I’ve been experimenting with integrating the various IP-cams I have lying around to work with Vera (it’s so cool to finally have a single way to remotely view each camera without needing their own various programs & having to poke holes in the firewall especially for each one).
A couple of general questions about the generic camera & Panasonic PTZ plugins:
I have an ABS Megacam 4210 cam which has PTZ capabilities - I’ve got the static image URL working and think I have found the other URL commands needed to control the PTZ functions. It appears that modifying the Panasonic PTZ plugin in the manner as has been done for the Foscam & the Linksys WVC210 is the way to go, but since the generic plugin also provides PTZ control buttons, is there anyway to currently set these up instead?
I may be doing something daft here, but is there anyway to delete a camera setup via the generic plugin? Everytime I try (using the trashcan icon), it ends up asking me if I want to remove the plugin & all cameras setup with it? I can’t for the life of me figure out how to remove just an individual camera. ???
1) I have an ABS Megacam 5210 cam which has PTZ capabilities - I've got the static image URL working and think I have found the other URL commands needed to control the PTZ functions. It appears that modifying the Panasonic PTZ plugin in the manner as has been done for the Foscam & the Linksys WVC210 is the way to go, but since the generic plugin also provides PTZ control buttons, is there anyway to currently set these up instead?
I think somebody else recently did this with another generic camera to avoid screwing with the Panasonic plugin…this was in order not to also break a Panasonic camera that they had already working. Have a search (will try to look myself for the post too)
[quote]2) I may be doing something daft here, but is there anyway to delete a camera setup via the generic plugin? Everytime I try (using the trashcan icon), it ends up asking me if I want to remove the plugin & all cameras setup with it? I can’t for the life of me figure out how to remove just an individual camera. [quote]
Not sure I understand, but are you trying to use the delete button from the Green coloured power cable plugin icon in the marketplace perhaps?
If you have multiple cameras then just use the trashcan (dustbin ) button from the plug-in in whatever room you have it in!
[quote=“strangely, post:2, topic:168001”]I think somebody else recently did this with another generic camera to avoid screwing with the Panasonic
plugin…this was in order not to also break a Panasonic camera that they had already working. Have a search (will try to look myself for the post too)[/quote]
I think I saw a post where that was suggested, but didn’t pick up on it actually being done - I’ll dig some more, but do let me know if you find the reference.
Not sure I understand, but are you trying to use the delete button from the Green coloured power cable plugin icon in the marketplace perhaps?
If you have multiple cameras then just use the trashcan (dustbin ) button from the plug-in in whatever room you have it in!
I was trying to delete from the devices section (I’ve not assigned the cameras to rooms yet). Click on the spanner icon for that particular camera, then click wastebasketdustbin in the pop-up that appears & it prompts “Are you sure you want to delete this device”, then if you click yes, it prompts to “Remove this plugin & any devices created” - I hit cancel at that point. Does the camera need to be assigned to a room before it can be deleted from Vera (not just that room)?
Ok, so doing that is fine, and will only delete that camera if there are others also installed; if you only have one cam installed then it will still leave the device files behind; you can then download them from the Mios Developers / Luup files tab if you want to take a look at how the xml are coded:
If you want to use this as the base to develop an existing PTZ camera, then you can just leave the device installed, and then every time you make a change to the I_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml, just re-upload it and restart the engine to make it active; your existing camera will then use this instead.
I mentioned this elsewhere and I don’t know if you are experiencing this, but once I rebuilt my network on Vera2 and when I went to add my Foscam cameras back in the way as described with the modified Panasonic I_File I had trouble because after I had it installed with Panasonic files, Vera auto-discovered it on the network and installed it using the generic camera files.
Now it is installed and working using a combination of files (as I have both plug-ins installed still):
D_DigitalSecurityCamera1
I_PanasonicPTZ.xml.lzo
I guess I should fix this or clean it up, but it works and I think the I_Files for both cameras are essentially the same just one has specific commands for Panasonic PTZ commands. Vera seemed to recognize the camera and populate the Name as Foscam and also the URLs for streaming and still jpg. MCV can probably do away with the Panasonic specific Plug-In and have camera specific I_Files that the generic plug-in uses. Hmmm…
I think I need to spend some time digesting how these plug-in files all work together. Right now, my Mios Developers / Luup files tab shows D_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml, but I_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml isn’t listed.
Currently I only have the generic camera plugin loaded - I haven’t yet installed the Panasonic plugin (and was pondering if I truly needed to).
There is a S_PanTiltZoom1.xml, which is referenced in the D_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml file & appears to list the various PTZ actions, but doesn’t actually define the actions themselves - I’m guessing that this what the ‘I’ (implementation?) file would normally handle?
@shady - how does autodiscover normally work with cameras? So far, I’ve had to configure each one manually. I’ve not had to rebuild my network yet, so this isn’t something I’ve run into.
ps: shady, as a Sony Dash owner & having just acquired a Chumby one, I’m quite interested in your interface efforts over in the Luup forum.
I think the autodiscover is in the more recent firmware and you might be better off just doing it manually.
FYI, I don’t have the I_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml file in my Luup Files either and I have the Generic IP Camera Plug-In installed. I do show the Panasonic I_File because I also have that plug-in installed, but I don’t show the Panasonic D_File, so go figure.
I think you might just want to uninstall the Generic Plug-In and install the Panasonic Plug-in and then make your changes to the Panasonic I_File as shown in that post. Then you don’t end up with a mix of files, like me (not that it seems to matter, still works).
I’ll be sure to post when I get the Chumby widget functional.
[quote=“shady, post:7, topic:168001”]I think the autodiscover is in the more recent firmware and you might be better off just doing it manually.
FYI, I don’t have the I_DigitalSecurityCamera1.xml file in my Luup Files either and I have the Generic IP Camera Plug-In installed. I do show the Panasonic I_File because I also have that plug-in installed, but I don’t show the Panasonic D_File, so go figure.
I think you might just want to uninstall the Generic Plug-In and install the Panasonic Plug-in and then make your changes to the Panasonic I_File as shown in that post. Then you don’t end up with a mix of files, like me (not that it seems to matter, still works).[/quote]
Hmm. Curiouser & curiouser, said Alice… I’d assumed that each plugin would need it’s own I, D & S files & were independant of each other, but it appears this may not be the case.
I’m running multiple cameras (4 at the mo, possibly a couple more later) & only the ABS has PTZ, so I figured that I’d need both plugins anyway, or can the Panasonic one drive the non-PTZ cams too?
I'll be sure to post when I get the Chumby widget functional.
Excellent! I got the Chumby One expressly for exploration/tweakery purposes. ;D
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) button from the plug-in in whatever room you have it in!