PiKrellCam: motion vector detect + OSD web interface

[jbeale]

I have a few Pi's running PiKrellcam v4.2.1. In addition to motion capture, it takes a still photo every other hour. The still images are triggered by this line in my crontab:

Code: Select all

# take one still photo every other hour 7am-5pm
0 7-17/2 * * * echo "still" > /home/pi/pikrellcam/www/FIFO

PiKrellCam also deletes files when disk space is low. However I seem to recall in the past it would delete the oldest files. Right now, it is deleting the very most recent file, as the below lines from the log file show it immediately deleting the still image just taken:

Code: Select all

17:00:01 : command_process: still
17:00:01 : Still: /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/stills/image_2019-08-16_17.00.01_107.jpg
17:00:02 : Low disk space, deleted: /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/stills/image_2019-08-16_17.00.01_107.jpg

despite the fact that there is quite a bit of space taken by the older still and video archives over the past few months:

Code: Select all

[email protected]:~/pikrellcam/media/archive/2019 $ du -d 1
543972	./08
583252	./06
1540832	./07
2668060	.

I'm sure I've just misconfigured something, but I wonder what? My /home/pi/.pikrellcam/pikrellcam.conf file includes:

Code: Select all

install_dir /home/pi/pikrellcam
media_dir media
archive_dir archive
diskfree_percent 40
check_media_diskfree on
check_archive_diskfree on

Does having the "check_*_diskfree" lines in that order in the .conf file, mean that it first checks the current day's media and deletes that, before even checking the much larger archive/* media folders?

EDIT: Aha! I changed one line in the .conf file to "check_media_diskfree off" and manually recorded some video, and now the log shows it made room by deleting the oldest archive file from some months ago, instead of what was just recorded. I think I have my answer.

Code: Select all

00:17:04 : Manual record stop (size:0.1MB < /tmp:2381.4MB)  vid_time:20.25  vid_fps:24.00  audio_frames:0  audio_rate:0
  convert /run/pikrellcam/manual_2019-08-17_00.16.44_0.jpg -resize 150x84\! /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/thumbs/manual_2019-08-17_00.16.44_0.th.jpg
00:17:05 : Low disk space, deleted: /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/archive/2019/06/01/videos/motion_2019-06-01_18.21.43_289.mp4

[billw]

Does having the "check_*_diskfree" lines in that order in the .conf file, mean that it first checks the current day's media and deletes that, before even checking the much larger archive/* media folders?

EDIT: Aha! I changed one line in the .conf file to "check_media_diskfree off" and manually recorded some video, and now the log shows it made room by deleting the oldest archive file from some months ago, instead of what was just recorded. I think I have my answer.

Code: Select all

00:17:04 : Manual record stop (size:0.1MB < /tmp:2381.4MB)  vid_time:20.25  vid_fps:24.00  audio_frames:0  audio_rate:0
  convert /run/pikrellcam/manual_2019-08-17_00.16.44_0.jpg -resize 150x84\! /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/thumbs/manual_2019-08-17_00.16.44_0.th.jpg
00:17:05 : Low disk space, deleted: /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/archive/2019/06/01/videos/motion_2019-06-01_18.21.43_289.mp4

Strange, could you have done a video archive after that manual record? Because an archive diskfree check should be done only after a video archive.

If check_media_diskfree is on and you take a still, only the still directory is looked at for files to delete. So I should review how this all works and check videos and stills together to delete oldest files from either when a still or video is recorded. I'm not sure if the archive dir should be included in such a global check because I've thought of it as higher priority videos and it can likely be on a different file system.

[jbeale]

I had not paid much attention to how all this works, but I think at least on my system that the entire day's videos are simply moved to the archive folder around midnight. I was doing those experiments right around midnight, so the process of archiving may have just happened.
At least on my system, I'm mostly not doing any manual selection/deletion or priority assignment, so the archive ends up being all the videos and stills that were not taken today.

[billw]

I had not paid much attention to how all this works, but I think at least on my system that the entire day's videos are simply moved to the archive folder around midnight. I was doing those experiments right around midnight, so the process of archiving may have just happened.
At least on my system, I'm mostly not doing any manual selection/deletion or priority assignment, so the archive ends up being all the videos and stills that were not taken today.

So for your usage you could just leave check_media_diskfree off as you did and then let your periodic archiving handle keeping the diskfree maintained. It means that as you record stills and videos during the day your diskfree will drop below your 40% setting and you will have to rely on it not getting dangerously low before the next archiving brings it back to 40%.

And as I was thinking, I'll go ahead and review how this works so that check_media_diskfree can be enabled again and you can have things work reasonably.

[kajan001]

Pi Zero W freezing again.

I am back with frozen pi again. As per earlier posts I have now ruled out power issues, jacked up voltage to core, and have ruled out wifi issues.
I was using Stretch and had the occasional freeze and while I tried to find the cause I have also tried upgrading to Buster.

However, I changed the memory split to 128Mb and that seem to improve things.

I will keep on testing

[kajan001]

I am currently not getting any conversion from h264 to mp4 on Buster.

I seems a problem with memory allocation:

Code: Select all

07:32:07 :   execl[wait:1]: /home/pi/pikrellcam/scripts-dist/_log-lines 500 /tmp/pikrellcam.log
07:53:24 : Motion record start - /home/pi/pikrellcam/media/videos/motion_2019-09-04_07.53.19_11.h264
07:53:24 :   preview save: copy /run/pikrellcam/mjpeg.jpg -> /run/pikrellcam/motion_2019-09-04_07.53.19_11.jpg
07:53:24 : fork() failed: Cannot allocate memory
07:56:16 : command_process: record off
 external:0

EDIT2: I changed GPU/CPU split from 256 to 128mB. Now the Pi0w converts the .h264 to mp4.
I am thinking that this issue maybe related to the common freezes I have been experiencing on the pi0's. I guess taking 256mb of the 512 the pi0 has may cause issues if the process running is CPU intensive rather than GPU intensive (which I thought it was due to video processing).



@billw - Is pikrellcam using mostly GPU or CPU for the motiondetection and video conversion? Perhaps I am setting the memory split to high (256mb on Pi0)
I remember a block diagram of the program that I saw but I cannot find it anymore, though I think a lot of processing went on in the GPU?

I am also experiencing freezes when at startup if the pi has been off for a while. I am wondering if this can happen when the time is set while pikrellcam has already starte recording, or if it is another cpu overload or memory issue. THe cpu works hard during startup.
When in the process does pikrellcam start recording?

[dburg]

@kajan001, I've also had problems with my PiZero W (running Stretch Lite) freezing. I could not access it through the HTTP port, or through ssh, but it did respond to pings. I eventually discovered that I could connect with "ssh -T", and I found a bunch of processes that were started by pikrellcam were not terminating. Perhaps this technique will be useful to you, too. For example, try "ssh -T [email protected]_cam ps -ef". BTW... I got sidetracked and stopped digging into the root cause.

[dburg]

@billw, Just for entertainment, I'm fooling around with the html.

Just an FYI, I noticed that "motion_enable" appears in pikrellcam.c as one of the "commands[]", as well as in config.c as one of the "config[]" entries. It looks like command_process() is unable to get to the "config[]" entry because it finds the "commands[]" entry first.

I am also curious about the "(cfg->safe && !set_safe)" code in config_set_option(). Are you thinking that it is just too unsafe for some commands to be issued through the FIFO?

Thanks!

[billw]

@billw - Is pikrellcam using mostly GPU or CPU for the motiondetection and video conversion? Perhaps I am setting the memory split to high (256mb on Pi0)
I remember a block diagram of the program that I saw but I cannot find it anymore, though I think a lot of processing went on in the GPU?

I am also experiencing freezes when at startup if the pi has been off for a while. I am wondering if this can happen when the time is set while pikrellcam has already starte recording, or if it is another cpu overload or memory issue. THe cpu works hard during startup.
When in the process does pikrellcam start recording?

When recording video to h264 it mostly uses GPU. When converting h264 to mp4 CPU usage gets very high for slower Pis. You can check CPU usage with a CPU monitor but I don't know how to check GPU usage other than noticing that frames get dropped when the video fps gets too high or the preview jpg update frequency gets too high. When started in rc.local, pikrellcam starts late in the booting and there are delays on top of that - 5 seconds in rc.local before starting pikrellcam and 3 more seconds after pikrellcam starts to allow for camera startup settling.

[billw]

@billw, Just for entertainment, I'm fooling around with the html.

Just an FYI, I noticed that "motion_enable" appears in pikrellcam.c as one of the "commands[]", as well as in config.c as one of the "config[]" entries. It looks like command_process() is unable to get to the "config[]" entry because it finds the "commands[]" entry first.

I am also curious about the "(cfg->safe && !set_safe)" code in config_set_option(). Are you thinking that it is just too unsafe for some commands to be issued through the FIFO?

Thanks!

I'll look at that motion_enable issue. The commands marked as "safe" are the ones that can configure arbitrary programs to be run with sudo privilege and I considered that not appropriate to configure via the FIFO which is accessible via web pages.

[kajan001]

@billw - Is pikrellcam using mostly GPU or CPU for the motiondetection and video conversion? Perhaps I am setting the memory split to high (256mb on Pi0)
I remember a block diagram of the program that I saw but I cannot find it anymore, though I think a lot of processing went on in the GPU?

I am also experiencing freezes when at startup if the pi has been off for a while. I am wondering if this can happen when the time is set while pikrellcam has already starte recording, or if it is another cpu overload or memory issue. THe cpu works hard during startup.
When in the process does pikrellcam start recording?

When recording video to h264 it mostly uses GPU. When converting h264 to mp4 CPU usage gets very high for slower Pis. You can check CPU usage with a CPU monitor but I don't know how to check GPU usage other than noticing that frames get dropped when the video fps gets too high or the preview jpg update frequency gets too high. When started in rc.local, pikrellcam starts late in the booting and there are delays on top of that - 5 seconds in rc.local before starting pikrellcam and 3 more seconds after pikrellcam starts to allow for camera startup settling.

Thanks Bill!

I think this confirms that memory split has been one of the issues.
I will continue exploring this with a new set of settings.

[andies]

I've uploaded a version which has the motion still recording mode available so you can upgrade now and give it a try.

Thanks: I have been using the new feature without any problems until August. Great software! I appreciate the larger screen that can be monitored.

[Zuifer]

Has anybody success with the current raspian and h.264 rtsp streams?

[Ouba]

Yes. With bustier on a 3a+.

[Kaushik]

Hi,
I had previously tried rpi cam web interface but that had many issues including instability. I am planning to give pikrellcam a try on a pi zero wh.

With this too, some people have freezing issues on pi0.
I am looking for tips on what config works best.

I found this thread in particular, https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/view ... &start=925
I am planning to try this config:
arm_freq=1000
sdram_freq=500
core_freq=500
over_voltage=6
temp_limit=75
gpu_mem=128

And then some have suggested to turn on force turbo.
force_turbo=1

Does any one have a good stable set up running pikrellcam on a pi0 wh? could you please post your settings.
Thanks
Kaushik

[wjburl]

I just installed PiKrellcam on an RPi 3B+. I didn't want to use a 4B+ because at times the outside weather will be VERY hot and the RPi will be in a weatherproof enclosure. I still haven't figured out how to set up the motion vector detect. It may be covered in this thread, but it's a long thread. I would also like to save my videos on a NAS. I have OMV running on a ROCK64 SBC. I'm not very skilled at Linux, so I will have a lot of reading to solve that issue. The problem I have with MotionEyeOS is file storage. MotionEyeOS takes a very long time to save the videos to Google Drive and I don't see a way to store the files on one of my LAN devices. Otherwise, MotionEyeOS is easier to use. For the final installation, I want the unit to be solar-powered.

[tennisparty]

Hello,

I have just re-installed a fresh rasping image on a pi zero. I am connecting to the pi via VNC (gadget/ethernet connection) from a Mac. I get internet fine through this connection and can browse the internet and download files.

I have installed Pikrellcam with the standard settings but when I try to open up the settings dialog in http://your_pi I get the error message 'This site can’t be reached your_pi’s server IP address could not be found'. Is there something more I need to do to open up the interface in Chromium?

Any help is much appreciated, many thanks,
Sam

[underwhelmd]

In ~/pikrellcam/src/config.c, append the following line to the end of awb_mode_table (found around line 117):

Code: Select all

{ MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_GREYWORLD,     "greyworld" }

I have an error on make when I did this...

Code: Select all

config.c:129:2: error: expected ‘}’ before ‘{’ token
  { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_GREYWORLD,     "greyworld" }
  ^

this is what it looks like in config.c -

Code: Select all

ParameterTable awb_mode_table[] =
        {
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_OFF,           "off" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_AUTO,          "auto" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_SUNLIGHT,      "sunlight" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_CLOUDY,        "cloudy" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_SHADE,         "shade" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_TUNGSTEN,      "tungsten" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_FLUORESCENT,   "flourescent" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_INCANDESCENT,  "incandescent" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_FLASH,         "flash" },
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_HORIZON,       "horizon" }
        { MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_GREYWORLD,     "greyworld" }
        };

What did I do wrong?

[kajan001]

Hi,
I had previously tried rpi cam web interface but that had many issues including instability. I am planning to give pikrellcam a try on a pi zero wh.

With this too, some people have freezing issues on pi0.

Does any one have a good stable set up running pikrellcam on a pi0 wh? could you please post your settings.
Thanks
Kaushik

Hi Kaushik,

I have struggled a bit with Pi0 freezing but have found a recipe that seems to work most of the time: https://github.com/billw2/pikrellcam/issues/45
I still get the occasional freeze but not as much as I have before. I am still looking into that.

hope this is some help.

[kajan001]

In ~/pikrellcam/src/config.c, append the following line to the end of awb_mode_table (found around line 117):

Code: Select all

{ MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_GREYWORLD,     "greyworld" }

Is this to fix the purple screen issue?
I recently had the problem but just ran an upgrade and that seems to have fixed it. I have not had any issues for 5 days since.

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/view ... 3&t=245994

https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/q ... 030_104580

[tennisparty]

Hello,

I have just re-installed a fresh rasping image on a pi zero. I am connecting to the pi via VNC (gadget/ethernet connection) from a Mac. I get internet fine through this connection and can browse the internet and download files.

I have installed Pikrellcam with the standard settings but when I try to open up the settings dialog in http://your_pi I get the error message 'This site can’t be reached your_pi’s server IP address could not be found'. Is there something more I need to do to open up the interface in Chromium?

Any help is much appreciated, many thanks,
Sam

For anyone struggling with this in the future use 'localhost' in the web browser address instead of 'yourpi'

[wjburl]

I added a USB drive to the RPi and changed the pikrellcam.conf file from media to /media/pi/usbdrive/media. Motion detected videos and thumbs are being stored on the usbdrive, but when I click on Videos on the pikrellcam site, it says there are no files. It's not a deal-breaker because I can still manage the files with other software on my PC. I must have missed something when I changed where the files are stored. I would really like to have them stored on my NAS, but that's something I need to do more research on to learn how to do that.

[billw]

I added a USB drive to the RPi and changed the pikrellcam.conf file from media to /media/pi/usbdrive/media. Motion detected videos and thumbs are being stored on the usbdrive, but when I click on Videos on the pikrellcam site, it says there are no files. It's not a deal-breaker because I can still manage the files with other software on my PC. I must have missed something when I changed where the files are stored. I would really like to have them stored on my NAS, but that's something I need to do more research on to learn how to do that.

Just above where it says no files it should show the directory it is using for videos and it should say /media/pi/usbdrive... If so then
it's likely a permissions problem. The web pages access media as user www-data so all directories under /media/usbdrive should have
owner pi.www-data. with permissions 775.

[jbeale]

In case of interest, here's a wildlife moment in my backyard that would have passed by unnoticed, except for PiKrellCam.
This was yesterday around lunchtime. I can't quite tell what's for lunch here, though I know there are (were?) wild turkey about.
https://youtu.be/gLMD1DlPo8s

[lpsw]

In ~/pikrellcam/src/config.c, append the following line to the end of awb_mode_table (found around line 117):

Code: Select all

{ MMAL_PARAM_AWBMODE_GREYWORLD,     "greyworld" }

Is this to fix the purple screen issue?
I recently had the problem but just ran an upgrade and that seems to have fixed it. I have not had any issues for 5 days since.

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/view ... 3&t=245994

https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/q ... 030_104580

Indeed. It was a workaround until the update that is now available. as you indicated.

Edit: clarity