Milesight V9 NVR Firmware

[Phil]

Milesight have released a new V9 version of the firmware for their NVRs.
This video highlights some of the new features, and shows the new GUI.
The VCA integration with their cameras and the NVR is not yet complete - a further update to this new V9 firmware is planned in the next few weeks to make that available.

BTW - we have also been told to expect a 'no plugin' browser solution from Milesight in December (so that you will be able to use modern browsers to view video from your Milesight products).

 

[M-J-B]

Hi,

Has anyone had any success configuring DDNS with the latest firmware? Milesight supposedly have their own DDNS service, but for some reason it is not an option in the NVR firmware. I have configured no-ip.com but the changed IP doesn't update to their service. I have double checked my entries in the NVR and in my no-ip profile. When saving the settings the NVR replies it has been successfully saved but it doesn't actually test the functionality.

 

[Mal]

Hi,
How about configuring the DDNS in your router?
This firmware broke the playback functionality with M-Sight pro (IOS & Android). There is an upgrade to the app to fix it but the playback still says "There is no file in the specified time". The files do exist because the playback from this new firmware works with Safari. The M-Sight Pro playback is ok with another NVR with an older firmware.

The 'no plugin' browser solution will be very welcome.

 

[M-J-B]

My router only accepts dyn.com so I thought why not use some of the free alternatives offered by the NVR. Replacing the router would probably the best alternative in the long run anyway, but Milesight should deliver what they promise.

It seems to me there is a lot of development going on trying to patch up the "promiseware" in a hurry. Last night I tried, for the second time during the V9 era, to troubleshoot why the NVR stopped reacting on the basic motion detection. First time it happened I recovered by resetting the NVR to factory defaults. This time I didn't want to do that, but after rebooting I reset and re-saved every motion detection related option there is on the NVR. It didn't help. I then reset the camera to factory defaults, which also didn't seem to help at all. I repeated the previous procedure cycling thru the options on the NVR but still no motion detection. Tired of running between the console and camera (to create some significant movement) I went to bed with mystery unsolved. Some time later the motion detection feature recovered while I was sleeping, sending me emails all night as I left the motion detection on high sensitivity. I'm eagerly waiting for the VCA hoping it will be bug free.

 

[Mal]

I learned earlier that the camera may run out of processing capacity if too many VCA functions are simultaneously active. 2 or 3 simultaneous was then a recommended maximum. Thinking about the small size and low power consumption of the camera this should be quite obvious. E.g. one Hikvision darkfighter camera has an internal fan for distributing the processing heat inside the enclosure.

 

[M-J-B]

Currently I haven't activated any of the camera features that are not available in the NVR interface. All I have activated is continuous recording, the basic motion detection which activates the e-mail function with 100s intervals, P2P, and attempts to activate DDNS. Camera transport protocol is TCP and passwords have been changed, everything else is on defaults. Even so, the camera controls from the NVR console (using mouse & HDMI) are very sluggish from time to time. Rotating the camera "one click" might end up with the camera rotating 60 degrees or even more, so aiming the camera is difficult at times. When the camera struggles with locking the auto focus (especially in the dark with IR activated and water drops on the lens) it becomes totally unresponsive for long periods. Usually it buffers the commands and executes them when it recovers from the unresponsive state. When the AF fails completely, it doesn't react on manual focus, but tapping the zoom helps. I now have two totally separate setups, both with identical cameras, identical NVR:s (different HDD:s) and identical firmware versions, and they both behave in a similar manner. one setup is installed in final location and the other is in my test bench currently. My NAS is no longer connected to either of these setups. Oh, and forgot to mention that I have set the video quality to highest possible h.265 on both primary and secondary streams - should be reasonable.

In my humble opinion, considering the Milesight marketing materials it shouldn't be too obvious that the camera is not capable of performing the tasks it is marketed to do, though I can't see the practical need to use all of the VCA features simultaneously so I haven't attemped that. There is supposed to be (at least on paper) a fan equipped version of the MS PTZ bullet, but considering the outside temperatures this time of year, heat shouldn't be an issue. Instead, a couple times I have been forced to activate all the LED:s on full effect in order to produce enough heat to drive moisture away from the inside of the lens assembly.

 

[Mal]

I have had some similar experiences with my setup. The good thing is that Milesight has listened to the user and provided help. I know that it takes time to see items in the wishlist implemented. However, there has been a continuous progress to the right direction. If you wish I could tell more details of my experiments in a private message.

 

[M-J-B]

True, it's good to know updates are in the pipeline. I believe the hardware is pretty good spec but it takes some time and patience to get it working as expected. Based on the Milesight hype I assumed the basics would have been better sorted by now... but let's hope and assume that the next update is a good one. Also, the great support from UI helped me overcome the initial hurdles leading to a decision to invest more in Milesight hardware. An active community sharing experiences, as this one hosted by UI, is also appreciated.

Experiences of the same gear in similar environments is always welcome, but I couldn't figure out how (if) private messaging works on this forum for a rookie like me. You might have better success with that, but if not then just remove "-J" from my callsign and add mbnet.fi and you will end up with my e-mail address.

Now I'm about to dance in front of the camera again. It seems that the motion detection died again when the camera switched over to IR assisted B&W.

 

[Dan]

I have been testing the V9 firmware on our MS- NVR and that has worked fine, the new firmware has lots of nice features (instant playback, retrieve menu to search recordings by event and other filters, NAS connection, and more) some of which are explained in the above video.

We had some issues updating to this firmware on our UI- NVRs, we asked Milesight for a solution and they said that our UI- models would need to use a separate firmware version (71.8.45.7 & 72.8.45.7), this version will have the same effect as the V9 you have already tried (e.g. it will install the new file system).

This special firmware can be downloaded from the links below:

71.8.45.7 - 5032, all 7000 series and all 8000 series NVRs
72.8.45.7 - 1009 and 5016 NVRs

We have installed it on one of the UI- models we have in the office and from the small amount of testing we have done there doesn't appear to be any difference between the MS- and the UI- versions of the firmware.

Two IMPORTANT things to be aware of though before updating to this firmware:

1. You cannot downgrade from this firmware, once installed you won't be able to downgrade to any firmware older than xx.8.45.7
2. As this firmware introduces a new file system to the NVR you will have to format/initialize your HDDs after installing the firmware to continue recording (so if you have any important recording stored on the NVR before updating make sure to download & backup these recordings before updating the firmware)

After you have installed this unique firmware version Milesight have said that you should be able to install the standard version of all future firmware (e.g. 72.9.0.2, 72.9.0.5, etc...)

Also, I should point out that the VCA features that some customers were after will not be available in this firmware version, but Milesight has said that the VCA features will be included in the next firmware update (version 7x.9.0.2)

 

[Mal]

Hi Dan,
Didn't anyone else encounter that M-Sight Pro missing playback that I wrote about in this thread on Saturday?
I would like to call this a showstopper bug in many cases!
Additionally I just found that something had cleared both the list of locked files and some playback snapshots in the NVR. I locked that time period again and wish it would stay because otherwise they will soon become overwritten.
The file locking functionality does not exist in the web UI.
Please check your emails - I sent some additional details on my testing with v9.

 

[Dan]

Hi Markku,

Apologies for not responding to your problems sooner, Just this morning I tested the M-Sight Pro issue you reported and you are correct that there is a problem with playback, but here at the office we have both a UI- and an MS- NVR and both are using the new file system firmware, the MS- NVR still works with the app so this would suggest it is only an issue with the special firmware for our UI- NVRs.

This might also explain the problem you had with the locked files and snapshots, I have passed both of these problems onto Milesight tech support and hopefully, it is just an error in the UI- firmware that can be corrected in the next firmware release.

Thank you for being so patient with Milesight and for being so thorough in your testing of their products, it can only help. We will keep you informed of the latest updates from Milesight's tech support.

 

[Dan]

UPDATE: Milesight responded fast with an explanation of the disappearing locked files, it actually isn't an error with the firmware it is just the slightly convoluted way that Milesight have designed the file management system.

When you lock a file or save a snapshot you can go to the file management menu by clicking the icon at the bottom of the playback window, but when you return to this window at a later date the files are no longer listed. This is not a glitch and your files are still saved, the pop-up menu in the playback window is only a short term storage location and this list will be cleared each time you leave the playback window.

If you wish to find old locked files or snapshots you will want to go to the retrieve menu, here you can search the NVR for specific files, whether they are locked, unlocked, snapshots or event triggers (e.g. motion detection).

This does work as I have tested it on a UI- NVR running the latest firmware, I created locked files that were listed in the temporary file manager, I left playback and then returned to find that the files were no longer there, I then went to the retrieve menu and searched by locked files and found the 2 locked files I had created.

Let us know if you have any further problems with this.

 

[Mal]

Hi Dan,
Thank you Dan - your update saved my day just in time in order to avoid some important footage from being overwritten. I did not understand the logic in the new locking and restoring of files. The locked files were safe in the restore view as you explained.
Yesterday evening I was searching one special event that was observed elsewhere with an too inaccurate timing and therefore I had to use more time to find it. Here it is - a meteor with a nice Northern lights background. If there are more images with a star background it will be possible to calculate the trajectory.
Here is a link to a gif video (it was not possible to attach it directly). The single frame playback in NVR web UI still needs some fine-tuning for a fluent workflow (perhaps in the next no-plugin browser UI?) This one was edited with VLC and a simple GIF editor.
Dropbox - 2018-11-04-meteor-aurora.gif

 

[Dan]

Hi Markku and others following this thread,

If you are not already aware, there is a new update for the Android version of the M-Sight Pro app, this update has fixed the playback issue,

Follow the link to find the download link and further information on the update

M-Sight Pro App Update Released to Fix Playback Issue