Zoneminder Installation on Debian with Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000

Turning a £7 worth webcam into a simple home surveilance system.

Install Zoneminder

We’ll be using a 32bit Debian Wheezy VM. Update the system and install Zoneminder:

# apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -uV
# apt-get install zoneminder

Install Apache web server:

# apt-get install apache2

Add Apache User to the Video Group

This is needed for the webserver to be able to access the webcam:

# ls -l /dev/video0
crw-rw---T 1 root video 81, 0 Dec 19 20:36 /dev/video0

Add user to supplementary group:

# usermod -aG video www-data

Link Apache to Zoneminder

Open:

# vim /etc/zm/apache.conf

Check the file to look as below:

Alias /zm /usr/share/zoneminder
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin /usr/share/zoneminder/cgi-bin
<Directory /usr/share/zoneminder>
php_flag register_globals off
Options FollowSymLinks
<IfModule mod_dir.c>
DirectoryIndex index.php
</IfModule>
</Directory>

Link Apache file:

# ln -s /etc/zm/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf

Optional: Install Cambozola Java Plugin

Cambozola is a Java plugin that decodes multipart JPEG streams. Mozilla-based browser have native support. This plugin is for browsers like Internet Explorer that lack that support.

# cd /usr/src
# wget http://www.andywilcock.com/code/cambozola/cambozola-latest.tar.gz
# tar xzvf cambozola-latest.tar.gz
# cp ./cambozola-0.935/dist/cambozola.jar /usr/share/zoneminder

Find Out Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 Capabilities

Find the device number:

# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:08c5 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 5000

Get vendor and product codes (may also be seen from the output above):

# lsusb -s 004 -v | grep id
  idVendor           0x046d Logitech, Inc.
  idProduct          0x08c5 QuickCam Pro 5000

Get formats and resolution supported:

# zmu -d /dev/video0 -vqV2 
Video Device: /dev/video0
General Capabilities
  Driver: uvcvideo
  Card: UVC Camera (046d:08c5)
  Bus: usb-0000:00:1d.7-3
  Version: 3.2.51
  Type: 0x4000001
    Supports video capture (X)
    Does not support video output
    Does not support frame buffer overlay
    Does not support VBI capture
    Does not support VBI output
    Does not support sliced VBI capture
    Does not support sliced VBI output
    Does not support video output overlay
    Does not have tuner
    Does not have audio in and/or out
    Does not have radio
    Does not support read/write i/o (X)
    Does not support async i/o
    Supports streaming i/o (X)
    Standards:
  Formats:
    MJPEG (MJPG)
    YUV 4:2:2 (YUYV) (YUYV)
Crop Capabilities
  Bounds: 640 x 480
  Default: 640 x 480
Inputs: 1
  Input 0
    Name: Camera 1
    Type: Camera
    Audioset: 00000000
    Standards: 0x0
    Power on  (X)
    Signal detected  (X)
    Colour Signal detected
    Horizontal Lock detected

Set Shared Memory Configuration

We’ve only got 1 GB or RAM installed on our machine:

# cat /proc/meminfo | grep -i memtotal
MemTotal: 1022744 kB

Therefore we’ll set the SHMMAX to not exceed a half or our physical memory, 512MB. SHMMAX is the maximum size of a single shared memory segment set in bytes. To change the value on a running system:

# echo 536870912 > /proc/sys/kernel/shmmax

To make a change permanent:

# echo "kernel.shmmax = 536870912" >> /etc/sysctl.conf

SHMALL is not causing any problems, therefore won’t be changed:

# cat /proc/sys/kernel/shmall
2097152

Restart Daemons

# service apache2 restart
# service zoneminder restart

Add WebCam to Zoneminder WebUI

Navigate a web browser to http://localhost/zm.

Click “Add New Monitor”. Settings for Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 are shown below.

Optional

Under “System” tab, tick the box for “Authenticate user logins to ZoneMinder” to enable creation of user accounts with varying sets of permissions.

Under “Images” tab, check “Is the (optional) cambozola java streaming client installed” if chose to install earlier. Path to cambozola java streaming client should be “cambozola.jar”.

Under “Images” tab, add /usr/bin/ffmpeg to “Path to (optional) ffmpeg mpeg encoder (?)”.

Troubleshooting

# tail /var/log/messages
# tail /var/log/syslog

Also check Log section on Zoneminder WebUI.

Some Fixes

I’ve noticed that syslog is being spammed with the following:

ERR [Shared data size conflict in shared_data for monitor L5000, expected 328, got 316]

Open /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Memory.pm and change the following:

#our $arch = int(3.2*length(~0));
our $arch = 32;

Another one:

ERR [Can't make events/1: Permission denied]

And the fix:

# chown -R www-data:www-data /var/cache/zoneminder/events
# chown -R www-data:www-data /var/cache/zoneminder/images