Upgrade Firmware on Chinese DS-2CD3345-I

[gkoutsis]

Hi all,

Got a few cameras in my shop.

Two of them have firmware V5.4.20 build 160726 and support H.265+ on my Synology for recording.
The rest have older V5.3.8 build 160108 and show only H.264+ which doesn't seem to work very well compared to H.265+

Any way to upgrade to the newest firmware without bricking them?

Thanks

 

[alastairstevenson]

Any way to upgrade to the newest firmware without bricking them?

If these are really Chinese cameras (CCCH in the serial number?), they will only take Chinese firmware, or 'hacked to English' EN/ML firmware.

 

[IAmATeaf]

If they are the same models can you not backup the firmware one one and restore it to the other?

 

[alastairstevenson]

If they are the same models can you not backup the firmware one one and restore it to the other?

Worth a try, I suppose.
Presumably the existing firmware is hacked to give EN menus.
Some of the hacked firmware comes protected with a camera-specific 'licence file' if the seller had to pay a fee for it.

 

[gkoutsis]

Worth a try, I suppose.
Presumably the existing firmware is hacked to give EN menus.
Some of the hacked firmware comes protected with a camera-specific 'licence file' if the seller had to pay a fee for it.

How can I read the existing firmware? I think there is option only for upgrading.

 

[alastairstevenson]

A bit fiddly if you've not done this before.
A connection to the serial console is needed, then find out of the bootloader still has any flash read/write commands available.
And if not, as is likely, find out if its still possible to gain access to a root shell from where partitions can be read and written, or file system folders handled.

 

[gkoutsis]

A bit fiddly if you've not done this before.
A connection to the serial console is needed, then find out of the bootloader still has any flash read/write commands available.
And if not, as is likely, find out if its still possible to gain access to a root shell from where partitions can be read and written, or file system folders handled.

Is it something you can do for me? I hate to buy new cameras just to get new firmware if I can upgrade my own.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Why doesn’t h264+ work with the NAS what issues are you having.

Off chance but maybe contact the seller to see if they might be able to supply you the hacked update firmware.

 

[gkoutsis]

Well, I should have made it clearer, when using H264 I am getting close to 3gb per 30mins video. When using H265+ I am getting 300mb per hour. So I have 8 cameras recording all day. You can imagine the bandwidth on the network and the HDD space.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Do the cameras have Chinese menus in the web GUI?

Any way to upgrade to the newest firmware without bricking them?

Something to consider - if the cameras are only recording via the Synology NAS (using Surveillance Station or a network share?) then it presumably won't care that the cameras are Chinese.
If so - you may be able to update versions using the stock Chinese firmware.
If they are G0 series cameras, the firmware is here :

杭州海康威视数字技术股份有限公司

海康威视是以视频为核心的智能物联网解决方案和大数据服务提供商

www.hikvision.com

That would give Chinese menus via the camera web GUI - which for configuration purposes can be avoided by using the Batch Configuration Tool :

Batch Config Tool

Activate or configure multiple Hikvision cameras or one at a time.

ipcamtalk.com

 

[IAmATeaf]

Are those figures you posted correct? They don’t look correct to me?

 

[gkoutsis]

Are those figures you posted correct? They don’t look correct to me?

I just double checked. 4 hours video recording in 2560x1440 creates a 160mb file when on 265+.
Same resolution just H264 will create 1.5GB for 30mins.

So yes, the difference is huge.

 

[gkoutsis]

Do the cameras have Chinese menus in the web GUI?

Something to consider - if the cameras are only recording via the Synology NAS (using Surveillance Station or a network share?) then it presumably won't care that the cameras are Chinese.
If so - you may be able to update versions using the stock Chinese firmware.
If they are G0 series cameras, the firmware is here :

杭州海康威视数字技术股份有限公司

海康威视是以视频为核心的智能物联网解决方案和大数据服务提供商

www.hikvision.com

That would give Chinese menus via the camera web GUI - which for configuration purposes can be avoided by using the Batch Configuration Tool :

Batch Config Tool

Activate or configure multiple Hikvision cameras or one at a time.

ipcamtalk.com

Yes I don't really care. I will set configuration once and leave them like that.

 

[IAmATeaf]

I just double checked. 4 hours video recording in 2560x1440 creates a 160mb file when on 265+.
Same resolution just H264 will create 1.5GB for 30mins.

So yes, the difference is huge.

You must have something like the bitrates set differently between the 2 formats. I’ve read of getting a 50% saving but what you are quoting is way beyond that.