Not working with Dahua DH-DB6I after firmware upgrade

[ve6rah]

I recently upgraded my Dahua doorbell camera (DH-DB6I) to firmware Eng_N_V1.000.020000000.7.R.20220615 and ever since, I no longer get button press events.

no errors appear in the logs. I have tried removing and reinstalling the integration with no success.

I'm not certain how to troubleshoot further?

UPDATE: I've now also tried a factory reset of the doorbell, no change. Video stream continues to work properly, but no events.

[GaryOkie]

HASS - Developers Tools - Events - Event to subscribe to - dahua_event_received - listen to events - then press doorbell - copy/paste results here.

There should be a callnoanswered event in that list.

[ve6rah]

nothing.

In the "Listen to events" field, when I type "dahua_event_received" and press "Start Listenening" the "start listening button changes to "Stop listening" indicating that it is listening. however nothing else appears at all. I press the doorbell, nothing happens.

[ve6rah]

@GaryOkie As this is a new firmware, is there an API I can try from a browser or from the linux command line to see if they changed something? I haven't been able to find any information about the API

[GaryOkie]

This is very concerning you don't see ANY events. There should be a lot of various events spewed out during the day since this integration is listening for any event that occurs. I am aware that the Lorex doorbell - essentially a Dahua clone, has neutered its HTTP API. It's quite possible this update did the same.

Search for "dahua ipc http api download" for older copies of the API for IPC cameras. The latest manual from Dahua requires extra hoops to get. There isn't a documented API manual for the doorbells to my knowledge, but this IPC manual covers the majority of commands that the doorbell will accept.

Using this API directly is great for setting configuration options, but subscribing to events requires programming. RRollers integration uses the DahuaVTO python library I believe. The core Amcrest integration uses a different library. It might be worth a try to see if there is any difference using the core Amcrest.

If you want to try running a small python app to display all events using the Amcrest library, you can refer to this post: tchellomello/python-amcrest#137 (comment) However, just using the developer's event listener built into HASS serves the exact same purpose.

[ve6rah]

Well, It appears I can now confirm that it was in fact the firmware upgrade that neutered it. Release notes read:

This version fixes some bugs, improves the product performance

Apparently a working API is a "bug"?

I found firmware files at https://dahuawiki.com/images/Files/Firmware/
and downgraded to DH_IPC-WDB-Joule_Eng_N_CA_V1.000.0000000.0.R.211015.bin using the SmartPSS Windows application
Though they also have DH_IPC-WDB-Joule_Eng_N_nonCA_V1.000.0000000.0.R.211015.bin which would probably work as well (I chose CA which I think is for Canada where I live?)
After the downgrade everything works properly again.

I submitted a ticket to Dahua USA, however I'm not optimistic they'll work on fixing this.

[GaryOkie]

Thanks for this updated info. It's a really big concern going forward. Sure hope Amcrest doesn't follow suit with their updates to the AD410.

I wish I had asked you to confirm if the HTTP API was still working before you downgraded.

[ve6rah]

I tried going to <doorbell_IP>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi in the browser, and got:

Error
Not Implemented!

After downgrade the same request gives:

Error
Bad Request!

So that says a ton right there.

[GaryOkie]

Yeah, that command wasn't fully formed, but the response in the first instance indicated the http server responded wheras the 2nd instance on the newer firmware indicates it's F*KED.

[ve6rah]

It's too bad seeing yet another doorbell maker going this route. It is REALLY hard to find a smart doorbell that isn't complete garbage due to either low image quality, proprietary lock-in, or both.

[GaryOkie]

I'll reference this issue on the ipcamtalk forum. There is a sales rep (EmpireTech/Andy) and expert testers who have a direct link to Dahua camera firmware developers.

[ve6rah]

I started a thread:
https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/dh-db6i-doorbell-warning-do-not-upgrade-firmware.66508/

[GaryOkie]

OH! WTG - thanks.

[jbruns]

Really sorry to resurrect this old issue. I just bought a Dahua DH-DB6I, and it came with 1.000.020000000.9.R,build:2023-04-23. The behavior with the http api is exactly as described here, with the vintage 2022 firmware (no events fired). I also found your thread, @ve6rah, but I didn't have an account on IPCamTalk and the verification email never seems to show up so I can get the older build. Could we get the file hosted somewhere else? It seems to be completely pulled from Dahua's servers. Many thanks!

[ve6rah]

@jbruns I'm sorry to hear that. I truly am. Unfortunately I did not keep a copy of the firmware file, so I can't really help you.
If you read the thread on IPcamtalk you will see that I very much recommend everyone avoid this camera, because I assumed that new units would ship with the crippled firmware.
I'm sorry you got caught up in this. And hopefully someone else is able to help you with that firmware file.

[jbruns]

Thanks for the quick response! This model in brown had super high WAF, so I went with it (matches house siding, small size, ..). I can sort of work around using Frigate and person detection. @rroller I am more than happy to fire whatever curl commands/other debugging tools at this thing to help, and if you want my total novice code I'll be glad to offer a PR. Of course this all implies that Dahua hasn't neutered the thing.

On the plus side, debug logging from the Dahua integration shows that responses from the doorbell are HTTP 400 ("Bad Request", rather than "Not Implemented"). For example:

> GET /cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=SmartMotionDetect HTTP/1.1
> Host: dahua-db6i-frontdoor.utn.wavebe.am
> Authorization: Digest username="admin", <snip>
> User-Agent: curl/8.4.0
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
< Connection: close
< Content-type: text/plain;charset=utf-8
< Content-Length: 21
<
Error
Bad Request!
* Closing connection```

[ve6rah]

Your alternative is to put a sensor on the bell to generate your button press events, and use the camera exclusively as a camera. I've seen people put magnetic read switches beside the coils inside the bell, among other creative solutions.

[derekcentrico]

I'd love to see a solution here. Just got this damn thing too, thinking it would work as it was solid for my needs from my reviewing specs, and...nope.