Hik-Connect Hik-Connect App Issues - Edit Device Name

[Jameze]

Hi all. Hopefully a quick one if you’ll bear with me; I previously had a 4 channel Hikvision NVR (DS-7604NI-K1-4P(B)) and upgraded it to the 8 channel equivalent (DS-7608NI-K2-8P) as it’s predecessor was struggling to cope with the 4nr cameras running at 4K and kept randomly rebooting multiple times per day.

The new NVR has been setup with identical settings as the previous and everything is working as expected with the exception of the Hik-Connect app (note: all firmware is up to date).

I can add the NVR and cameras to the app no problem and stream the live feed and playback clips etc, but I cannot rename any of the cameras in the app. They’re all showing as “camera 1@DXXXXX[serial number]” etc.

Previously I could name them whatever I liked (usually to match their names in the NVR) so that when I got push notifications through to my phone for line crossing or intrusion events it was easy to quickly identify where the event has occurred but now it just tells me the camera number which is just irritating.

If I go into the settings in the Hik-Connect app (Settings > Linked Camera) and press the pencil icon to “Edit Device Name”, it lets me type a new camera name but when I hit save it just hangs for about 10 seconds then comes up with “Failed to connect to the server”.

I had the same issue with trying to edit the Device Name but managed to overcome this by logging into www.hik-connect.com and editing the alias of the device there and refreshing my app. Unfortunately it doesn’t list individual cameras so cannot do the same for those.

Has anyone else had this or is there something I may be missing? I’ve removed and re-added the device, rebooted my phone and the NVR and compared the settings previously used with my current ones and they’re identical from what I can see.

It’s something so minor but really frustrating!

Any help appreciated. Thanks

 

[Jameze]

Is anyone else experiencing issues with being able to rename their cameras in the HikConnect app? I’m wondering whether it’s an issue with the latest version of app itself vs when I first set it up problem free a few months ago.

Would be interesting to hear whether others are experiencing the same as I’m all out of things to try!

 

[Dan]

Is anyone else experiencing issues with being able to rename their cameras in the HikConnect app? I’m wondering whether it’s an issue with the latest version of app itself vs when I first set it up problem free a few months ago.

Would be interesting to hear whether others are experiencing the same as I’m all out of things to try!

We have just tested this with the latest update of the app (V3.11.0.1012) and we had no problem changing the camera name. In the picture above you have no thumbnails for the bottom 2 cameras, are these cameras actually connected properly and giving you a live image?

You also have several cameras there that are named, are they not connected to the new 7608 NVR? Can you still change the names of those ones or are all of them not letting you change the names?

I also see from the above screenshot that you are on 4G, have you tried changing the names whilst connected to WiFi on the same network as the NVR?

If they are all Hikvision cameras you can always change the names in the NVR settings and this should, from our testing, be carried across to the app.

 

[Jameze]

We have just tested this with the latest update of the app (V3.11.0.1012) and we had no problem changing the camera name. In the picture above you have no thumbnails for the bottom 2 cameras, are these cameras actually connected properly and giving you a live image?

You also have several cameras there that are named, are they not connected to the new 7608 NVR? Can you still change the names of those ones or are all of them not letting you change the names?

I also see from the above screenshot that you are on 4G, have you tried changing the names whilst connected to WiFi on the same network as the NVR?

If they are all Hikvision cameras you can always change the names in the NVR settings and this should, from our testing, be carried across to the app.

Thanks for testing that.

Yeah the bottom two cameras are offline (I’ve got 4 cameras but the new NVR is obviously an 8 channel so nothing plugged into the remaining 4. I’ve got them hidden in my HikConnect app).

The cameras that are named in my previous post are the names I am trying to change them to, and the error that is shown is the message that pops up when it subsequently fails. These are the exact same names of the cameras as shown on the NVR but it doesn’t appear to be pulling that information through to the app and won’t let me change it. See below what it looks like at the moment (blurred serial numbers):

I can’t seem to change the name of any of the 8 channels regardless of whether or not it is online / offline.

With regards to WiFi, unfortunately it makes no difference whether it’s connected to the same network or via 4G.

I’m totally lost! I can’t fathom what is preventing me being able to change the names and have tried everything I can think of. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Arno]

We've having exactly the same issue renaming our cameras and NVR through the Hik-Connect app (V3.11.0.373886 on iOS). Every time I try renaming the NVR or individual cameras, I get the message "Failed to connect to the server". I am however able to rename the NVR trough the hik-connect website however there is nowhere to rename individual cameras on the website.

It also doesn't matter whether we are on Wifi (same network as NVR) or connecting to it remotely.

Any help would also be appreciated.

 

[fullboogie]

I think you have to rename the cameras in their web interfaces - not the NVR's web interface. Or just do it directly on the NVR/monitor.

 

[Jameze]

We've having exactly the same issue renaming our cameras and NVR through the Hik-Connect app (V3.11.0.373886 on iOS). Every time I try renaming the NVR or individual cameras, I get the message "Failed to connect to the server". I am however able to rename the NVR trough the hik-connect website however there is nowhere to rename individual cameras on the website.

It also doesn't matter whether we are on Wifi (same network as NVR) or connecting to it remotely.

Any help would also be appreciated.

Glad I’m not the only one having this issue. It’s really frustrating, especially as it worked flawlessly with my last NVR! Hopefully someone out there has had the same problem and managed to overcome it somehow.

 

[Arno]

Unfortunately renaming the cameras through their respective web interfaces makes no difference.

After doing some investigating, I suspect it might be a problem with the hik-connect server that my NVR is connected to. When I enable 'Platform Access Mode' on individual cameras, I am able to rename those cameras using the Hik-Connect app. The hik-connect server IP is set to 'litedev.eu.hik-connect.com' in the individual cameras web interface whereas the NVR points to 'dev.eu.hik-connect.com'. I've tried pointing the NVR to 'litedev.eu.hik-connect.com' however it fails to connect.

Notifications from the NVR also aren't in a friendly format and don't indicate which camera triggered the smart event but rather just the model of the NVR. Notifications from the camera itself appear in a sensible format. See screenshot below which shows two notifications for the same smart event (one from the camera itself and the other from the NVR).

 

[dan1242]

Hi Guys, use the forum a lot but never actually registered and posted anything but I felt I should share with you how to remedy this. Having been installing various levels of NVR's & DVR's over the past few weeks I have noticed this fault but only with specific NVR's. My discovery was that anything with firmware 3.4.104 and upwards wont let you alter the camera names from within the app as we have always had to do as it would appear only devices with GUI 4.xx will auto transfer the camera names to the app. So I have been investigating the inability to alter camera names as it looks awful handing a system over to a client with a camera number and serial number instead of the cameras actual name. So to remedy this I have been downgrading the NVR's to 3.4.101 (found on Hik's portal) for the time being until Hik release a new firmware with the bug fix.

Hope this helps for now.

 

[Jameze]

Hi Guys, use the forum a lot but never actually registered and posted anything but I felt I should share with you how to remedy this. Having been installing various levels of NVR's & DVR's over the past few weeks I have noticed this fault but only with specific NVR's. My discovery was that anything with firmware 3.4.104 and upwards wont let you alter the camera names from within the app as we have always had to do as it would appear only devices with GUI 4.xx will auto transfer the camera names to the app. So I have been investigating the inability to alter camera names as it looks awful handing a system over to a client with a camera number and serial number instead of the cameras actual name. So to remedy this I have been downgrading the NVR's to 3.4.101 (found on Hik's portal) for the time being until Hik release a new firmware with the bug fix.

Hope this helps for now.

Thank you SO much! It’s worked. Downgraded from V3.4.105 to V3.4.103 and it’s let me rename the cameras as expected. I’m very grateful, thank you for sharing that tip.

 

[Arno]

Thanks for sharing the info!! I've downgraded from V3.4.105 to V3.4.101 and I'm now able to rename the cameras and NVR through the Hik-Connect app.

 

[Milan]

Can somebody explain how to downgrade NVR to older FW? I have same issue with aliases.

 

[Jameze]

Can somebody explain how to downgrade NVR to older FW? I have same issue with aliases.

Same process as upgrading, you just download an older version of the firmware. Follow the firmware “upgrade” steps here.

 

[Milan]

It allows without any errors?

 

[Jameze]

Yeah no issues at all.

 

[Milan]

Resolved. Thanks!

 

[slipdog]

Guys, i have just got to say thanks a million!!!

I have wasted so much of my time thinking it is a setting I've messed up on or something.

Big thanks to the original poster and also Dan1242 for actually figuring it out.

I upgraded from a DS-7604-NI-E1 to a DS-7608-NI-K2 with firmware V3.4.108 200102 which is 27-03-2020 (latest)!! and they still haven't fixed this yet is beyond belief.

The only thing i'll say to add to this for other novices out there like me (when you come across this problem) is when you downgrade back to V3.4.101 it will completely wipe all your settings.

Cheers guys from a very happy man

 

[JT_Singh]

@JB1970 I think this may be the issue why the camera names don't get updated automatically with the names on iVMS-4200 and the Hik-connect app. I am downgrading the firmware and if it works that will be a success. But quite appalling on Hikvision to have something so basic messed up in the NVR firmware.

 

[JB1970]

@JB1970 I think this may be the issue why the camera names don't get updated automatically with the names on iVMS-4200 and the Hik-connect app. I am downgrading the firmware and if it works that will be a success. But quite appalling on Hikvision to have something so basic messed up in the NVR firmware.

It possibly is with Hik Connect. I have an I series NVR so don't have the issue. However iVMS-4200 software requires that you update the camera names as I described in the other thread. To that end it doesn't matter what NVR/DVR you have, what firmware it's on, what version of iVMS-4200 you are running and whether you run it on Windows or Mac - the process is the same. The photos show before and after on my system.

 

[JT_Singh]

So I followed the suggestion and downgraded my K series NVR to 3.4.101. I can now successfully change the camera names in the Hik-Connect App. However I am not receiving any push notifications. The notifications are enabled for the Hik-connect device on the app (via the Settings). Not sure if I am missing something here.

Can anyone help?!