Chronos SMB Share Setup Guide
Purpose
This guide demonstrates how to set up a SMB Network Share on a Windows computer in order for a Chronos 1.4 or 2.1 camera to save footage directly to a PC over a network. Please note that this is only applicable to cameras connected via ethernet, and that cameras connected directly to a PC via ethernet over USB are currently not supported by this guide.
Date: 2024-01-11
Table of Contents
Basic SMB Share Configuration
Appendix A - Creating a new user account for SMB access
Troubleshooting
Prerequisites
● Windows 10
● Chronos 1.4 or 2.1
● Software version 0.4.0 or greater
● Connection over ethernet
● SMB Port 445 open on any applicable firewalls
Basic SMB Share Configuration
Step 1 - Open Windows Features
Click on the Start button, then search for “windows features”.
Step 2 - Enable SMB Server
Scroll down the list of extra Windows features until you reach “SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support”, then expand the options and enable “SMB 1.0/CIFS Server” -> OK.
Step 3 - Create a destination folder for footage to be saved to
Navigate to the root directory of your main drive (in this case, it is C:\). Create a new folder and rename as needed (in this case, the folder is called Chronos_Footage).
Step 4 - Open the Sharing properties window
Right-click the destination folder created in Step 3, and select Properties. Navigate to the “Sharing” tab, then click “Share...”
Step 5 - Enable sharing for the destination folder
Select the name of the user whose Windows login details will be used to connect from the camera.
Step 6 - Click Share
Click “Share” to enable SMB sharing of the destination folder, then click “Done” to complete the configuration for this folder.
Step 7 - Open Network Details
Click the Start button and search for “network connections”. Select the “View network connections” result.
Step 8 - Determine your PC’s IP address
Find the network connection that is active. This should also be the network that the Chronos is connected to.
Right-click on the active network connection and click “Status”.
In the Status window, click “Details…”.
In the Network Connection Details window, note down the value beside “IPv4 Address”. This will be typed into the camera in the next step to allow it to discover your PC.
Step 9 - Enter the SMB connection details into the Chronos
On the Chronos, enter the Networking screen by tapping Util -> Network. In the top left corner of the screen, enter the following credentials:
SMB Share: //<Your PC’s IP as found in Step 8>/<The folder as named in Step 3>
Username: <The username used to log into your Windows account>
Note: Windows usernames with spaces are not compatible with the camera settings. If this is the case, please see Appendix A to create a new set of Windows credentials for the camera.
Password: <The password used to log into your Windows account>
Tap the Apply button to proceed. The Chronos will attempt to connect to the SMB share as specified. If the connection is successful, your Chronos is now ready to save to your PC over the network!
Step 10 - Save footage to the SMB share
If your camera has successfully connected to the SMB share, /media/smb (SMB share) will automatically be present in the list of save locations.
Ensure /media/smb (SMB share) is listed as the active save location, and then tap Save to begin saving footage to your PC over the network.
Step 11 - Confirm that the footage was saved to the desired location
Navigate to the SMB share folder as set in Step 3. If the SMB share was correctly configured and the saved footage was correctly transferred, it will be available in this folder.
Configuration and testing of the SMB share is now complete.
Appendix A - Creating a new user account for SMB access
In the case that it is undesirable to use the login credentials of a current Windows user to allow the Chronos to access the SMB share, a new Windows account can be created for specific use in this case. This implies additional steps, which are outlined below.
Create a new user account in Windows
1. Go to Start -> Settings -> Family & other users
2. Click “Add someone else to this PC”
3. When prompted with the question “How will this person sign in?”, click on “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information”
4. Click “Add a user without a Microsoft account”
5. Add a username and a password. Do not use spaces or special characters in the username.
6. Restart the PC to ensure that the new user’s changes take effect.
