How to Collect DW Spectrum Mobile Debug Logs?

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Affected Roles:  Administrator, Owner

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps:  DW Spectrum® IPVMS, DW Spectrum® Mobile

Complexity:  Medium to High

Last Edit:  February 24, 2021

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Debug Logs

When reporting issues encountered on DW Spectrum® Mobile, you may be asked to provide a client log that can help the Digital Watchdog support team to investigate and resolve your request.

The most common issues that are investigated in these cases include:

• DW Cloud™ connectivity issues (may also require the DW Spectrum® Server debug log and DW Cloud system ID)
• Mobile application crashes

This article will outline how to collect the debug logs from an Android or iOS mobile device for DW Spectrum® Mobile.

 

**NOTE:  For obtaining the server debug log, please consult with DW Spectrum support to change the software logging level and obtain the log.

 

Collecting Debug Logs for Android

Before collecting the debug logs, make sure that the DW Spectrum® Mobile application is permitted access to the internal storage of the Android device.  As these settings vary depending on the manufacturer, please check the instructions for your device to enable permissions per application.  Otherwise, the option can typically be located under Settings > Permission.

 

Setup Instructions for Android

To obtain the debug logs from an Android device:

1. On your PC, open a text editor (ex. Notepad) and paste the following content:

Save the file with the filename “mobile_client.ini”.

 

2. Next, make sure that the DW Spectrum® Mobile application is closed on the phone.

Connect the Android phone to your Windows PC with a USB cable.

 

**NOTE:  For other OS platforms, additional applications or dependencies are required (see the instructions for macOS or Ubuntu).

 

3. Unlock the phone and allow the phone storage to be accessed by the Windows File Explorer.

 

4. Move the mobile_client.ini file to the Android phone’s storage.

 

Changing Log Level of DW Spectrum® Mobile for Android

1. Launch the DW Spectrum® Mobile application on the Android device.  Press and hold on the DW Spectrum® Mobile version number for ten (10) seconds.

 

2. The Developer Settings will begin to display.  Confirm that DW Spectrum® Mobile has a Change Log Level of ‘Verbose’ enabled.

 

Collecting the Debug Log Files of DW Spectrum® Mobile for Android

1. Now that the mobile application has be set up for logging, please replicate the issue.
   • Issues caused by stream playback – connect to the DW Spectrum® system through the mobile application and attempt to view the camera’s video stream
   • Issues with DW Cloud connectivity – attempt to connect to the DW Spectrum® system through the mobile application.  When the “unreachable” flag displays, wait at least one minute.  Repeat the scenario several times to make sure that the issue has been replicated.

 

2. Close the DW Spectrum® Mobile application and take note of the current time.

 

3. On your PC, open the phone’s storage and locate “mobile_client.log” and use a text editor (ex. Notepad) to open the mobile_client.log file. 

Check the timestamps listed in the file and make sure that the debug log has covered the desired amount of time.  If not, remove the log file and repeat Step 5 through Step 7.

 

**NOTE:  The mobile_client.log should be located in the same folder as the mobile_client.ini file in the phone’s storage.

 

4. Copy the mobile_client.log to your PC and share it with the Digital Watchdog support team for further investigation.

 

Collecting Debug Logs for iOS

Obtaining the debug logs from an iOS device is slightly different in comparison the process for an Android device.  Follow the instructions below for this process.

 

Changing Log Level of DW Spectrum® Mobile for iOS

To obtain debug logs from an iOS device:

1. Launch the DW Spectrum® Mobile application on your iOS device.  Make sure to disconnect from all DW Spectrum® systems.
2. Press and hold on the DW Spectrum® Mobile version number for ten (10) seconds.

The Developer Settings will begin to display.  Change the Change Log Level to ‘DEBUG2’ (verbose).

 

Collecting the Debug Log Files of DW Spectrum® Mobile for iOS

1. Completely close the DW Spectrum Mobile application on the iOS device.

If you have not already done so, connect the iPhone or iPad to a macOS computer with a USB cable.

 

2. Open the Console application on the macOS computer.  This can be found in the /Applications/Utilities/ directory.

 

3. From the Console app sidebar, locate the Devices section.  Select the iOS mobile device that is now currently connected to the Mac.

Console Log data for the iOS device will begin to display.

 

4. Launch the DW Spectrum® Mobile application and take note of the current time.

Press and hold on the DW Spectrum® mobile number for ten (10) seconds and make sure that the Change Log Level is set to ‘verbose’.

 

5. Now that the mobile application has be set up for logging, please replicate the issue.
   • Issues caused by stream playback – connect to the DW Spectrum® system through the mobile application and attempt to view the camera’s video stream
   • Issues with DW Cloud connectivity – attempt to connect to the DW Spectrum® system through the mobile application.  When the “unreachable” flag displays, wait at least one minute.  Repeat the scenario several times to make sure that the issue has been replicated.

 

6. Next, close the DW Spectrum® Mobile application and record the time that the mobile client was stopped on the iOS device.

 

7. On the macOS computer, check the timestamps that are listed in the log and make sure that the log has covered the desired amount of time.  If not, clean the log entries and repeat Step 4 through Step 6.

 

8. Copy all of the console logs on the macOS computer and share them with the Digital Watchdog Support team for further investigation.