yi-hack-Allwinner-v2 is a modification of the firmware for the Allwinner-based Yi Camera platform. What's the difference between v1 and v2? Allwinner-v2 is not an upgrade for Allwinner, it's a version dedicated to a different "family". Same cpu but different flash layout.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Installation
• Contributing
• Features
• Performance
• Supported cameras
• Is my cam supported?
• Home Assistant integration
• Frigate integration
• Build your own firmware
• Unbricking
• License
• Disclaimer
• Donation

Installation

Backup

It's not easy to brick the cam but it can happen. So please, make your backup copy: https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner-v2/wiki/Dump-your-backup-firmware-(SD-card)

Anyway, the hack procedure will create a backup for you.

Install Procedure

If you want to use the original Yi app, please install it and complete the pairing process before installing the hack.

Otherwise, check setep 4.

1. Format an SD Card as FAT32. It's recommended to format the card in the camera using the camera's native format function. If the card is already formatted, remove all the files.
2. Download the latest release from the Releases page.
3. Extract the contents of the archive to the root of your SD card. Your card should appear with this structure:

|-- Factory/
|-- yi-hack/
|-- lower_half_init.sh

4. (Optional) If you want to set wifi credentials, rename the file Factory/configure_wifi.cfg.ori to Factory/configure_wifi.cfg and edit the file with your username and password.
5. Insert the SD Card and reboot the camera
6. Wait a minute for the camera to update.
7. Check the hack opening the web interface http://IP-CAM (where IP-CAM is the IP address of the cam assigned by your router).
8. Don't remove the microSD card (yes this hack requires a dedicated microSD card).
9. Check the FAQ if you have a problem: https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner-v2/wiki/FAQ

Online Update Procedure

1. Go to the "Maintenance" web page
2. Check if a new release is available
3. Click "Upgrade Firmware"
4. Wait for cam reboot

Manual Update Procedure

Check the wiki: https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner-v2/wiki/Manual-firmware-upgrade

Optional Utilities

Several optional utilities are avaiable, some supporting experimental features like text-to-speech.

Contributing and Bug Reports

See CONTRIBUTING

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Features

This custom firmware contains features replicated from the yi-hack-MStar project and similar to the yi-hack-v4 project.

• FEATURES
  • RTSP server - allows a RTSP stream of the video (high and/or low resolution) and audio (thanks to @PieVo for the work on MStar platform).
    • rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_0.h264 (high res)
    • rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264 (low res)
    • rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_2.h264 (only audio)
  • ONVIF server (with support for stream, snapshot, ptz, presets, events and WS-Discovery) - standardized interfaces for IP cameras.
  • Snapshot service - allows to get a jpg with a web request.
    • http://IP-CAM/cgi-bin/snapshot.sh?res=low&watermark=yes (select resolution: low or high, and watermark: yes or no)
    • http://IP-CAM/cgi-bin/snapshot.sh (default high without watermark)
  • Timelapse feature
  • MQTT events - Motion detection and baby crying detection through mqtt protocol.
  • MQTT configuration
  • TLS support for MQTT
  • Web server - web configuration interface.
  • SSH server - dropbear.
  • Telnet server - busybox.
  • FTP server.
  • FTP push: export mp4 video to an FTP server (thanks to @Catfriend1).
  • Authentication for HTTP, RTSP and ONVIF server.
  • Proxychains-ng - Disabled by default. Useful if the camera is region locked.
  • The possibility to change some camera settings (copied from official app):
    • camera on/off
    • video saving mode
    • detection sensitivity
    • motion detections (it depends on your cam and your plan)
    • baby crying detection
    • status led
    • ir led
    • rotate
    • ...
  • Management of motion detect events and videos through a web page.
  • View recorded video through a web page (thanks to @BenjaminFaal).
  • PTZ support through a web page (if the cam supports it).
  • PTZ presets.
  • The possibility to disable all the cloud features.
  • Swap File on SD.
  • Online firmware upgrade.
  • Load/save/reset configuration.

Performance

The performance of the cam is not so good (CPU, RAM, etc...). Low ram is the bigger problem. If you enable all the services you may have some problems. For example, enabling snapshots may cause frequent reboots. So, enable swap file even if this will waste the sd

Supported cameras

Currently this project supports only the following cameras:

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Do not try to use a fw on an unlisted model

Do not try to force the fw loading renaming the files

Is my cam supported?

If you want to know if your cam is supported, please check the serial number (first 4 letters) and the firmware version. If both numbers appear in the same row in the table above, your cam is supported. If not, check the other projects related to Yi cams:

• https://github.com/TheCrypt0/yi-hack-v4 and previous
• https://github.com/alienatedsec/yi-hack-v5
• https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-MStar
• https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner

Home Assistant integration

Are you using Home Assistant? Do you want to integrate your cam? Try these custom integrations:

• https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack_ha_integration
• https://github.com/AlexxIT/WebRTC

You can also use the web services in Home Assistant -- here's one way to do that. (This example requires the nanotts optional utility to be installed on the camera.) Set up a rest_command in your configuration.yaml to call one of the web services.

rest_command:
  camera_announce:
    url: http://[camera address]/cgi-bin/speak.sh?lang={{language}}&voldb={{volume}}
    method: POST
    payload: "{{message}}"

Create an automation and use yaml in the action to send data to the web service.

service: rest_command.camera_announce
data:
  language: en-US
  message: "All your base are belong to us."
  volume: '-8'

Frigate integration

Frigate can consume the RTSP streams directly. Enable the RTSP server in the camera web interface and use one of these stream URLs:

• rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_0.h264 - high resolution
• rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264 - low resolution
• rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_2.h264 - audio only

For a minimal setup, use the low resolution stream for detection to reduce load on the camera:

cameras:
  yi_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264
          roles:
            - detect

If you need a higher quality stream for recording, add the high resolution stream as a separate input:

cameras:
  yi_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264
          roles:
            - detect
        - path: rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_0.h264
          roles:
            - record

If authentication is enabled in the camera web interface, include the configured username and password in the RTSP URL:

path: rtsp://user:password@IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264

PTZ through ONVIF

For models with PTZ support, enable the ONVIF server in the camera web interface and add an onvif section to the Frigate camera configuration. The ONVIF port is the camera HTTP port, usually 80 unless you changed it.

cameras:
  yi_ptz_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://IP-CAM/ch0_1.h264
          roles:
            - detect
    onvif:
      host: IP-CAM
      port: 80
      user: ""
      password: ""

If ONVIF authentication is enabled, replace the empty strings with the camera credentials. If ONVIF authentication is disabled, keep user: "" and password: ""; some Frigate versions expect these keys even when the camera allows anonymous ONVIF access.

Frigate shows PTZ controls only when its ONVIF connection succeeds and the camera model exposes PTZ commands. Not all supported cameras have PTZ hardware.

Notes

• These cameras have limited CPU and RAM. Avoid enabling more camera-side services than needed.
• If the camera becomes unstable, enable the swap file and prefer a single low resolution stream for detection.
• Snapshots and multiple simultaneous streams may increase memory pressure.

Telegram Control System

A complete remote surveillance and control system: control your camera, receive automatic alerts, and communicate bidirectionally — all through a Telegram bot. Features - On-demand snapshot and video recording via Telegram commands - Automatic motion alerts with photo - Automatic sound alerts with snapshot + 15s audio clip - Bidirectional voice intercom — speak through Telegram, hear through the camera speaker - Blue LED control — turn on/off remotely - Infrared control — turn on/off remotely - Silent mode — suppress notifications without stopping the watchers - System status — IP, uptime, memory, process PIDs - Remote reboot Get scripts here.

Build your own firmware

If you want to build your own firmware, clone this git and compile using a linux machine. Quick explanation:

1. Download and install the SDK as described here
2. Clone this git: git clone https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner-v2
3. Init modules: git submodule update --init
4. Compile: ./scripts/compile.sh
5. Pack the firmware: ./scripts/pack_fw.all.sh

Instead of installing the SDK on your host machine, there's also the option to use a devcontainer from within Visual Studio Code. Please ensure you have the Remote - Containers extension installed for this to work.

Unbricking

If your camera doesn't start, no panic. This hack is not a permanent change, remove your SD card and the cam will come back to the original state. If the camera still won't start, try the "Unbrick the cam" procedure https://github.com/roleoroleo/yi-hack-Allwinner-v2/wiki/Unbrick-the-cam.

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License

MIT

DISCLAIMER

NOBODY BUT YOU IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY USE OR DAMAGE THIS SOFTWARE MAY CAUSE. THIS IS INTENDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Donation

If you like this project, you can buy roleo a beer :)

Click here or use the below QR code to donate via PayPal