Mac OS X & Linksys IP Camera

[skp574]

Since my move over to Macs, I have been trying to access an IP camera in my kitchen (dog monitor). I can sit at work and view the dog trying to jump up on the counter, etc.

For some reason I can't view the streamed video from the camera. I have done a little delving into the video stream, it's a .wmv file.

If I go through the 'correct channels' to view the video through a web browser, it gives me a warning saying I need Internet Explorer. If I continue I see an empty frame and no video. I have tried Safari, Firefox and IE. But all the same.

I tried hacking the video output on a PC before as I want to place this video stream on my own webpage and not see Linksys logos plastered all over the page. If I stream the video into Media Player (under Win XP), it is severely delayed. Which defeats the point of an IP camera.

Anyone tried doing this before? At the moment it seems as though it's a Windows only camera. Bah!

I don't really want to install Media Player on my Mac, as I'd probably get the same results as a PC.

 

[Darwin]

Surely there should be another format to output the image from like MPEG for example

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't really want to install Media Player on my Mac, as I'd probably get the same results as a PC.

Ummm, if you don't install WMP, how is your browser supposed to play the stream? What are you using now, VLC?

 

[skp574]

Ummm, if you don't install WMP, how is your browser supposed to play the stream? What are you using now, VLC?

From memory, when I first got my Mac and I installed everything I could. IIRC I tried it and it didn't work. However, I'll try it again tomorrow and see if it works.

I think the IP camera does a browser and os check and if it isn't IE on a Windows Platform it gives the warning I mentioned and falls over.

I'll give it a go again in the morning.

 

[skp574]

Nope, still won't work.

I do have WMP installed. The message I get when I try to view the video is

"MPEG-4 Video is only available with Microsoft Internet Explorer.
For Netscape users, please use the Linksys Viewer & Recorder Utility."

When the web pages loads I get a placeholder showing a brick with a question mark.

 

[mkrishnan]

When the web pages loads I get a placeholder showing a brick with a question mark.

You might try using the debug menu, if you're using Safari, and setting it to spoof MSIE as the agent. But that won't work if this involves some kind of incompatible ActiveX widget....

 

[point665]

This is a few years back... My biggest client wanted to have on their site a "view live" section, which they had had for years... but now they were using a different security company. We kept having problems dealing with these video boxes (ip based) and after calling up many times to the manufactor, they told me that they are Windows 98 and older compatible only. Meaning they will not work in XP, nor any IE newer than 5, nor any mac browser (even IE)... I worked on it for a while trying to get it to somehow work but there was just no support.

Maybe this is something similar?