Single Board Computers

The following pages cover Single Board Computers with Zoneminder.

Traditionally, these are ARM based; The Raspberry Pi, The Beaglebone, and others. For those not experienced with ARM these devices perform at level below an x86 based motherboard, yet offer lower power consumption and purchase cost. When using an ARM board, it is recommended to run cameras at lower resolutions (e.g. 640x480 or 800x600), and lower frame rates. Additionally, zones should be smaller, as analysis of motion will use up CPU. Alternatively, you can avoid Modect and Mocord and use Record.

Single Board Computers (ARM) work well for a small home setup, or as an adjunct to a larger camera system. For large camera systems, they are not usually powerful enough.

Usage

There are at least three ways an SBC can be used with ZM (this also applies to any computer...)

• ZM server
• ZM client (viewing ZM and displaying feeds on a monitor)
• Camera (attached via usb or other peripheral)

List

As Server

• Raspberry Pi - Raspbian

• Raspberry Pi 2 - Fedora

• Raspberry Pi 2 - Raspbian

• Raspberry Pi 4 - Raspbian - Uses Buster. Applicable to other RPIs that have Buster.

• Raspbian - General Raspbian info

• Raspberry Pi 3 - Fedora/Fedberry

• Odroid - XU4 - Ubuntu Mate

• Beaglebone Black - Devuan Jessie

As Client

• Dedicated SBC Camera Monitor Beaglebone w/Devuan Jessie & Firefox

• ODroid-XU4 w/Android & ZM Ninja

As Camera

• How to setup an Orange Pi PC2 with 3 USB cams as RTSP server

General Tips

• Disable all logging on ARM boards, and any data collection (RECORD_EVENT_STATS - See Logging tab)

When in doubt lower the following:

• Resolution
• FPS
• Analysis zone size or change from Mocord to Record.

Resources

Zoneminder Blogspot - Notes on Various Single Board Computers