Automatic rebooting cameras?

[YBonline]

I have a couple cameras that seem to have their stream get so bad that Frigate claims the camera is offline. Rebooting the cameras fixes it, but is there any automatic way to do it, possibly through HA? I have the issue cameras set to automatically reboot every night, but occasionally it does it during the day., and I'd also rather the cameras reboot when they're not having the issue, and not on a set schedule.

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

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You can detect when a camera stream goes offline in Home Assistant by checking if the camera entity becomes unavailable.(1) Once detected, you can trigger an automation to reboot the camera via a smart plug or switch.

To set this up, create an automation that monitors the camera's availability state. When the camera entity shows as unavailable, the automation can turn off the smart plug powering the camera, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on.(1)

Here's the basic approach:

• Monitor the camera entity's state for "unavailable"
• Trigger a reboot action through a smart plug/switch
• Add appropriate delays to allow the camera to fully power cycle

This method is more efficient than scheduled reboots since it only reboots cameras when they actually go offline, rather than on a fixed schedule.

Note: Some users have reported that Home Assistant won't run services on unavailable devices,(2) so you'll need to control the camera's power through a separate smart plug entity rather than trying to control the camera entity directly when it's offline.

📚 Sources:

1. detect when camera stream is offline
2. camera.turn_off does not work when camera is offline

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[hawkeye217]

The AI's response is good. If a smart plug/switch is not feasible, you might also see if your cameras have an API that you can call to reboot it.

[YBonline]

Yes, it was, don't know why I didn't think to check the camera entity, I was looking for a separate sensor, and I have it on a POE switch that I can cycle the power on each port.