I had asked Ken if it was possible to add a “keepalive” signal from Blue Iris using an HTTP command to set a switch in Vera. He has many other things on his plate and some form of “startup” and “keepalive” are in there somewhere
In the meantime I have implemented a form of keepalive for myself. Last year I built a power control box for the Blue Iris system using a Vera-controlled Jasco Wall Outlet in a box I had been experiencing rare but irritating losses of the BI system, naturally usually when I was traveling and could not get to the server to restart it. So I provided a power control to allow me to remotely command Vera to power cycle Blue Iris; turning off the power outlet started a Vera timer to restore power after about 30 seconds. (Similar automatic power cycle controls are implemented on my AT&T Router and the Wi-Fi Access Points … remotely powering off starts a power cycle timer to restore power after 30 seconds.)
I had implemented Blue Iris Tools on the server which also has a BI watchdog function and it has the ability to send an HTTP to, in my case, a Vera. But I’ve had more failures on the Tools software than on the Blue Iris itself So I decided to solve the problem a different way.
I already had keepalive system running between the two Veras; each sets a MultiSwitch button in the other every 60 seconds or so and if the switch is not reset a 5 minute timer eventually expires and turns off power to the failing Vera. I could do the same with my Blue Iris power control if I only had a keepalive signal from BI to reset a Vera power cycle timer switch.
I already use the camera watchdog function in Blue Iris to message Vera to power cycle several Wi-Fi cameras to force them to reconnect to the access point if they lose signal.
So, I created a dummy, hidden, camera in Blue Iris on a non-existent IP address. This camera is configured to watchdog after 60 seconds of no signal, which signal of course it will never see. As a result, BI sends a no-camera-signal watchdog message to Vera every 60 seconds that sets a MultiSwitch button. This button triggers a reset of the Blue Iris power cycle timer. If this timer expires after 5 minutes of no resets it power cycles Blue Iris and gets it back to square one.
Its not as elegant as a proper keepalive implemented in BI but until that happens I have a way to solve the problem. Its a bit messy in the BI logs but at least it works.
Just updating the status of my efforts. I was able to install BI Tools ver 1.2 this morning and it appears to be running fine. I recommend the combination if for no other reason than to get the current weather information overlayed on your camera displays. I have it on only one camera, the first in the cycle and one that had a convenient area for the data that doesn’t interfere with the security display itself.
[quote=“clippermiami, post:1, topic:193269”]I had asked Ken if it was possible to add a “keepalive” signal from Blue Iris using an HTTP command to set a switch in Vera. He has many other things on his plate and some form of “startup” and “keepalive” are in there somewhere
In the meantime I have implemented a form of keepalive for myself. Last year I built a power control box for the Blue Iris system using a Vera-controlled Jasco Wall Outlet in a box I had been experiencing rare but irritating losses of the BI system, naturally usually when I was traveling and could not get to the server to restart it. So I provided a power control to allow me to remotely command Vera to power cycle Blue Iris; turning off the power outlet started a Vera timer to restore power after about 30 seconds. (Similar automatic power cycle controls are implemented on my AT&T Router and the Wi-Fi Access Points … remotely powering off starts a power cycle timer to restore power after 30 seconds.)
I had implemented Blue Iris Tools on the server which also has a BI watchdog function and it has the ability to send an HTTP to, in my case, a Vera. But I’ve had more failures on the Tools software than on the Blue Iris itself So I decided to solve the problem a different way.
I already had keepalive system running between the two Veras; each sets a MultiSwitch button in the other every 60 seconds or so and if the switch is not reset a 5 minute timer eventually expires and turns off power to the failing Vera. I could do the same with my Blue Iris power control if I only had a keepalive signal from BI to reset a Vera power cycle timer switch.
I already use the camera watchdog function in Blue Iris to message Vera to power cycle several Wi-Fi cameras to force them to reconnect to the access point if they lose signal.
So, I created a dummy, hidden, camera in Blue Iris on a non-existent IP address. This camera is configured to watchdog after 60 seconds of no signal, which signal of course it will never see. As a result, BI sends a no-camera-signal watchdog message to Vera every 60 seconds that sets a MultiSwitch button. This button triggers a reset of the Blue Iris power cycle timer. If this timer expires after 5 minutes of no resets it power cycles Blue Iris and gets it back to square one.
Its not as elegant as a proper keepalive implemented in BI but until that happens I have a way to solve the problem. Its a bit messy in the BI logs but at least it works.[/quote]
Hi, sorry for reviving this old topic but I am the developer of Blue Iris Tools. What sort of problems have you had with it? Would love to know so I can fix them. Shoot me a private message, please!
