CCTV DVR program communication issues in W7

[videobruce]

I have a CCTV DVR (Speco Tech if that matters) that uses a software program to connect to a PC. There are two basic modes; Live TV and Playback. Both functions are pretty much self explanatory.
I was having issues with the 1st unit I received (new) but that one did NOT have this issue. The 2nd one did. No changes on my end, thou I did update the F/W in my Router (running DD-WRT). I reverted back to the F/W version that was in the Router, but NO change. Problem remained.
I uninstalled the software and re-installed it, but no change. Rebooting the DVR makes no difference. I contacted the manufacture (US based support for a change), but they claim none of their units do this (of course), but they did point a finger to the PC (of course, it couldn't possibly be their fault) which I was waiting for them to do that. Except for the fact the 1st unit did NOT have this issue, it had numerous others not related.

If I just open and run the program without changing the 4 camera view, all is fine, data continues to be sent, but when I choose any specific camera, then return to the 2x2 (Quad) view the data stream just dies out and the images are frozen. If I click back to any single camera the data may return, but it usually dies out after a minute or so. Closing the program and re-opening it brings it back to square one.

I use a program called 'Bit Meter' (similar to DU Meter) to continuously monitor LAN & WAN status as to data flow in and out. This is how I determined it was a data flow issue. (I have used one or the other of these for well over a decade, great troubleshooting tool !!). The max data xfer rate is 10Mb/sec. thou it's usually around 5-6 Mb/sec.

Now, to add to the mystery; if I change to 'Playback', the problem seems to go away (AFAIK). Data flow is back and it doesn't seem to be affected my any actions I do.
I don't know if the software used a different port between Live View and Playback, I believe it's the same. That was the only area that may explain this that I could think of.

Details;

Static IP addresses,
AMD based Gigabyte MB, FX8350 processor, 8GB of memory, wired Ethernet,
NO A/V or local Firewall programs running, no suspicious processes or services running. I use ProcessHacker (poor name choice), it's a superior substitute for Task Manager).
This does install MS C++ 2010

Any ideas out there??

Edited September 13, 2023 by videobruce
update

[videobruce]

Here is the DVR;

https://www.specotech.com/product/d4vx3tb-2/

The software is here (but you have to register to d/l);
https://www.specotech.com/secureguard-cms-digital-download/

 

[videobruce]

I thought this was a Router issue, it's not. I have a laptop that is running W7 Pro x64, the same as my desktop  tower and the program seems to work fine. But not on the desktop. Something is corrupted somewhere. I do have a older 'image' of the O/S, but I would like to try to find the problem w/o having to use it (assuming that image doesn't have the problem)

AFA recent changes, most have been installing and uninstalling the programs for this CCTV DVR. They had older versions, one that needed IE and one that was a stand alone program. The IE web program needed a active X to run.

I then discovered they had a newer program that initially worked better, but various problems developed which I thought were the DVR itself.

It now is apparent it wasn't. I'm assuming the communications issues are related to these other programs. But since the same current program version works on the laptop, that narrows things down.

What's happening, or more like not happening is the 'streaming' from the DVR to the PC  dies after a few seconds after the program loads. If I don't touch anything the 'Quad View' (four cameras) seems fine, but when I choose a single camera, then return to all four it usually starts to breakup and the images either freeze or go blank. Restarting the program doesn't solve the problem. Again , it's NOT the Router, this is a wired connection on a gigabyte local network!

I even tried a 2nd network card.

So anyone have any ideas what/where I should/could look for issues?

[Tripredacus]

Merged. Do not create duplicate topics.

[videobruce]

The situation has changed, it's not a Network issue anymore which is why I created a separate thread in the appropriate sub forum and since I received no replies where it was.

Edited September 21, 2023 by videobruce

[jaclaz]

Could it be some slowness in accessing the hard disk (the one of the PC)?

jaclaz

[videobruce]

Negative, this happens with their 'Live View' and with 'Playback (HDD).

It's clearly some corruption within the O/S probably due to their outdated programs they didn't update the documentation to the customer properly.

[jaclaz]

LSO?

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201575036-why-is-my-video-stream-buffering/

https://www.howtosolutions.net/2013/06/fixing-slow-sending-or-receiving-of-files-through-lan-network-using-windows/

jaclaz

[videobruce]

Thanks for those links

Ok, I restored a previous image made before all of this and to my surprise, that still didn't work, same issues. I even tried my backup O/S on a separate HDD that I rarely use and with the same program that fails, same thing.

I'm going to try another port on the Router, but I doubt that's it. Lastly, I have a image from when I assembled this Tower with only basic drivers including the 2 printers I have, but NO video driver and see what happens then.

 

[videobruce]

My local xfer speed is fine, both ways including large files (.mp4's). 115MB/sec xfering a 9GB file. This is from/to a Media Player (Xidoo X10) w/ a 4TB HDD..

I will add, I have a Laptop also running W7 Pro x64, it was loaded from image with a similar build as the Tower. I loaded the program and for some even stranger reason(s) it seems to work with initial tests. Both of these PC's are AMD based, the Laptop is older than the Tower.

My next step is to load the 1st image (from 2016 when the PC was built) of the Tower with only drivers loaded, no video driver and see what happens.

Edited September 22, 2023 by videobruce

[Dixel]

6 hours ago, videobruce said:

Ok, I restored a previous image made before all of this and to my surprise, that still didn't work, same issues.

Then it's a hardware failure.

[videobruce]

How about a software failure???

When I started this project/ f3 ring circus, the S/W version was 1.4.4 which came out last June '22. That was the 1st one I used w/ the 1DVR. When I talked with them, they told me there was a  current version out  June of '23 which I d/l'ed and loaded when I exchanged the 1st unit for a replacement.

Then things got worst, but it wasn't a complete loss of data transfer until the 2nd replacement. It wasn't until I received that and tried the new s/w that this new problem showed up continuously. Due to all the issues and the other unrelated device problem I kinda forgot the s/w switch and wasted another week troublshooting the newest problem.

Until, I decided to clean some old M$ add-ons (which turned out not the problem) and look for that older s/w version.

Wamho, success! All appears to be mostly ok except for the 'quirks' which are minor compared to before.