Hikvision DS-2CD2365G1-I camera and stock firmware

[redavenger]

?hey guys

I'm curious if anyone knows the answer to this questions.
The current available firmware to download for this camera is 5.6.5
I've recently (say 3-5 months) bought 8 of these cameras, which were roughly manufactured april/may 2020, but every one of them has come with firmware version 5.6.2.

Anyone know why would hikvision ship them with older firmware, when at the time of manufacture other and newer version of the firmware was available eg 5.6.3/5.6.4/5.6.5?

Does hikvision maybe still recommend to use the version 5.6.2?

 

[k110]

Lower manufacturing cost. They have a fabrication process that includes the 5.6.2 firmware, if they want to add another firmware to that process, the process itself needs a change which results in change management, testing, etc... Why do all of that when the customer can just upgrade the firmware Hikvision targets prosumers & installers who have the habit of upgrading to the latest firmware while installing the camera.

 

[Teken]

I'll also add every region will offer a different version of firmware (assuming) its even listed at all! Lastly, don't assume because you see firmware listed in the EU it can be used on a NA gear. As sometimes the hardware has been iterated say from G1 to G3 and that firmware isn't supposed to be loaded because newer hardware provides new features not supported in older hardware.

Whether it be due to onboard memory capacity to different chip set . . .

Upgrading firmware on anything should be done sparingly that addresses a specific bug, risk, or new feature. Unlike other industries both Duhua and Hikvision offer no roll back feature much less hold the upgrade in high memory for later recovery should it go side ways.

 

[redavenger]

so question is, is it worth while upgrade the firmware to 5.6.5 if everything is working ok?

 

[Teken]

so question is, is it worth while upgrade the firmware to 5.6.5 if everything is working ok?

Review the release notes to see if it resolves any known bugs or offers new features.

The release notes will call out what models are supported in that firmware.

 

[watchful_ip]

I'll also add every region will offer a different version of firmware (assuming) its even listed at all! Lastly, don't assume because you see firmware listed in the EU it can be used on a NA gear. As sometimes the hardware has been iterated say from G1 to G3 and that firmware isn't supposed to be loaded because newer hardware provides new features not supported in older hardware.

Whether it be due to onboard memory capacity to different chip set . . .

Upgrading firmware on anything should be done sparingly that addresses a specific bug, risk, or new feature. Unlike other industries both Duhua and Hikvision offer no roll back feature much less hold the upgrade in high memory for later recovery should it go side ways.

Certainly upgrading does carry some risk in terms of introducing new bugs or problems. A few years ago this was specifically advocated against due to the importing of much cheaper (though genuine) devices from China that had custom firmware on them to deliver English compatibility. Though unless it's a very old camera that's much more unlikely these days and cameras like that should have CN instead of WR in the serial number.

Hikvision cameras have recovery via TFTP using code either in the bootloader or a read only factory recovery partition that boots when using a Hikvision TFTP program. So not really much need for a dedicated area on flash for an older firmware storage (unlike say a mission critical commercial network switch/router).

Rollback can be made on some cameras depending on the type and version range. It's a limitation Hikvision put in place some years ago and not one I favor. Alternatively limitless rollback can sometimes be made, though bootloader access via UART might be needed - not ideal if camera is already installed.

I've not come across firmware version problems between NA and EU devices in the years I've been using Hikvision and worked with many many cameras, but perhaps isolated examples exist but even then the device ID should be checked for compatibility. Also different flash and memory sizes can be supported in the same firmware - image sensors too. Board SOCs should be compatible for all the device IDs stored in the firmware which is checked before upgrading process starts.