Work through the section that matches where the problem shows: adding the camera, the Camera tab, the Watch tab or a dashboard card.
The camera cannot be added
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “The host is a private address. Only public addresses can be reached from the cloud; use a site router for a private network.” | The address is in a private range (10.x, 172.16–31.x, 192.168.x and similar) | Give the camera a public address or a port forward on your site’s internet connection, and use that address. |
| “The host name does not resolve.” | Wrong or unregistered name | Check the spelling, or use the public IP address. |
| “The device did not answer in time.” / “The device cannot be reached from the cloud.” | Firewall, wrong port, camera off | Allow the platform’s addresses (shown in the form) to the camera’s HTTP and RTSP ports. |
| “The device refused the connection. Check the port.” | Nothing listens on that port | Check the HTTP port and RTSP port on the camera. |
| “The user name or password was refused.” | Wrong credentials | Check the camera user. Too many wrong tries may lock the camera’s account; wait for the camera’s lock-out to end. |
| “Something answered, but it is not an RTSP server.” | The RTSP port points at another service | Check the RTSP port. |
| “The stream path must start with / and have no spaces.” | RTSP stream path | Correct the path from the camera’s manual. |
| “That port belongs to a service and cannot be used.” | A blocked port | Use the camera’s real HTTP or RTSP port. |
| “The secure connection could not be set up (certificate).” | HTTPS with a self-signed certificate | Switch off Verify the certificate for that camera only, or install a valid certificate. |
| “A camera at this address is already connected (as “…”).” | Added before | Use the existing device. For a recorder, the add offers the channels not yet added. |
| “Create one device profile whose transport is “…” first; the new devices use it.” | No profile for the type | Create a profile with that transport under Device profiles. |
| “The camera could not be added, and some of what was created for it could not be removed again.” | A failed add could not clean up | Remove the leftover device of that name on Devices, or the endpoint under New device > Network device > Unused endpoints. |
Live view cannot be switched on
| Message on the Camera tab | Fix |
|---|---|
| “No stream of this camera can be played. Live view needs an H.264 stream.” | Set the main or sub stream to H.264 on the camera, then Test and read the streams again. |
| “H.265 cannot be played in the browser. Set the camera to H.264.” | Same. Many cameras call it “H.264” or “H.264+”; a “smart codec” setting can switch it to H.265; turn that off. |
| “The streams of this camera are not known yet. Test its endpoint, then read the streams again.” | Select Test and read the streams again. |
| “Your plan allows {limit} cameras with live view, and {current} of {limit} are used.” | Turn live view off on a camera you do not watch, or change the plan. |
| “Only a device connected through a camera or recorder endpoint can be a camera.” | Connect the device on its Connection tab. |
| “This channel of the recorder is offline.” | The camera behind that recorder channel is off or disconnected. |
| “The video port of the camera does not answer from the platform.” | The RTSP port is closed to the platform; open it in your firewall. |
The Watch tab does not play
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| “Live view is off for this camera. Turn it on in the Camera tab.” | Turn on Live view. |
| “Connecting to the camera… the first picture can take up to half a minute.” and it stays black | The camera sends key frames rarely, or its RTSP port is blocked. Set the I-frame interval to twice the frame rate; check the firewall. |
| “The camera or the media engine did not answer. Try again in a moment.” | The camera did not deliver video. Check that it is on and its RTSP port is open to the platform. |
| “Too many cameras are being watched on this installation right now. Try again in a moment.” | The platform’s limit of cameras running at once is reached. |
| “The picture was asked for too often. Wait a moment and try again.” | More than 24 starts a minute on one camera. Wait a minute. |
| “This camera has no second stream for a higher quality.” | Choose Standard. |
| “Live video is not available on this installation yet: no media engine is set up, so waiting will not help.” | The installation has no video engine. Contact the platform’s administrator. |
| “The platform could not be reached. Check your connection and try again.” | Your own network. |
| “The player stopped: …” | Select Start again. If it repeats, check the camera’s stream settings. |
Still pictures instead of the camera
The player can show one of two still pictures with text. They are not errors of the camera.
| Picture | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Camera minutes used up: “This month’s camera minutes are used up. Your account administrator needs to buy more minutes or a larger plan to continue.” | The organisation’s camera minutes for the month are used up | An administrator raises the plan. The picture returns by itself when minutes are available or the month changes. |
| Live view is temporarily unavailable: “The picture will come back on its own as soon as the service is reachable again.” | Hermetry could not read your plan | Wait; the player keeps checking every 10 seconds. |
The picture is slow or stops
- Starts slowly: the key frame interval is long. Aim for a key frame every 2 seconds. Supported cameras offer Set to 2 seconds on the Camera tab.
- Several seconds behind: normal for live view in the browser; see Live view.
- Stops after 5 minutes: the “still watching?” question was not answered. Select Start again.
- Short pause after about 9 minutes: the player renews its link.
- Stops when you switch tabs: a hidden tab pauses the video. The tab returns to its Watch button.
- Choppy: the camera’s upload bandwidth is too small for the stream. Use the sub stream, a lower bit rate or a lower resolution.
Events do not arrive
See the warnings in Camera events. Check that Receive device events is on for the endpoint, that the camera user may receive alarms, that the event (for example motion detection) is switched on in the camera, and that the channel is added in Hermetry. The Connection tab shows the event stream’s state and last error.
Dashboard card is empty
The card shows the player’s empty text when the camera has no live view or the card is bound to the wrong attribute or position. See Cameras on dashboards.