Mx4 and Mx5 cameras revert to year 2000 upon reboot

Camera Software
1

Currently there is an issue with all Mx4/Mx5 series and older cameras. Since the first of the year, upon reboot, the cameras revert to year 2000.

For the Mx4/Mx5 cameras a firmware release is available to address this issue.

For older camera models it is advised to manually set the date to 2026 and disable automatic reboots. Using and NTP server can also help to keep the cameras date correct after reboot. You can manually reset the time by going to Admin Menu > Camera Administration > Time and Date. There should be button to set the time to that of the local PC.

Firmware Update Procedure

If you run the camera in the year 2000, you will get a “Fatal: Signatures failed. Aborting.” message while updating the firmware. Take the following steps beforehand.

Procedure for FW MX-V4.7.3.11-r7

Open Admin Menu → Time & Date dialog

Click on “Set time to time of local PC”; wait until applied

Open Admin Menu → Update System Software

Select and Upload MX_system_4_7311_r7.mpl

Reboot the camera

Camera again will boot in 2000! This is to be expected!

Open Admin Menu → Time & Date dialog

Click on “Set time to time of local PC”

Open Admin Menu → Reboot → Reboot the camera

We also recommend resetting the camera to remove any leftover files from the year 2000.

Open Admin Menu → Reset Configuration to Factory Defaults

Click on “Remove logs” and confirm

Check SD-Card and MxFFS Recording.
On problems:

Format the SD-card.

Delete the MxFFS archive.

For a classic file server recording with a directory structure (NFS or CIFS as the primary target), Move the old directory to a new location and start a new recording.

P2 Cameras such as the M12

for P2 Cameras will not offer an hotfix patch but offer this work around:

Step-by-step instructions for using an NTP server as a workaround:
If the camera is operating with the system date set to the year 2000, this behaviour can be circumvented by using an NTP server. In this case, the time must be set correctly once before the update and an NTP server must be set.

  1. Set the time and date before the NTP server

    1. Open Admin Menu → Time & Date.

    2. Click on ‘Set time to local PC time’.

    3. Wait until the setting has been applied.

  2. Set NTP server

    1. Open Admin menu → Time & Date.

    2. Select ‘NTP’ for the time server and enter a valid time server.

    3. Apply the configuration and save the configuration permanently.

    4. Restart the camera.

2

This has happened also on M73 cameras so also on Mx7.

3

For auditing purposes we need to retain the archive. If I understand the procedure this removes the recorded data. What would the procedure be to retain the recorded data.

4

No not all only Mx5 and earlier are affected.

5

Many thanks for providing this update even for older cameras. I successfull updated five M15 cameras. But with two S15D cameras, configured as door stations I struggle: update always fails with this log:

  • preparing system for upload
  • starting upload
    Update started Fri Jan 16 20:48:42 CET 2026
    Digital signatures successfully verified.
    Upload part #0: CHECK_SCRIPT
    Checking camera type… type 2, ok.
    Upload part #1: BOOTLOADER
    Bootloader already up to date.
    Upload part #2: FPGA_BLA7
    skipped
    Upload part #3: FPGA_BL
    Failed to write FPGA_BL to flash.
    Upload part #4: SCRIPT_CLEAN_SYSTEM
    Erasing system UBI volumes…
    Done!
    Upload part #5: KERNEL
    Failed to create partition KERNEL.
    Upload part #6: FPGA
    Failed to create partition FPGA.
    Upload part #7: XPACK
    Failed to create partition XPACK.
    Upload part #8: RAMDISK
    Failed to create partition RAMDISK.
    Upload part #9: DEFAULTCONFIG
    Failed to create partition DEFAULTCONFIG.
    Upload part #10: PATCH
    UBI mount rw failed: REBOOT IS NECESSARY!

Of course I did the time&date bugfix. Cameras now only starts in backup system => alle door station functions disabled. Fall back on sw:

image
image347×150 5.82 KB

I tried to update with the 4.7311_r6 for rollback => doesn´t work. I tried sw-versions of 2017, 2019 with system dates in 2018/ 2020 (therefore the “2020” year in screenshot) => always faults like above: many fails in creating partition.

What´s to do? My wife is … “not happy” with that status ;0))).

THANKS!

6

Try powering the cameras down for 10 minutes. Be sure to correct the time after the restart and try the 4.7.3.11r7 update once again.

7

This didn’t work.

But I could fix it: KI ChatGPT stated, that concrete uploaded failure report detects problems with rests of old file system of old software. I manually deleted memory und reseted camera. Restart in backup operation system. Fix date to 2026 => update successful.