ZoneMinder Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:How to login

2010-10-20T21:06:14Z

RatOmeter:

How do I know the URL for my zoneminder install. In my case, ZM was installed in Fedora 13 using yum. If this info is already in the wiki somewhere, how about a link in this article to it.

How to check a camera is working

2010-10-20T21:03:39Z

RatOmeter:

--[[User:Stagecoach|stagecoach]] 14:26, 16 October 2010 (BST)

Go back to the [[How_To|How To]] pages...

[[Image:Alarmhappened.png|right|thumb|caption|In this view an event has happened since the page was loaded]]
There are several checks you may want to perform on already installed cameras to audit/check their motion detection functionality.
=Check the cameras function=
The cameras function is listed from the ZoneMinder page, if for some reason you do not see the camera you wish to check, you may be looking at the incorrect camera group, to view all cameras make sure the current group is set to 'all'. For more information on changing/creating camera groups read [[How_to_realtime_view_multiple_cameras#Create_new_group|Create new camera group]]. If a camera has motion detection enabled you should see a green modect link in the functions column, additional to checking for this link you need to open it up to make sure it is enabled and selected.
=Check live stream=
For each camera you wish to check open up the cameras [[How_to_get_a_live_view_from_a_monitor#Watch_view|watch view]] you can be sure that you are viewing a live stream if the cameras time-stamp is advancing.
=Check event recording=
From the [[How_to_get_a_live_view_from_a_monitor#Watch_view|watch view]] you can trigger a false alarm in order to test the event recording. The link to start/stop the alarm is just below the live streaming monitor on the right hand side, it is called "Force Alarm". After starting the alarm, running it for 10-20 seconds and stopping it a new event should appear at the top of the events list, by default it is highlighted blue as shown in this image. You can now open up this event and verify it is working by observing the time advancing or observing the individual frames of the event.

Beginner hardware

2010-10-20T20:59:53Z

RatOmeter:

stub

The best, first advice is to check that your camera is compatible with zoneminder's motion JPEG (MJPEG).

You should read the [[Documentation]]. The developers spent and continue to spend a great deal of time writing it... you should spend at least a little time reading it. Specifically, read the part about shared memory.

'''Recommended IP cameras'''

[[Axis]] brand cameras are a good choice, but expensive.

[[BSIT]] are really cheap but also not the greatest quality.

Camera quality varies greatly, both in actual image quality and in operational reliability. Remember that you often "get what you pay for." Cameras from high volume manufacturers may be subject to software/hardware compromises that lower cost at the risk of breaking functionality and/or compatibility with standards.

Avoid cameras that require 1.24(aka: mpeg video) because it make things harder for beginners.

One place to buy cameras:

http://store.bluecherry.net/category_s/95.htm