I went the documentation for instructions on how to set it up. I added that blob of code to my configuration.yaml as-is, filled out the IP-address, username, and password. I used the VScode addon for this. I didn’t add anything else, leaving all other options default. You see, I just want to see something working before tweaking it any further. I don’t want to risk introducing a million variables that could break something, so I’d rather stick with the defaults until I get something working.
Then I guessed I should probably reload the configuration, which I did from the developer menu. Then went to see my list of integrations, and… no Amcrest integration. I also can’t find any entities pertaining to the camera.
I also can’t find anything about this integration in the logs. Maybe this means all is okay (which I don’t think it is), or maybe it means the integration isn’t doing anything at all.
In the documentation I’m missing a “getting started”. It’s like “here, put this in your config” and then immediately deep dive into the mariana trench as if the user has magically managed to get it working already. There’s no step-by-step to getting a basic stream to show up. This is a recurring problem with the HA documentation in most cases. In this case, just simply nothing happens, leaving me basically guessing in the dark, without any clues whatsoever, as far as I can tell.
So I have no logs to show. No meaningful config, other than the default, and all else I can mention is I’m on the latest version of HA.
If it were me, I’d configure Blue Iris. It’s much more flexible in terms of recording, retention, alerting/notification, and it integrates into Home Assistant VERY easily.
Here’s part 1 of a 3-part series, including Amcrest cameras:
It’s not free, but it’s also not expensive (I think it’s $79 now?), and runs on a Windows machine, so there’s no complicated docker config or any of that. Very simple for a new user.
@tmjpugh
I didn’t, because I had no way of knowing do to that. But I restarted it just now, and the integration does not appear among the other integrations.
@exx
Thanks for you suggestion, but I think that’s rather expensive for a security camera integration. And also, I would have to set up a Windows VM to run it on, and purchase a license for that as well. HA is running its own OS in a VM, which I believe is based on Linux.
After direct change to configuration.yaml file you must restart. After any direct change to files in config folder you will need to restart. I prefere to restart HA container but you may restart using setting >> system >> [power button at upper right UI] . I prefer restart container because it seems that for some changes a UI restart does not work but I never clearly confirm this.
If you added amcrest integration it should be showing in settings >> devices & services. If it is not showing there you should at minimum see an error if it did not load, check settings >> systems >> logs. You can search amcrest in the log. You should also post your config file so we may confirm any error.
Thanks for telling me this, but how could I possibly have known to do this? Sure it’s probably buried in the documentation, but nothing would motivate me to look that that specific bit. I’m just following the (frankly way too sparse) setup of the amcrest integration.
It has two errors. The first one is about the camera being unreachable. Yes, I unplugged it for the time being because I didn’t get it to work. So the whole integration refuses to load because its device cannot be reached. This is stupid. It’s perfectly reasonable that while HA is starting, the wifi and/or camera haven’t had enough time to come up as well. Zigbee integration works fine, even if all devices are unreachable, even if the skyconnect is unplugged.
Not your fault, of course. I’ll report this on Github. This seems like quite a severe bug.
What camera you have. Honestly I hate the Amcrest WiFi cameras and better available. I LOVE and use POE models
You only have the single camera? I would expect it to show failed if nothing works. If another camera is added it may only show single cam failed. I don’t use this integration and honestly forget
No. Literally accessible from hamburger menu on main HA page under configuration. Found the page and read it in under a minute. Took longer to type this response honestly. Not a dig but clearly you did not look at all or read any docs well. Normally I’d say nothing as this is new but you really keep complaining about a clearly documented thing.
On my cameras you must set proper user permission on the camera to allow HA to access. This may cause this error. Or yeah, HA cannot reach it on network. Portainer allows you to access command line of docker container. Normally I would ping the camera from there to verify container can reach device on network. I would verify access permissions first.
True, blueiris is NVR but he is not wrong. I paid for it and found it lacking. The windows requirement is just horrible. Motioneye or frigate are much better, free and Linux. I just pay the devs for their work. Not sure what camera purpose is so NVR overall is likely overkill if only one camera but HA is pretty terrible for reviewing recordings so if you do that a lot NVR is better.
He is not wrong? About what? The fact that he thinks Blue Iris is an integration for Amcrest cameras? He most certainly is wrong.
I’ve not looked into motioneye, but frigate is in no way, shape, or form better. You can attempt to argue all you like - and maybe frigate meets your specific needs better, but that does not make it a superior product. That’s like saying that a pickup truck is better at transporting cargo than a semi truck is. Clearly that statement is false as a blanket statement, however for YOU, you may not need to transport that much cargo - making the pickup truck better choice for YOU, but that doesn’t make the pickup truck better than the semi truck.
As for your opinion on a windows requirement - the rest of the world disagrees with you, so good luck with that.
As for your point of view regarding the fact that OP is just here to complain and hasn’t done any of his homework about how to actually implement something. I whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment.
However - I do somewhat feel his pain. This is something that I have brought up time and again, and it’s the very thing that’s continuing to prevent HA from moving out of the domain of nerds and “tinkerers” and into the mainstream - it really is NOT a user-friendly product unless you are at least SOME type of nerd. Far too many nuances, documentation is poorly structured/disorganized, etc etc.
Your question is not clear. I just see a lot of complaining.
I have one Amcrest camera. I like the resolution and quality of construction, but I won’t buy another Amcrest camera. Here are some of my notes from setting up the WiFi credentials on my Amcrest camera:
You need the following items
Two ladders
50-ft of Ethernet Cable
A number-1 philips screwdriver
A hand-held mirror
(Seriously)
However, in Home Assistant, I don’t use the Amcrest integration. My camera is an RTSP camera so I could view it in VLC Media Player and Frigate works well with an RTSP feed. After you have your camera WiFi credentials set up, can you see the camera feed in VLC?
If the camera is online, yes. The Generic Camera integration works fine too. But my point is, the Amcrest integration doesn’t load at all when the cmera happens to be offline. That is not okay.
The fact that I had to restart the server, is absolutely not clearly documented. It only says what to add to the configuration file, and then immediately dives into the nitty gritty details. So I’m like “okay cool, that’s all then. that was the entire getting started”.
Normally I’d quietly take criticism like this, but in this I’ll defend myself because it is absolutely not clearly documented. A simple passage “now restart your server and you’re good to go” is all it takes.
I guess it is hidden on the easily found configuration page marked reloading changes. So it is pretty tucked in there. How would you make this better? I’m thinking neon flashing sign. Beyond the fact that’s is documented, there is the fact that restart is the universal first step for troubleshooting most issues. So there’s documentation and common sense but guess that’s not clear and we should rewrite docs.
Reloading changes
Most integrations in Home Assistant that do not interact with devices or services
can reload changes made to their configuration in configuration.yaml. To do this, go to Developer Tools > YAMLand scroll down to the YAML configuration reloading section (alternatively, hit “c” anywhere in the UI and search for it).
If you can’t see your integration listed there, you will need to restart Home Assistant for changes to take effect.
As I said, I don’t use the Amcrest Integration. If you can see the RTMP feed from the camera than just use Frigate Integration. In my Lovelace, I use the Frigate Custom card:
So how could I have had to know to look into that specific bit of documentation? The fact that documentation exists is great, and we should keep that, but users need to be prompted that it’s there. I didn’t experience a need to dive into the documentation on “what comes after editing the config” or something similar. Nothing really nudged me to anything after that.
And to be fair, any other integration that gets added, het added right then&there. No need to restart the server after adding the “Sun” integration, for example. And since neither it, nor the Amcrest integration has a dependency on local hardware, I couldn’t have known that a restart is needed.
But let’s not digress to deeply into this. I’m sure the devs are already on it.
The point is, still that the integration doesn’t start without the camera being booted up & reachable. If HA restarts, just as the camera is offline for whatever reason, which can absolutely happen for example after a power failure, I would effectively have to reboot HA again after manually checking the camera has gotten itself online and reachable.
That’s weird. Normally, integrations that rely on external services (even if they are in the LAN), don’t straight up fail to load when that service is unavailable. They would load up and just be in an offline kind of state. Does that make sense?
Sorry, you mentioned Frigate a fews times already. It’s not in the list of available integrations for me, at least not under that name. I don’t know if it can work for me.
Without wading into the acrimony here about whether the instructions are clear about restarting HA, I’m a newbie like the original poster. I’m having an identical problem with the integration of an Amcrest camera into HA.
I’m running HA on a Raspberry Pi 5 and doing the configuration thru ssh, not HAOS.
I too followed the instructions on the “Amcrest integration” page here to add coding to the configuration.yaml file : Amcrest - Home Assistant)
“Unable to prepare setup for platform ‘amcrest.camera’: Unable to set up component.”
I’ve run the error messages thru ChatGPT and have tried dozens of possible solutions:
Checked for ht eproper yaml syntax (I’ve checked it and re-uploaded it 5 or 6 times);
I’ve checked the python code to determine that the “amcrest” button (or whatever it’s called) is installed in the python stack.
I’ve downloaded the current amcrest package from github.
What I find puzzling is that when I downloaded the Amcrest “Surveillance Pro” app, the stream works perfectly in the app. But, HA is unable to set up the component.
I would appreciate any thoughts from the crowd here.
I had completely forgotten about this thread. Upon re-reading it, it boggles my mind that anyone would think $79 for a full-featured NVR with AI object detection could possibly be construed as “pricey” when even a relatively cheap camera costs more than that - not to mention the untold thousands we’ve all spent on light switches, outlets, weather stations, sprinkler controls, temperature sensors, thermostats, and who knows what else.
