IP Camera Viewer Not Working on Some Clients

Archived Topics
1

Hi

I have an IP camera in my application which works ok on some clients but I have a few client PC’s that wont display the image. It is an Axis camera and I am at a loss as to why it will not work on these clients. The clients are all running the same Java version and windows xp. Is there some setting I need to check or is it a client PC issue.

Thanks

Aidan

2

One of the odd things about the IP cam viewer is that the connection to the IP camera is actually initiated directly from the Client itself, it is not relayed through the Gateway. This means that the Clients need network access to the IP camera itself. Could this be the problem in your case?

We should probably offer an option to route the connection through the Gateway, but currently this is not how it works.

3

Hi Carl

That could be the problem. I have had problems with permissions and administrator rights on some clients.

Thanks

Aidan

4

Hi Carl

I am having more problems with the IP viewer as of late. It is now freezing on some clients and is not working at all on clients that it previously worked on. I am able to view the image through an internet browser form the client with no issues. Is there any troubleshooting I can do to find out exactly what is causing this. You mentioned permissions in your previous post but I am an Administrator and it is not working on my client but it did up until recently. There was a recent Java update to 20, I wonder is this causing the problem. I am using Factory PMI version 3.3.3 ( Build 3269)

Thanks

Aidan

5

Hi Carl

I have tried a few things today and discovered that if I use Java version 1.6 update 4 the camera will work. Is there something I need to change in my project to use the newer version of Java. I would have developed the project initially on a machine with 1.6 version 4 on it.

Thanks

Aidan

6

I’m not aware of anything in Java 6u20 that would affect the IP camera viewer. Try turning on the Java console on your client machine that is experiencing the problem and see if there are any diagnostic messages there. You can turn the console on through the Java control panel.

7

Hi Carl

I turned on the Console and I did not see any errors when I launched the Camera Viewer.
Here is the print out when the camera viewer is open
Version15.txt (1.51 KB).
I did notice that on the gateway status page it says that the Java version is 1.6_04. would this be what is causing the problem? Is there a way to update this.
I have also discovered that the camera viewer stops working at Java 6 V14. I was thinking about removing version 4 from the server and leaving version 20 only on the server and seeing if it would make any difference. Do you think this is worth while doing.

Thanks

Aidan

8

The version of the Java running the Gateway makes no difference. This is purely a client function.

I think we need to focus on:

  1. Is it consistently some clients working and others not? If so isolate the differences between to two.
  2. If not, perhaps the camera(s) are simply being overloaded with requests, giving the impression that some clients are working and some aren’t, when in reality it is the camera not able to serve so many simultaneous clients.
  3. What kind of cameras are we talking about? Multiple cameras? Brand(s)?
9

Hi Carl

I have only one camera installed at the moment and it is an AXIS M1011. I Set up the URL following the guide for an AXIS camera in the help for IP Camera Viewer. I have the system up and running for about 5 months now. The camera was working ok on clients up until recently. If I remove all Java versions from a client and install version 1.6u 13 then the camera viewer will work ok but if I install a version above this it will stop working. This morning I did a test on my own desktop and laptop. I Cleared the Java cache, removed all old Java versions and installed the latest version 1.6u20 on both clients. The laptop will display the camera but the desktop will not. I get the following on the desktop in the camera viewer :Exception: Received HTTP 503: Service Unavailable. There would only be at maximum 3 clients accessing the camera at any one time. I am at a loss as to why this is happening. Thanks for the guidance on this problem.

Aidan

10

Http 503 is a message coming from the camera itself, which means “unable to process request due to temporary overload/maintenance”

If you shut off the laptop, will the desktop be able to connect?

11

Hi Carl

I will test that out and see what happens. Can you recommend a model of camera that gives a good level of performance.

Many Thanks

Aidan

12

Sorry, we haven’t done any performance or load testing with industrial ip-cameras. Any other customers have suggestions of cameras that are working well with many clients connected?

13

The Axis 223m works pretty well, Esp if you limit the resolution of the connected clients.

I have 6 of them monitoring some furnaces, I’ve had 5 folks looking at one at once w/out any trouble.

14

Hi Carl

I tested the camera today by opening it on 4 clients at the same time with no problems. I also opened the camera up on a web browser on each client at the same time to add more load to the camera with no issues. The clients were all running a Java version less than update 14 apart from my laptop which seems to handle the update 20 ok. I am at a loss as to what to do next. I will be updating to Ignition in the next few weeks so I will wait and see what happens then. This is a bit of a nuisance for me as I had planned to install a few more cameras in the production area. All I can do for now is to stop the automatic updates of Java and keep the version below 14 to guarantee it will work.

Thanks

Aidan

15

Hi Carl

An issue happened today which might explain what is happening with the camera. I am going to change it to a different network. IT have made some changes but never told me about them.

Thanks

Aidan

16

Ok, lets hope that helps, because my ideas are running thin…

17

When IP camera don’t display images, also clients are not being able to access the IP camera, likely the IP camera doesn’t boot correctly.
Almost IP cameras work with DC12V power supply, power requirements are different. You can estimate the power requirements on the basis of IR range.

If no IR, or IR range within 20 meters, then Required Power Supply is DC12V 1A.
If IR range is within 20-30 meters, then Required Power supply is DC12V 1A.
If IR range is within 30-50 meters, then Required Power Supply is DC12V 1.5A.

Hope this will help you. If still the problem remains, consult with the CCTV installation company or technical support team.

18

Very good point!!! I have seen several camera’s installed and powered by UN-Regulated power supplys, that could not supply enough current for more that 2-3 camera’s cause all kinds of problems.

Especially IP Camera’s.