Note: Zoneminder is open source, free and community supported. Bluecherry does not provide support for Zoneminder configuration / troubleshooting. However this basic article covers the most common problems that customers have when setting up a Zoneminder system. 

Note: Bluecherry's DVR software is not based on Zoneminder.
More information about our software can be found here: http://www.bluecherrydvr.com. The Bluecherry DVR software requires no command line changes or configuration. 

Verifying that your capture card is installed: 

Please verify that the capture card was recognized by the kernel and was recognized correctly by running "lspci" in the console, which should show multiple lines like following: 

Multimedia video controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Video Capture Multimedia controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Audio Capture 

Verifying that Linux recognized the capture card:

Typing "dmesg |grep bttv" (no quotes) in a terminal window will show how did the kernel recognize the card: 

[ 10.841715] bttv: driver version 0.9.17 loaded [ 10.841717] bttv: using 8 buffers with 2080k (520 pages) each for capture 
[ 10.841763] bttv: Bt8xx card found (0). [ 10.841772] bttv 0000:04:04.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22 
[ 10.841781] bttv0: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:04:04.0, irq: 22, latency: 64, mmio: 0xfdfff000 
[ 10.841795] bttv0: subsystem: 1830:1540 (UNKNOWN) 
[ 10.841798] bttv0: using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected] 
[ 10.841821] bttv0: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffffff [init] 
[ 10.876770] bttv0: tuner type unset 
[ 10.878832] bttv0: registered device vbi0 

If the output above is similar to your system then the card is detected properly.  

If the card is not in the above listed areas -- make sure it is fully inserted into PCI slot. Occasionally hardware conflicts will cause the card to not function in certain motherboards.  

If you have an 8-chip PV-183 / PV-183-16 please refer to this article on how to access all available channels if they are not recognized automatically. 

Connectors: 

Note that the blue pigtail connectors VID[1-4] are /dev/video[0-3] (channel 0) and the green connectors are /dev/video[0-3] (1) respectively. 

If you have 4/8 port version of the card, the pigtails need be connected to the DB1 port (top port if the card is installed in a desktop computer) on the card. 

Note:  If you are using an 8 port card please follow these instructions.

Depending on what kind of output you are getting with Zoneminder you might want to check for specific problems: 

Red source (/dev/videoX) OR black screen:  This typically means Zoneminder is unable to to load/access the device output file. Please check that the user under which Zoneminder is running has privileges to access the file. (Verify permissions on /dev/video0 and run: chown www-data.www-data /dev/video*) 

Broken image/no image output: Check for the shared memory settings as mentioned on the Zoneminder WIKI. Problems with shared memory will also be reflected in /tmp/zmwatch.log log file. To change the shared memory settings please read the Zoneminder FAQ and WIKI. 

Please note that if you are using more than one camera on the same chip [device channels, e.g. /dev/video0 (0|1)] Zoneminder monitors MUST have same palette/resolution settings. 

If you are receiving the same image over multiple inputs make sure the CAPTURES_PER_FRAME are set to reflect the number of channels you are using per device. 

Verify the capture card functions properly:

If running xawtv -c /dev/video0 (and incrementally up to the total devices found by running 'dmesg |grep bttv') works then the card is functioning correctly and it's the problem lies in Zoneminder, at this point you will need to obtain support from the Zoneminder community forums. 

Other things to try: 

• Occasionally selecting Video4Linux2 may cause problems, try using Video4Linux1 (Zoneminder 1.24 only)
• Occasionally deleting the monitor and creating a monitor, even with the same setting might help, if you changed the settings and the video does not show up
• Always remember to restart the Zoneminder for the changes in the settings to take effect. T
• Try searching Google with simple description of the problems e.g. "Zoneminder, broken image" -- there is a great deal of information on the Zoneminder forums. 

When emailing support please make sure to indicate: 

• If the card shows up in the system (see above)
• What do you get as the output with Zoneminder
• Which card are you using (PV-*) and which monitors are setup.