Frequently Asked Questions about Xeoma DVR software

1. Q: Is it possible to buy software and use it indefinitely without having to pay every year? Are there any fees for technical support?

A: Yes, you can buy the software and use it without paying every year. Please note that free updates of the program are included for the first 12 months since the license purchase date. Concerning the technical support it isn't limited in time.

2. Q: What software is better - WebCam Looker or Xeoma?

A: Simply put, WebCam Looker is time-proven functionality that has been developed since 2005. The software has gained lots of fans since and been acknowledged as reliable and functional. Xeoma is a new product by FelenaSoft, it's more up-to-date, flexible and quick. Functional and usability modifications are constantly applied. To compare functionality of WebCam looker and Xeoma you may find the comparison of WebCam Looker and Xeoma useful.

3. Q: Will Xeoma work with my wifi cam?

A: Yes, Xeoma supports any IP-cameras, including wireless (wi-fi) cams. List of supported cams can be viewed here.

4. Q: Xeoma can't find my IP cam. What should I do?

A: Xeoma can scan cams automatically and find even cams protected with default password. However, if your cam is not in the list of found cams, you can specify the URL manually. Go to the cam's Web Control Interface. Provided you can see image from the cam there, do right click on it and copy its URL, then paste it in Xeoma. More on this topic in «What if my camera is not auto-detected in Xeoma?» article.

5. Q: How much free disk space will I need for my surveillance? What are the system requirements for my projected system?

A: You can find it out with our calculator of minimum system requirements (required memory, processor, disc and Internet connection speed).

6. Q: With what can I view .xem files in the archive?

A: You can view recordings straight in the archive with the help of built-in media player. But if you need to watch the files outside Xeoma, you can use, for example, VLC player (specify fps of the video in the command line so that it would look like "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --mjpeg-fps=30 1077.xem where 1077.xem is your file's name and "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" is the path to your VLC player). Moreover, with sufficient codecs other popular players can play the .xem files, too. But the easiest way is to export the needed extract in the desired format straight from the built-in player.

7. Q: What happens after the trial version expires?

A: You can activate trial period again. Specify settings once more and continue using Xeoma. The settings will be reset in 4 hours again. You can activate trial version as many times as you need to feel all the powerful possibilities of Xeoma.

8. Q: How long does the standard version last?

A: Standard license for Xeoma Video Surveillance Software isn't limited in time. Once you buy Xeoma license for any amount of cameras, you get your version upgraded to the Standard edition and can use it as long as you want and/or need to.

9. Q: How many cameras do I need to buy license for?

A: It depends on how many cameras you are going to use. Use trial version to build chain(s) to meet your demands, count how many cameras are there in use. You will get the number of cameras you need to buy a license for. See example in our article 'What is Xeoma's module?'

10. Q: I have a license for 16 cameras. I need to add 8 cams more. Can I do that? I'm afraid lest my first license should be lost...

A: There's nothing to be afraid of. Licenses summarize. You can add unlimited number of licenses. You will be able to use as many cameras as all of your activated licenses allow in total.

11. Q: I have lost my activation key. What do I do?

A: First of all, try the 'Self-help on activation issues' help page, the 'Get information on licenses...' section. If for some reasons it doesn't help, please contact us - we'll do our best to help!

12. Q: How do I get a free license for Xeoma?

A: We offer a variety of possibilities to get Xeoma license for free. Find what fits you best on our Special Offer page!

13.Q: Will Xeoma work with my camera/operating system?

A: If your camera is not on the list of supported cameras, or your operating system is not on the list of supported OSs, you can try Xeoma in either free or trial mode in your environment and see if it works. Your user report will be much appreciated!

14. Q: What are my options if I want to use remote control? When do I need to use Repeater?

A: There are basically 3 options:

1) Repeater is a service similar to but more powerful than dynamic DNS. You only need to use Repeater if your PC running Xeoma is not accessible from the Internet, i.e. can't obtain or forward an external IP address.

2) If your computer is inside firewall, i.e. does not have Internet IP address, you can use port-forwarding at your router to forward external port to your machine with Xeoma running. Then just use 3) option.

3) In other cases, when real IP address is available, simple server-client connection of Xeoma can be successfully used ('Connect to remote server' option).

15. Q: Where can I find Xeoma settings files?

A: Settings are located in the default user directory. Read more.

16. Q: Can I install Xeoma on Ubuntu server or do I need desktop interface?

A: Absolutely, you can install Xeoma on Ubuntu server without graphical shell. Please pay attention: console sound support requires libasound2. If you're running a 64-bit version you may need to install ia32-libs. After the installation there will be an access password in console - you need to save it somewhere to have an ability to connect from another machine (client).

17. Q: What are the commands to control Xeoma via Terminal (on OSes without graphical shell)?

A: Please read our Xeoma on Linux guide and list of available commands.

18.Q: My server is Linux. Can I connect to it from a Mac?

A: Yes. The program is cross-platform. Your server can be installed (or just run, without installation) on any of the supported OSes, say, Debian, and you can connect to it remotely from another machine with any of the supported OSs, from a Mac with Mac OSX. You just need to have the right Xeoma file for the operating system it is launched on.

19. Q: Linux. How do I run application from the archive (xeoma.app) or isn't that an application at all? Is there any requirements for Linux hardware?

A: Xeoma supports the following distributions of Linux so far: openSUSE, Mint, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS. To install or run Xeoma on Linux please make sure you are uncompressing xeoma_linux.tgz archive on Linux machine. Otherwise, it is required to execute: chmod a+x xeoma.app and then you can run Xeoma as usual: ./xeoma.app.

20. Q: Can I conduct surveillance with only 1 computer like on the scheme IP cam > Internet > Computer using your software?

A: Yes, you can use cloud service for that. But if you don't need saving footage when the computer is off, you can view the camera remotely without cloud service. In this case you need to set up port forwarding to your IP cam from the router and so you can connect to the IP cam same as to a router from away. To test Xeoma Cloud, please request a free trial.

21. Q: Can I view my cameras with mobile devices?

A: You can view cameras from Android and iOS devices via applications, from other mobile devices via web browser. Read more on the topic in this instruction.

22. Q: I get Connection-to-server dialog when I run Xeoma. What is that? What should I type in there?

A: When you work on 1 computer without remote access, you don't need to type anything. Xeoma will find and connect to the 'local' server by itself (learn more about the program's architecture). If you use remote access feature, type in the IP address of the server you'd like to connect to, or Repeater address. More about remote access here.

23. Q: How do I change port when connecting to a remote server?

A: You don't need to change the port. If the server computer doesn't have static IP address, what you need to do is set port forwarding (use portforward.com for instructions or - easier and more conveniently - get Repeater subscription and don't worry about port forwarding!). But, if Xeoma's usual port is taken, you should use the -serverport command to set a new one. See instruction here.

24.Q: What option for remote access do I need to use?

A: Please take a look at our comparison of remote access options with Xeoma.

25.Q: Why I can only view recoding for the last hour/Why are there no recordings in the archive? Is it because I use non-licensed version?

A: If you use Xeoma in a trial mode, you have only 1 hour of Archive, that is why you see only records from one last hour. If you use standard edition, check your Preview and Archive module settings and set up a longer period for storing files. Another possible cause is if you use motion detector and there was simply no motion in the field of view earlier.

26.Q: I'd buy your software but I need a feature you don't seem to provide. How can I inquire about upcoming improvements?

A: Just contact us and ask your question to see if the feature will be added soon or is already implemented.

27.Q: I use connection to server from remote client via Repeater service. While video is ok, sound gets intermittent. What may be the problem?

A: Most probable is the Internet connection speed. We recommend to check the bandwidth. Perhaps, several clients connect to the server at the same time and drain all of the bandwidth.

28.Q: If I bring up the client on a PC at my office and try to connect to my server at home (which I can address directly via a VPN between my home and office) it doesn't connect.

A: You must be using Xeoma in free mode. Server in free mode doesn't accept remote connections. Any version of Xeoma can be used as a client that connects to a remote server. And the server can be either in trial or commercial mode. Please switch to the trial mode to test remote connection feature, or purchase a license.

29. Q: I have lost my password for protected mode. What should I do now?

A: If you set a password to be asked even on the same computer where Xeoma server is running, and then forgot it, please execute the -showpassword command in console. Otherwise you will have to delete the settings.dat file and re-configure Xeoma all over again. Once settings file is deleted, all settings will be lost. Therefore it is highly recommended to save passwords and other important information in text editors, etc.

30. Q: What Internet browsers do support MJPEG live video broadcasting?/ Will my browser support MJPEG live streaming?

A: The list of browsers supporting live MJPEG video streaming you can find in the Xeoma web server article.

31. Q: Xeoma will work as long as my PC is on, won't it? What about sleep mode/hibernation?

A: Sleep mode turns PC and processor off (while only state retains), so none of the programs can continue working. If you need stable non-stop surveillance, you should switch off the sleep mode option in Windows in: Control panel -> Power Options. You can also use our cloud service if you don't want to have your PC running all the time.

32.Q: Xeoma is running in fedora 18. When I run xeoma -core, I cannot connect remotely from the client. What should I do?

A: Please run -showpassword in a command line of Xeoma to see a remote access password (you need it to connect remotely) and it will enable remove access automatically. Then start Xeoma again and it will accept connections from any IP.

33.Q: The message I get every time I try to start ./xeoma.app -client is:

! XWindow graphical shell is not available in console mode

Any ideas what be wrong?

A: Please check if you have XAUTHORITY variable installed:

echo $XAUTHORITY

If not, install it.

34.Q: Does remote connection require the static IP address? How do I know if I have it?

A: You only need the static IP address on a server computer (the computer you connect remotely to). If this computer doesn't have the real static IP address, you can use Repeater service or dynDNS services. Usually those who have the static IP address, already know that for Internet providers usually charge extra fees for that. Please request this information from your Internet provider.

35.Q: Why do I keep getting bsod on Windows? What do I do to get rid of it?

A: Simple program like Xeoma or its components can't cause BSOD (critical error), it can at maximum shut down itself. Most probably, Xeoma calls a system driver that crashes due to malfunction. Recommended is to learn in Windows' Minidump report what causes the critical error and deal with it accordingly. In most cases, OS re-installation helps.

36. Q: In Xeoma I can see other people's feeds. Will mine also be shown all around the world?

A: What you see is random world Internet cameras. You only see these feeds because you have them manually. These world web cameras have been made public by their owners on purpose. Your pictures and videos in Xeoma are not going public unless you do it on purpose by posting the link on website or blog, etc. So there is nothing to worry about - your feeds are safe.

37. Q: How do I make Xeoma show time on display?

A: Use our Marking module (please keep in mind that if you have many cameras, embedding marking can slow down the performance).

38. Q: I have Xeoma server on my Linux without GUI. How do I get to know the server part's version?

A: When you connect to the server part from a client you will see version of server and version of client in the title of Xeoma window. If your server part is not installed to autostart, you get the info in Terminal when you launch Xeoma.

39. Q: How do I change the path to install Xeoma to?

A: You can do that in the Installation menu (run Xeoma, go to Main menu > Install > Install). Alternatively, you can edit autostart scripts manually (requires higher level of tech background). Or, if it's required out of conspiracy reasons, you can change Xeoma's name with our rebranding utility - this way the folder with Xeoma will also have another name.

40. В: How can I change cameras order on web browser's main page?

A: This order depends on camera's (or rather camera's stream's) name in the Web server module's settings, sorted alphabetically. So to make cameras be displayed in the web main page in the certain order, change the names in Web server's settings.

41. Q: How can I change the remote access password or even can I do this?

A: Yes, you can. To change the default (administrator's) password please go Main menu -> Remote access-> Users. There you can change the administrator password which is equal to remote access password. Please write down and save your changed password.

42. Q: How can I move backup archive records back to make Xeoma play them, too?

A: Please follow the instructions in the Moving Xeoma records photo instruction.

43. Q: Will Xeoma work with my capture card?

A: Xeoma works with capture cards that use DirectShow (WDM) drivers and each channel has separate chips. Capture cards like these are seen in Windows as a number of separate devices (Device #1, Device #2, etc.). Xeoma will detect the cameras as USB cameras.

44. Q: Can the archive be stored to network discs?

A: Sure. Just mount the discs into the system as regular discs. For Windows, you can do it in Xeoma interface via Main Menu -> Install -> Autostart settings. After that specify the path to the disc in your destination module (for example, archive) the way you do for regular discs.

45. Q: How many monitors can I connect to view Xeoma?

A: Multiple monitors can be connected, in fact, as many as your computer allows for. Xeoma will work with all of them.

46. Q: Will Xeoma work with my DVR?

A: Yes, it will work with DVR that transmit data via http/rtsp (MJPEG/JPEG/H264 streams), no matter the manufacturer. If the conditions are fulfilled, the cameras will be detected as IP ones automatically, or they can be added manually with their respective URLs.

47. Q: Why do I need the updates and how can I activate it?

A: When you buy your Xeoma license, free updates are included for 12 months since license purchase date. When you activate the updates license, you get the possibility to use new versions, where you can find new features and program improvements. More information about update license and its activation.

48. Q: I have several operators to monitor different sets of cameras. I created a separate profile for each with certain permissions. They use their passwords to connect. But how do I make Xeoma keep other settings like cameras order or window's location on the screen, etc.?

A: You can do that by creating different shortcuts for each of them with the clientIndex parameter (see console commands).

49. Q: How do I change name of cameras shown on preview? How do I change the font size?

A: You can change camera's name in the settings of the 'Preview and Archive' or 'Preview' modules. To change the font size for this name, please click the Layouts icon (lower panel), choose the 'Change font size, fps and transparency' option.

50. Q: I'd like to get notified to E-Mail if the server loses connection to a certain IP, is there a way to do it in Xeoma?

A: Sure, connect the 'Problems Detector' module to the chain. In its settings, you will need to specify the IP address you'd like to watch for connection. Connect the desired destination module (notification) after the module.

51. Q: We have hundreds of cameras so it gets hard to see anything on the preview window. We need a way to quickly recognize where a certain camera is and switch to view it. Ideally, the cameras should be sorted by the city of their location. Is it possible?

A: Of course. In such cases, usage of the 'Device list' is recommended. See detailed photo instruction for more information.

52. Q: I see you have this Export feature to download a piece of video from the archive. Can I download it when connected with a remote client?

A: Yes, exported videos get stored on the client side. You can choose the storage folder in the Export dialog.

53. Q: There was an accident in the field of view of camera that could have happened anywhere between now and last week. Do we need to view a week's worth of archives or is there a simpler way?

A: Xeoma's archive is designed with user's comfort in mind. That's why finding an accident in the archive is also easy. Go to the Xeoma's archive viewer, open its menu and select the 'Search by motion' option (will only work if you have a 'Motion Detector' in the chain). Select a rectangular area of where the accident happened. After the search is completed, you can view just the pieces with motion in this area (in green color). Also, you can increase the playback speed to view the episodes at a fast pace.

54. Q: I've noticed that if I use pre-recording in Motion Detector module, there is always a delay in preview. Is there a way to improve the situation?

A: Try Xeoma's new version (starting from 15.6.26), we have fixed this issue there. For older versions, you can simply set pre-record time to 0 to eliminate those delays.

54. Q: I bought a license, I need to activate it both on client and server? How can it be done with one license?

A: You buy and activate license only on server. All clients are free, you can use unlimited number of them.

55. Q: I accidentally did something and Xeoma interface is enormously large now. How can I get back to a normal view?

A: 1) Go to Lay Outs on the lower panel and choose there Windows Settings, then scale interface back to 100%.
2) Close Xeoma. Go to Xeoma folder (see the way to it here) and delete there a file called “user.cache”. After it open Xeoma again, it should be of a normal size.
You need to perform any of these scenarios if you've lessened Xeoma interface and now want to get back.