Formatting a rtsp address for SecuritySpy

jchip

I'm attempting to connect two Link-U cameras to SecuritySpy, so far with no success.

They're not on the compatibility list, nor are they seemingly ONVIF (appear in Auto-Discovery but require a Request string), however they can be accessed in other software such as BlueIris on PC and Sighthound on Mac using the rtsp address - rtsp://192.168.1.200:554/v01

How do I transfer this URL format across to SecuritySpy?

The Address field seems to be pre-formatted to http:// and the app doesn't have a Protocol menu for http://, https://, rtsp:// etc, so I'm not sure how to get the URL correctly formatted.

HTTP port, RTSP port, Username, Password are all correctly set (I've tried leaving these blank).
Profile is Manual configuration to allow for a Request string (Input or stream number doesn't work).
Format is RTSP TCP (I've tried the other options too).
Request is v01. The camera supports v01-v06 for the streams.

All the URL components are in place, yet SecuritySpy still can't connect. Other apps connect just fine by simply using rtsp://192.168.1.200:554/v01 in the address field.

Any suggestions to get the rtsp URL working in SecuritySpy?

Ben

The correct setup based in this information is as follows:

- Enter 192.168.1.200 as the Address
- Leave the port boxes blank
- Select Manual as the Profile
- Select RTSP TCP as the Format
- Enter any username/password required by the camera
- Enter v01 as the Request

If this doesn't work, please have a look at the log (File menu -> Open Log) and copy-and-paste the last few error messages related to the camera here.

jchip

Thanks Ben. That's exactly how I settled on formatting the URL and it's not working.

I don't have the cameras open in any other app, nor via the web browser UI.

Error messages all look like this -

01/03/2017 08:12:10: There was an error while setting up the camera "Link-U Downstairs". 4.1,66040,1 Failed to open network device.

01/03/2017 08:12:22: There was an error while setting up the camera "Link-U Upstairs". 4.1,66040,1 Failed to open network device.

I tried uninstalling 4.1, installing 4.0.10 and setting up only one cam. The same error occurs -

01/03/2017 08:18:12: There was an error while setting up the camera "Network camera". 4.0.10,66040,1 Failed to open network device.

Upgrading to 4.1.1 -

01/03/2017 08:23:35: There was an error while setting up the camera "Network camera". 4.1.1,66040,1 Failed to open network device.

FaceTime cam on the iMac works just fine.

I'll follow up via the ticket and send the Debug log.

jchip

Soooo....I just tried SecuritySpy on a MacBook Air and it connected just fine to the Link-U cams. It's not your app, it'll be something else on my iMac interfering with the connection.

I'm pretty security-conscious (hence the interest in SecuritySpy) and have the interwebs locked down pretty tight using LittleSnitch, Intego and a couple of other small apps from objective-see.com.

LittleSnitch is also running on the Air and neither is blocking anything for SecuritySpy, so it must be something else. I'll keep digging and post an update if I track it down.

jchip

Nailed it - Intego was set to "Ask" for network connections and wasn't tossing a prompt to connect to the LAN IP addies of the Link-U cams. Once I deleted the rule, the cams are working.

Sorry for wasting your time, it was my anal-retentive OS X security at fault.

On the upside, you can add Link-U cams to the compatibility list. The Link-U developer was interested in SecuritySpy as a potential solution for his customers, so this is a good outcome

jchip

I should add the Link-U cameras now work 100% fine as auto-discovered ONVIF devices.

The streams are all selectable via the Choose Stream button.

Ben

Great to hear it's all working now!

Error 1 does in fact mean "Operation not permitted", I'll make sure in the next update we get SecuritySpy to actually describe this error rather than just present some esoteric numbers, as this would most likely have helped you troubleshoot.

Good to know about the Link-U cameras, and good to know they are ONVIF-complaint – we'll take a look at these and add them to our list. Do you have a model number for the particular Link-U camera you are using, and can you briefly provide your impressions of the camera (video quality etc.)?

jchip

More info here - http://linkucam.com

I backed the Link-U cams on Indiegogo a few years back now. The primary reason for doing so is the Link-U cams support 4G and battery-backup, alongside on-board SD recording. In a nutshell, I wanted internal cams that worked if the bad guys cut the internet and/or power, or if ethernet & wi-fi fell over for any reason.

Until recently, the investment in the two Link-U cams was a complete dud. The Link-U iOS app is bad at best and crashes at the drop of a hat (they are working on it). Furthermore, there was no information about the cam's web browser interface, let alone how to access it. The only reason I stumbled upon it is the cams popped up in SecuritySpy and I clicked the "Open in web browser" button.

Once I logged into the web interface, the Link-U cams really opened up. The streams are highly configurable (up to 1080p @ 30FPS) with tonnes of options. I don't have anything to compare it with, but I'll be getting some internal & external Hikvisions soon and can offer a more informed opinion at that time.

The overall image quality is good, but field-of-view is 130 degrees, so there's some fish-eye warping going on. I'd have preferred maybe 90-100 degrees for better facial recognition, but 130 degrees seems to be the standard, so I can live with that.

Night vision works well and I have one of the cams setup in a dark room downstairs at all times. The option to have coloured night vision allows for recording bright areas leading into the room while the night vision covers the dark room itself.

Unfortunately the cam's on-board software still needs some work as I can't get the Events functioning correctly. There's support in there for FTP, SMTP, TCP and HTTP for motion, audio and infra-red, but I can thus far only get continuous recording to the SD working.

Multicast is also supported, but I'm not sure how to use it. DDNS is on-board too, as is UPnP and two-way audio, so the Link-U cams tick a lot of boxes.

Long story short - Link-U feels very much like a beta product and is still under development. The hardware is solid with some great features. What really lets the Link-U cams down is crappy software, but SecuritySpy more than covers those shortcomings.

The Link-U cams record continuously to 32GB SD cards, while SecuritySpy handles motion and audio detection on an iMac running 24/7. Captures are saved to a Google Drive folder for automatic cloud-sync, with FTP backup to a Synology NAS locked away under the stairs and email alerts are sent to Gmail...lots of bases covered there. I'm yet to implement 4G on the cameras, but if I can get the system bedded down and working satisfactorily, that's the final piece of the puzzle.

Again, what sold me on the Link-U cams was the fall-back of 4G, battery-backup and SD storage in case the power and internet went down. Nothing else offers that, as far as I'm aware. I considered going down the DropCam, Scout and Piper route, but they're dead in the water without a permanent internet connection and offer wi-fi only connection. I do have UPS and 4G backup in case the LAN goes down, but I'll only get 30mins of coverage at best, whereas the Link-U will cover an outage of 8 hours or so.

Hope this helps!

Ben

Thanks for the detailed information, I'm sure this will be very helpful for other users! The battery backup is an unusual and useful feature, and it's good to know image quality and build quality is good.