Where did my Dahua NVR GUI access go?

mat-with-one-t

Getting the hang of it
Mar 7, 2020
95
35
Melboure
HI all. Another question please! Here's the setup so far:

Dahua DHI-NVR5216-16p-4ks2e

Cameras so far:
1. IPC-t5241-as-pv 2mp 2.8mm (same as IPC-hdw5241h-as-pv
2. IPC-e3541f-as-m 5mp 2.8mm (same as dh-ipc-hdbw3541f-as-m)
3. IPC-t5442tm-as


Now, until yesterday all was going ok. I was getting into the system via the direct GUI, which in my case was 192.168.1.4, pretty much from any apple or pc device in the house.
Suddenly, this login won't work on any device at home (using various browsers, both mac and pc based), and the NVR does not appear on the traffic manager on my router. The NVR is definitely turned on and plugged into the network. I can still see everything via iDMSS Plus.
I've turned every device in the chain off and on. All firmware was up to date.

What's happened?

Cheers! Mat
 
Ah I found it. It's moved (I thought this was a static IP??) from 192.168.1.4 to 192.168.1.2
So what's going on here, and why does it not appear in my router as an active IP address?
 
Hi Mat with one T!

Interesting story! I find it quite bizar that your idmss app is still working, which suggests me you are actually using P2P (the "QR" code registration interface). Is that correct?

What happens if you pull in your firefox? That should work, right?

On your question why the router did not see it as an active address: some routers do "inspect" actual network traffic, others do not (of they simply watch the difference between "static" (eg reserved) IP addresses and the DHCP leases).

Have a look at how the TCPIP stack is configured in the NVR. You can do that through the NVR interface (VGA screen is always handy), -or- alternatively, you use ConfigTool in the dahua toolbox to "query" your entire network, you'll quickly see your nvr & cams popup.

Happy Camming,
CC
 
Thanks CC. I didn't think I'd enabled P2P? How would I check? I can now get the NVR through 192.168.1.2 as you suggested. Why did it change from 192.168.1.4??
 
Thanks CC. I didn't think I'd enabled P2P? How would I check? I can now get the NVR through 192.168.1.2 as you suggested. Why did it change from 192.168.1.4??

I suspect the P2P as your NVR did change ip address and you can still "reach" it. Meaning that your NVR is "hauling" outwards to the P2P service.

But things worthwhile checking:
  • validate Uupnp is still disabled in your router and NVR
  • remove your NVR from the DMSS app and add it by IP/Domain. Then you are certain no P2P stuff is active (and will be made active).

Good luck!
CC
 
Thanks CC. I didn't think I'd enabled P2P? How would I check? I can now get the NVR through 192.168.1.2 as you suggested. Why did it change from 192.168.1.4??

You need to reserve that address in your router. Once you do that it will assign that (192.168.1.2 or .4) address with the mac address. So, even if you restart the router or the NVR it will always have the same address.
 
ah dammit. I didn't get around to setting a static address in the router. Now my GUI is gone again. It (the NVR) doesn't appear in the traffic list of my router (as far as I can figure). Now what? How on earth do I find it?
Thinking about Catcamster's note above, yes, I added my 3rd cam using the "QR" code. This was me:
1. Having actually never used one of these, I was curious
2. I thought it'd streamline things
So this means my (still working) iDMSS must be utilising P2P yes? This is not a good idea from a security perspective, no? Should I delete and start again?
hmmm....
 
ah dammit. I didn't get around to setting a static address in the router. Now my GUI is gone again. It (the NVR) doesn't appear in the traffic list of my router (as far as I can figure). Now what? How on earth do I find it?
Thinking about Catcamster's note above, yes, I added my 3rd cam using the "QR" code. This was me:
1. Having actually never used one of these, I was curious
2. I thought it'd streamline things
So this means my (still working) iDMSS must be utilising P2P yes? This is not a good idea from a security perspective, no? Should I delete and start again?
hmmm....

Well, sometimes stuff in IT is quite predictable and "logic": If I start speaking my native language to you (not english) and you understand everything I say to you, then you have knowledge of my language else you haven't. It can be that simple.

So in your case, I would suggest you:
  • factory reset your NVR completely
  • factory reset all of your cams
  • factory reset your iDMSS app (uninstall might help too)
  • and often forgotten: have a good look into your router: there might be an open port, there might be port forwarding, there might be UUPnp hidden somewhere

Then follow these steps:
  • disconnect all cams, simply start configuring the NVR (eg with local screen or through configtool): push a fixed IP and make the appropriate reservation in your router
  • if you already see your nvr (with IP/domain) in iDMSS, you are almost there
  • connect each cam, even with factory reset, nvr will auto-configure/initialise them properly
  • continue for all your cams

Enjoy!

Happy Camming!
CC
 
ah dammit. I didn't get around to setting a static address in the router. Now my GUI is gone again. It (the NVR) doesn't appear in the traffic list of my router (as far as I can figure). Now what? How on earth do I find it?


If you use an iphone, download the app called Network Analyzer. Very simple. Open it and hit 'scan" it will show you a list of all devices attached to your network. Likley your NVR will be somewhere nearby the .2 or.4

Once you find it, set to Static IP, reboot and go to your router and reserve that address. ( to be honest Ive done it that way numerous times without reserving and have been fine for years. Just pick an IP higher up in the range, like .200 or something)
 
Last edited:
Another issue! I can see my NVR on my router (192.168.50.175), but I can't log into it.....!
I reckon it's time to get around to Catmaster's suggestions and start from scratch.....
On that note:
  • I have 2 more cam's to install (cat6 direct to NVR). Should I do this AFTER factory reset? Does it matter?
  • I read somewhere that a fan change (to lower noise) was possible. My NVR is Dahua DHI-NVR5216-16p-4ks2e. I should probably sort that if I'm gonna dig the unit out of the cupboard to plug a monitor and keyboard into for a reset....
 
your router is DHCP enabled this means its assigning ips to all devices connected to it. you should set it so theres range say starting 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254
step 2. set your nvr to have a static ip. say 192.168.0.50 < this will always be your NVR.

step 3. if you have cameras directly connected to your nvr via cat5/6, you will NOT be able to login to them as the nvr is assigning ips to them usually its like 10.4.3.4 something thats not within your network range, however all configuring should and can be done via the nvr settings.

step 4 work around to step 3. connect all your cameras to a poe switch with cat5/6, assign them with ip address within your router range (static ip) open your nvr and add these cameras in and it works same way. this method is probably the best because you can login to the nvr and login to the cameras individually.
 
 
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I would like to say that is actually NOT a good idea to set a static IP that is within your DHCP range. You want to do the exact opposite, and set your devices with static IP’s to something OUTSIDE the DHCP range. So if your range is .1-.254 then set the static IP to .255 or higher. I promise that you don’t want to deal with the potential consequences of setting a static within range.
 
Fair enough, That is better agreed. I’m not a network engineer but that has worked well for me.
 
Thanks all. I plan (when I get a chance) to install my final 2 cams, factory reset the NVR and start from scratch. I suspect alot of my issues are from learning as I go, so I suspect restarting shouldn't now be too hard.....