# OpenIPC Wiki [Table of Content](../README.md) Frequently Asked Questions --------------------------- ### I have a camera which is not on the list of supported devices. Will you make it work for me? The short answer is no. If you have the skills and desire to make OpenIPC to work on the new hardware, we can share the knowledge we have. If not, get yourself a supported camera. ### How can I tell what hardware is inside the camera before I buy it? Most of the time you can't. Especially if it is a cheap Chinese clone of a clone of a rebranded camera. For reputable name brands that go through certification of the hardware, there is a chance to look at the inside the camera in the certification documents. Look for the FCC ID on the camera's box or case and then look it up in the [FCC ID database](https://fccid.io/). ### Differences between Lite and Ultimate - Amazon server support - QR code recognition support (basic) - iptables support (firewall) - ZeroTier tunnel support - MQTT (telemetry) support - WiFi support - lame (mp3) and libwebsockets support ### How to strip U-Boot Image wrapper header from a binary image Sometimes vendor's firmware consists of binary images intended for use with U-Boot image loader and prepended with headers in [U-Boot Image wrapper format](https://formats.kaitai.io/uimage/). The header should be stripped off before you can use such an image as a raw binary file. Here's how you can strip the first 64 bytes from a file: ```bash dd if=inputfile.img of=outputfile.bin bs=64 skip=1 ``` alternatively ```bash tail -c +65 inputfile.img > outputfile.bin ``` ### How to get into bootloader shell? [There is a handful of ways to get access to a locked bootloader shell](help-uboot.md#bypassing-password-protected-bootloader) ### How to reset camera settings from U-Boot Sometimes improper settings make the camera unstable to the point where it is impossible to log in or not enough time before rebooting to fix the settings. Here's how to completely erase the overlay partition in the OpenIPC firmware, right from the bootloader shell, to bring the camera back to its pristine state: > __only for 8MB flash partitioning__ ``` sf probe 0; sf erase 0x750000 0xb0000; reset ``` > __only for 16MB flash partitioning__ ``` sf probe 0; sf erase 0xd50000 0x2b0000; reset ``` ### How to sign in into camera via SSH? `ssh root@` There is _12345_ password by default. ### How to sign in into camera Web UI? Open http://:85/ and sign in using default username _root_ and default password _12345_. You will be asked to change the password after successful login. __Please note, it will also change your ssh root password!__ ### How to reset password for SSH/Web UI? Create a serial connection to the camera using a UART adapter and a terminal program. After turning on the camera, press Ctrl-C to interrupt the boot sequence and enter the bootloader shell. For a camera with 8MB flash chip, run ```bash sf probe 0; sf erase 0x750000 0xb0000; reset ``` For a camera with 16MB flash chip, run ```bash sf probe 0; sf erase 0xd50000 0x2b0000; reset ``` ### How to find information about the camera hardware and software? Sign in on camera via `ssh` and run `ipctool`. ### I don't see ipctool on camera. Why? You don't see it because initially it is not there, but there is a shell command of the same name. _(Since it's a shell command, it won't work from Web Console in web UI. Sign in to the camera via SSH and run the command in there.)_ When you run this command, the latest available version of `ipctool` utility gets downloaded into `/tmp/` directory and runs from there. Since the utility resides in `/tmp/`, it won't survive a reboot, thus won't take any useful space on the camera afterwards. If you need to know what is in the command, search for `ipctool` in the `/etc/profile` file. ### Replace the bootloader from Linux Commands are executed separately by each line with a wait for the end of execution. The full name of the replacement bootloader and its availability can be checked [here][3] Before running the commands, don't forget to enter the correct bootloader name! ``` FILE=u-boot-SOC-TYPE.bin curl -k -L https://github.com/OpenIPC/firmware/releases/download/latest/${FILE} -o /tmp/${FILE} flashcp -v /tmp/${FILE} /dev/mtd0 flash_eraseall /dev/mtd1 ``` Save wireless credentials: ``` FILE=/usr/share/openipc/wireless.sh echo "#!/bin/sh" > ${FILE} echo "fw_setenv wlandev $(fw_printenv -n wlandev)" >> ${FILE} echo "fw_setenv wlanssid $(fw_printenv -n wlanssid)" >> ${FILE} echo "fw_setenv wlanpass $(fw_printenv -n wlanpass)" >> ${FILE} chmod 755 ${FILE} ``` ### How to update ancient OpenIPC firmware? Commands are executed separately by each line with a wait for the end of execution. The first command updates a utility whose algorithm was changed in February 2023. If you need to update the utility on T31 processors, please add the -mips suffix to the URL of the downloaded utility. The second command updates the firmware components themselves. ``` curl -L -o /tmp/ipcinfo https://github.com/OpenIPC/ipctool/releases/download/latest/ipcinfo && chmod +x /tmp/ipcinfo; /tmp/ipcinfo -csF curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenIPC/firmware/master/general/overlay/usr/sbin/sysupgrade | sh -s -- -k -r -n ``` ### Is it possible to switch from “lite” to “ultimate” via “Over the Air”? On Ingenic and Sigmastar it is possible to split the ultimate rootfs.squashfs and flash it to the rootfs (mtd3) and overlay (mtd4) partition. ``` dd if=rootfs.squashfs of=mtd3.bin bs=1k count=5120 dd if=rootfs.squashfs of=mtd4.bin bs=1k skip=5120 flashcp mtd3.bin /dev/mtd3 -v flashcp mtd4.bin /dev/mtd4 -v ``` ### How to dump full firmware to an NFS share This could work if you are lucky, you gained access into Linux shell on stock firmware, and it does support NFS mounting: ```bash fw=$(mktemp -t) nfs=$(dirname $fw)/nfs mkdir -p $nfs mount -t nfs -o tcp,nolock 192.168.1.123:/path/to/nfs/share $nfs cat /dev/mtdblock? > $fw mv $fw ${nfs}/firmware_full.bin ``` Make sure to use your own IP address and path to the NFS share! ### How to find original MAC address in a firmware dump ```bash strings dumpfile.bin | grep ^ethaddr ``` ### How to configure ssh session authorization by key __On the camera__: Sign in into web UI on port 85 of your camera. ```bash passwd ``` __On the desktop__: Copy the public key to the camera by logging in with the password created above. ```bash ssh-copy-id root@192.168.1.66 ``` __On the camera__: Create a `.ssh` folder in the root user's home directory and copy the file with the authorized keystore into it. ```bash mkdir ~/.ssh cp /etc/dropbear/authorized_keys ~/.ssh/ ``` __On the desktop__: Open a new session to verify that the authorization is passed using the public key not requesting a password. ```bash ssh root@192.168.1.66 ``` ### Majestic #### How to get a memory dump for debugging? Enable and configure Core Dump in the menu **Majestic** > **Majestic Debugging**. #### Camera image has a pink tint You need to specify GPIO pins to control the infrared filter. Settings for some cameras can be found in [this table][1]. If your camera is not in the table then you need to use [ipctool utility][2]. The OpenIPC firmware will automatically download the latest version of the utility to the /tmp directory when `ipctool` is invoked first time. On stock firmware, you will need to download the utility to the camera yourself using any tools available in the system: wget, curl, tftp etc. For example, download the ipctool utility to TFTP server on the local network, then download it to the camera: ```bash tftp -g -r ipctool -l /tmp/ipctool 192.168.1.1 chmod +x /tmp/ipctool /tmp/ipctool ``` If the camera has access to the internet, you can try to mount a public NFS sharing and run the utility from it, without downloading to the camera: ```bash mkdir -p /tmp/utils mount -o nolock 95.217.179.189:/srv/ro /tmp/utils/ /tmp/utils/ipctool ``` After the utility is downloaded to the camera, run the `ipctool gpio scan` command in the terminal and open-close the camera lens a couple of times with your palm. Watch the output of ipctool to determine the pins responsible for controlling the IR filter curtain. Enter the values obtained in the settings for the night mode Majestic. If the pink tint still persists, you may need to enable sensor signal inversion. Don't forget to add the camera model and found GPIO values to the table! #### Is it possible to display the data for setting the auto focus of lenses instead of the current sample_af in the standard /metrics? No, this is a difficult algorithm, it does not have a sense to run it this way. #### Copy files from Linux system to camera Sometimes you need to transfer files to the camera. In addition to the above method using NFS (Network File System) you can use the standard Linux `scp` command to copy files over an SSH connection: ```bash scp ~/myfile root@192.168.1.65:/tmp/ ``` This command will copy `myfile` from the home directory to the `/tmp/` directory on the camera. On recent Linux systems the following error may occur: ```console sh: /usr/libexec/sftp-server: not found scp: Connection closed ``` In this case, add `-O` option to the command: ```bash scp -O ~/myfile root@192.168.1.65:/tmp/ ``` [1]: https://openipc.org/wiki/en/gpio-settings.html [2]: https://github.com/OpenIPC/ipctool/releases/download/latest/ipctool [3]: https://github.com/OpenIPC/firmware/releases/tag/latest