Doing my head in

[marneth]

So I have installed 4 Hikvision cameras and a Hikvision 7600 series NVR. I powered on the NVR and looked at the cameras and the IR window was glowing red. I believe that shows that there is power to the camera but it is not yet activated. So I turn everything off as it's late Sunday night and I decide to activate the cameras another day. Today I finish work early and decide to activate the cameras. I install the NVR software from the disc that came with it and turn on the power but I don't see the cameras to be able to activate them. I go outside and there is no sign of power to the cameras, no glowing red IR window. Now I am not a computer geek and I can't figure out what to do to get this thing up and running. NVR is plugged into my router, cameras plugged into NVR and green and yellow lights flashing at the ports. What do I do now. This is doing my head in. All help greatly appreciated.
Cheers Marneth

 

[alastairstevenson]

I go outside and there is no sign of power to the cameras, no glowing red IR window.

If it's daylight - the IR will be off.

What do I do now.

You probably just need to 'Activate' the NVR.
They come as 'Inactive', requiring that you create your own strong password. No default passwords any more.

I have installed 4 Hikvision cameras and a Hikvision 7600 series NVR.

That could be from one of quite a few different series.
To help provide more useful help as they do behave differently - please advise the model number of the NVR.

I can't figure out what to do to get this thing up and running.

In the first instance - access the NVR on it's web interface.
Log in and check the status of the cameras under the System | Camera Configuration' page.

To be sure about the status of the NVR, use the SADP tool from here to find it : SADP Tool
A new NVR that shows status=Inactive will need to be 'Activated' before it can be used.
You can use SADP to do that by creating your own strong password.
Then if needed, change the network address to suit your own network.

 

[marneth]

Ok so it is now dark and I see the red glow in the IR window so the cameras do have power. The model no. is DS-7616NI-12/16P
To ask a silly question do I need to have a VGA or HDMI cable connected to the NVR to set up or can I just have a Ethernet cable connected to my router to set up? My PC doesn't have an HDMI port

 

[marneth]

Now I see that I can buy a HDMI to VGA adapter so I could use that to connect the NVR to my PC. I will pick one up tomorrow. On the SADP screen it tells me that my NVR is active but I cant see any cameras. It also says total number of online devices 1. Want I want to do is to be able to see the cameras on my TV so I have run an HDMI cable from the NVR to the TV. Do I need to have a splitter to also run a cable to my PC so I can access the NVR interface?

 

[alastairstevenson]

To ask a silly question do I need to have a VGA or HDMI cable connected to the NVR to set up or can I just have a Ethernet cable connected to my router to set up?

You can get away with just the ethernet cable.
Though there are a few configuration items that are not available via the web interface - but nothing major.

On the SADP screen it tells me that my NVR is active but I cant see any cameras.

That's good - and implies that someone - presumably you - has 'Activated' it with your own strong password.
You won't see any cameras as yet - they are presumably connected to the NVR PoE ports, which use a separate network, normally hidden from the LAN that the PC is on.

Do I need to have a splitter to also run a cable to my PC so I can access the NVR interface?

If both the NVR and the PC are both connected to your LAN / router - which they are if SADP sees the NVR -
The first thing you need to do is to check the IP address of the NVR, as seen on SADP, and if needed change it to one of your choice that matches your LAN address range.
What IP address does SADP show for the NVR?
What address range does your LAN use - for example, what's the IP address of your router? If you're not sure - it may be on the label. Or the PC IP address will provide a clue.

When the IP address of the NVR is suitably set for your LAN, use the IE11 browser (not MS Edge or Chrome or Firefox) to access the NVR IP address.
Log in - and in the System | Camera Management page - check the status of the cameras.

If nothing useful shows - you can verify the status of the cameras directly if you connect the PC to an unused PoE port of the NVR, and see what SADP shows.
What are their IP addresses, what is their 'Status' ?
Screenshots would be helpful to show the status.

 

[marneth]

Ok. I'm slowly getting there. So I can see the IP address of the NVR and when I open IE11 I can type the IP in and access the NVR. I can see the images from the cameras but they are still not activated as far as I can tell

I haven't got the NVR connected to the PC with a HDMI cable yet just the Ethernet cable. I can't see how to activate the cameras. Where do I go form here. Thanks for all your help so far .
Cheers Martin.

 

[alastairstevenson]

You can see the images from the cameras? In Live View?
Then the cameras are connected and working.

In your second screenshot, what shows under the 'IP camera' tab?

 

[marneth]

In live view there Is no visible image. If I click on a camera a very grainy image appears. I'm just out at the moment but will be back home in an hour. I haven't clicked on the IP camera tab yet but will check that as soon as I get home.

 

[marneth]

Also I have not put in any passwords for any cameras so I can't see how they can be activated. They are definitely working just not setup correctly as far as I can see.

 

[marneth]

Ok here is a screenshot of the IP camera tab.

I can't check any of the camera channel No. boxes. It is dark now and the cameras still have the red glow in the IR window. Still scratching my head .

 

[alastairstevenson]

Also I have not put in any passwords for any cameras so I can't see how they can be activated.

By default, when the cameras are activated on an NVR Plug&Play PoE port, the NVR uses its own password to activate the cameras.
There is an option to use a separate password for the cameras if required.
And of course you can always go back and change it to something different.

In live view there Is no visible image. If I click on a camera a very grainy image appears.

Are you definitely using IE11, and not Edge, which is the default browser in Win10?

 

[marneth]

Definitely IE11 If I select a camera in live view and then select Sub-stream I then get a clear image. Just found that out.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Check the Video/Audio settings for main stream and substream in the NVR web GUI, and also directly on the camera with the link under the Connect column in Camera Configuration.
It looks like you'll first need to enable Virtual Host in the NVR.
Usually a tickbox under Network | Advanced Configuration | Other
The camera access would also allow you to check out it's Live View page.