Troubleshooting video units and cameras in Security Center - Security Center 5.9 - 5.11

If you cannot view live video in Security Desk, you can troubleshoot the issue.

1. Wait to see if the camera connects.
2. If the problem persists for more than 10 seconds, click Show diagnosis in the tile, or press Ctrl+Shift+D.
   Information about the video stream is displayed. The current step is highlighted:

   

   Initializing

   The media player is preparing the required resources to display the video stream.

   Connecting to Media Router

   The media player is establishing connection with the Media Router to obtain the network location of the stream.

   Connecting to Archiver and redirector

   The media player is establishing connection with the Archiver and the redirector to request video.

   Requesting live stream

   The connection is established between the Archiver and the Media Player. The Media Player is now requesting the live stream.

   Analyzing the stream

   The client workstation requested and received the stream. The media player analyzes the stream to detect the video format and the presence of key frames. After the stream is validated, the video is decoded.

   Tip: Click the Help link for a list of things that you can do to troubleshoot the issue.
3. Confirm that the unit is online.
   If the unit is red in the Video task in Config Tool, then troubleshoot why the video unit is offline.
4. Verify that you can ping the unit:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the red video unit.
   2. At the bottom of the Video task, click Unit > Ping ().
   If there is no reply, the unit is offline (broken, unplugged, and so on), or there is a problem with your network.
5. Make sure you can connect to the unit, and then click Unit > Unit’s web page.
   Tip: You can also determine if you have the correct credentials for the unit.
6. Verify that Security Center supports the unit, and that the unit is running the certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
7. Change the video unit’s connection type to the Archiver:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the red camera.
   2. Click the Video tab.
   3. From the Connection type drop-down list in the Network settings section, select a different connection type.
   4. Click Apply.
8. Try viewing playback video from the camera:
   1. In the Security Desk Archives task, select the camera.
   2. Select the most recent video archive available and click Generate report.
   3. After the report is generated, try to view the video from the archive.
      • If you can view the video, continue with the next troubleshooting step.
      • If you cannot view any video, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.
9. If you have an expansion server on your system running the Archiver role, try to view video from the expansion server:
   1. Open Security Desk on the expansion server.
   2. In the Monitoring task, drag the camera from the area view to a tile in the canvas.
      • If you can view video, it might be a problem with the redirection from the Media Router to your Security Desk. Continue with the next troubleshooting step.
      • If you cannot view any video, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.
10. Make sure the correct ports are open on your network so that there is no firewall blocking the video stream.
11. Verify that each network on your system is configured properly:
    1. From the Config Tool home page, open the Network view task.
    2. Select a network, click the Properties tab, and make sure all the settings are correct (IP prefix, subnet mask, routes, network capabilities, and so on).
    3. If required, change the network settings and click Apply.
    For more information, see About networks.
12. Force Security Desk to use a different connection type:
    1. From the Security Desk home page, click Options > General.
    2. In the Network options section, next to the Network option, select Specific.
    3. From the drop-down list, select a different network and click Save.
    4. Restart Security Desk.
    5. If changing the network connection does not work, repeat the steps to test using other networks.
13. If you still cannot view video, click Show video stream status in the tile, and then troubleshoot the video stream.
14. If the issue persists, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.

In Security Desk, you can diagnose the status of video streams displayed in the canvas.

1. In Config Tool or Security Desk, display a camera in a tile.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+R.
   Diagnostic information about the video stream is overlaid in the tile.
3. Click OK to view information about each of the following video stream connections:

   Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver or Federation™ redirector

   The streaming status from the source camera to the Archiver role, Auxiliary Archiver role, or Federation™ redirector initially providing the stream.

   Redirector

   The streaming status from the Archiver role, Auxiliary Archiver, or Federation™ redirector to the redirector routing the stream to the next hop.

   NOTE: All redirectors involved in the routing are listed.

   Media player

   The streaming status from the last redirector involved in the routing to your Security Desk workstation.

4. Click Close.

If you are having problems viewing H.264 video streams, you can disable the AVCodec_ErrorRecognition advanced Archiver role setting.

1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the Archiver to configure.
2. Click the Resources tab.
3. At the bottom of the Resources tab, click Advanced settings.
4. Click Additional settings.
5. In the Additional settings dialog box, click Add an item ().
6. In the Name column, type AVCodec_ErrorRecognition.
   
7. In the Value column, type 0.
8. Click Close > OK > Apply.
9. When you are asked to restart the Archiver, click Yes.

If you are experiencing pixelation or poor image quality when viewing live video in Security Center, there are troubleshooting steps you can perform to determine the cause and fix the issue.

1. Check if the video quality issue is happening on all or most of the cameras.
   • If the issue is happening on all or most cameras, continue with the next step.
   • If the issue is only happening on a few cameras or one camera, go to step 6.
2. On the server hosting the Archive role that is managing the video units, open the Windows Task Manager.
3. Click the Performance tab and check if the CPU or memory usage is high.
   If the CPU or memory usage is high, check if other processes are the cause; if they are, end the processes.
4. In the Windows Task Manager, click the Networking tab.
5. Check if the network usage for the network adapter is over 300 Mbps, or over 100 Mbps if you are on the Directory server.
   If the network usage is high, reduce the number of cameras to below 300 on the Archiver role (below 100 if the Archiver role is on the Directory server), or reduce the video quality settings on the cameras in Config Tool. If your quality issues persist, continue with the next step.
6. On the server hosting the Archiver role, check if there are many RTP Packet Lost events in the Archiver role logs in C:\ArchiverLogs.
   • If there are many events, the cause is most likely an unreliable network. Follow the steps in KBA-00546 to try to resolve the issue. If the quality issues persist, contact the Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.
   • If there are only a few events, continue with the next step.
7. Verify that Security Center supports the video unit, and that the unit is running certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
8. On the camera web page, view the live video and check if the image is pixelated there also.
   • If the image is pixelated, there are issues with the camera hardware. Contact your camera manufacturer.
   • If the image looks fine, continue with the next step.
9. On the Archiver server, view the recorded video and check if the playback image is also pixelated.
   • If the image is pixelated, follow the steps in KBA-00546 to try and resolve the issue.
   • If the image looks fine, continue with the next step.
10. In Security Desk, check the video stream information of the camera as follows:
    1. Open a Monitoring task and view the affected camera in a tile.
    2. Press Ctrl+Alt+A or Ctrl+Alt+D to see the video stream statistics and the RTP Packet Lost value.
       If you see that many RTP packets were lost, follow the steps in KBA-00875 to try and resolve the issue.

Security Desk can detect and use compatible hardware to accelerate video decoding. Hardware acceleration enhances performance, especially when viewing multiple high-definition H.264 streams.

1. To optimize the operation with NVIDIA video cards, ensure the following:
   • The video card is a compatible model.
   • The monitor or projector used to display video is plugged into this video card.
   • The installed driver is the latest available from NVIDIA's official website.
2. To optimize the operation with Intel Quick Sync, ensure the following:
   • Your CPU supports Quick Sync; see http://ark.intel.com to confirm.
   • The integrated video card on your CPU is a compatible model.
   • A monitor is plugged into the system board's integrated output.
   • The Intel integrated graphics is enabled in the BIOS.
   • The installed driver is the latest available from Intel's official site.

   NOTE: On high-performance computers, NVIDIA GPU decoding works better when Quick Sync is disabled.
3. To troubleshoot problems with multiple screens and multiple GPUs, ensure the following:
   • If Scalable Link Interface (SLI) mode is available, disable it.
   • If you have multiple NVIDIA video cards, connect each monitor to its own card to use the monitors in parallel.
   • If you have video cards using different drivers (AMD, NVIDIA, Intel), set the monitor that is connected to the NVIDIA card as the primary monitor.
   • If both integrated and discrete video cards are available, and if your NVIDIA video card meets the recommended requirements, disable your integrated video card in the BIOS. Having the integrated card available hinders the discrete video card performance.
   • After installing Security Center on laptops using NVIDIA OPTIMUS technology (combined Intel and NVIDIA GPUs), you must launch each video-intensive application (Security Desk, Genetec™ Video Player, and so on). This registers them as applications that require NVIDIA GPU. After the initial setup, the application always uses the NVIDIA GPU.

If you receive a Not enough bandwidth error message while viewing video or when requesting a video stream in Security Center, you can try to resolve the issue.

• If you were not aware that there was limited bandwidth on your network and you think this is incorrect, you can ask your administrator to confirm whether your network configuration is supposed to have limited bandwidth.
• If you often lose your video stream connection and receive the Not enough bandwidth error because another user is requesting a stream, you can ask your administrator if they can give you a higher user level.

If you receive an Error: Impossible to establish video session with the server message, there might be a problem with the server, the Media Router role, the Federation™ role, the Archiver role, or the video unit. To troubleshoot the issue, learn about the possible causes and their respective solutions.

1. Make sure that your server is running.
2. Make sure the Archiver role is online:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the Archiver role.
   2. At the bottom of the Video task, click Maintenance > Diagnose ().
   3. Fix any issues that are found.
3. If you are trying to view a federated camera, confirm that the role or the role is online:If you are trying to view a federated camera, confirm that the Security Center Federation™ role or the Omnicast™ Federation™ role is online:
   1. In the Config Tool System task, click the roles view.
   2. Select the Federation™ role and click Maintenance > Diagnose ().
   3. Fix any issues that are found.
4. If you are trying to view a federated camera, confirm that the server for the federated Security Center system is online.
5. It might be a Media Router connection problem. Make sure that the Media Router role is online:
   1. In the Config Tool System task, click the Roles view.
   2. Select the Media Router role and click Maintenance > Diagnose ().
   3. Fix any issues that are found.
6. Restart the Media Router role:
   1. In the Config Tool System task, click the Roles view.
   2. Select the Media Router role and click Maintenance > Deactivate role ().
   3. In the confirmation dialog box that opens, click Continue.
      The Media Router turns red.
   4. At the bottom of the System task, click Maintenance > Activate role ().
7. Make sure the unit is online.
   If the unit is red in the Roles and units view, then troubleshoot why the video unit is offline.

If the video you are monitoring is jittery or is dropping frames, use the rendering rate video statistic to determine whether the workstation is the cause.

1. Select the tile that is playing video.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+A.
   Video stream statistics are displayed in the tile.

   

After installing Security Center using default security settings, cameras that do not support digest access authentication might not work. To fix this issue, you can reactivate basic access authentication by video unit or by manufacturer.

To revert to the basic authentication scheme on a specific video unit:

1. From Config Tool, open the Hardware inventory task.
2. Run the report on the video units that are inactive (in red) in your system.
   You might need to scroll horizontally to the right to see the Authentication scheme column.
3. In the report pane, select the video units that are inactive and click Reset authentication scheme.
   The Authentication scheme changes to Anonymous. After the Archiver successfully connects to the video unit, the exact authentication scheme is displayed.

To revert to the basic authentication scheme for a specific manufacturer:

1. From Config Tool, open the Video task.
2. Select the Archiver role that controls your cameras and click Extensions.
3. Select the manufacturer that you want and set Refuse basic authentication to OFF.
4. Click Apply.

If motion detection is not working for some cameras in Security Center, you can troubleshoot the issue.

1. Verify that Security Center supports the unit, and that the unit is running the certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
2. Confirm that there are no known issues or limitations related to motion detection for your camera in the Security Center Release Notes.
3. Confirm that the motion detection settings are configured properly for the camera.
4. Verify that you are receiving motion events in Security Desk:
   1. From the Security Desk home page, click Options > Events.
   2. Verify that the Motion on and Motion off events are selected, and click Save.
   3. Open the Monitoring task.
   4. At the bottom of the Monitoring task, click Monitoring () and click Add ().
   5. In the Select an entity to monitor dialog box, select a camera and click Add.
      The entities you selected are added to the Event monitoring list.
   6. Create some motion near the camera to confirm that motion events show up in the event list of the Monitoring task.
5. If you do not receive any motion events, lower the Motion on threshold value in the camera's Motion detection tab, and try creating motion near the camera again.
6. Do one of the following:
   • If you receive the motion events, verify that motion detection is working by configuring the camera to record on motion:
     1. From the Config Tool home page, open the Video task.
     2. Select the camera to configure and click the Recording tab.
     3. In the Recording modes drop-down list, select On motion/Manual.
     4. Click Apply.
   • If you still do not receive any motion events, it might be an issue with your camera. Contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.

To allow operators to control PTZ cameras while Security Desk is offline (not connected to the Directory), you can enable the offline PTZ mode.

1. On the computer where you are running Security Desk, open the file App.SecurityDesk.config found in the ConfigurationFiles folder under the Security Center installation Directory role (default=C:\Program Files (x86)\Genetec Security Center on a 64-bit machine).
2. Add the following child element to the <configuration/> element.

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <configuration>
      ...
      <Ptz DisableThrottling="False" ThrottlingDelay="75" AllowOfflineMode="True"/>
      ...
   </configuration>

   If the <Ptz/> child element already exists, only add the AllowOfflineMode attribute.

   NOTE: The syntax is case-sensitive.
3. Save your changes and restart Security Desk.

You can minimize the time it takes for a camera to open and display live video in the Security Desk Monitoring task by adjusting settings in Config Tool and Security Desk.

1. From the Config Tool homepage, open the Video task, and click the Roles and units view.
2. Select the camera to configure and click the Video tab.
3. In the Stream usage section, turn on Live and Recording for the selected stream.
4. In the Network settings section, select Multicast as the Connection type.
5. Click Apply.
6. Click the Recording tab and select Continuous from the Recording modes drop-down list.
7. Click Apply.
8. From the Security Desk home page, click Options > Video.
9. Scroll down to the Video cache section and turn off Live video caching.
10. Under Advanced settings, set the Jitter buffer delay to 0 ms.
11. Restart Security Desk.

If you cannot record video, or if there are missing video archives or gaps in the archives, you can determine the cause of the issue.

1. Verify that Security Center supports the unit, and that the unit is running the certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
2. Verify the camera recording type to ensure that the camera is set to record video on the correct schedule:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select your camera.
   2. Click the Recording tab.
      • If the Recording settings option is set to Custom settings, ensure that all the recording settings are correct, and then click Apply.
      • If the Recording settings option is set to Inherit from Archiver, then continue with the next substep.
   3. In the Video task, select the Archiver.
   4. Click the Camera default settings tab.
   5. In the Recording modes section, make sure the Archiver is set to record on the correct Schedule, and that the recording Mode is not set to OFF.
3. If the camera recording mode is set to On motion / Manual, ensure that motion detection settings are configured properly:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select your camera.
   2. Click Video analytics > Motion detection.
   3. Verify the motion detection settings.
4. Check the status of the Archiver role database:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the Archiver.
   2. Click the Resources tab.
      • If the Archiver database status is Connected, go to the next troubleshooting step.
      • If the Archiver database status is Disconnected or Unavailable, continue with the next substep.
   3. Switch to a different archive database or create a new one.
      CAUTION:

      Perform this step at a noncritical time, because all the units connected to the Archiver will temporarily go offline. Do not delete or overwrite the existing database, or your video archives will be deleted.

      1. In the Database field, enter a different name and click Apply.
      2. Wait for the role to connect to the new database. If the database does not exist, it will be created.
      3. If the camera can record using the new database, you can continue to use the new database.
         CAUTION:
         When you switch to a different database, the video archives referenced in the old database are no longer included in Security Center searches, and will not be deleted by the Archiver's automatic cleanup.
      4. If the camera is still not recording, revert back to the original database, and continue with the next troubleshooting step.
5. Check how much disk space is available for archiving:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the Archiver.
   2. Click the Resources tab.
   3. In the disk information table, make sure the Min. free space value is at least 0.2% of the total disk space.
      The Min. free space is the minimum amount of free space that the Archiver must leave untouched on the disk.
   4. If the Min. free space value is less than 0.2% of the total disk space, click the value and increase it.
      To see the total disk space, point the mouse cursor to the Disk usage meter.
      
6. Check for Archiving stopped and Recording stopped events that occurred on your system.
   In Windows, on the server where the Archiver role is running, open the .log files, found in C:\ArchiverLogs.

   If there are Archiving stopped or Recording stopped events in the Entry type column, restart the Genetec™ Server service:

   1. Open your Windows Control Panel.
   2. Click Administrative Tools > Services.
   3. Right-click the Genetec™ Server service and click Restart.
7. Check for Transmission lost and RTP packets lost events that occurred on your system.
   In Windows on the server where the Archiver role is running, open the .log files, found in C:\ArchiverLogs.
   • If there are many Transmission lost and RTP packets lost events in the Entry type column, there could be a CPU usage or network issue. Continue with the next troubleshooting step.
   • If there are not many Transmission lost and RTP packets lost events, then skip the next troubleshooting step.
8. Check your CPU usage:
   1. Right-click the Windows taskbar and open Windows Task Manager.
   2. Click the Performance tab, and check that the CPU Usage is not over 60%.
      If the CPU usage is over 60%, restart the server, and consider adding more CPU to the server.
   3. Click the Networking tab, and make sure the network Link speed is not over 300 Mbps.
9. If you are only experiencing recording problems with one video unit, try the following:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, right-click the red video unit and click Delete.
   2. In the confirmation dialog box, choose whether you want to keep the video archives from the unit.
      The video unit is removed from the Archiver.
   3. Add the video unit. For more information, see the topic Adding video units manually in the Security Center Adminstrator Guide.

If you cannot view playback video or video archives in Security Desk, you can troubleshoot the issue.

1. Try viewing live video from the same camera by dragging the camera from the area view to a tile in the canvas in the Security Desk Monitoring task.
   • If you can view live video, continue with the next troubleshooting step.
   • If you cannot view any video, then it is probably a network issue. See Video units offline in Security Center.
2. Try viewing playback video from the Archives task:
   1. In the Security Desk Archives task, select your camera.
   2. Search for video archives at different dates and times and click Generate report.
   3. After the report is generated, try to view video from the archives.
   4. Repeat the steps with other cameras that are connected to the same Archiver.
   • If you can view the video from some of the video archives, continue with the next troubleshooting step.
   • If you cannot view any video, skip the next troubleshooting step.
3. Verify that Security Center supports the unit, and that the unit is running the certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
4. Try viewing playback video from the Archives task on another Security Desk, and on the server where the Archiver role is running.
   • If you can view video, it might be a problem with the redirection from the Media Router to your Security Desk. Continue with the next troubleshooting step.
   • If you cannot view any video, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance.
5. Make sure the correct ports are open on your network so that there is no firewall blocking the video stream.
6. If you still cannot view playback video, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.

When a camera is red in the area view, it means that the video unit is offline or has lost communication with the Archiver. To troubleshoot the issue, learn about the possible causes and their respective solutions.

1. Verify that you can ping the unit:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the red video unit.
   2. At the bottom of the Video task, click Unit > Ping ().
   If there is no reply, the unit is offline (broken, unplugged, and so on), or there is a problem with your network.
2. Make sure you can connect to the unit, and then click Unit > Unit’s web page.
   Tip: You can also determine if you have the correct credentials for the unit.
3. Restart the unit:
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the red video unit.
   2. At the bottom of the Video task, click Unit > Reboot ().
4. Verify that Security Center supports the unit, and that the unit is running the certified firmware.
   For a list of video units supported by Security Center, see our Supported Device List.
5. Restart the Archiver role controlling the unit:
   IMPORTANT: Perform this step at a non-crucial time, because all the units connected to the Archiver go offline temporarily.
   1. In the Config Tool Video task, select the Archiver role.
   2. At the bottom of the Video task, click Maintenance > Deactivate role ().
   3. In the confirmation dialog box, click Continue.
      The Archiver role and all video units controlled by the role turn red.
   4. At the bottom of the Video task, click Maintenance > Activate role ().