Chuangmi Camera V5 Extended Firmware

This is a complimentary firmware for Chuangmi 720p Camera (chuangmi.camera.v5). It brings an MQTT client and an alternative RTSP server that enables integration with Homebridge and Home Assistant.

Unlike others, it works with the latest official firmware and stays functional after OTA updates.

Features

MQTT Client.
RTSP Server.
Telnet Server.
No SD-card required.
~60KB compressed.

Installation

An SD card is needed to install the firmware. First, it should be formatted in FAT32.

sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 CAMERA MBRFormat /dev/diskN

Then, download and extract the latest distribution.

wget -q -O - https://github.com/dokmic/chuangmi-camera-v5/releases/latest/download/firmware.tgz | tar -xz -C /Volumes/CAMERA

The distribution contains the official firmware recovery of version 3.3.6_2018062014 (tf_recovery.img), which will be flashed first. To proceed, unplug and plug the power cable back. Wait until the indicator led turns blue.

At this moment, the SD card is no longer needed. It can be safely removed after powering off the camera. All the files on the memory card should have been renamed to the ones with the .bak extension.

If it has not been done already, the camera can be activated and added to the Mi Home app following the official instructions.

Then, the camera can be upgraded to the latest firmware through the device settings in Mi Home. The firmware was tested against the latest version available in the EU region (3.4.5_2018091817).

Configuration

The camera can be configured via the MQTT client or manually via a config file.

In the case of the MQTT client, all the changes will be preserved in memory and restored after reboot.

When the config file is used, all the settings will be read and stored in memory. After that, the config file will be renamed to config.cfg.bak to avoid overriding updated settings after reboot.

To manually configure the camera, create config.cfg in the SD-card root. This file will be sourced by the firmware's init script and should set configuration variables:

MQTT=1
MQTT_HOST="192.168.1.1"

Settings

Option	Type	Default	Description
`CEILING`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Rotates image when the camera is mounted on the ceil.
`CLOUD`	`0` / `1`	`1`	Cloud services that make camera appear in the Mi Home app.
`HOSTNAME`	`string`	MAC-address	The camera's hostname.
`INDICATOR`	`0` / `1`	`1`	Blue LED indicator.
`LOGGING`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Enables syslog (the log file will be stored in memory under `/var/log/messages`).
`MQTT`	`0` / `1`	`0`	MQTT client.
`MQTT_DISCOVERY_NAME`	`string`	`'Camera ${MQTT_NAME}'`	Human readable name that will appear in the Home Assistant.
`MQTT_DISCOVERY_TOPIC`	`string`	`'homeassistant'`	MQTT discovery topic prefix.
`MQTT_HOST`	`string`	none	MQTT server host.
`MQTT_NAME`	`string`	MAC-address	Friendly name that will be used to construct MQTT topics (similar to the one in Zigbee2MQTT).
`MQTT_PASSWORD`	`string`	none	MQTT server password.
`MQTT_PORT`	`string`	none	MQTT server port.
`MQTT_TOPIC`	`string`	`'chuangmi'`	MQTT base topic.
`MQTT_USER`	`string`	none	MQTT server username.
`NIGHT`	`0` / `1` / `'AUTO'`	`0`	Night mode.
`NTP_SERVER`	`string`	`'pool.ntp.org'`	NTP server to sync time.
`OTA`	`0` / `1`	`1`	OTA services in the Mi Home app.
`PASSWORD`	`string`	none	The `root`'s password.
`RTSP`	`0` / `1`	`0`	RTSP server.
`RTSP_BITRATE`	`integer`	`8192`	An integer below `8192` to set the max bitrate of the RTSP stream.
`RTSP_BITRATE_MODE`	`1` / `2` / `3` / `4`	`4`	The bitrate mode: - `1` — constant bitrate (`GM_CBR`); - `2` — variable bitrate (`GM_VBR`); - `3` — enhanced constant bitrate (`GM_ECBR`); - `4` — enhanced variable bitrate (`GM_EVBR`).
`RTSP_FRAMERATE`	`integer`	`15`	An integer below 15 to set the max framerate (fps).
`RTSP_HEIGHT`	`integer`	`720`	Image height.
`RTSP_MJPEG`	`0` / `1`	`0`	MJPEG encoding.
`RTSP_MPEG4`	`0` / `1`	`0`	MPEG4 encoding.
`RTSP_PASSWORD`	`string`	none	Password for basic authentication.
`RTSP_USER`	`string`	none	Username for basic authentication.
`RTSP_WIDTH`	`integer`	`1280`	Image width.
`STREAMER`	`0` / `1`	`1`	Streaming services in the Mi Home app.
`TELNET`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Telnet server.
`TZ`	`string`	none	Camera's timezone.
`WIFI_PASSWORD`	`string`	Configured in the Mi Home app.	Wireless network password.
`WIFI_SSID`	`string`	Configured in the Mi Home app.	Wireless network name.

Usage

RTSP

After enabling RTSP in the config.cfg or via MQTT, the stream can be accessed via:

rtsp://<host>/live/ch00_0

Homebridge

The camera can be exposed via HomeKit using Homebridge. Use homebridge-camera-ffmpeg with the following config to access the camera's RTSP stream:

{
  "platform": "Camera-ffmpeg",
  "cameras": [
    {
      "name": "Sample Camera",
      "manufacturer": "chuangmi",
      "model": "chuangmi.camera.v5",
      "serialNumber": "<mac>",
      "firmwareRevision": "3.4.5_2018091817",
      "videoConfig": {
        "source": "-rtsp_transport tcp -i rtsp://<host>:554/live/ch00_0",
        "stillImageSource": "-rtsp_transport tcp -i rtsp://<host>:554/live/ch00_0 -vframes 1 -r 1",
        "maxStreams": 2,
        "maxWidth": 1280,
        "maxHeight": 720,
        "maxFPS": 15,
        "videoFilter": "none",
        "vcodec": "copy"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Home Assistant

Use the FFmpeg integration to add the camera's RTSP stream to the Home Assistant setup.

Additionally, the camera's controls can be discovered automatically using MQTT integration.

License

WTFPL 2.0

dokmic / chuangmi-camera-v5

readme