Polycom ViewStation Camera Not Responding

[lawsoncl]

The camera on our 4-yr old ViewStation MP no longer moves when commanded by the remote control. The camera moves and re-centers itself when the unit is first powered up, so I don't believe it's a mechanical problem. The remote works fine for everything else.

I reset the system to factory defaults and upgraded the software to version 7.5.4 to no avail. If I telnet to the system it is displaying "CamCode: Restting the camera" about once a second. Does this imply the base unit is having problems talking to the camera?

All the internal connections to the Sony EVI-D30C camera looked fine. Can the camera be replaced with a generic off-the-shelf EVI-D30 or the newer EVI-D70?

Any suggestions?


-Chris

[AceVid]

Flash reclaim might be worth a try...turn it off...hold down the button on the front of the codec..boot it..watch screen for flash to be reclaimed..boot it...dunno if this will work.

[Skylark]

did you try moving it with the remote on the local website?

[CWroma]

I had the same problem with an older View Station... so I removed the camara totaly from the unit. Its about 8-10 screws then With an AC adapter used the camara externaly from the codec casing. Using a sony remote ... it works alright. the Codec seems to stay cooler too.

[lawsoncl]

Polycom had me try reclaiming the flash and it made no difference. Neither did nuking all the settings to factory default. I also tried moving it via the web interface and by entering commands on the telnet interface.

I'm waiting for Polycom tech support to call me back to see if they will RMA the unit as it's only a month out of the 3yr warranty.

I also pulled the unit apart and checked the connections. They seem fine. If can find a control cable extension, I might try hooking up a Picturetel remote camera and try the D30C on the picturetel. That way I can figure out if the problem is the camera or the unit.

In any case, it's not critical as we rarely need to move the camera. For now it's just manually aimed at a good spot. Thanks for all the suggestions.

-Chris

[avi_sydney]

Just wondering if you have checked that valid IR is coming from the remote control... unlikely that it's corrupt, but hey, all hardware can fail. May be that the buttons you're pressing are not even sending out any IR from the remote control.
If youv'e got a digital camera, there's an easy way to check...

point the IR emitter at the digital cam and watch the LCD viewfinder as you press buttons. You should see a faint blueish flashing come from the IR emitter on the remote. This will at least confirm the remote is sending something. You'll need an IR sampler to confirm the data it's sending is valid.

[mjrtoo]

You could probably do this with the VC unit itself. Just look a the near site picture and point the remote to the camera. Most viewstations this works, sometimes other external cameras have an IR blocking coating on the lens...

[lawsoncl]

The green light on the unit flickers when I hit the buttons, plus this same buttons work for navigating the menus so the remote is fine. I've also tried aiming via the web interface, far end, and the telnet interface.

Polycom has issue an RMA number, so I'm good to go.

-Chris

[satya]

hiii
try to do ERFL flash cleaning may be u r problem solve




The camera on our 4-yr old ViewStation MP no longer moves when commanded by the remote control. The camera moves and re-centers itself when the unit is first powered up, so I don't believe it's a mechanical problem. The remote works fine for everything else.

I reset the system to factory defaults and upgraded the software to version 7.5.4 to no avail. If I telnet to the system it is displaying "CamCode: Restting the camera" about once a second. Does this imply the base unit is having problems talking to the camera?

All the internal connections to the Sony EVI-D30C camera looked fine. Can the camera be replaced with a generic off-the-shelf EVI-D30 or the newer EVI-D70?

Any suggestions?


-Chris

[lawsoncl]

If "ERFL flash cleaning" is the same as flash memory reclaim, then I've already tried that (see previous post).

[carolyn]

when you upgraded the software did you just load it on top of the old or delete all files and start from scratch? If you have not done a complete reinstall of the software, that is what I would recommend trying.

[lawsoncl]

I did a software upgrade. How do I delete all the files and reload from scratch?

-Chris

[glennder]

Procedure for Erasing the Flash of a System (erfl)

ERFL-ing a system will remove all Address Book entries and delete all System Settings. Before this process is started all of this information will need to be gathered so it can be re-entered after this procedure has been completed.

FTP to the system. Generally, the best method is to click on Start and select Run. Then type “command” (for Windows 98) or “cmd” (for all other Windows OSs). This will open a command prompt from which you can ftp to a system by typing “ftp ‘IP Address’” and pressing enter.
To log in the user name is admin and the password is the admin password set on the system in the Security screen in the UI.
Type “bin” and press enter.
Type “quo swus” for FX or “quo swup” for VS and then press enter. This will bring the system up in the software update mode after a reboot.
Type “quo boot” and then press enter to reboot the system.
Type “quit” and then press enter to close the ftp session.
After the system has rebooted into the software update mode ftp into the system again by following steps 1 through 2.
Type “bin” and press enter.
Type “quo unlock” and press enter.
Type “quo erfl” and then press enter. The system should now start reformatting the flash.


When completed, power cycle the system.
The system should come up in the software update mode again. The flash has now been erased and is ready for a fresh install of software. Two things can occur here, the system may try and obtain an IP address from a DHCP server, or use the saved values from the previous boot. If no DHCP server is available then a PC will need to be directly connected to the system to load software to the system. Otherwise software can be loaded in a normal fashion.
Load software to the system.
The system should now have a fresh load of software without any of the previous settings; all Address Book entries and User Settings are deleted and the system will come up in the Out Of Box sequence.

[lawsoncl]

DING, DING, DING, DING! We have a winner!

Following the above ERFL procedure posted above fixed the problem of being unable to control the camera. Polycom had previously instructed me to do a flash reclaim which didn't work.

Funny thing is that I already had an RMA in hand and was planning on shipping it off to Polycom this afternoon. Good timing Glennder!

-Chris

[lawsoncl]

The ERFL fixed the problem for only a few days. The camera is ignoring commands again with the same symptoms. Anyone else experience this problem? I'm going nuke it again and try a previous sw version to see if it's a sw bug.

[George]

Considering you already took it back to factory defaults and did an ERFL + the fact that the problem appears intermittent now (it went away then came back) this could likely be a hardware issue and your RMA seems the most loical and economical way to go.

George

[VuPorts]

Hello, I am David Neuman, owner of VuPorts, the largest used and refurbished videoconferencing business in the world. This is my first post here, we find that many problems can be solved with regards to the cameras just by reflashing the Viewstations with the latest code. Beyond that there are pretty much two items that can cause the camera not to move:
1. The camera itself is bad.
2. The circuitry that controls PTZ is bad on the Motherboard.
We can certainly change a camera to the exact model or to the newer model. Let me know if you need help. Thank you. DAVID

[Skylark]

would like to ad a third to VuPorts, on the newer cameras, the screw that fasten the camer to the vertical and horizontal axis tend to loosen up and that will cause the camer to stop responding, usualy it will shake a bit when you try to move it around. This only applies to those new ones that dont have fixed geering.

In order to fix this you need to take the shell of the camera