LinuxMCE Forums

General => Users => Topic started by: ladekribs on November 29, 2010, 12:02:49 pm

Title: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: ladekribs on November 29, 2010, 12:02:49 pm
I Ordered a Foscam FI8908W after reading that Barney had got it working, but the supplier where out of that type so I got one FI8918W instead, it is supposed to be better wider viewing angles and such,but it dies after five to ten minutes when I have it connected to my LinuxMCE LAN, so I connected it to a router with only one pc on the lan, and there it stays alive.

what can be killing the camera so that I have to power it off/on to get it working (disconnecting/reconnecting ethernet wire might help)?

any Ideas?

BR Stefan
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: pw44 on November 29, 2010, 10:42:30 pm
Try defining a static ip address for it.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on November 29, 2010, 10:47:40 pm
Hi Stefan,

I have this problem with the outdoor version FI8904W (wired cat5 cable). Not tested with wireless. I started a thread regarding it back in May:
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=10134.0

I have seen similar problems mentioned by pw44 too (Hi Paulo):
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=10195.msg70089#msg70089

As a workaround I have it set up on the external network where it works fine. I simply point my device at the external IP address in web admin. I suspect a DHCP related problem as it retains dhcp on my router but not in lmce. Read the second thread above regarding networks with more than 5 static dhcp entries.

My wireless FI8908s work great on wireless (internal lmce network).

Regards
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: stress1ner on November 30, 2010, 02:08:51 am
Hi. Do you mind helping me with a step by step for the wireless FI8908 cam. I can only get it to work on windows.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: tschak909 on November 30, 2010, 11:12:51 am
hmm, you guys need to make a device template, so that the device can be detected, and configured automatically. Come on, guys! :(

-Thom
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on November 30, 2010, 01:25:41 pm
Hi Thom,

I've had this as a working template using a copy of the panasonic camera with the scripts in the wiki page I did:
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Foscam_FI8908W

However, I personally use this camera under motion wrapper for security reasons. Is it possible to give other users this flexibility?

Is there a way to create a new template or pnp script which can prompt the user to select their preference?
1. As a simple controllable pan/tilt camera (uses new template)
2. Under motion for security (uses 'generic motion ip camera template')

Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on November 30, 2010, 01:30:53 pm
@stress1ner

Welcome to the forum  ;)
See the wiki I mentioned in the previous post.

You will also need to configure the camera to connect to your 'internal' wifi network in the foscam interface.

Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: ladekribs on November 30, 2010, 01:38:11 pm

correct me if I am wrong, but if we make one template "Foscam pan/tilt" and one "Foscam fixed and enter MAC range in both of them, the Sara will ask if we would like to use both of them, but will she ignore the one not used? or will it be rediscowered all the time?

Best regard Stefan
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: Marie.O on November 30, 2010, 02:10:59 pm
It won't be rediscovered, as the devices MAC address has already been discovered.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: pw44 on November 30, 2010, 03:36:33 pm
Like Barney, i also did try to create a template. Either under motion (without PTZ) or as surveillance camera (with PTZ). Had a lot of problems. I gave up, and added it as generic ip camera, with fixed ip address, and since then, no headache. No PTZ, but better then nothing :)
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on November 30, 2010, 04:26:40 pm
For the record, the wiki describes 2 tested and working methods for using these cameras exactly as pw44 describes.

1. PnP Under Motion (No pan/tilt)
2. PnP As standard IP surveillance camera (with pan/tilt)

At the moment though it's a case of choosing and manually configuring .... until a template is submitted.
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 15, 2011, 09:25:26 pm
Hi all,

I've tried following the wiki for the settings for a IP camera with PTZ, Foscam FI8918.
 I don't know if it is any different to the FI8908 but I'm not getting any video on the orbiter. It all works through firefox.

Is the get_video for the 8918 different and if so anyone know how I can find it?

Thanks Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on March 16, 2011, 01:54:26 pm
Hi Josh,

If you can view the stream in a browser it should work.
http://<CAMERA_IP_ADDRESS>/videostream.cgi?user=XXXXX&pwd=XXXXX

The template needs to be carefully followed and you need to have your path, user and password in the device data. All the ruby code does is construct the above link from the device data.

Looking at the '#84 Get video frame' script it looks like the 'path' might have to be in this format.
http://<CAMERA_IP_ADDRESS>/videostream.cgi?

Hope this helps.
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: purps on March 16, 2011, 03:10:30 pm
Did you ever get to the bottom of the ARP/dropout problem, Barney? I have two Foscams waiting to go fleaBay, planning on replacing them unless there was a solution? I certainly could never get them to work reliably.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on March 16, 2011, 09:57:47 pm
Funny you should ask...

I just dug out my old Satellite receiver (a technomate 9100) and hooked it up to the internal network.

I couldn't access the web frontend of the STB and I couldn't get it to go on the internet ...... UNTIL I added it to the external network and it works fine. Sound familiar?

I'm beginning to think it is not related to the Foscam camera but to DHCP. It might be that there is a problem with dhcp and most users only experience the problem when adding IP devices.

Of course I may be completely wrong but I'm out of ideas.

My camera is stable hooked up to my external network.
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 17, 2011, 12:03:32 am
Thanks Barney,

I can get it through the browser with the videostream. I'll try updating the device template when I get back home in a few days.

Thanks Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: purps on March 17, 2011, 12:42:13 am
OK, little bit of a lie when I said I never had them working reliably - I also had my Foscams plugged into an external network as well, and they worked fine, BUT I got told off when I asked for help with my VOIP (which I still can't get working, despite having a "normal" network setup again). Have to keep my setup as textbook as possible or I will never get ANYTHING going. So no more external router.

I remember discussing the Foscams on IRC, and the words "ARP" and "stack" and "crappy" were being used. And whilst that might be a true, standard routers do seem to be able to handle them (I'm sure I'm missing something fundamental as to why that is). Maybe it's the same story with your old satellite receiver.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 20, 2011, 11:48:00 am
Ok still some trouble;

In the path box I have.

Code: [Select]
/videostream.cgi?TCP port is 80 which is the default of the camera and I've also checked the settings on the camera which show port 80
password and user are setup as well.
It is set to a static address if that makes a difference?

Copied everything else from the panasonic template except for the scripts in the edit ruby codes section which I got from the wiki page for the FI8908W.
   1. 84 Get video frame
Code: [Select]
conn_.Reconnect()
auth_s="user="+device_.devdata_[114]+"&pwd="+device_.devdata_[115];

fix_path=device_.devdata_[2]+auth_s;
fix_path='/'+fix_path if(fix_path[0]!='/'[0]);

s = "GET "+fix_path+" HTTP/1.0\r\n"
s+= "Accept: */*\r\n"
s+= "\r\n"

conn_.Send(s)
recv=""
while(true)
  buff=conn_.Recv(16384, 5000)
  if(buff.length() == 0)
     break
   end
   recv = recv +  buff
end
if (recv=~ /^HTTP[^\r\n]+200\sOK.+?\r\n\r\n(.+)$/m)
  fileName="/tmp/ip_camera_img"+device_.devid_.to_s
  imageFile=File.new(fileName+".jpg",'w')
  imageFile.print $1
  imageFile.close()
  system("/usr/bin/convert "+fileName+".jpg "+fileName+".png");
  size=File.stat(fileName+".png").size
  imageFile=File.new(fileName+".png",'r')
  img = imageFile.read(size);
  imageFile.close()
  data_set(img)
  format_set('png')
end

Unfortunately still no image. I'm finding whenever I click on the foscam tab in the orbiter the padorbiter keeps reloading or the hybrid freezes on that surveillance screen with no image.

Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: tschak909 on March 20, 2011, 02:50:15 pm
Did you check to see if videostream.cgi outputs a single JPEG image? That's what the system requires. Look at the Get Video Frame command in the web admin, under your video camera device (Advanced > Send Command)

hmm.

-Thom
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 20, 2011, 10:38:38 pm
Thanks for the help so far.

99.99% certain that the videostream outputs a single jpeg. I believe that is how it pushes through to firefox browser and trying to save the videostream picks it up as jpeg. Everything I can find on google indicates that it is a jpeg stream.

Thom, when you mention the advanced, send command to device? Am I trying to send a command to the device to test?
or....
Am I viewing the device template, editing the camera commands, editing #Get Video Frame #84?

Sorry getting lost here. Is there anything in the wiki that goes through this in more detail as I've spent hours trawling through the wiki trying to learn as much as I can about the system.

Thanks Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on March 20, 2011, 10:48:32 pm
There is a snapshot.cgi too. You could try that first.

Let us know if it works and I'll update the wiki.
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 21, 2011, 12:50:21 am
Hi Barney,

I'll update the wiki to include this camera if I can get it going.

I've tried
/videostream.cgi?
/video.cgi?
/snapshot.cgi?

Nothing..... Somedays you just feel like dropkicking computers and this was one of them.

Time to take a break.

Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: b4rney on March 21, 2011, 11:32:40 pm
Just a thought ... are you including the full IP address in the path or just '/snapshot.cgi?'.

I think you need the full IP address.
Barney
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: purps on March 22, 2011, 12:37:05 am
I had to put username and password in there as well...

Code: [Select]
http://192.168.1.XXX/videostream.cgi?user=XXXXX&pwd=XXXXXX
Check port number is 80 also.

Cheers,
Matt.
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on March 22, 2011, 12:52:53 am
Thanks guys,

managed to solve the problem:

Code: [Select]
http://192.168.1.XXX/videostream.cgi?user=XXXXX&pwd=XXXXXXWould work in the browser,
Had port 80, had password and user in both the device boxes. Had IP address and MAC address in the boxes as well.

The issue was with the path description as (with my poor understanding of Ruby) the get video command would pull the user/password and IP address from the relevant fields.

After hours of playing around with it in a browser and trying all combinations , snapshot/videostream/video it turns out the problem is with the foward slash. Having it there in the path field, the ruby code must have pulled the path as <IP_Address>//snapshot.cgi and that extra backslash was causing the wrong path and hopefully the reason why the device kept restarting and the orbiter to reload.

So the path has to be:
Code: [Select]
snapshot.cgi?NOT
Code: [Select]
/snapshot.cgi?
I'll run it for a while and see how it all goes and try and make it plug and play too.

Thanks all.

Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: joshpond on April 30, 2011, 10:41:45 pm
Had to do a reinstall and tried to make the Foscam device template again.

Using the same things and trying the same things but no video again.........

I assume the easiest would be to wait till the device template I submitted a while ago gets added to the database.

When do device templates that get submitted to sqlcvs get added to the database?

Are there any other solutions?

Thanks Josh
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: blackoper on May 10, 2011, 08:31:46 pm
10 hours left to get the best price i've seen on these cameras $69.95 shipped from 1saleaday.com. Just an fyi for those interested in it
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: Jicky on February 11, 2012, 06:40:47 am
Had to do a reinstall and tried to make the Foscam device template again.

Using the same things and trying the same things but no video again.........

I assume the easiest would be to wait till the device template I submitted a while ago gets added to the database.

When do device templates that get submitted to sqlcvs get added to the database?

Are there any other solutions?

Thanks Josh

Hi Josh,

Did you have successfully to created and viewed the foscam FI8918W in your orbiter?

Regards,
Jicky
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: huh on February 12, 2012, 11:42:20 pm
Yes- I am typically able to view my camera from my orbiter.  I think motion is still having problems as I am able to go to 192.168.80.1:8000 and see the picture- such as this one of my basement ceiling:  http://imgur.com/rY4Dp (http://imgur.com/rY4Dp)

Whenever I click on the camera on an orbiter or Security -> View Cameras I either get a blank screen on the orbiter or "Camera screenshot not available" in the web admin pages yet I can see the image linked on imgur above.

I just followed the directions in the wiki- this page looks different than I remember, but the instructions look very familiar:  http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Foscam_FI8905W

I've tried restarting motion per the wiki instructions, but to no avail:
Code: [Select]
dcerouter_1024916:/home/huh# /etc/init.d/motion restart
 * Not starting motion daemon, disabled via /etc/default/motion
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: Jicky on February 13, 2012, 02:54:31 am
Yes- I am typically able to view my camera from my orbiter.  I think motion is still having problems as I am able to go to 192.168.80.1:8000 and see the picture- such as this one of my basement ceiling:  http://imgur.com/rY4Dp (http://imgur.com/rY4Dp)

Whenever I click on the camera on an orbiter or Security -> View Cameras I either get a blank screen on the orbiter or "Camera screenshot not available" in the web admin pages yet I can see the image linked on imgur above.

I just followed the directions in the wiki- this page looks different than I remember, but the instructions look very familiar:  http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Foscam_FI8905W

I've tried restarting motion per the wiki instructions, but to no avail:
Code: [Select]
dcerouter_1024916:/home/huh# /etc/init.d/motion restart
 * Not starting motion daemon, disabled via /etc/default/motion

But did you make it can Pan/Tilt in the orbiter? if yes, can you please tell me the instructions?

Thanks in advanced
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: huh on February 13, 2012, 03:31:40 am
Sorry- forgot the model number of my camera- not sure which one I have- looked on the tags but don't see any listings...  either way, mine does not have pan/tilt, so can't test that feature.  Let me know if you want me to try anything. 

I know that when I first click on the camera from an orbiter I just have a blank (white) screen.  Not until I click on where the image would be (presumably to refresh the image) does an image appear.

Not sure this helps...
Title: Re: Foscam FI8918W has anybody got it working?
Post by: Jicky on February 14, 2012, 12:52:26 pm
After i created the SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS, and i checked in the server, inside /home/cameras/ there was nothing there. anyone can help on this?

Thanks

Regards,
Jicky