of the URL.

FYI, this is what I get in the logs, which is weird since a regular web browser works fine without any authentication:

WebServer http://myIP.com:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview load error: HTTP Error 401: Unauthorized

[jay (support)]

It's likely your browser has the authentication credentials saved and it automatically logging you in. I think The camera is still looking for authentication.

I actually tried it on a purely pristine private Firefox browser, and when authentication is turned off, it works fine just from the web, so I don't think there are any cached credentials.

I did a couple of experiments with authentication on and off while trying to view only from the Indigo touch app, and here were the log results:

Code: Select all

Error Log With Authentication
WebServer http://myIP:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview?auth=XXXXXX load error: <urlopen error timed out>
WebServer http://myIP:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview?auth=XXXXXX load error: <urlopen error [Errno 61] Connection refused>
Error (client) control page image URL failed to load: http://myIP:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview?auth=XXXXXX
Error (client) Could not connect to the server.

Error Log Without Authentication
WebServer http://myIP:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview load error: HTTP Error 401: Unauthorized


So it seems that Indigo still cannot seem to access the stream, even when authentication is turned off, while a regular web browser can.

[matt (support)]

Those event log snippets show authentication failure. What does the event log show when you have authentication totally turned off?

Those event log snippets show authentication failure. What does the event log show when you have authentication totally turned off?

I do have authentication turned off in the logs provided.

It is totally turned off, and I can access it from a totally virgin regular web browser directly with absolutely no authentication needed. In the camera settings, it is called "Anonymous Access", and it is turned on, which allows anyone to view the mjpeg stream.

I am wondering if something in Indigo is not passing the new URL format correctly to the camera?

[matt (support)]

Above you said:

Code: Select all

Error Log Without Authentication
WebServer http://myIP:myPort/Streaming/channels/1/preview load error: HTTP Error 401: Unauthorized

Is that what you still get with authentication totally turned off ? If so, then it sounds like the camera is still trying to authenticate in some manner.

So I have since upgraded the FW again (supposed to fix some critical issues), and now I am getting authentication even in the web browser, so I can't double check the log files.

I suspect with this latest FW, it is now incorrectly prompting me for authentication, even though it is turned off. And there is no downgrade path, so right now I cannot troubleshoot with no authentication. However, I would never run leave it open in the first place.

So it still begs the question of why with authentication turned on and the correct format, Indigo cannot load the mjpeg stream?

I have verified that if I enter the exact URL in a virgin web browser (with the authentication string at the end), it loads the streaming image, but when entered in Indigo, it does not. Here is the error I am now getting in the log file, when viewing from the Indigo Touch client:

WebServer http://ip:port/Streaming/channels/1/preview?auth=XXXXXX load error: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden

[matt (support)]

Does the URL point to an MPEG stream or a JPG snapshot image?

Indigo only supports refreshing images, not video streams of any type.

Does the URL point to an MPEG stream or a JPG snapshot image?

Indigo only supports refreshing images, not video streams of any type.

I don't think anything has changed in terms of the stream itself, just the authentication method that uses a different URL format.

According to the documentation, it is mjpeg, which I assume means motion jpeg. If I right click on the image and save as, I get a preview.jpg filename, so yes it is jpg.

[matt (support)]

I think that the firmware change is actually related. Indigo doesn't support the MPEG format. It sounds like if you do a save-as you do get a JPG, which Indigo does support, but I believe that is the browser taking a snapshot from the stream and saving it as a JPG. Hopefully the camera supports getting a JPG snapshot directly somehow, via a different URL. It used to before the firmware change.