How To Change Password On Yi Camera

Last time we showed you lot how to hack the cheap little (and cute) Wyze Cam v2 with a Micro SD Carte, some time and freely available software from GitHub. This time we hack the Yi Outdoor Security Photographic camera with Yi Hack v4.

At present nosotros are back over again showing you how to hack the super cheap Yi Outdoor Security Camera. This device is nether $50, has nighttime vision, and when you pair it up with Yi-Hack v4 you tin can add SSH, FTP, MQTT and even RTSP support (RTSP for a minor donation to the software project). Best of all, you can enable privacy mode and keep the photographic camera from phoning home to the Yi servers in People's republic of china.

Finish letting your devices talk to their servers!

You're buying security cameras, stop sending the data back to their servers. Sure, they give you an app, they want to sell y'all video recording services, but would they dorsum you upwardly in court if you needed them to? And Why bother paying them when yous tin can use software similar MotionEye or Zoneminder to capture events and record yourself? Use the open source software people have put time into, take control of your destiny. To practise so, you have to apply the hack to the Yi Outdoor security camera. Thankfully, it'due south actually easy to exercise.

Hacking the Yi Photographic camera – What you'll demand

• YI Outdoor Security Photographic camera, 1080P 2.4G Wireless IP Waterproof Night Vision
• Micro SD Bill of fare – 32 GB – While the documentation suggested a 16 GB or less bill of fare, I used this exact card with success. Plus I had a two-pack laying around (and honestly, when finding the link I grabbed another because the stock was running low).
• #1 Philips Screwdriver – The i yous use to crevice open up your PC is likewise big, yous need a smaller one!

Hacking the Yi Camera

How to hack the Yi Outdoor Security Camera

Equally in the final hack you'll demand to format the SD Card with a FAT32 partition. Over again, I used my Linux desktop for this since I accept a on-board SD Card reader that's pretty fast. Since most cards come up pre-formatted I just fired up GParted to double check the file system type.

We're in luck, the SD Card is already formatted for FAT32

If y'all were using Windows 10, you're in luck, Windows will either offer to format the bill of fare or you can right click on it in This PC and format it. Just be sure, of form, to select FAT32.

Obtain the hacked firmware files

Jump on over to the GitHub releases page for the Yi-Hack v4 site and grab the concluding release for the camera. There are others available, then be sure you're grabbing the correct one.

Make sure for the Yi Cam Outdoor 1080p you're grabbing the file marked outdoor. The file names may be different if there is a newer release, for this nosotros're using version 0.two.0

In one case you have the zip file you simply need to excerpt the files to the root of your fresh and empty SD Card.

For me it was as easy as dragging and dropping the files from the zip into the root of the SD Card.

Once yous accept the files on the SD Card, you'll demand to open a tiny door on the lesser, with tiny screws, to admission the SD Menu slot on the photographic camera. This is where our trusty #ane Philips screwdriver comes into play.

The tiny door with the tiny screws, the requires the tiny screwdriver and takes the tiny SD Card is easy to get off.

Inserting the SD Card into the Yi Camera Outdoor

Now, this is perhaps the only difficult part of the entire process. Information technology took me near a infinitesimal of little to ensure I had the SD Carte du jour in all the way. Rest bodacious, it's not hard at all. I just didn't want to have to make ii attempts and then I made sure to button the card in all the way. Information technology does have a push-to-snap-back mechanism, and don't worry, as long equally you take it in the slot, you're okay. The slot all the same is small and you lot'll want to take a close look earlier inserting.

This thing was a stupid niggling guy to arrive, but it wasn't likewise hard – only exist sure to push all the fashion or not put the door dorsum on until you test information technology.

Finishing upwardly the hack

Y'all're gear up, ability up the camera and go to the webpage for it. At this bespeak y'all'll be able to manage the settings and do what you need. Crypt0, the project lead, makes information technology really like shooting fish in a barrel by setting the hostname for the camera to http://yi-hack-v4/. This works in most homes, but if you're router won't discover the hostname, you'll accept to get on the router and observe the IP address and manually connect.

The first thing I did when I setup the camera is accept it stop calling back to China. I'm going to make the donation for RTSP support then I don't need the app and I never intended to use it when I bought the matter.

Setting the privacy restrictions for the Yi Cam

Yous'll see above I am updating the hostname of the device, I'm going to install a 2nd one after running through the hack again, on the back door. I want to exist sure they have unique host names and I wanted to brand them more familiar. Of form too, I've turned private fashion on by disabling the cloud support and am going to examination the "Recording without Deject" function. Since I'm going to pipe information technology into MotionEye, it's really just an experiment.

Of course, if I wanted to use the Yi App, change Wifi, etc, I tin can re-enable the feature.

Yi Camera Advanced Features

By default the FTP server isn't enabled and neither is the NTPD server (to sync the time with the diminutive clock servers worldwide, we'll assume this affair doesn't have a RTC chip). If you curl downwardly you tin enable (or disable) these as well.

Enable MQTT

Since I'm running Home Banana at abode, Node Red and Mosquitto, I'm going to besides plow on the MQTT support and feed motion events into those systems (Mosquitto -> Node Red -> Domicile Assistant most probable). Turning it on with Yi Hacks v4 is really amazingly simple.

Omitted from the screenshot above is the section for security. Y'all can hands set the username and password for your MQTT server in one barbarous dive. Be certain if you're running more than than one camera to update the Client ID so they are unique to your MQTT server.

MQTT testing – Using MQTTBox from the Windows Shop I can encounter the messages when there is move on the photographic camera.

RTSP Support on Yi Hacks v4

The practiced and bad news

The good news is – Yi Hacks supports RTSP output. You can pick up the photographic camera from apps like VLC, MotionEye, Zoneminder, Dwelling Banana, et. al. The bad news, you'll take to donate a few British Pounds to exercise so. The good news, it's going right to the GitHub project maintainer, and then don't feel too bad about being held ransom.

Obtaining the key merely takes a few steps and some time for Crypt0 to e-mail you a license key. You lot'll have to hop into the Discord server for the hack (where you can also get some support) and asking a donation. From there you'll be sent to the site to necktie your camera to the RTSP software and you'll be skilful to go.

Final thoughts

Overall, the hack is easy, the camera is cheap – one of the easiest. At the same time, it wasn't made abundantly clear upfront that I'd have to drop a few more bones to get the RTSP license fundamental. But I feel good nigh supporting a project and hope that means some of the 101 open up issues currently outset getting airtight.

Don't wait, it'south a great camera, go grab one today.

Source: https://kindalame.com/2020/01/05/how-to-hack-a-yi-outdoor-security-camera-1080p-with-yi-hack-v4/

Posted by: chandlerhostall.blogspot.com

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