Help with stand alone Hikvision set up

[viiking]

Hello. Newbie here. So I have some newbie questions.

I am trying to set up a CCTV system which will be used to record events after the event. That is, it is not going to be connected to the internet.

I have a peculiar problem at my holiday home (which does not have internet connected), where kids are defacing the house and damaging things like pulling out plants and overturning rubbish bins. I believe I know who the miscreants are but I want to collect evidence to show the parents and to dissuade this sort of behaviour happening in the future.

I have purchased a Hikvision DS 7600 series NVR and 2 x DS2CD3132 F-I and 2 x DS-2CD2232-I5 cameras. I am trying to find out the exact way they are to be wired up. I have connected the cameras directly to the NVR but no cameras are detected. I have the mouse and cameras connected before start-up. In the main menu on some of the You tube videos it shows a tab which says "Add camera" but this does not come up for me. I have downloaded the SADP program and again this is not helpful.

The questions I have are:

1. Do I need to have a router installed upstream of the NVR? That is, connect the router LAN output to the LAN port on the NVR?
2. Do I then have to connect a computer onto the router to change the camera's ip addresses? If so how? That is, which port do I connect the laptop/s RJ45 cable to on the router? A LAN or a WAN port?
3. Is the router no longer required once the camera's are detected?

If someone has a photo or a drawing of how this is done I would appreciate it. Notably which port connections are used.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Dan]

Hi @viiking

This is quite a tricky setup as you have purchased some very old camera models. (2x32 models were first released in 2013)

Did you purchase the cameras from a site where they could potentially have been secondhand? (e.g. eBay, Amazon, etc...)

I ask this because the fact you have connected the cameras directly to the NVR and are seeing no activity would suggest that the cameras are already active with a unique password that the NVR does not recognise. With camera models this old, out the box they should use Hikvision's old default passwords (either 12345 or 123456) but it was always advised that users change these to a more secure unique password.

The only way to verify this is to connect the individual cameras to a LAN/router via a PoE Injector and use Hikvision's IP utility SADP Tool find the camera on your local network.

You can then try and adjust the IP address or gateway of the camera using the default passwords mentioned above. If this fails and you can't change anything with those passwords then that likely confirms that the cameras are already active with unique passwords and you will have to try and get a password reset. Unfortunately, Hikvision and their authorised sellers like us will not perform password reset for Hik users who purchased their equipment through unauthorised sellers like Amazon, eBay, and many other sellers that show prices online.

 

[viiking]

I purchased the cameras from the security company that installed this identical system at my work premises. Except they used about 16 cameras and a bigger PVR.

 

[Dan]

ok, did you also purchase the 7600 NVR from them? Do you know the exact model number of the NVR? (should be on the box label or the label on the NVR case)

 

[viiking]

I haven’t got the NVR with me at present but I think it was a base model like DS-7600 NI? Yes I purchased the NVR at the same time. Maybe they had old stock they were happy to get rid of.

Only thing I did however was when I ran the first setup wizard I changed the admin password from 12345. Maybe it should have remained at that before I connected the cameras which may have been expecting the default password? The units were all definitely new and unused with unused packaging.

 

[Dan]

Ok, yes I think if the NVR was using a default password when you first set it up then you are best off setting the NVR back to that default when first connecting the cameras. Usually, the cameras will be assigned whatever password the NVR is using at the point they are connected but I think due to the age of both the NVR and cameras they do not support this feature and both devices must initially be set to the default passwords for a connection to be made.

 

[viiking]

Ok. Thanks, I’ll try that and report later.

I appreciate the help you have already given me. Thank you!

 

[viiking]

Ok. I reset the passwords back to the default. I ran the SADP software attached to my computer and it recognised all the cameras. Connected the cameras to the NVR and all the cameras worked. Yippee!

However I have a new problem. I tried to connect a DS-2CD2143GO-I camera to the NVR but no result.I can detect the camera on SADP attached to laptop. I had to provide a strong password to allow me to activate which it has done.
My research says that the NVR needs a firmware update to allow it to recognise the strong alphanumeric password of the new camera because the older cameras only used 12345x

However I cannot find an update for my 7600NI-SE/P. I can find other 7600NI versions but not one that says SE/P. Can I use any firmware that says 7600NI or does the update for suffix have to be exact?

After the update will it still recognise the older cameras already connected?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Dan]

Hi @viiking

We were aware of a strong password update for the EasyIP 2.0+/3.0/4.0 cameras:

Security Update for Hikvision Systems - Strong Passwords

You may have noticed with recent camera & NVR firmware updates that Hikvision has introduced some new security measures, the most obvious is the addition of security questions (mothers maiden name/first pet/favourite colour/etc..) to help with password recovery, but as well as these more obvious...

www.use-ip.co.uk

If it is the case that your NVRs default activation password is 12345 or 123456 then you should via a direct monitor be able to change this activation password to the same strong password as the cameras and allow the NVR to recognise the strong camera password. If you go to Maintenance > System Service > IP Camera Activation you should see the box that lets you change the NVRs camera activation password.

If this doesn't work or is not an available menu on the old SE/P NVRs then your only other options are to manually change the camera passwords to the default 12345/123456 password and see if they connect that way. If not then the only other option is to replace the NVR with a newer I-series NVR (DS-7608NI-I2/8P) that will properly support the EasyIP 2.0+ cameras you have. (firmware is not an option because of the age of this model it has not received a firmware update for many years - latest firmware is from 2017)

 

[viiking]

Thanks for the reply. Tried changing to the stronger password but did not work.

When checking the NVR Firmware, it said it was only a V2.2.5 build 150421. The link you gave me to the 2017 update is still newer than mine I think. I believe it is for 7600NI-SE. Mine is a 7608NI-SE/P. I assume the update suits all the 76XXNI models? But what is the additional suffix "/P" on mine? Is it relevant and can I use the given link to update my NVR without affecting the 4 original cameras I already have?

Thanks again for any suggestions.

 

[JB1970]

But what is the additional suffix "/P" on mine? Is it relevant and can I use the given link to update my NVR without affecting the 4 original cameras I already have?

The /P just denotes that the NVR is a model with PoE connections for all of the cameras. Some models only have a single network port and the cameras have to be connected via the local network rather than directly.

 

[Dan]

Yes @viiking

The important part of the firmware code is the 76xxNI-SE which means the firmware should support all those 7600 SE-series NVRs.

 

[viiking]

I have seen somewhere that people say that you have to update firmwares incrementally i.e. each update in chronological release order. Or can you just jump to the latest version?

 

[JB1970]

You don’t need to update through every firmware but it’s best to update through the main ones. For instance if you had a camera on 5.1.x and the latest version was 5.4.5 (as is the R0 platform), you would go via the earliest 5.2.x, 5.3.x,5.4.x, 5.4.5.

For your NVR the only version available is 3.0.22 from both the UK and EU portal. You'll probably have to jump directly to that version.

Any existing older model cameras should be checked and updated to their latest versions. As @Dan detailed in post #9 above, at around version 5.2.x/5.3.x (I forget which) Hikvision implemented a strong password strategy. This meant that the cameras would no longer have a default admin password of 12345, rather they would have no default password at all, requiring a strong one (8 characters min, featuring upper case, lower case, number). When updating the cameras there'll be some hiccups when you get to the point where the camera requires the strong password (the NVR keeps sending the old password and gets temporarily locked out from the camera)

My preferred way to update an older system is as follows:

1. Disconnect the cameras from the NVR
2. Using a separate PoE adaptor connect to a camera and update the firmware to it's latest version through the interim updates as required.
3. At the point the camera reaches the version where the strong password is needed - you lose access with the browser. Nothing to worry about, it's just that the url changes slightly. Delete browser history at this point and you'll get the screen asking you to activate the camera.
4. Activate the camera with a temporary strong password and proceed with the updates until you get to the newest version.
5. At that point - fully reset the camera to defaults from the menu. You will lose access here as the IP address has defaulted to 192.168.0.64 - nothing to worry about - wait a minute for it to boot and then disconnect it. The camera is now on the latest version in a new, just out of the box state. Don't reconnect it.
6. Repeat for the other cameras
7. Update the NVR to the latest version, when prompted create your strong password. If you get a popup to update the camera passwords as well click yes/ok.
8. Plug the cameras back in to the NVR The NVR will activate the cameras using plug and play assigning them the same admin password as the NVR.

It's a time consuming process but having an NVR that has old and new cameras connected with different passwords is a hassle to maintain.

 

[viiking]

Thank you. Comprehensive but succinct answer. I will certainly try that.

 

[viiking]

I updated the NVR firmware via the Upgrade process only to Brick my NVR. I was just a blank screen and not doing anything. I downloaded the TFTP program and managed to recover the NVR but at the same time I ran the V3.022 firmware which is the last update for this model.

For those who may be searching for a similar answer, when running the TFTP program, I got nothing for many attempts up to half-an-hour with the program just saying "...initialised...". In frustration I just turned off the NVR and after a minute turned it back on. Miraculously (or by design??) the TFTP program started and after 30 secs the NVR rebooted and came back on to a slightly different appearance showing that the update had worked.

It wasn't until some time later that I looked at thetftpserver.log file to see this.

Device [192.0.0.64] test tftpserver
Connect client success[192.0.0.64] Success
Start file transmitting [C:\TFTP-Update\digicap.dav]
Connect client success [192.0.064] Success
Open file failure [C:\TFTP-Update\econt_Vision-AV2000 meout]
Connect client failure,0
Connect client failure,0
Connect client failure,0
Connect client failure,0
Connect client failure,0
Connect client failure,0

The NVR was working perfectly but I don't know the significance of the "Connect client failure,0" error.

I connected to SADP tool and indeed the Firmware was now V3.022. The Wizard started and I was asked for a strong password which I entered.

The three older cameras immediately connected. They did not ask for a stronger password than 12345. The DS-2CD2143GO-I was recognised and for a moment it showed a video output for a second and then stopped frozen. After waving to get it to detect motion, it again showed motion and then again stopped. Finally the Camera management screen showed that the camera was there but not not connected. The password for this camera was the stronger one entered on the NVR previously. Interestingly the three other older cameras would disconnect if I manually gave them the strong password. In other words I have a mixture of 12345 and strong passwords on the same NVR.

When I connect the cameras individually to the SADP, they all show up including the DS-2CD2143GO-I. But on the NVR it won't connect.

I think the easiest thing is to just cut my losses with the newer camera and see if I can buy an older camera with old firmware like the others. I would contemplate buying a new NVR if someone could give me an iron-clad guarantee that it is indeed plug and play with the cameras, but given how complex, lacking clarity and simplicity the Hikvision systems are compared to other systems I don't have confidence.

 

[JB1970]

The easiest thing for you to do would just be to factory default the newer camera and plug it back in again for it to set itself up with plug and play. From your post it sounds as though you've updated the NVR but not updated the cameras yet which isn't ideal. On an older system such as yours I'd normally have disconnected the cameras from the NVR and updated them individually through any major interim versions to the latest available - then factory defaulted them before plugging them into the updated NVR.

 

[viiking]

Given the amount of problems I’ve had and chasing solutions I’ve been to worried to update the cameras I gave that are working in case I lose even more. I might have to do as you suggest. How do you factory default the cameras?

 

[JB1970]

Given the amount of problems I’ve had and chasing solutions I’ve been to worried to update the cameras I gave that are working in case I lose even more. I might have to do as you suggest. How do you factory default the cameras?

As long as they're not grey imports there's no reason why you should have any issues updating them. They may or may not have a reset button on them - you'll possibly find the F-I model does but the -IS model doesn't. My preferred method is to use the web browser rather than the reset button. Goto the camera settings page on the NVR and you'll be able to read off the existing IP addresses that have been assigned by plug and play. They will be in the 192.168.254.xxx range. Make a note of the address for each, unplug them and after setting a PC or laptop to an address in the same 192.168.254.xxx range, connect to the camera at it's existing address with a web browser and go through the steps as detailed in post 14 above. At the end of that process you'll be able to just default it using the link in the maintenance menu of the camera. I should say there are other methods of doing the updates, but that's just the way I do them when I need to do multiple updates that go beyond the "secure password" version.

 

[viiking]

OK I have updated the old camera's firmware to the latest versions as per the procedure previously mentioned and they work OK. The new camera shows up in the SADP tool when directly plugged into the PC. When you try and access it via the web browser, it cannot find the camera. Yes the PC is in the same subnet. This happens with or without direct internet connection.

The new camera shows up in the Camera menu OK. When I go to the camera in a single view screen I get the message "no link" or sometimes "no resource". I initially don't get a picture but I get the Warning/Attention triangle at the bottom of the screen. When I click on the triangle lo and behold I get a picture. The picture lasts exactly one second and then becomes static. If I continue to wave at the camera to simulate a movement I get the next picture exactly 16 seconds later followed by motion for one second and the process repeats again in the 1 sec/16 sec process.

So the camera and the NVR must at least be communicating with each other. I researched that you can go to Record, Parameters and try to reduce the resolution of the camera. However when I try this it says that the "operation is not supported by this camera". The other cameras work fine and you can adjust the resolution how you please. Wherever I try to go to make changes to this camera, I get the same sort of message as if the camera was not connected.