Posts made by Crimp On_62210811129

Perhaps I am missing something. When I connect to my Reolink RLC-420 camera with a web browser, and click on Settings, under System there is a choice for Maintenance which includes firmware update. If the goal is to update firmware in the camera, it seems like a web browser can do that.

A description of the environment might be useful. I, personally, do not have a DVR, so my Reolink cameras all have SD Cards. When I go into "Playback" mode, there are choices at the bottom of the screen for 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x which seems like "fast forward" to me. I do not see a red or green cursor, so maybe that is a function of the NVR?

Which version of client software is not able to set the detection area? (mac/pc). Is this on the camera or on the NVR?

The Argus battery-powered cameras do not include a web interface. The Reolink Windows Client software will connect to the camera and when you select "Playback" there are two options: (1) to view motion recordings in the Client software by selecting them at the bottom of the screen. (2) by "Downloading" recordings to the PC hard drive and playing them with software like VLC or 5KPlayer.

Oh, cr**p. I have the same cameras, but put SD Cards in them instead of using an NVR. (They are GREAT cameras!)
Wish I could help, but the issue seems to be with the Android app and the NVR.

The web site indicates that this NVR package works with Mac/Windows clients and with a web browser.
What happens when you connect to the NVR with a web browser?
Do you have a PC or Mac that can load the Reolink client software?

I know this isn't help "solving the problem". Sometimes it is useful to know if one type of access works and another does not, or if they all have the same issue.

Probably helpful to identify which Reolink camera you have. Is there an SD card in the camera? What are the "record" settings?

On my Reolink Android app, when I select an Argus camera, for example, and select "Playback", I get a display with calendar days and a timeline. I then select which day and which recording I want to view.

I FTP files to my desktop computer. In order to keep from filling up the hard drive, I run a Windows batch script every day to delete files older than a certain number of days. Here's what it looks like:

REM Delete all files over 15 days old
REM
ECHO FTP File Cleanup Begins %date% %time% >C:\Users\Dick\FTP-file-cleanup.log
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\FrontDoorCam /S /M *.* /D -15 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\HondaCam /S /M *.* /D -15 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\PickupCam /S /M *.* /D -15 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\ShedCam /S /M *.* /D -15 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\SideCam /S /M *.* /D -15 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
REM
REM Delete all JPG files over 3 days old
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\FrontDoorCam /S /M *.JPG /D -2 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\HondaCam /S /M *.JPG /D -2 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\PickupCam /S /M *.JPG /D -2 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\ShedCam /S /M *.JPG /D -2 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\SideCam /S /M *.JPG /D -2 /C "CMD /C DEL @PATH"
REM
REM Delete all MP4 files less than 10MB - Get rid of nonsense motion files (too short to be useful)
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\FrontDoorCam /S /M *.MP4 /C "CMD /C if @fsize lss 10000000 DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\HondaCam /S /M *.MP4 /C "CMD /C if @fsize lss 10000000 DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\PickupCam /S /M *.MP4 /C "CMD /C if @fsize lss 10000000 DEL @PATH"
forfiles /P F:\Reolink\ShedCam /S /M *.MP4 /C "CMD /C if @fsize lss 10000000 DEL @PATH"
REM
REM Delete all totally empty directories
ROBOCOPY F:\Reolink F:\Reolink /S /MOVE
REM
ECHO FTP File Cleanup Ends %date% %time% >>C:\Users\Dick\FTP-file-cleanup.log

Your observation is correct. Recordings saved using FTP and "Download" are rejected by Windows Media Player. I use VLC and 5KPlayer, which both are able to process the recordings. My guess is that using the "Record" option during playback means that the Windows Client program is creating the video file. So, recordings made by a Windows program are acceptable to Media Player. Recordings made on the Reolink camera (a version of Linux) are not.

If someone is taking suggestions, this is one of my issues as well. "Channel" appears to refer to an NVR concept that simply does not apply to the web interface. Each window has exactly one camera, and every camera is called "CH1". It makes much more sense to have the camera name up there, or just nothing at all.

Which Reolink camera is this?

The question does not specify which camera. "Out of the box" I believe the password is actually "password". Of course, the user is encouraged to change the password to something more exotic. If the password is no longer "password", it might be necessary to "reset" the camera and set it up again from scratch.

My first step would be to upgrade the firmware to the latest release (354-19031112). On the "Download Center" page, scroll down to 3/22/2019.

"Motion" is a strange concept. Although we tend to think of "motion" as things like people, automobiles, etc. Other things can fool the PIR sensor. Shadows moving across a lawn, for example. You can try lowering the sensitivity.

I agree with Rorb. The battery powered cameras can be powered with a USB cable, which means they never run out of power. When the camera has unlimited power, those restrictions to "conserve battery" make no sense. The customer should be able to use the camera. (Actually, if some dumb customer wanted to deliberately drain the battery by watching the camera constantly, why must Reolink forbid it?)

Carl,

Just a suggestion. It would be helpful if Reolink provided a mechanism for customers to request changes. Although I do not feel the same sense of urgency that this customer does, I support his concept. Cameras record "motion" all the time, sometimes literally 100's of time in one day. "Which of these have I already looked at?" Who knows? Reolink certainly doesn't provide any hints. The battery-powered cameras do not provide the capabilities (such as FTP) that customers could use to provide their own method of tagging and deleting files. Pulling the SIM card every day is just a dumb idea.

Other vendors provide formal web sites to suggest improvements. Netgear, for example: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Idea-Exchange-For-Home/idb-p/idea-exchange-for-home/label-name/orbi%20wifi%20system

It would encourage customers if they had a way to suggest improvements and give the developers something to think about.

Has the SD Card ever "filled up" and not recorded something? My understanding is that cameras will automatically delete the oldest recording to make room for the newest one. These 1080p short recordings do not take up much space. My two Argus cameras that I have had since they were first shipped still have half of the 16GB SD Card space remaining, so it will be a loooong time before I get to see if they "wrap around" correctly or not.

You are, of course, correct about the RLC-423 being PoE and not WiFi. I sometimes have trouble with the Reolink "Product" display and thought I was selecting WiFi cameras. Sorry.

Have you tried support@reolink.com? It might be different people on the Tech Support help desk than on the community web site?

Just wondering, what port number does Blue Iris find the RLC-423 at?

You can "see" the RLC-423 because it is a WiFi camera that is not wired directly to the NVR for Power Over Ethernet (PoE). The cameras that are connected to the NVR are assigned IP addresses by the NVR which are not in your normal WiFi IP range. (Frankly, I am surprised that the RLC-423 has the same IP as the NVR. My assumption is that it would get an IP address from your router.) This business of the NVR assigning IP addresses to the cameras is a recurring issue on this forum. A number of people have pleaded with Reolink to let the customer decide IP addresses.

The only way I know of to make the cameras "visible" is to have them get IP addresses from your router. i.e. instead of providing PoE from the NVR, install a PoE switch that is connected to your network and connect the RLC-410's to it instead of the NVR. An 8-port PoE switch is about $100.

By-the-way, I can understand what led the NVR designers to do what they did. If the cameras are connected directly to the NVR, (1) it's a LOT harder to hack them because they are physically separate from the main network, and (2) none of the camera traffic goes over the main network. When networks were a lot slower than they are today, a dozen cameras blasting constantly could overwhelm the customer's main network. Today... not so much.

Of course, with the cameras not visible, it also means that customers rely on the NVR and are sort of tied into the ecosystem.

OK, Android phone. Just to be clear, "Do not disturb" means "I do not want to be bothered now." The phone shows nothing, makes no sound, etc. I use this setting ONLY when at the movies and after I go to bed at night.

My Android Pie has a number of settings which control notifications. For example, under Lock screen preferences there is a setting for "Wake screen when you receive notifications." I think this is a phone issue, and not a Reolink issue. Notifications are handled differently by each release of Android, and differently between manufacturers.

My understanding is that notifications are processed differently be each mobile device (phone, tablet, Apple, Android, etc.) and even differently by version of operating system on the device. So, Carl's question is critical. Under what condition are alerts not making a sound: (a) when the phone is on but the screen is locked? (b) when the phone is on, but is "asleep" or set to "do not disturb"? Exactly which phone is this?

Carl,

As always, the support team gives the best advice which Reolink has made available. There are two issues with using sensitivity level to adjust what the camera regards as "motion".

(1) The camera does not report what "level" caused a motion to be detected. i.e. was it "10", "20", "21", ??? If the camera would report, "I tagged this as 'motion' because it rated xx on a scale of 1 to 50", then the user could say, "hey, if I set the sensitivity to xx, then most of these non-events would not register." But, we have NO IDEA what the value was.
(2) The switch from day mode to night mode changes every day of the year. The user cannot be expected to change the time limits for every camera, every week. That is just ridiculous.

I am strongly in favor of introducing a "time" component. If "motion" persists for a defined number of frames, then it truly IS "motion". If not, then it should be ignored. Yes, it is a LOT harder to program than a simple frame-by-frame comparison, but these guys are 'smart', n'est pas?