Dahua NVR FAQ

Updated on May 4, 2025

17 min read

Table of Contents

Dahua NVR FAQ
Video
Recording
IPC Connection
Network
Device Start/Crash
HDD
Intelligent
Other

Dahua NVR FAQ, Dahua Ultra, Pro, and Lite Series network recorders are tailored to fit different applications. Ultra Series recorders offer the best performance and highest quality. Pro Series devices are perfect for mid-large size businesses and projects which require a balance between performance and budget. Lite Series recorders are designed for optimum cost performance with strict Dahua quality standards.

Dahua network recorders are equipped with various video channel capacities and physical sizes to cater to various use cases. Up to 256CH/unit with 4U size is suitable for applications with high recording requirements but without additional IP storage to on save costs, such as in schools, casino, building complexes, etc. 4CH/unit small box recorders are typically used in applications at home or small businesses like retail shops.

HDCVI Recorders 2

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NVR5232 16P EI 2 thumb

Dahua NVR FAQ #

Video #

1.Is there no video output from single-channel, multiple-channel or all-channel on NVR?

A: Possible causes:

1)Program is not compatible. Please upgrade to the correct version.

2)Brightness value of all channels is 0. Please restore to default setting.

3)Hardware malfunction (VGA/HDMI interface).

4)The front-end device(s) didn’t send main streams and sub streams.

2.Are there mosaics or no image at all during the playback of network preview screens and video files on NVR?

A: Possible causes:

1)Poor network connection.

2)Whether the resources allocated to the user device are limited.

3)The user account in login status is not permitted to conduct surveillance.

4)The stream of the front-end itself is abnormal.

5)Web and local decoding are abnormal.

3.No images or black screen on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)The IP address of the remote IPC is incorrect.

2)The port number of remote IPC is incorrect.

3)The username/password of remote IPC is incorrect.

4)The network connection of the remote device is abnormal.

5)The main stream and sub stream of the front-end are enabled, and whether there is any stream sent over.

4.The display interface incomplete on NVR.

A: Confirm the current resolution, and check resolution supported by the display. If the resolution is 1920*1080, the display resolution needs to support 1920*1080.

5.The display HDMI have no output on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)Confirm whether the display works in the HDMI mode.

2)Confirm whether the HDMI cable has a problem.

6.When NVR connects the screen directly ,but there is no image and icons ,no any dahua logo on the screen .just a black screen ,but the cable , port recorder all are working

A: Possible causes:

The resolution of NVR is higher than the resolution of screen .it courses that the screen cannot show the image.

1)Access to the recorder by web. Then go to main menu—display page to decrease the resolution of recorder.

2)Change a higher resolution screen.

7.The screen show invalid format on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

The camera encoding type isn’t compatible with recorder. The compression of camera is H.265.but the NVR just support H.264.so it cannot decode the video signal on recorder.

1)Modify the compression of camera.

2)Decrease the camera resolution and bit rate

8.Camera connects the NVR, but the status is red, and the error message is invalid password or error password.

A: Possible causes:

The password of camera on NVR is wrong .Confirm if customer know the password of camera, Try to access to the IPC and login on webpage. Use the correct camera password to add the camera again on NVR.

9.Camera connects the NVR, but the status is red, and the error message is offline in live view. Show “cannot find the network host”.

A: Possible causes:

The NVR cannot connect the IPC. There are two reason, 1. Power supply 2. Network.

1)Confirm the camera model and the way of power supply and how to connect the NVR.

2)Camera connects the NVR POE port directly. Please check the indictor light of this port .connect the computer to NVR POE port, and set the computer IP is same segment of camera (10.1.1.x), and try to ping this camera.

Note: POE camera connects NVR POE port .NVR will configure an IP to camera automatically (10.1.1.x), if you want to change the rules, you can go to network/switch page to configure it on NVR.

3)For normal IPC, IPC and NVR both connect switch, you can ping the IPC IP and NVR IP when the IP of computer is same segment of IPC and NVR.

4)You can modify the IPC IP, and try to add the device again, maybe there is IP conflict.

5)You can also check the camera by Lan to Lan, and check the IPC and NVR firmware, if the NVR build date is very different from camera.

6)For example, the NVR build date is 20200809, but the IPC build date is 20150801. You should try to find the latest firmware for IPC, and try to upgrade.

10.Preview interface prompt ” error code 15” on NVR

A: NVR is incompatible with the old and new IPC programs. If there is the latest program, upgrade to the latest version first. If there is no new program, you can change the private protocol authentication mode to the compatible mode in the security interface(Setting>Security>System Service>Basic Service), or add a camera by using onvif mode.

11.Web preview prompt preview prompt “Limited resource. Feiled to play videos” on NVR.

A: The network from NVR to the camera may be abnormal, so it is necessary to check whether the network connection is normal; It is also possible that the code stream of the camera itself has not been sent, and there is something wrong with the camera. You can log in to the web side of the camera to confirm whether the camera preview is normal; In addition, the performance of the computer may be insufficient. Restart the computer or replace another computer and try to log in again.

12.Preview the prompt on the WEB: “please login first” on NVR

A: The reason is that the device logs in through the external network, and the related 37777 port is not mapped. To connect the device to the external network, you need to map the port of NVR 37777 (IE) or 554 (chrome) on the router. You can operate in the Windows cmd environment to test whether the port is open normally. Command: telnet IP port; For example, enter: telnet 10.18.134.4 37777. If the connection fails, the port is not open. If the port is connected, a full black screen interface will be displayed.

Recording #

1.No recorded video can be found in local playback on NVR

A: Possible causes:

1)Data wire of the HDD is defective.

2)HDD and raid are damaged.

3)Upgraded program is not compatible.

4)The record file that you want to search has been overlapped.

5)The record plan is not enabled.

6)The record type is sub stream.

7)Check the HDD type, If the type is only read, not write .The recordings cannot be stored.

8)Abnormal system time. If your system is return 2000, so the recordings are stored at 2000.

9)On page storage>Basic>Delete Expired Files. Just save one day recordings. If you enable this, you can only see one day recordings.

2.The video of NVR distorted in local search.

A: Possible causes:

1)Data wire and jump wire errors of the HDD.

2)HDD failure.

3)Hardware malfunction of device.

4)Network anomaly and packet loss.

5)Local decoding is abnormal.

6)The stream sent by the front-end device is abnormal.

3.The storage time of recording is not enough on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)High stream value due to low quality of front camera, dirty lens, backlight installation, imperfect adjustment of IRIS lens.

2)HDD capacity is not enough.

3)HDD is damaged.

4)The front-end stream is VBR.

5)Timing capture and event capture storages are enabled.

6)Part of the recordings are locked and cannot be overwritten.

4.N+M of NVR sometimes cannot support recording transfer automatically, and you have to do it manually.

A: N+M has no automatic recording transfer function, and you need to manually click to fix it. Click Yes for whether to transfer the recording, then start transferring, or manually create the transfer.

IPC Connection #

1.Adding the thermal imaging camera BF2120 to NVR616 requires only one channel to be added, but both visible light and thermal imaging image channels are added by default.

A: Only the visible light channel is added if you use the ONVIF protocol.

2.When NVR6 performs heat map setting for the dome camera SD59430U-HN, it always prompts unavailable configuration, but the heat map setting of the front-end dome camera is totally normal. Why?

A: IPC supported protocol: Heat Map fixed scene heat map. Only one rule can be configured; dome camera supported protocol: Heat Map Plan dome camera heat map plan; the current code of NVR6 only supports general IPC, namely “Heat Map” protocol, and does not support the dome camera heat map protocol. At present, it is required to put forward demands to evaluate the program, in order to support the protocol.

3.Why does NVR sometimes prompt decoding capability exceeded when adding IPC?

A: 1) When accessing the IPC, the channel will be closed with a prompt of decoding capability exceeded. You can log in to the IPC web interface to confirm the encoding setting, to check whether the resolution setting actually exceeds the decoding capability of NVR, especially the third-part IPC.

2) NVR supports adaptive decoding. In the adaptive process, there will be a short prompt of decoding capability exceeded. This is normal.

4.Possible reasons for front-end IPC offline on NVR.

A: When the front-end IPC is offline, check whether there is a IP conflict, generally the answer is no; whether the MAC address has a conflict, and this is often being ignored and needs to be troubleshot particularly; whether the access capacity is exceeded,

when the IPC is online and the stream is passed over, it is found that the total access stream has reached the access limit, then the channel will be closed with a prompt and the IPC will be offline; whether it is a third-part IPC; the IPC is mainly accessed through the ONVIF protocol, and because the implementation degree for this protocol is different, sometimes the IPC cannot be accessed or the access is not stable. So you need to confirm whether it is a IPC or NVR problem by using the ONVIF test tool and VLC software.

5.NVR is connected to multiple-channel IPC, and it is found that some cameras do no record during the Motion Detect.

A: 1) Check whether the linkage records for IPC Motion Detect of each channel are linked to channel 1, so the Motion Detect of all channels are recorded by the IPC of channel 1. Reconfigure the linkage channel for IPC Motion Detect of each channel.

2) Check whether a “red person” appears on the corresponding channel of the local preview interface; if not, it indicates that the front-end didn’t send the Motion Detect signal.

3) Whether the record plan is correctly configured, and whether the Motion Detect record plan is configured.

6.IPC cannot be accessed on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)Confirm that the power supply is connected.

2)Confirm that the IPC network is good and properly connected.

3)Confirm that the IPC program and storage device are compatible.

4)Confirm that the IPC has been completely started.

5)Confirm that the IPC allowlist has no problem.

6)Confirm whether the IPC port has been changed; by default, the private protocol is 37777 and the onvif is 80

7)Confirm that the IPC is not being accessed too much, resulting in no image being transmitted.

8)For a third-part IPC, confirm that the port number, time zone and time of the IPC are consistent with those on the NVR. Confirm that the current network environment is stable.

Network #

1.In NVR6X-4KS2, IP addresses from 192.168.1.102 to 192.168.1.105 cannot be set for use, but all other IP addresses except for these can set for use. Why?

A: This is the IP address reserved by the device for the NIC, namely default IP. But historically, the specific reason why to use such a design is not known. The new baseline should have been adjusted, so the customer can test our latest 20190614 baseline.

2.What should you pay attention to when the dual-NIC device that the embedded NVR has released uses the multiple access mode?

A: Because there is only one route inside the device, in the case of a dual-NIC device, one NIC needs to be connected to the WAN, the other one needs to be connected to the LAN, and the WAN NIC must be the default NIC; if both NICs are connected to devices in the non-NIC network segment, you need to customize the static route program.

3.The network connection unstable on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)Unstable network.

2)IP address conflict.

3)MAC address conflict.

4)Poor PC or device NIC.

Device Start/Crash #

1.NVR cannot boot up properly.

A: Possible causes:

1)Incorrect power input.

2)Loose connection of the switch power wire.

3)Switch power damage.

4)Program upgrade error.

5)HDD damage or HDD wire defects.

6)New series of HDDs such as Seagate DB35.1, DB35.2, SV35, Maxtor 17th generation HDD have device compatibility problems, which can be resolved by upgrading to the new program version.

7)Front panel fault.

8)Main board is damaged.

2.NVR automatically reboots or frequently crashes.

A: Possible causes:

1)Input voltage is not stable or too low.

2)Incorrect HDD jump wire.

3)Damaged magnetic tracks or HDD wires.

4)Insufficient power of switching power supply.

5)Poor heat dissipation and too many dusts result in poor working environment for the device.

6)Hardware malfunction.

7)HDD power wire not connected.

8)Program exception. You could use serial port to upgrade to right firmware and reboot NVR.（6X NVR can not be serial port upgraded, you need to use the burning disk）.

9)Front panel FFC not connected properly.

3.NVR616 is often hung up, but no exceptions are found when querying the log. How to troubleshoot?

A: If a crash occurs, you can check the probability of this problem, and get the print information (including the crash process). New program of the current device also integrates the automatic generation of core files. You can insert a USB disk (with a capacity greater than 4G) on the device, restart the device, wait for the problem to occur, and after about 10 minutes, a core file will be generated on the USB disk, copy the core files on the USB disk, and send back the files. The R&D will analyze the reason.

4.The logo interface is stuck when the embedded NVR is started, how to troubleshoot?

A: There is a possibility of HDD timeout. The HDD cannot be identified when the NVR is started, so the logo interface is stuck. Try to pull out all HDDs, then power on and try to start again. If the first step does not work, try to use the serial port to clear the configuration and upgrade the program. If the serial port in the second step does not work, the mainboard hardware may have a problem, please send it to the maintenance station for repair.

HDD #

1.HDD cannot be detected after rebooting on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)HDD power wire not connected.

2)HDD cable damages.

3)HDD jump wire error.

4)HDD is damaged.

5)Damaged SATA port on mainboard.

2.For HDD recognition capacity error on NVR, how to troubleshoot?

A: Troubleshooting methods:

1)Whether the device program is the latest version.

2)Exclude HDD causes through the HDD cross test.

3)Exclude device causes through the device cross test.

4)Reformat the HDD to see if the capacity can be restored.

3.Which NVRs support HDD hot plug?

A: Series 5 and 6 NVR support it, and series 4 and below do not support it.

4.How to properly plug the HDDs of raid on the NVR?

A: For raid as a whole, do not plug one HDD in the raid separately. You should plug all HDDs in the power off condition before power on, instead of powering it on first and plugging the HDDs one by one.

5.For NVR recording normally, isn’t it advertised that the NVR supports hot plug? For one hot insertion every time you unplug one, what effect does this have on the video and Raid?

A: In case of hot plug only for a single disk, and raid group, the hot plug of an individual HDD will lead to raid degradation. And raid degradation will cause very poor performance, thus resulting in video loss. If you see that parts of the raid are in sync, this is caused by the hot plug of the customer. Afterwards, in case of raid group on site, it is recommended to unplug the HDDs after power off, and replace with new HDDs before power on.

6.When using RAID5, how many HDDs can minimize RAID damage rate on NVR?

A: The number of HDD recommended by RAID5 is 2N +1，Generally a combination of 3, 5, 9.

Intelligent #

1.Want to enable IVS and configure IVS function, but cannot enable in smart plan page on NVR. The error message is disconnected or No connected channel.

A: due to enable the smart codec in encoding page. So you cannot use smart plan function.

1)Go to camera web page to check if there is smart code function and can enable or not.

2)Check if you enabled the smart codec option(Camera>Encode>Audio/Video>Coding Strategy, please disable it

Other #

1.USB interfaces on front and real panel of NVR616 do not work, and even inserting the mouse USB disk has no response.

A: Confirm whether the NVR is grounded properly. Properly ground the NVR first, if this problem suddenly occurs in normal use, the protection is generally triggered by the current and voltage. If it cannot be used at the beginning, the hardware is faulty, and it is recommended to return the hardware for repair.

2.NVR616 Temperature alert is often reported, but the temperature is actually just more than 20 degrees.

A: It should be clear that, this temperature is not the ambient temperature, but the CPU temperature. The thresholds of previous older versions are low, the low temperature is 20℃ and the high temperature is 60℃; the current new baseline has adjusted the thresholds, the high temperature is set as 80℃, and the low temperature alarm is removed. Upgrade to the latest baseline.

3.Is NVR608-64-4KS2 compatible with ESS1508C?

A: NVR608-4KS2 series is not supported (incompatible due to the intel chip).

4.Time zone is out of sync and modified automatically on NVR.

A: 1) Check whether the front-end and back-end of the device have multiple time calibration sources. Ensure that there is only one time calibration source. 2) Check whether the mainboard button battery has power.

5.Which NVRs support hardware reset?

A: Series 2 4KS2 and Series 5 4KS2 (2.0) support it.

6.System time of NVR is not correct on.

A: Possible causes:

1)Setting is not correct.

2)Mainboard button battery contact is poor or voltage is too low.

3)Crystal oscillator is poor.

4)There are multiple time calibration sources.

5)Mainboard circuit is abnormal.

7.NVR cannot control the PTZ.

A: Possible causes:

3)Malfunction of front-end PTZ.

4)Incorrect settings, wiring, and installation of the PTZ decoder.

5)Incorrect wiring.

6)Incorrect PTZ setting of the device.

7)PTZ decoder and the device protocol not matching.

8)PTZ decoder and the device address not matching.

9)When connecting with multiple decoders, 120Ω resistance shall be applied to the furthest terminal of wires A and B of the PTZ decoder.

10)Too long distance.

8.Are there errors in burning/USB backup on NVR?

A: Possible causes:

1)Burner and HDD connected to the same data wire.

2)Too much data which occupies CPU resources. Please stop recording first and then begin backup.

3)Overwhelming data for the capacity of the backup device can lead to burning errors.

4)Backup device is not compatible.

5)Backup device is damaged.

9.NVR cannot be controlled with keyboard.

A: Possible causes:

1)Incorrect serial port settings.

2)Incorrect address.

3)Insufficient power supply because of having to supply power to multiple converters.

4)The transmission distance is too long.

10.After configuring IPC camera parameters on the NVR5208-8P-4KS2E interface, the parameters cannot be saved normally. However, if these parameters are configured on the web of the camera, they will be saved.

A: The mechanism of the version on May 30 is to get the configuration once and save it locally. Clicking the Encoding Configuration will get the local configuration first, instead of going to the front-end for it in real time. You need to manually click Refresh to get the configuration. However, possible protocol differences of some IPCs might cause obtaining failure, the configuration will also fail. The new program version has fixed this problem.

11.What is the difference between the performance of the NVR accessing to a third-part IPC and our IPC?

A: Because there are so many third-part IPC manufacturers, it is not possible to perform a performance test for all third-part IPCs. Therefore, the access performance currently provided refers to the performance of the private protocol accessing to our IPC. Based on the result of the performance test by using the standard ONVIF to access to our IPC, the performance is about 80% of the access performance of Dahua private protocol.

12.After login, you cannot find the interface for adding remote devices in the NVR web interface.

A: Reload after clearing the web control (C:\Program Files (x86)\webrec).

13.Unable to disarm alarm signals on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)Alarm setting is not correct.

2)Alarm output enabled manually.

3)Malfunction or incorrect connection of input device.

4)Issues in certain versions that can be solved through upgrades.

14.Alarm function does not work on NVR.

A: Possible causes:

1)Alarm setting is not correct.

2)Alarm cable connection is not correct.