All Video (temporary) is not being saved.

[ropedrag]

I've had Sighthound for quite some time and when it works I love it, the problem is that it doesn't work that often.

My primary issue is that the "temporary" video is not recording as it should. Two days ago it was spot on and when I click the "search" tab I see lots of green on the time bar indicating that its recording all the time when a "rule" isn't being followed. Perfect, right?

Then I come home the next day, or a few days later and see that its only been recording short videos (less than 2 minutes), and this is the weird part, it records these short videos in the ballpark of every 30 to 40 minutes, by definition this isn't even close to "all video is saved". What is going on here?

I've tried several configurations of preferences such as it is now, Temporary video 400GB for 48 hours and no changes here seem to make any difference. I've been tinkering around trying to solve this issue for almost 2 years now and I'm either going to give up or be more pissed off than I already am so I'm reaching out for some help.

I record to a Synology DS212J NAS and I typically have about 800GB of free space available.

When I can home today and noticed once again that I'm not getting the temporary video recorded (except the 2 minute +/- short videos, roughly every 30 to 40 minutes) I checked the archive folder on the NAS, which was at 167GB (well below the 400GB).

I also ran though the rule(s) on the 3 cameras. I've found if I do this through the "edit rule" it tells me a couple of things quickly and easily. 1) does the camera image show up? if so good, if not it usually means there is an issue with the video "archive" storage location and 2) If I click OK at the bottom it will tell me via a pop-up if my clip destination folder is not there (even thought it is). I self taught these things because each and every damn time my computer shuts down, due to updates or what the hell ever I HAVE TO reset the video storage location in "preferences" AND re-point all 3 of the cameras "rules" to the destination storage file. Yes a pain in the ass.

And while I'm on a rant, the remote viewing sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Inconstant as hell.

If you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

[sv_alex]

Hi ropedrag,

For everything you've mentioned so far, it is always best to open a support ticket via Help -> Report a problem, as anything I say here is a guesswork at best, since we don't have much context -- not even what version you're using, let alone logs and such.

That being said, the behavior you are describing -- "... I see lots of green on the time bar ... few days later and see that its only been recording short videos ... " is quite normal. All video *is* being saved, until either the time set in storage preferences is over, and the non-event related video is trimmed, or disk usage is over the quota specified, again, in storage preferences, in which case older clips will be removed, followed by the "cache" temporary video, until the usage is under the specified quote.

Not quite sure what you mean by having to reset video storage location, this is not something that we've seen before.

Again, we can look at specifics once we have more context, but that's the gist of it. Hoping to assist you soon!

[ropedrag]

Good point I'll add a bit more information and clarify a couple of things.

Version #. All the issues I discuss have occurred regardless of the version number I've had, starting from whatever version was the latest and greatest in December of 2015 thru the current 5.1.5

I'll try to explain the Lots of green. When operating correctly if you click on the "search" tab and then click and select a camera from the dropdown such as "Front Porch" you get a list of clips on the left hand side of the screen. These events correspond with blue markings on the timeline directly below the main video window on this screen, they are clips generated by a "rule". The video recorded that is not by rule is "temporary video" and is represented by the color green. The entire timeline should be green with the exception of the blue saved by rule clips. In my case I'm getting a green sliver roughly every 30 minutes or so. I can further verify that all video is not being recorded by looking at the archive folder and sub folders, the video simple does not exist with the exception being the short clips every 30 minutes or so. So what I'm finding within the archive folder is in agreement with what the Search screen indicates, no temporary video is being recorded. However when the program is functioning correctly, the time line is solid green with the exception of the saved by rule blue marks and when this is occurring (working properly) I can go to the archive folder and see that all temporary video is actually there and being saved.

I need to figure out why this is happening.

OK, moving to the next issue. If my computer is turned off (and then back on) for any reason be it an automatic update or other.. Sighthound 100% forgets where the archive folder is as well as the folder I've established and pointed it to for saving the clips to for each of my 3 cameras. I've discovered a quick way to verify if this has occurred and I check it often because if I don't it records absolutely nothing, no temporary video, no clips by rule, nothing and why would it as its forgotten where and what the folders are. Anyway my easy method to check this issue is... If you click on the Cameras tab, and then notice at the lower left just below the video window you will see your "rule(s)" with a dropdown arrow to the right of that rule. If you click on that arrow and select "edit rule" it will open the "rule editor". If you have a camera image in the window its basically telling you that it knows where your archive folder is (a good thing). If no image is there get out of the rule editor and open up "preferences" then "storage" then the "move video" box and tell it once again where the archive folder is located. Close out and go back to the rules editor and you should no see the camera image.Now click "OK" at the bottom of the rule editor, if sighthound has forgotten where to save the clips (in my case I save to "a local folder" which I've pointed it to by using the "browse" button) it will throw a pop-up letting me know it cant find the folder I had specified. I then use the browse button and point it right back to the exact same folder and all is well, I click ok and it works.

This really sucks. I had a thousand dollar package stolen off my front porch a couple weeks ago (why it was left without a signature required is another issue), I knew it was stolen for a number of reasons, one being my ring doorbell had it captured on video. It certainly would have been nice for my 3 camera system to have filled in all the gaps which surely would have captured the vehicle license number, etc.. however it did not record anything as it had forgotten the folders as mentioned above. Turns out my imac had an auto update that included a re-boot and I missed that it had done so, this resulted in several days of no video being recorded. Some may say to just turn off the imacs auto update ability but I say thats just treating a symptom not the cause. Why, when my computer is powered down is sighthound forgetting where/what the folders are?

[ryan]

Hi ropedrag,

SV always records all video and then purges non-saved portions as dictated by settings and system resources, there isn't a mode where not saving temporary/non-matching video wouldn't happen. If there is not expected coverage the timeline bar it likely indicates that either you're on a day past what you've requested temporary video to be kept for or that you are running out of disk space.

We don't have any known issues about storage location loss on startup. Do you have any customization for your storage or startup that SV didn't configure on its own?

Please submit a bug report from "Help->Report a Problem..." or manually zip your /Library/Application Support/Sighthound Video/logs directory and send it to [email protected]. That information will allow us to precisely explain your temp video situation and likely your startup trouble as well.

[ropedrag]

Ryan, all,

The reason I didn't respond back earlier is because I noticed an update was available, so I purchased with the "Renewal 1 Yr" Pro Support (turns out the 1 year is tied into the original purchase anniversary so I actually, for full price, purchased a 3+ month renewal of Pro Support).

Anyway I updated and holy cow! it worked just like it should!! The issues described simply went away and all was well.

Was being the operative word here...... Kind of weird and really suspicious that the DAY AFTER my Pro Support expires the program reverts back to the exact issues I was having before, yes the same ones that magically went away when I purchased Pro Support and upgrades.

It worked flawless during this period and nothing on my end has changed apart form those little words you folks added in the upper right hand corner of the Sighthound screen "your support and upgrade subscription has expired"

So what next, another $50 to make it work again?

[Kbond]

I replied to your internal email. Let's continue this conversation there, thank you!

Regards,
-Kevin

[ryan]

To be clear, support expiring only touches the following three parts of the application code:

• Whether the license is valid to be used with a major version, yes if the X.0.0 of an X.Y.Z version was released prior to support expiration.
• Whether to show an update prompt for a new application version, no if the license is not compatible.
• Whether to display a renew button, which can be disabled in options/preferences.

It has no impact on functionality (other than whether the license can be used) so any behavior changes coinciding around the expiration date would be coincidental. Renewing would not change any behavior and we would never offer that as a solution.

[Karl_S]

I have this same issue and from what I just read, it sounds as if the only way I can have full functionality is to pay a yearly support fee. Is this true even though the Support and Upgrade Subscriptions is claiming "You own a perpetual license. That means that your software will continue to run regardless of whether you purchase Support Subscription renewals." or is this stating that I need to roll back to the version from my original purchase and I will have the ability to access all 8 cameras with that version? (I purchased Pro)

[ryan]

You are never required to pay us again and functionality is never removed from the application.

If you buy a license for version 8 you can forever use version 8. All license purchases include 1 year of support and upgrades, so if version 9 was released within a year of your purchase you would forever be able to use all 9.X versions. The only time you would be required to renew is if 10.0 was released after your support and upgrade subscription expired and you wanted to use that version.

No versions of the software, free or paid licenses, continued or expired support subscriptions, will ever stop recording. If temporary video appears to not be saved the most common issues are running out of drive space, having low storage settings in preferences/options, or cameras losing connection. If you can post more details about what you are seeing we can help.

Based on

is this stating that I need to roll back to the version from my original purchase and I will have the ability to access all 8 cameras with that version? (I purchased Pro)

are you having trouble activating your license after manually installing a 5.X version rather than issues with temporary video? If so and your purchase was made prior to July 5, 2016 then it would need to be upgraded to work with 5.X versions. You can find earlier versions of the software by clicking "Looking for a previous version?" under the standard download buttons.

[Karl_S]

Thank you for the clarification, Ryan.

Apparently I need to apologize as my issue was that I went to the Search screen on the local server and it showed 6 video clip s with the temporary not saved message. What I did not look at was the date for When, which I now notice was 2 months ago. (Perhaps this points to a need to have it default to "Today" in at least some instances such as this one?) So my apologies, I went to the server because remote viewing isn't working and didn't think...

Anyway, I need to figure out why Remote Viewing isn't working via either mobile or the web page. I had given up on this once before and started using a different app to watch the feeds via their IP. I just need to spend a little time trying to figure out what is up. I will start another thread for that if needed.

Again, thank you and my apologies.

Karl