[Bug 35770] New: Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Bug ID: 35770
           Summary: Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random
           Product: Wine
           Version: 1.4.1
          Hardware: x86-64
                OS: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: critical
          Priority: P2
         Component: msvfw32
          Assignee: [e-mail]
          Reporter: [e-mail]

Created attachment 47763
  --> http://bugs.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=47763
Contacam surveillance software crashing (msvfw32)

I'm running Contacam (video surveillance software -from contaware.com) with
WINE 1.4.1, and the application is crashing at random intervals.  Sometimes 6
minutes, sometimes 6 hours, and everything in between.

The error log seems to be pointing to msvfw32 as the culprit, but I'm not
absolutely sure.

I think this only happens when I run the application to record upon detection. 
When I have all camera detections set to off (monitor only) the system does not
crash.  It seems that when (maybe) contacam detects motion and then starts
recording to disc, the crash occurs.

This doesn't happen on every detection though.  ContaCam will detect some
movements, and record them to disk just fine, but after a (seemingly) random
amount of time later, the application crashes, showing the attached log.

I am not completely sure what is going on here and why.
My clues are that msvfw32 (seems) to be a 16bit video compression DLL.  My
question to this finding would be: "What would make the video compression
fail?"
I wonder if I do not have my WINE environment setup properly.
I have made sure to install the 32bit configuration of WINE (I am running
Ubuntu 13.10 x64)
I am also not sure if it is a result of what folder I am having Contacam
storing its images to.  I am telling Contacam to store images to /var/www
directory, but have allowed all permissions to this /var/www directory. 
Contacam is able to store videos to this location fine (most of the time at
least).  I wonder if permissions are being overridden to denied sometimes
maybe.  Maybe this has nothing to do with it though.

I'm hoping to get this app to not crash soon, because I need my surveillance
system to be reliable.

Thanks,
Isaac

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Nikolay Sivov  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Severity|critical                    |normal

--- Comment #1 from Nikolay Sivov  ---
You're using a really old Wine version. Try with 1.7.14 first.

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #2 from iemch  ---
Aah, Thanks for noting that.
Dang Ubuntu repositories. -Always seem out of date.
I'll try with 1.7.14 and report back.
Thanks,
Isaac

(In reply to Nikolay Sivov from comment #1)
> You're using a really old Wine version. Try with 1.7.14 first.

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #3 from iemch  ---
Created attachment 47771
  --> http://bugs.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=47771
Backtrace of WINE1.7.14 msvfw32 issue

This is the backtrace log of WINE 1.7.14 showing an unhandled exception with
msvfw32.  It causes ContaCam surveillance app to crash.

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #4 from iemch  ---
I didn't get to add all of my comments in my above post..

I tried using 1.7.14, as you suggested.  It seems this makes no difference, if
not actually making things worse.  It seems that in the case of 1.7.14, it will
even crash when ContaCam app is just monitoring, whereas 1.4.1 would not crash
on monitoring, only when cameras are set to motion detect and record.

This issue still seems to be pointing to msvfw32 (from the backtrace log)
I'm still not sure why there are read access issues for msvfw32.

Hopefully someone has some clues to this, and maybe some suggestions?

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #5 from Nikolay Sivov  ---
My suggestion would be to install debug symbols package for Wine and generate
another log with more debug info, also setting WINEDEBUG=+msvideo,+tid will
give more output.

It looks like this software is freely available, but the question is what
hardware does one need to try it? Will a simple USB webcam work for example?

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #6 from iemch  ---
Nikolay,

I must tell you how much I appreciate your help here, it's really helping me
-I'm lost otherwise..

I'll try to install the debug symbols for WINE.  I'm not exactly sure how to do
this, but I'll Google around a bit, and maybe find some help from the WINEHQ
debugger guide webpage here:
http://www.winehq.org/docs/winedev-guide/wine-debugger

Once I have this more-datailed log, I'll post.

Also, yes, ContaCam software is available (program and source code) from
contaware.com.  It will work with USB cams, capture cards, and network cameras.
 Getting ContaCam to work with anything other than network cameras will require
the use of VLC to rebroadcast the video to a port on your machine, so you can
pick it up in ContaCam as a network video.  Seems to be a limitation of WINE,
but there is this workaround.

I have made a how-to for ContaCam installation (and am still in the process of
polishing the procedure -as I will have to account for the read access issues
I'm facing now, but the procedure is pretty close).
I'll attach my current ContaCam installation in WINE procedure in my next post.
It guides you through the install, and also provides an example of how to setup
a capture card stream input, which will apply to USB cameras as well.  As long
as VLC can see your input, you can stream the video into Contacam.

Maybe you can give it a shot on your system to see what issues I'm facing,
(provided you have the time), and I'll gather a more detailed log to report
back on.

(Thanks a TON for your suggestions!!!)
-Isaac

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

iemch  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |[e-mail]

--- Comment #7 from iemch  ---
Created attachment 47772
  --> http://bugs.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=47772
ContaCam installation in WINE in Ubuntu 13.10 HowTo

Here is a HowTo for installation of ContaCam surveillance software install in
WINE.  It was written using Ubuntu 13.10 x64.

The document is not fully polished and finished yet, because I want to account
for this issue of the app crashing due to msvfw32.

I am creating this how to document from need, as there is no current
installation procedure and tips/tricks for installing ContaCam in WINE so it
will work in linux.

The developer of ContaCam is interested in this documentation so that more
Linux users can use ContaCam.  This software is so much easier to work with
than Zoneminder or other linux based surveillance applications.

Once I find a fix for the app crashing, I plan on releasing a finalized howto
for ContaCam installation in Linux so that installation will be a breeze for
other Linux users.

-Isaac

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

iemch  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Attachment #47772|0                           |1
        is obsolete|                            |

--- Comment #8 from iemch  ---
Created attachment 47773
  --> http://bugs.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=47773
ContaCam installation HowTo in WINE using Ubuntu 13.10

WINEHQ site does strange things to .doc attachment.  Makes it into a .ocx and
removes half of the document.

Submitting a PDF version of the document to replace.

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #9 from Austin English  ---
(In reply to iemch from comment #8)
> Created attachment 47773 [details]
> ContaCam installation HowTo in WINE using Ubuntu 13.10
>
> WINEHQ site does strange things to .doc attachment.  Makes it into a .ocx
> and removes half of the document.
>
> Submitting a PDF version of the document to replace.

That sort of info belongs on https://appdb.winehq.org

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Austin English  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Keywords|                            |download
                URL|                            |http://www.contaware.com

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #10 from iemch  ---
Austin,

I would agree that the installation procedure for ContaCam in WINE might belong
in the appdatabase (IF) I had it figured out and had no issues with it.  I am
posing my questions here because I have an issue with WINE and am hoping to
find help in fixing it.
I posted the procedure so that folks that stumble upon this thread know exactly
what I have done to get to the point I am at.
Once I have the issues with msvfw32 figured out, I will then be able to post on
the appdb.
My HowTo tutorial is for informational and debugging purposes only in this
post.

(In reply to Austin English from comment #9)
> (In reply to iemch from comment #8)
> > Created attachment 47773 [details]
> > ContaCam installation HowTo in WINE using Ubuntu 13.10
> >
> > WINEHQ site does strange things to .doc attachment.  Makes it into a .ocx
> > and removes half of the document.
> >
> > Submitting a PDF version of the document to replace.
>
> That sort of info belongs on https://appdb.winehq.org

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #11 from iemch  ---
It appears I have found the solution to my issue by my research!

I stumbled upon the right page of WINE documentation, specifically that about
using native windows drivers instead of the WINE builtin drivers.

My solution to avoid ContaCam from crashing in WINE is to substitute the
builtin msvfw32.dll found in the /.wine/Windows/system32 directory with a
native msvfw32.dll file from another windows computer.  I copied the
msvfw32.dll file from my work laptop (Windows 7 -but I doubt it'd matter what
version of Windows) and placed it in WINE's system32 directory, made the
override to the wine configuration utility for the msvfw32 driver to tell the
configuration to always use the native version.
After that, ContaCam has not crashed once in the past 4 days I made the change.
I think it is safe to say that I have solved my problem!!

Now, this brings up another issue:
It seems there must be a bug with the builtin msvfw32.dll that WINE comes with.
I tried this with WINE versions 1.4, 1.6, and 1.7.14.  All three of the WINE
versions have this issue.

How do I go about filing this bug with the WINE developers, as to make sure it
is brought to their attention, to avoid compatibility issues with other
programs out there?

And on another point of inquiry: Why does WINE use builtin dlls anyway?  Why
can't WINE just use all native Windows dll's?  Is it because of licensing
issues?  Is it because of size?  Speed?  -just curious on this point.

Thanks,
Isaac

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

--- Comment #12 from Nikolay Sivov  ---
(In reply to iemch from comment #11)
> Now, this brings up another issue:
> It seems there must be a bug with the builtin msvfw32.dll that WINE comes
> with.
> I tried this with WINE versions 1.4, 1.6, and 1.7.14.  All three of the WINE
> versions have this issue.
>
> How do I go about filing this bug with the WINE developers, as to make sure
> it is brought to their attention, to avoid compatibility issues with other
> programs out there?

Please take a look at http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#get_log and get a log with
+msvideo,+tid and attach it here as a text file. You'll need to use builtin dll
obviously. To get complete crash info you'll need to install debug symbols
package.
> And on another point of inquiry: Why does WINE use builtin dlls anyway?  Why
> can't WINE just use all native Windows dll's?  Is it because of licensing
> issues?  Is it because of size?  Speed?  -just curious on this point.

The whole point is to be able to run Windows applications without Windows.
Licensing is one aspect of it, yes.

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Bruno Jesus  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Status|UNCONFIRMED                 |NEEDINFO
     Ever confirmed|0                           |1

--- Comment #13 from Bruno Jesus  ---
What version of Contacam was used in the test? Also as last comment requests,
please add an updated log using wine 1.7.53 (current development version).

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Anastasius Focht  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |[e-mail]

--- Comment #14 from Anastasius Focht  ---
*** Bug 37059 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Aaron Franke  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |[e-mail]

--- Comment #15 from Aaron Franke  ---
Is this still an issue in Wine 2.6?

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

[WineHQ Bugzilla]

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

joaopa  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |[e-mail]

--- Comment #16 from joaopa  ---
No news from the reporter since 6 years. To test the software, you need the
surveillance hardware. Can an administrator close this bug  as ABANDONED?

[Bug 35770] Contacam Surveillance Software Crashing at Random

[WineHQ Bugzilla]

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35770

Jeff Zaroyko  changed:

What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Status|NEEDINFO                    |CLOSED
         Resolution|---                         |ABANDONED

--- Comment #17 from Jeff Zaroyko  ---
(In reply to joaopa from comment #16)
> No news from the reporter since 6 years. To test the software, you need the
> surveillance hardware. Can an administrator close this bug  as ABANDONED?

I don't think this is determined.  OP didn't say whether they used an IP camera
or local hardware.

The software supports IP cameras.   There are many open cameras on the
internet, i.e. some listed on http://www.opentopia.com/ - select live stream,
then copy the mjpeg URL from the page, and open it in Contacam.

I tested with wine-5.5, ContaCam 9.9.10 w/ IP camera for 10+ minutes with
motion detection enabled - no crash or issue here.    I note that OP did not
specify which version of ContaCam they tested with.

Since OP has not replied in 3 years, I am going to close as abandoned.   Feel
free to reopen if the issue persists.