Auto-Start

[brucewin]

Does auto-start mean that if you lose a connection another copy of icam will start running? After a few hours of icam working perfectly I noticed even though I had one camera running I had 3 images. 2 were still images from before the camera was moved but not unplugged. I also noticed on the main computer that 3 icamsources were on the task bar.

How can I get icamsource to start up automatically when I reboot the system from the main computer? I have auto-start checked. I am using windows xp.

Bruce

[Stefan]

Checking Auto-Start means that when the iCamSource is run the "Start" button is automatically clicked. To run the iCamSource on startup simply copy the iCamSource shortcut into your Startup folder in the your Start menu.

[wuzup]

Any way to have it start without logging in as a user when using Windows XP or Vista.  I don't suppose there would be since it is not a system service but an actual program that must be started by a user.  Would be kewl if I could activate my laptop's cam every time it was booted.  Mulitple people use the laptop but I wanted to keep the software running.  Vista allows for multiple users logged in but once the machine is rebooted I can't find a way for the system to restart the program without a user logging in.

[Jay]

iCamSource does currently require a user to be logged in to launch the program.  I think there are third party programs available that will basically run any application as a service, but I've never tried it myself.  A search on "run application as service" found a few different programs like that.

[wuzup]

Actually it appears fairly easy to create a user defined service in Windows.  I will have to test this when I get home.  Microsoft's article can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137890/en-us

And all it requires is the NT Resource Kit. The only issue I may run into is launching the cam without its own software loaded.  Worth a shot though. Thanks for the reply Jay.

[viop-ninja]

I am going to revive this topic as this is a much needed capability and I'm not 100% clear on how we would set it up as a service when watching multiple cameras.

Has anyone successfully gotten this set up as a service on XP/Server2003 for multiple watched cameras?  If so can you provide parameter values, etc, that you used to make it work?

Thanks.

[viop-ninja]

So I created a new service using instsrv.exe and srvany.exe for iCam.  I have created a key for the service called Application that has the following values;

c:\program files\icamsource\icamsource.exe -url=http://192.168.0.103/nphMotionJpeg?Resolution=320x240&Quality=Standard -cu=mylogin -cp=mypass

The service says it is started but when I try to access the service from my iPhone I get an error saying "No Sources Found".  I have verified that the login and password are correct.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[viop-ninja]

Okay, I got it working.  Took a couple of additional steps;

Here's the full description of what you need to do in order to get this to work.

1. Install the NT/Server 2003 Resource Kit (I was installing on Windows Home Server OS which is the same as Server 2003).

2. Create the service entry from the CMD prompt as an Administrator account;

"c:\program files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\instsrv.exe" iCam "c:\program files\windows resource kits\tools\srvany.exe" (you DO need quotes for this path to work).

This will create the service called iCam.

3.  BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY (especially if you don't know what you're doing here)

4. Now you will need to go into Regedit and go into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES

Find the key for your service (in this example will be "iCam").

5.  With the iCam key highlighted, right click and choose new key.  Name this key Parameters

6.  Click the Parameters Key - right click and choose String Value.  Name the String Value "Application" (no quotes).  Choose Type REG_SZ.  In the Data value enter the path to the application example c:\program files\icamsource\icamsource.exe (do not enter quotes around this).

7.  Click the Parameters Key - right click and choose String Value.  Name the String Value "AppParameters" (no quotes).  Choose Type REG_SZ.  In the Data value enter the options for the iCam which will need to be the URL to the camera and the login/password for iCam access.  Example -url=http://192.168.0.103/nphMotionJpeg?Resolution=320x240&Quality=Standard -cu=mylogin -cp=mypass (no quotes around this).

8.  Exit the registry editor.

9.  Go into Administrative Tools -> Services.  Find the iCam service you created.  Stop the service (it will be set to run automatically which is what you want).  Go into the options and choose to run as account and set it to run with an administrator account login and password.  I don't believe it will run properly with the local account which is what services normally use.  When I had it set to use the local account I could never connect to it with my iPhone.

10.  Restart the service.  The service should start with no errors and you should be able to access the iCam properly.  There will be no tray icon, etc, when it is running as a service but it should be working.

Be aware that it should theoretically be possible to create as many services as you like for up to 4 cameras.  Name each service separately (iCam1, iCam2, etc) and set the parameters up separate for each service.  I have not attempted this yet but expect it would work.

Also be aware that running with the administrator account has inherent risks.  The safer way to do this would be to copy the instsrv.exe and srvany.exe applications into the iCamsource directory and set permissions to only allow administrator and a new account you create to access that folder.  Then only allow the new account to run the service.  I haven't set this up as I'm not too concerned about the security risks but be aware that running services with the admin account is frowned upon as it is theoretically possible that those services could be hijacked by a worm/virus/etc.

Hope this helps someone else out who runs into the same thing I did trying to get this going.

[OUAnthony]

I run 2 instances of icamsource, one for an IP camera, and one for a blank ManyCam with audio. The blank one works perfectly per your instructions. The IP cam source executes, but crashes as soon as I try to access it from my iPhone. I tried disabling the blank one to make sure it wasn't the fact that 2 instances were going at once, and the IP cam source still crashed. I tried with both of the newest versions of icamsource (1.4.1 and 1.4.2)...crashes both of them. This is what my registry entry for the IP cam looks like (both in the appropriate place and both with the appropriate registry names):

Application: c:\program files\icamsource\icamsource.exe
AppParameters: -url=http://192.168.10.100/video.cgi -u=icamusername -p=icampassword -cu=ipcamusername -cp=ipcampassword -m -desc="Garage"

Any ideas?

P.S. If I can get this working, you are my hero...this rocks. I also made a service for dropbox, which backs up the motion events off-site for free...and a service for ManyCam (blank camera with audio). Thanks for the directions!

[viop-ninja]

I'm not sure but I'm immediately suspicious of your -url parameters... what kind of camera do you have?  Does that parameter work with iCamSource if it is running standalone (not as a service)?

Also, you have your username and password entered twice, this should not be necessary and could cause a problem.  Here's what the string for my panasonic IP camera looks like;

-url=http://192.168.0.105/nphMotionJpeg?Resolution=320x240&Quality=Standard -desc="Back Patio" -cu=username -cp=password

Use the helper tool on the SKJM webpage to make sure your URL is correct for your video feed, it looks like it could be the problem, or your duplicate username and password.

[OUAnthony]

My camera is a D-Link DSC-910. The video feed is username/password protected, which is why there are 2 sets of usernames and passwords...one so icamsource can access the IP cam video feed, and the other is the icamsource username/password that I type in on my phone.

The way I typed it is exactly how I typed it in my Windows shortcut and placed in the startup folder so it'd start automatically when I log in. It works fine when I execute it as a startup shortcut...I can access the camera from my phone and it is stable.

Last time it crashed, I got the error code, which was 0xc0000005. I found a site (http://www.0xc0000005.com) that suggested several possibilities, including one caused by DEP. I allowed an exception for icamsource, and still have the same problem. I doubt it's my RAM, as I don't have any other issues with my computer. I'm virus-free according to my anti-virus software (which I know doesn't really mean I'm necessarily virus-free). I haven't installed/uninstalled many programs, so my registry shouldn't be too sloppy.

What version of icamsource are you running?

[OUAnthony]

Wow...ignore me. Somehow I typed the icamsource password twice...resulting in the wrong password for the IP cam's video feed. Der der der! Thanks for getting back to me so quick. This is awesome!

[venus]

how do you install the NT/Server 2003 Resource Kit on windows 7?  can services be created this way with windows 7?   

[OUAnthony]

I did it on Vista the same way you do it on XP...just downloaded and ran the resource kit then followed the directions. I assume it'll work in Windows 7, although I haven't tried it (yet). Please let me know if you try it and if it works. I plan on upgrading to Windows 7 soon...assuming I can still do this.

[phunte]

I tried following the steps in this post, and I have an "iCam" service. I can start the service, and I see icamsource.exe as a process for a couple of seconds in Task Manager, but then it seems to terminate. Any ideas how I can debug why it terminates?

Thanks, phunte