Foscam HD plugin

system · February 9, 2015, 9:28am

Hi all,

Foscam HD plugin is now available : MiOS Apps
Plugin is suitable for all the HD cameras, including FI9821W, FI9818W, FI9801W, FI9802W and FI9805W.
Motion sensor functionality is not included because the API does not include the support for HTTP notifications : http://foscam.us/forum/notify-http-on-alarm-missing-feature-fi9805w-t6760.html
Plugin HELP page : Foscam HD

All the Bests,

Andrei -

RichardTSchaefer · February 9, 2015, 5:43pm

Why doesn’t Create Another create a camera device ?
This would be a lot easier to do this followed by an editing of the User/Password/IPAddress/Port

This is a very complicated setup process for most users.

I was not able to get the pan/tilt command to work … I could see the commands sent from the browser to Vera … but nothing happened.

I have a FI9821W camera.

system · February 10, 2015, 8:18am

Hi Richard,

I think you noticed that only file from this plugin is the implementation file. Without a device file in plugin a new device cannot be created when you click on “Create Another” button. Also I believe you know that I cannot add on apps.mios.com a duplicate device type/device file. In our next version of marketplace we will fix this and I will be able to modify the plugin as you suggested but until then it will be like this.

This is a very complicated setup process for most users.

Correct me if I’m wrong here but I think that users already add their Foscam cameras manually and here nothing changed. After this, they need to change the implementation file and this is it. I know it could be easier and like I said I will update the plugin when the new marketplace will be up and running.

I was not able to get the pan/tilt command to work .... I could see the commands sent from the browser to Vera ... but nothing happened.

Can you see if pan-tilt HTTP request was sent? Maybe it failed, maybe there is another issue, I will need some debugging to see where is the problem. Is true that I didn’t test the plugin on your camera model but according to Foscam API it should be supported. Let me look on your unit to see where is the problem in your situation(please enable tech support and send me the access codes, camera credentials and IP)

All the Bests,

Andrei -

legend99 · February 11, 2015, 12:51am

Will this plugin work for UI5? I could not get it to work with my Foscam Fi9826. It works on UI5 using the regular plugin. Can I change the xml file to make it work with the CGI api?

Thanks

system · February 11, 2015, 7:33am

Hi legend99,

Will this plugin work for UI5?

I didn’t test it on UI5 but taking in consideration that is only the implementation file and have nothing specific to UI7 it should work.

I could not get it to work with my Foscam Fi9826. Can I change the xml file to make it work with the CGI api?

If there is a different API for your model then it will not work. If you want to modify it, there is no problem. Please send me your changes and I will try to add them into plugin.

Best Regards,

Andrei -

legend99 · February 11, 2015, 12:04pm

I will take a look at it and see if there are any changes needed. Thanks

korttoma · February 12, 2015, 7:14am

I’m also interested in how the Foscam Fi9826 will perform, I have one on my shopping list.

Supermilk · February 12, 2015, 6:58pm

Hello,

I’ve got a foscam FI 9821W.
Before using this plugin I had a message on the homepage ‘a device is not connected’ and it was my camera.
With this plugin, the message disappear

Thanks a lot.

Aaron · February 18, 2015, 4:43pm

Andrei
I just installed this. I didn’t think I’d need to search to find out this is not really a plugin, it is just back-end code.

Vera needs rules on what a Plugin IS and IS NOT.

As it sits right now, this is code - it is not a plugin for end-users
This is not ready for prime time - version is NOT 1.1!
If intent is to make this a real plugin, then it is currently Alpha (no UI) - post code in the forum asking for testers or clearly mark it in the App Store as Alpha

This goes back to structure and process that I’ve complained about many times. PLEASE come up with logical, thought out methods on when and how to publish plugin code.

kendad · February 19, 2015, 3:44am

Andrei,

Installed the plugin. Added my two FI9821W-V2 cameras.

Can pan & tilt.
Can capture Snapshot.
Cannot capture recording, captures Snapshot instead.
No longer have DirectStreamingURL variable, was wondering why?

system · February 19, 2015, 9:48am

Hi Aaron

[quote=“Aaron, post:9, topic:185859”]Andrei
I just installed this. I didn’t think I’d need to search to find out this is not really a plugin, it is just back-end code.

Vera needs rules on what a Plugin IS and IS NOT.

As it sits right now, this is code - it is not a plugin for end-users
This is not ready for prime time - version is NOT 1.1!
If intent is to make this a real plugin, then it is currently Alpha (no UI) - post code in the forum asking for testers or clearly mark it in the App Store as Alpha

This goes back to structure and process that I’ve complained about many times. PLEASE come up with logical, thought out methods on when and how to publish plugin code.[/quote]

A plugin is the implementation for a device that is not natively supported by the system. So even an implementation file can be considered a plugin.
Now let’s talk about this plugin. I decided to do it in order to help people with FoscamHD camera, there were lots of complaining at our support regarding this issue. I added support for features that were requested and for features that were supported by the API. If you look at other camera plugins, those are basically the same, the only difference is that in back-end there is support for auto-detecting some camera models(detection - plugin download - assign the implementation file). If you were expecting more from this plugin, just let me know what are your thoughts and we can discuss what can or cannot be implemented with the resources we have right now.

No longer have DirectStreamingURL variable, was wondering why?

You don’t have the variable because I didn’t added it on plugin. This is a quick fix and I will do it in the following days.

All the Bests,

Andrei -

RichardTSchaefer · February 19, 2015, 3:21pm

You compare this to how other unsupported (by MCV) plugin files for cameras are handled.

MCV can’t be expexted to support ALL cameras …
It would be good for them to define an API that allows cameras to be added as either (or BOTH):

Create Another Device
“Add Camera”

If a NON MCV person provided this plugin … folks would be extremely happy for your efforts.
But since your work for MCV they expect more.

Aaron · February 20, 2015, 8:42pm

[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:12, topic:185859”]If a NON MCV person provided this plugin … folks would be extremely happy for your efforts.
But since your work for MCV they expect more.[/quote]

Sorry if I was not clear… the effort I’m happy for
In the best interest of all, there needs to be rules around how things are posted in the App store. At min, this code should be listed as Alpha if the intent is to soon provide a GUI… or define this as a ‘Device Implementation’, not as a ‘Plugin’ and make this crystal clear (big bold letters at the top) on the App store

system · February 20, 2015, 10:39pm

Just some specifics on the plugin and what it does and doesn’t do:

Plugin is suitable for all the HD cameras, including FI9821W, FI9818W, FI9801W, FI9802W and FI9805W.
Motion sensor functionality is not included because the API does not include the support for HTTP notifications.

jster · March 7, 2015, 2:39am

Thanks for this plugin! I just wanted to point out that it also works on the Insteon 2864-232 camera as well. This camera doesn’t have any zoom or tilt features, but the CGIProxy.fcgi url API is otherwise the same.

I don’t know if the Foscam cameras support it, but the Insteon allows you to access the urls via HTTPS. It would be nice if the plugin would support secure requests instead of just http.

system · March 9, 2015, 3:20pm

[quote=“jster, post:15, topic:185859”]Thanks for this plugin! I just wanted to point out that it also works on the Insteon 2864-232 camera as well. This camera doesn’t have any zoom or tilt features, but the CGIProxy.fcgi url API is otherwise the same.

I don’t know if the Foscam cameras support it, but the Insteon allows you to access the urls via HTTPS. It would be nice if the plugin would support secure requests instead of just http.[/quote]

Thanks for the thank you and the feedback. I will pass your request on to the Development Team.

kendad · March 10, 2015, 3:34am

I believe all of the Foscam HD cameras support HTTPS. I know the FI9821W-V2 does allow HTTPS communications. You can select the port via the Network Port settings.

jster · March 14, 2015, 12:01am

Every since I installed this plugin, my UI7 Vera3 locks up nightly. It may or may not be related, but “FoscamHD : Starting up…” now seems to be permanently displayed at the top of the vera dashboard. Any tips on how to troubleshoot this?

Thanks!

kendad · March 14, 2015, 4:32pm

I noticed that it takes about 6 seconds to display the camera image when I go to the devices page now. I never took that long before upgrading to firmware 1.7.541. I know 6 seconds doesn’t seem long but, it is a definite change since the latest firmware. Makes me wonder what else is delayed with the new firmware.

AxeMan · March 15, 2015, 10:17pm

urgh! I can’t get it to work with my foscam. after repeated failed attempts, now I have devices that I can’t even delete. Trying to remove via the trash can icon results in “Command failed: Invalid plugin”