I have 10 reolink 5mp cameras that work great on my dashboards.
I use this command to refresh the dashboard image every 2 seconds: http://ipaddress/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9R23NPQR&user=gtracy&password=123456 and it works fine with all 10 cameras.
When I create a new tile using image and the above url I get a flash of a snap shot and then the tile goes blank.
I have used this same url for the doorbell camera in a browser (firefox) and it works fine.
Suggestions?
Update to this:
(this is a copy of what I sent to Reolink support).
I have found the error:
In the firmware for the RLC-410 cameras you ignore everything after the password in the url:
Here is an example of the code sent to the RLC-410 cameras:
<img data-v-4784b085="" src="http://10.10.nn.nn/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9R23NPQR&user=gtracy&password=Gxxxxxxh%&time=1672672177" class="image">
This works just fine in the Hubitat image frame.
Here is an example of the code sent to the Doorbell camera:
<img data-v-4784b085="" src="http://10.10.mm.mm/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9R23NPQR&user=gtracy&password=Gxxxxxxxh%&time=1672672062" class="image">
This does not work on the doorbell camera. The amp;time= in the doorbell firmware is causing the url to fail and hence not producing the image on screen.
Can you have your engineers correct their code for the doorbell cameras appropriately please, otherwise these cameras cannot be used with the Hubitat automation systems that are so popular now.
My two doorbell cameras are of no use to me right now.
Now another point I did not tell Reolink is that when you first bring up the dashboard and the tile starts the first time the Hubitat code does not send the amp:time variable as part of the url and it works for the first snap shot then when it refreshes the amp:time variable is added and the url fails....no image is produced.
Waiting to hear back from Reolink.
Anything we can do in Hubitat to make this work?
You can display the image of the doorbell in a browser but not in the Hubitat dashboard image tile. Is that the problem? Doesn't seem like a Reolink firmware issue if that's the case. Try another browser and see if it's working.
Yes it is a problem. I have all my security cameras displaying in the Hubitat dashboards plus I have a couple Amazon echo shows. I use the Alex skills in the dashboard to display on the shows.
If you read my posting up top you will see that the issue is that the Hubitat code adds a time stamp to the end of the url. For my older cameras this is not a problem. However with the doorbell cameras it causes the url to fail.
If I add the timestamp on to the url in any browser the url will fail to display the snapshot.
In short it doesn't work in any browser with the time stamp.
Can you display the doorbell snapshot on the browser without the timestamp?
Is this the output url of the Reolink NVR or is this a direct snapshot from the doorbell?
Without the timestamp and using the browser the snapshot appears. I do not have or use a NVR as the cameras have internal sd cards for storage.
The timestamp is added by the Hubitat code. It is not there when Hubitat first queries the camera and only applied on the second query and all subsequent.
Thanks.
Maybe something new but Hubitat doesn't apply anything to your snapshot. It's just an image tile and you put the image url link in there.
I did an actual inspect of each of the urls to prove that the Hubitat code appends the timestamp to each url.
This is done as part of the code on the second time it requests a snapshot and then on.
It is not something that shows up in the image setting but something that occurs when it does a push to the camera.
You really need to see the inspect results of the web page to see it.
It is definitely there.
that timestamp is the refresh interval of the image tile. it shouldn't affect your snapshot but who knows with Reolink doorbell. Maybe you are correct with the firmware.
You can set the tile image refresh rate to blank and there should not be a timestamp. See if that will work but by leaving it blank meaning there's no way for the image to refresh.
Interestingly I got the following from Reolink this morning:
Reolink Support Team (Reolink)
Jan 5, 2023, 18:06 GMT+8
Dear Glenn,
Sorry for keeping you waiting such a long time.
I have forwarded your problem to our engineers.
They found that the issue was caused by that the Doorbell have restrictions on the URL.
They have realized the issue.
And they will remove the restrictions by updating camera firmware in the future.
Thanks for your contribution to optimizing our products.
Have a nice day.
They admit that they put a restriction in the software.
Now the big question of course is how soon they will send out a correction?
I'll try setting the interval to zero and see if that works.
IT's a neat little camera with definite possibilities. They just blew the implementation and have poor software development management.
Thanks by the way.
One quick update. Selecting an interval of 0 or blank results in the image never refreshing. I tested this with the other cameras as well and they behave the same way. It seems that instead of "streaming" they only load the first image and never refresh. In fact the minimum the cameras can seem to work at is 2. Anything less than 2 and they fail to update. Very interesting.
To really confirm if it's Hubitat timestamp or Reolink issue. What happened when you leave the timestamp blank and refresh the dashboard webpage? If it's blank then it's your doorbell and nothing to do with the timestamp.
You can also try this by pasting the camera's URL with the timestamp in a webpage and manually refresh the page and one without the timestamp. Same result = door bell.
I have done a number of tests using just a browser on this. In fact when I use the inspect tool on the browser I discovered the timestamp attached to the url.
If I remove the timestamp and refresh the screen the image works and I see a refreshed screen.
So for this model of their camera it is definitely the addition of the timestamp that causes the problem.
On their previous cameras their code just accepted the timestamp and ignored it. Allowing the camera to return the image.
Cheers.
My big concern is if they change their code down the line for the old ones to a point where they consider anything past the password as a violation and then reject the url. All my cameras would then quit working.
Hello All,
After struggling with this issue myself I decided to review the Reolink API for the Reolink doorbell. Link below.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qvKcKswNJP_-G0tTbs_JQOuO67QqujfB
Page 13 states: "Token is the only global certification of developers. Token is required whenever developers are calling each port. Normally the lease for each token is 3600 seconds and you may regain it after it expires."
On page 12 of the same document, they provide an example string with a token of 20343295: "it. POST /cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=xxx&token=20343295¶mxxx=xxx HTTP/1.1"
Below is an example string I am using to pull a snapshot from the reolink door bell camera (make sure HTTP is enabled via the camera's web interface).
http:///192.168.XXX.XXX/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9WG7C&user=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD&token=20343295
I have the refresh interval currently set to 2 seconds and it seems to be working quite well. I don't know if this will be a permanent fix, but it does seem to be working for me right now. I will report back with any issues I find in testing, but hopefully this should help anyone else out thats struggling to get the Reolink door bell on a Hubitat dashboard.
@madutam : Thanks for posting your findings. I have been struggling with this issue for MONTHS...as you can probably see from my postings.
First there is a minor error in your URL. You have three '\' when their should be two 'http://'. No big deal.
If we compare my posting and yours we differ in not only the &token20343295 but the URL I was given states "UCel9R23NPQR" while yours states "UCel922G7C". I am not sure what difference this will make.
I have tried both you URL with my data and my own URL as per the above with the &token added to it but have found that neither of them work as per my posting above.
My question therefore is what firmware version you have loaded. Mine currently has had a couple of updates sent to me by Reolink so this could compromise things.
I really hope I can make this work as yours currently is with my Hubitat dashboard.....
Thanks.
Glenn...
I just read the latest API document that you pointed out.
My mistake here is that I just used you token instead of getting my own. Sorry about that. I will use the rest api calls and derive my own token and try again.
Thanks.
Glenn...
Hubitat Release: 2.3.5.118
Model: Reolink Video Doorbell PoE
Firmware Version: v3.0.0.1459_22102808
Config Version: v3.0.0.0
Build: 22102808
Hardware Number: DB_566128M5MP_P
Wow, that firmware seems rather old.....221028?
That obviously is a good thing.
Now I just have to find a copy.
Thanks.
Glenn...
Unfortunately, I can't find this firmware on their site.
Would you have the zip file you could send me? Should only be about 25Megs?
Thanks.
Glenn.
I just discovered that my other camera has the same firmware as what you are using. So thanks but I don't need a copy.
