Reverse-Engineering an IP Camera

1. firmware

   1 27 2,230 9.7 C

   Alternative IP Camera firmware from an open community (by OpenIPC)

   

   The telltale sign of the ipc binary suggests this is probably one of the SoCs looked at in https://openipc.org/

   I tore down an ankya brand device which had some fun features like setting up the wifi password by showing the camera a QR code

2. AppSignal

   www.appsignal.com sponsored

   AppSignal knows why the f*#k it crashed. Stop vibe-debugging. Every exception, every backtrace, grouped so you see patterns, not noise.

   

3. thingino-firmware

   2 21 2,180 10.0 Shell

   Open-source firmware for Ingenic SoC IP cameras

   

   A new-ish project for a replacement firmware for Ingenic based cameras is here https://thingino.com/ . The developers are super active and very responsive.

4. moonfire-nvr

   3 35 1,751 7.6 Rust

   Moonfire NVR, a security camera network video recorder

   

   I've been looking for a camera to recommend for use with my open-source NVR. [1] This sounds promising, but I have a few questions.

   * What's the status of Uniview? Are their cameras allowed in the US under the 2019 NDAA? still receiving FCC approvals since the Secure Equipment Act of 2021? Does Uniview participate in the Uyghur genocide?

   * Do you have any models with large sensors, e.g. 1/1.8" or wider? I prefer with good night performance if possible, which I believe requires each pixel to be physically somewhat large. These many-megapixel cameras with 1/3" sensors are not so great there.

   * What's the pricing? The camera page [2] has "contact us for info" instead of a price, and when that happens I usually assume it's too expensive for the DIY crowd and drop out.

   [1] https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr

   [2] https://monitoreal.com/product/monitoreal-perimeter-cameras-...

5. ustreamer

   4 18 2,035 8.9 C

   µStreamer - Lightweight and fast MJPEG-HTTP streamer

   

   I've been playing for a while with various *Pi like boards (mostly Orange Pis) and the ustreamer software which is very light and well suited for small boards like those.

   https://github.com/pikvm/ustreamer

6. yi-hack-MStar

   5 5 980 7.0 C

   Custom firmware for Yi 1080p camera based on MStar platform

   

7. cam

   6 1 2 - Shell

   

   I did a similar thing with the Xiongmai camera's I bought to keep an eye on a newly built barn/stable/clinic here on the farm and used the information to create a CLI tool to control the camera's:

   https://github.com/Yetangitu/cam

   I never allowed these camera's or the included DVR (which I do not use since I use Zoneminder [1]) access to the internet, they are confined on their own subnet which does not allow egress other than to my own networks nor ingress from other sources. That is true for any and all network-connected special-purpose hardware, e.g. the Fronius inverter - made in Austria - does not get to access the internet either. I pay for the hardware and I provide my own service infrastructure, I see no need to pay again with my data.

   [1] https://zoneminder.com/

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