Wyze camera local firmware hack

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In case anybody else is interested in hacking the Wyze Cam cameras so they are local, here are the steps I went through to successfully update one of my Pan cameras with this hack:

Assume using Windows 10...

Bootloader install:

  • Make sure camera has latest firmware from Wyze app (makes it easier to test if revised firmware is loaded)
  • Note camera's MAC address, look up IP address in router
  • Set an IP reservation in the router for the camera's IP address
  • Use a 512mb microSD card (some say you can use larger and make a 512mb partition)
  • Format 512mb microSD card with FAT32
  • Remove System Volume Information folder from 512mb microSD card by opening an administrative command prompt, delete files from the folder (del) and remove the folder (rmdir)
  • Download proper CFW-Binary file for your camera (Xiaomi-Dafang-Hacks/install_cfw.md at master · EliasKotlyar/Xiaomi-Dafang-Hacks · GitHub)
  • Copy CFW-Binary file to the 512mb microSD card, rename to demo.bin
  • Remove power cable from camera
  • Put 512mb microSD card into camera
  • Hold down setup button on camera while plugging in the power cable
  • Keep setup button pressed for about 10 seconds
  • Release setup button and wait about 3 minutes for firmware to flash (I waited less than a minute)
  • How to tell with firmware is done flashing for Pan Cam: yellow LED, blue LED, yellow LED, LED blinks yellow/blue, then Pan Cam rotates, then solid blue LED
  • Remove power cable from camera
  • Remove 512mb microSD card from camera
  • Plug in power cable to camera
  • Go to Wyze app, it will want to upgrade the firmware, cancel out

Firmware install:

  • Use a 32gb microSD card (other sizes may work, this is what I used)
  • Make sure it is formatted FAT32 (don't know if this is true, but mine already was)
  • If System Volume Information folder exists, remove it (my microSD card had this folder)
  • Clone the repository GitHub - EliasKotlyar/Xiaomi-Dafang-Hacks, download as zip
  • Copy the files in the firmware_mod folder to the 32gb microSD card
  • Copy config/wpa_supplicant.conf.dist to config/wpa_supplicant.conf
  • Using Notepad++ (to keep LF without CR), edit config/wpa_supplicant.conf to set wifi settings: ssid, psk
  • Put 32gb microSD card into camera
  • Plug in power cable to the camera
  • For Pan Cam, yellow LED, quick blue LED, yellow LED, then solid blue LED
  • Login at https://, will get certificate warning which can be ignored, when prompted for user/password use root/ismart12

The web interface has changed from screen prints that I saw, seems like there are a lot more options, including auto SW night detection. Video looks great, whew! Supposedly RTSP stream supports sound but I have not yet gotten that to work with VLC.

Looking for advice for the following:

  1. Using TinyCam (setting it up to be a server), I was able to use the Hubitat dashboard image tile to display still shots of the Wyze cameras from the Wyze app. But when I use the snapshot URL for the hack, it doesn't work. I think that is because of https and user/password. Any ideas how can I get around that?

  2. What are different ways to view the RTSP stream on Windows 10? I read that TinyCam is integrated with this hack (haven't tried it yet) but also looking for a way to view the stream on my Surface Go.

  3. What kind of audio would be required for VLC? The options in the hack are OPUS, PCM, PCMU and MP3. I am familiar with MP3 but the rest is greek! And I've never used VLC before. I haven't yet had time to try each and see what happens in VLC.

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Thanks for this. I’m looking forward to local backup of the video, but the lack of 2-way audio is what keeps me from deploying any of the alternate firmware.

I bought the Wyze as a low cost alternative to a Ring Pro. So far it’s doing a great job.

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According to the wyze forum they are working towards rtsp locally. However it seems it will come at the cost of other features. Currently tinycam does a solid job at allowing access to the streams though.

I really like both my wyzecams for the money the pan can is pretty damn functional. I am curious what the final solution they come up with will be.

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So with TinyCam, I can keep factory firmware, and FTP footage to my Synology?

Which package is it? Their minimalist website confuses me. Everyone talks about TinyCam Pro, and that indeed exists in the Playstore, but the website only lists TinyCam Monitor, and the iOS store only lists TinyCam (not Pro, and not Monitor).

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Tinycam pro on the play store yes. I believe it comes with a free trial. Well worth the money though.

I just took a peek and yes the option is there for ftp. Along with a slew of other features and support for a ridiculous number of cameras. For me the majors drawback is it is android only. However with three kids and a wife I find there are devices sitting around in a pile anyways. I use tasker and the maker api to monitor battery level and turn the plug on and off.

There are also android emulators people seem to have lots of success with.

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There is no Tinycam pro for IOS. Only Android or you can run it with BlueStacks on Windows OS.

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I just installed BlueStacks and TinyCam Free on my Windows 10 computer. Pretty slick way to access all of my Wyze Cameras at once. Thanks for the tip!

Now, I am not sure what I am going to do with this newfound capability... :thinking:

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@ogiewon - I am struggling to connect to the tinycam webserver running in bluestacks.

Was there any port forward magic you had to do to get this work?

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I only ran it for that one day and never tried again. I don't recall having to do anything special. I also only tried this on my local LAN, not from a remote site. Wish I could be more help.

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I remember running windows loopback network adapter to get it working because tinycam is behind a NAT in bluestack. It was a while back and I can't remember how to do it.

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