Only mainland China: how to unlock camera for EU?

[walterkaos]

Dear users, I bought a Xiaofang camera without paying attention to the country. Now, my camera can only operate from China IP when connected. Since I want use the camera from Europe, this is banned! How can I update firmware unlocking region ban?

[ilkdostun]

i tried the way Resabiao mentioned and it made the camera downgraded. Thanks

[Andreaux]

Downgrading is not the issue here. I managed to do that as well, it's the mac address check that we should somehow get around...

[AdrianKielbowicz]

Does anyone have a definite answer if this camera currently works outside of mainland China? I'm thinking of buying one but don't want to end up with a useless brick!

[Resabiao]

Unless you have a lot of free time, and want to invest it on learning how to deal with this camera, DO NOT buy it, its a lottery

[AdrianKielbowicz]

Thanks for that @Resabiao.

I will look at other options then :)

[singhvivek73]

I am able to make it work by changing the locale in MI Home to China, no other change was required.

[kulokoy]

Hi everyone, just want to share how I managed to get around on viewing the camera outside your personal/home wifi network connection.

1. You need an android device(tablet/phone/tv box) - stand as a host.

2. Install teamviewer android host app on the dedicated host device. - to connect and remotely view the camera inside your network unattended.

3. Register to teamviewer to save the device host id.

4. Run the teamviewer host app to host device prior to remote connection.

5. Login to your teamviewer account to connect to host device and remotely. Make it sure that the host device is connected to your personal home network.

Hope this help.

[pedropcruz]

really cant do anything with this camera... And i am starting to be pissed of!

Can anyone can just explain well? I cannot connect my camera to my wifi neither!

Many thanks!

[Andreaux]

If your wifi has mac address filtering, maybe that's the problem. It turned out mine had an other mac address than was on the sticker and it couldn't connect to WiFi.

On Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 1:52 AM, Pedro Miguel Pereira da Cruz < notifications@github.com> wrote:

really cant do anything with this camera... And i am starting to be pissed of!

Can anyone can just explain well? I cannot connect my camera to my wifi neither!

Many thanks!

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[joarno]

hi guys TweedleMB managed to made the camera works somehow. Maybe he could help me or someone else

I followed step by step the procedure from https://github.com/samtap/fang-hacks/wiki/HowTo:-Flash-original-Xiaomi-firmware-from-sdcard-(factory-reset)#via-sdcard

even from here: https://www.andryou.com/2017/07/11/setting-xiaomi-xiaofang-security-camera/

mi home app is 4.0.11 as advised. mac address of the camera starts with 34 Impossible to downgrade firmware to 3.0.3.56

I am obviously doing something wrong. Could someone who succeeded to downgrade the fw 3.2.0.30 to 3.0.3.56 detail me step by step his process. Exactly what you have done to do it. !because sometimes I see different answers that the partition must be named mmcblk0p1, sometimes a folder should be named mmcblk0p1. I am beginning to be confused and I tried every single possibilities.

Thanks for the help.

[toncsiking]

Ok, my Dear Friends!

So, I bought a Xiaomi camera, model ISC5 from Ali express. Went trough all the disappointing methods You have, to make it alive. I try to sum all my experienses – here they are: Here’s my solution – I don’t swear it helps for everyone, but for me it works…mostly…but only at my home (I mean the mobile phone has to be on the same Wifi as the camera, doesn’t work from other places, Wifi, or mobile net :( ) BTW I'm from Hungary, Europe.

1. Use/download the old application of MiHome (https://apkfree.com/download/mi-home-4.0.11) – it is easy: erase/delete the new app from Your mobile, and just download the old one from here, and let it go…
2. Downgrade the camera firmware – it was a little difficoult for me – but at the end I won. So I took an 8 G micro SD card (deleted and formatted) and copied the old firmware to the card with my computer– just as You can get it from here with a little help - the Zip file is the better to dowload. After I inserted this SD card into the camera which was "out of power" at the moment While pushing the reset button on the bottom of the camera I plugged the power cable, and then I still held the button for about 20 seconds I waited about 2 minutes and then I went through the pairing procedure (You know very well ): 1.push the reset button for a second 2.wait the chinese voice 1 3.show the qr code of the mobile screen to the camera 4.chinese voice 2 sounds 5.wait about 60 seconds until it’s done (maybe You have to repeat it a few times, I mean the pairing method, and try to be close to the Wifi modem - I did it with 50 cm)

I think it’s important to mention: to disallow the phone application to refresh itself automatically You have to switch it out! (go to Playstore, find MiHome, from the menu select do not refresh) and later You never refresh anything in the application, and at the camera firmware... And Location: has to be MainlandChina, but language You can select english...

Working app version: MiHome 4.0.11 Working firmware version: 3.03.56

Please let me know if it helped for You - I hope it did :)

Tamas

[parthiv777]

Thanks Tamas It worked for me. Thanks again for putting solution in simple words

[ril3y]

I think this topic should be closed. The original use case of fang hacks is not to get the Mi Home working outside of Mainland China. Even if someone were to patch this and get it working outside of china it would take about 20 seconds for them to just block their servers outside of China. I think this is more of a lost cause. Work on something you can fix. IE. extend the rtsp server that patrick started to support streaming to a cloud? Write a app to view the cloud data etc.

Riley

On Sat, Nov 18, 2017 at 9:56 PM, parthiv777 notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks Tamas It worked for me. Thanks again for putting solution in simple words

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[Lucas0511]

Thanks Tamas for sharing, works just fine.

[royka1]

If you want to watch the live view outside with your 3g/4g connection, you could setup a vpn tap server at home. If you're done setting up your vpn tap server you need the payed version of OpenVPN client (cracked version won't work). With this method you could control the camera's with the MiHome app as if you're at home.

[Ocilares]

i tryed it out.. but i get now network connection error all the time.. my cam is standing 10cm in front of my router.. never checked more den 2/3 .. on connecting side.. (but after i get 2/3 i think it seams the no mainlaind lock is down?)... i will try on..

Working app version: MiHome 4.0.11 Working firmware version: 3.03.56

[royka1]

maybe you have to turn on "Redirect gateway". Here it works good, except when i connect a second camera, then it has connection problems on wifi too.

[Ocilares]

I tryed the fix.. it worked but only if i am in my own wlan.. its not working with normal mobile phone .. frome work or else where.. i have to stay in the same wifi as my cam... than it´s connecting..

with a updated 4xxxx version it´s not working

[royka1]

and you use on android the Openvpn client? the paid version? If you have the vpn server on the same network as the camera is should work. Otherwise you should look at the vpn server configuration. And be sure you have a tap vpn server. A tun vpn will not work

[cyberundertaker]

I had the same problem. I have a new model camera with reset button instead of a pinhole. The model came with 3.0.3.56 firmware and on the first try i downloaded mihome app from play store and i got error that it can only be used in mainland china. After that i tried older version of mihome app 4.0.11...it worked but only on my wifi network. Next thing i did was apply fanghacks over sd card...rtsp stream was working great but also on my wifi network only. I tried setting port fowarding and dyndns on my router bu due to my provider i was unable to get port 554 open. I contacted them and found out that ports are locked on server side. They did something but after that i tried checking if the ports are open and they were still not opened. Then i removed sd card and did a reset of the camera and connected it to play store version of mihome app. After successful connection i got the same error as before. Then i did a complaint as app instructed and sent an email with image of qr code at the bottom of the camera and proof of purchase from ebay. Tried again with sdcard in camera and fanghacks and got rtsp withou any problem. At that point it was pretty late and i gave up for the day. I turned off my camera from power outlet with sdcard still inside. Next day after i got home from work late evening i removed the sdcard from camera and turned it on. I noticed that the light stopped blinking blue and was solid blue... I tried again connecting it with latest play store version of mihome app and the light was solid blue again and no more error message when tried viewing the camera stream. And now it also works over 3g/4g. I don't know if it had something to do with the mail i sent them or the fact that the camera was unplugged from power for 24 hours after setting it up but now everything works on latest mihome app. Of course...app settings are mainland china, language default, and update pluggins in camera settings aare turned off. Can somebody give it a try like this. Maybe it will work.

[jarmyo]

@cyberundertaker ¿Did you recieve a confirmation mail from xiaomi? Yesterday my camera start working outside china mainland with no reason, i turn off the camera in the night and now doesnt work.

[jampo88]

Is there any solution to leave my camera at home, and from far away connect to my security cam? I read that every solution just working on the same network...pointless to connect from the house to a security cam. Any other idea, to use a different app maybe? I will go to abroad for 20 days, and I want to see what's happening in my flat, while I'm not there.

[royka1]

@jampo88 As i commented before, you could setup a tap VPN server so you could use the original app. You could also use this hack so you could use it with something like Ivideon, tinycam pro or something like that

[Ocilares]

I tryed my cam the last days and on 8.12 it was working the hole day.. i did not change anything.. i thought yes they got my mail.. but the last two days its not working again.. i am frustraded.. i thought omg they changed some thing but now its back again not working at all...

i think maybe they just had server problem thats ehy the look was not working the day.. i got mainlaind china problems now again..

[2sharp4u-wastaken]

Thanks Tamas @toncsiking. It worked as explained.

[toncsiking]

You're welcome! And Marry Christmas for all of Us! :)

[ltroc]

@toncsiking it works!

But I tried a new one. After installing the new application, appeared question. Did any of you have such a question?

[toncsiking]

Dear Itroc!

You know I made it 2 months ago, and my mind is quite short... :) But yes, I do remember something similar to this email thing...I sent an email for them, and they answered: sorry bla-bla-bla...no service...bla-bla-bla...it won't work out of china... And really, it doesn't work like I expected (I mean from out of home, out of my own wi-fi range), but at least it works somehow at home range... :) And as much I realized, any new applications, new softwares, upgradings drove my camera out of work... so I do not refresh any of them anymore... and it still works at home :)

Merry XMas!!! :)))))))))))))

[bogri]

@toncsiking - do you remember the status of the led when you did the downgrade? My is always just solid yellow, and I can't get your solution to work for me. Same fw etc, but nothing happens after I'm pressing reset and plugging the USB power cable. Even after a lot of time >20 secs. Then I'm waiting approx 2mins and pressing the reset button for 1 sec, but no voice. Do you have a cam with mac 34*?

[toncsiking]

Dear Bogri!

Sorry, but I do not remember the LED status - but I remember, I had to get very close to my WIFI router while I was doing these things (I mean 50 cm). Sorry, thats all stuck in my mind...:)

Tamas

[bogri]

Hello @toncsiking - thanks a lot for your quick answer. I'll try moving very close to the router.

Just one more thing regarding the format of the sd card. When I write the hack img 0.2.0 (win32diskimager) I don't see the same structure as in your instructions. At the card (in explorer) just see the folder bootstrap and file _snxautorun.sh. I guess it is in this partition I should copy your file structure (i.e contents of "copy_the_files_from_inside_this_folder_to_the_sd_card")? In your description you don't have the bootstrap and snx_autorun.sh. Looking in Disk Manager I can see the other partition as well (150MB) and 31GB Unallocated as well.

Cheers

[toncsiking]

Dear Bogri! Since I'm not an expert in these things, but somehow I was able to get the camera alive (do not forget: after all these movements done, camera will still work at home, at the same Wifi access, not from remote... ) I really don't know what kind of files are on the sd card, etc... I just collected all the informations, files found on the web, put them together and after it worked for me, copied everything, wrote every step I made, and published these infos here - that's all I could do, sorry...:( I would answer Your questions -------------------- If I could... :) Maybe: format the card before..... do not use large card (I mean use less than 16 Gb, maybe 8) copy every file as it is on the downloadable link...

Sorry! Tamas

[bogri]

Ok, thanks a lot for your info anyway :). Appreciate it.

[calinbuzatu]

Hello everybody. I had applied the solution provided by "toncsiking" on his comment at 18 Nov 2017: install Mi Home 4.0.11 android application, flash the camera firmware to initial version: 3.0.3.56

Right now the problem is that the camera is available from Mi Home app ONLY in the wireless network. If I try to access the camera from 3G/4G, the camera isn't available. The status led of the camera is blinking blue. I saw a posted comment that says to leave the camera unplugged over 24 hours. I will try this.

[timarcell]

Same problem here!

[toncsiking]

Hello! I mentioned before, this solution works only at the same network :( .

[timarcell]

Szia Tamás!

Neked működik a kamera távoli elérése? Nekem csak saját hálózaton működik a kamera. 3.0.3.56 firmware, mihome app 4.0.11

[toncsiking]

Szia! Írtam, hogy nekem is csak saját wifi-n belül megy sajna.... Jobb lenne persze távolról is elérni, de ez van :(

[timarcell]

A régebbi típusú az működik simán! :)

[timarcell]

A VPN-es megoldást próbáltad?

[toncsiking]

Az a helyzet, hogy ezt csak úgy diliből vettem meg az alin, van már két másik webkamerám, ami működik rendesen mobilról is, viszont az bosszantott fel, hogy ez semmit nem csinált először - azért szívtam vele sokat. Meg azért fáj a szívem, hogy ennek jó a képe (nem is feltétlenül a felbontása, de a színhőmérséklete klassz), meg ideálisnak tartom a gyújtótávot/képmezőt. Annyira nem értek hozzá, ezt a megoldást sem én találtam ki - összeszedtem a netről ahol össze-vissza volt magyarázva - én csak rendszerbe foglaltam és érthetően leírtam (legalábbis remélem :) )

[baluka3]

Sziasztok! Sajnos nekem is van egy, amit sehogy nem tudok életre kelteni. (mac34) Van egy régi is ami működik jól, de sajnos az SD kártyát nem látja egy ideje. A legújabb MiHome-ot használom, lehet ez az oka?

[faradit]

Közben a kép megoldódott. De!!!! Valaki mesélje már el, hogyan lehet hangot is rögzíteni ezzel a kamerával. A képpel nincsen semmi gondom, de sajnos a kép mellé járó hang rögzítés lehetőségére még nem jöttem rá. Pedig rendelkezik mind mikrofonal mind pedig hangszóróval. Köszi nektek. Nekem is sikerült bevásárolnom, és mivel a rendeléskor eleve felajánlották hozzá az EU-s átalakító adaptert, így abszolút nem gondoltam, hogy csak Kínában működik. Hár sikerült jól beleválasztanom, de az hogy több Xiaomi cuccot nem fogok várásolni, az ezentúl már biztos, pedig már jópárral rendelkezem. De akkor feladom a betervezetteket, mert abszolút nem világos számomra, hogy ez miért is volt jó a Xiaomi cégnek. Mert hogy én buktam vele sokezer forintot az kicsinyes, mert a teljes készlet az közel 100 ezer lett volna, Ők most így ezt bukták el. Még szerencse, hogy hamar tanultam a saját káromon. A heckelésén ugyan elgondolkoztam, hogy ne ajtókitámasztónak kelljen haszálnom, de számomra már ez már túl bonyolult. Így megy a kukába, ha csak valaki nem tud valami egyszerűbb módot a használatára. Várnék esetleg a kitámasztón kívül valami jó ötletet valakitől.

[faradit]

Toncsiking ! Esetleg az általad összerakott használat nincsen meg érthetőbb magyar nyelvű verzióban????

[Andreaux]

A helyzet az, hogy ez nem a Xiaomi cég bűne. A kamera egy adot szerverhez van kötve és kétféle verziót árulnak egy csak kínában jót és egy mindenhol máshol jót azzal a kitétellel, hogy a viszonteladók nem adhatják el a csak kínában működőt kínán kívülre… amit persze ezek letojnak torony magasról, így landolhat nálad egy kínára szánt változat. A hivatalos Xiaomi store-ban EU verzióként vett kamera tökéletesen működik… nekem is az van, kettő is és tökéletesen működik neten át is, meg mindenhonnan, nem csak otthoni hálózaton. Szóval sajnos ez a kereskedők bűne. Viszont van elvileg egy support procedúra, amit végig lehet csinálni, mellékelve a vásárlást igazoló számlát, egyebet, amivel átkonvertálják neked, csak mivel ők se nagyon tudnak angolul és mi se nagyon tudunk kínaiul, így elég nehéz ezt elintézni… volt már viszont, akinek sikerült… se sajnos olyan is, akinek nem.

Remélem így érthetőbb :))

Ciao,

Gabriel

On 2018. Mar 30., at 20:30, faradit notifications@github.com wrote:

Nekem is sikerült bevásárolnom, és mivel a rendeléskor eleve felajánlották hozzá az EU-s átalakító adaptert, így abszolút nem gondoltam, hogy csak Kínában működik. Hár sikerült jól beleválasztanom, de az hogy több Xiaomi cuccot nem fogok várásolni, az ezentúl már biztos, pedig már jópárral rendelkezem. De akkor feladom a betervezetteket, mert abszolút nem világos számomra, hogy ez miért is volt jó a Xiaomi cégnek. Mert hogy én buktam vele sokezer forintot az kicsinyes, mert a teljes készlet az közel 100 ezer lett volna, Ők most így ezt bukták el. Még szerencse, hogy hamar tanultam a saját káromon. A heckelésén ugyan elgondolkoztam, hogy ne ajtókitámasztónak kelljen haszálnom, de számomra már ez már túl bonyolult. Így megy a kukába, ha csak valaki nem tud valami egyszerűbb módot a használatára. Várnék esetleg a kitámasztón kívül valami jó ötletet valakitől.

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[toncsiking]

Faradit! Szia, nincs meg sajna és bevallom őszintén már nem is nagyon emlékszem fejből, hogy mit mókoltam akkor össze... :) De ami fontos - csak saját wifi-n belül sikerült életre keltenem, más hálózatról nem látszik.

[Andreaux]

Sziasztok! Más hálózatról is megoldható, ha feldobsz valamire egy VPN szervert, de kényelmetlen, az tény... A megoldás szerintem valahogy végigszenvedni a Xiaomi mac-address átregisztrálós procedúráját... Ciao, Gabriel

2018-04-03 12:49 GMT+02:00 Toncsi notifications@github.com:

Faradit! Szia, nincs meg sajna és bevallom őszintén már nem is nagyon emlékszem fejből, hogy mit mókoltam akkor össze... :) De ami fontos - csak saját wifi-n belül sikerült életre keltenem, más hálózatról nem látszik.

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[cyperbg]

So I have that same camera. Any progress on making it work outside China without the hack? I got a VPN service, will that help?

I just like the Mi Home App and the features, especially the motion detection as I need it for a flat that will stay empty most of the time.

[Andreaux]

Have you tried the built-in thing to request unlock from Xiaomi's partner company?

You have to provide them a proof of purchase and they might unlock it.

G.

On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 2:59 AM, cyperbg notifications@github.com wrote:

So I have that same camera. Any progress on making it work outside China without the hack? I got a VPN service, will that help?

I just like the Mi Home App and the features, especially the motion detection as I need it for a flat that will stay empty most of the time.

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[royka1]

@cyperbg only if you have a vpn tap server you can use the original app. For Android there is only 1 vpn client that supports vpn tap, you have to buy that app because the cracked one won't work