Something's wrong¶
Find what you see. Each section says what to try first, then what the pilot and the admin can check. Still stuck? See the end of this page.
Video is black, frozen, or says "No signal"¶
What you see: a pane says Reconnecting…, No signal, or the picture is frozen.
Viewer — try first:
- Wait 10 seconds — short drops fix themselves.
- Tap the small speed chip at the top right of the pane (like RTC · 120ms) and pick HLS. It is a few seconds behind but works on more networks (hotel, hospital and guest Wi-Fi often block live video).
- Try a different network, or cellular instead of Wi-Fi.
Pilot checks: is the stream still LIVE on the Pilot page (or the phone's LIVE banner)? Is the controller's internet working?
Admin checks: is the feed in Live feeds, and is its speed above 0?
Other messages: No video input — the camera is connected but sends no picture; tell the pilot. Offline — the feed stopped; it comes back by itself when the pilot is live again. Paused by pilot — the pilot paused the video; the pilot (Start stream) or an admin (Resume in the Mission card's drone list) brings it back. Resuming… after you switched apps or tabs — wait up to 30 seconds.
Video lags or stutters on a DJI drone: usually the drone's cellular link (two controllers on one hotspot is the common cause — give each its own hotspot, or use Starlink). Lower the Quality slider on the Pilot page.
A drone or camera doesn't show up¶
What you see: the pilot says they are streaming, but the feed list doesn't have them.
Pilot checks:
- DJI controller: does the Pilot page say Stream: LIVE? Does Pairs with: show the right agency? See Quick start: DJI controller.
- Body cam or encoder: re-type the address exactly — one wrong character means "refused". The key part must be lowercase.
- When SARSTREAM refuses a camera, the setup page (under the waiting line) and the Pilot page say why: Refused by SARSTREAM: … — for example the key was revoked or has expired, an admin stopped the feed, or your agency is at its live-feed limit.
Admin checks: open rejected publish attempts under Live feeds on the admin page — it shows why SARSTREAM said no. See A drone isn't showing up.
Pilot page: "Pairing refused" or "Key not recognized"¶
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| Key not recognized — check it with your agency (or try again) | Check the key's spelling with your admin. |
| Pairing refused: invalid key | The key is mistyped, revoked or expired. Ask your admin for a new key. |
| Pairing refused: name rejected (taken) or (disabled) | Pick another drone name, or ask your admin to select Send for that feed in All feeds. |
| Pairing refused: name rejected (cap) | Your agency has as many live feeds as it is allowed. An admin stops one, or asks SARSTREAM support to raise the limit. |
| This agency isn't active on SARSTREAM right now — contact your admin. | Your agency's account is paused. Your admin contacts SARSTREAM support. |
| Your agency is paused on SARSTREAM — contact your admin. (while connected) | Same — the Pilot page keeps its connection and works again once the agency is back. |
| Pairing failed: network | The controller has no internet. |
Pilot page: "cloud link is stuck" or "Cloud link down"¶
- "Restart the Pilot app (swipe it away and reopen) — the cloud link is stuck" — swipe Pilot 2 away in the recent-apps list, reopen it, and tap SARStream. Common on a new controller's first connect.
- "Cloud link down — video started with Pilot's own live push…" — video is still going out, but the map and the quality slider wait for the cloud link. If it stays, restart Pilot 2 the same way.
- "No internet on the RC — check its network connection…" — fix the controller's cellular or Wi-Fi, then tap Start stream.
The drone isn't on the map¶
Pilot checks: on the Pilot page the telemetry chip should be green. A red NO AIRCRAFT TELEMETRY chip means video works but the map can't see the drone — restart Pilot 2. Generate telemetry map feed must be on.
Viewer: a grey arrow means the drone's position hasn't updated for a few seconds. A drone not seen for an hour leaves the map.
Body cams and encoders send video only — they never show on the map.
Drone photos aren't uploading¶
Pilot checks: look under Stream: on the Pilot page. SD card FULL — photos won't upload. Swap or clear the card. means exactly that — swap or clear the card at the next battery swap. An amber "SD card … % free" line is the early warning (less than 10 % free).
Admin checks: the Mission card's drone list shows the same thing (· SD full — photos won't upload). Also check that the mission is not NOT RECORDING — nothing is saved then.
"Code not valid or expired" or "Your link ended"¶
What you see: the code is refused, or you are sent back to the sign-in page.
- Codes and links change when a mission ends. Ask for the current code, or ask your admin for a new link.
- Make sure you are on the right agency's page — a code only works for its own agency.
- "Your link ended" — usually because the mission ended. Enter the new code, or ask your admin.
- "You're not signed in on this device." — enter the current code, or request a link by email.
- Agency paused / "Your agency is paused on SARSTREAM" (sign-in pages, the admin page, Go Live, the Pilot page) — the agency's account is paused. Its admin needs to contact SARSTREAM support.
- Signed out — you used Sign out / switch agency. Enter a code or request a link for any agency.
- "Too many attempts. Wait a minute and try again." — wait up to 10 minutes.
No sign-in email arrives¶
The page always says a link "is on its way", whether or not your address is on the list — so a missing email usually means you aren't on it.
- Check spam or junk.
- Ask your admin to add you to the Link request allow list — or ask for the code instead.
"Still streaming" or "Can't end yet" when ending a mission¶
A drone or camera is still streaming (or just went off). Have the pilots
power off and try again; after "just went off", wait for the countdown and
select End now. If something is stuck on, type END in the box and
select End anyway — whatever is still streaming is not recorded. The
same applies to New mission. See
End a mission.
"The mission changed while this page was open"¶
Someone else ended the mission or started a new one after this page loaded. Nothing was changed. Check the Mission card and try again.
A phone can't Go Live¶
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| No Go Live button | Your admin hasn't allowed Go Live for how you signed in, or the phone is sideways (turn it upright). |
| No active mission — a phone cannot start one. | Start one from the viewer (Start mission, emailed links only) or ask your admin. |
| Your agency is paused on SARSTREAM. | Contact your admin. |
| Waiting for GPS fix… (location only) | Step outside or near a window; it goes live with the first position. |
| Mic blocked | The phone didn't allow the microphone — video still goes out. Allow it in the browser settings and go live again. |
| Camera is blocked… (or Microphone, Location) | Follow the steps on the screen, then reload. |
| Couldn't start the stream — check your signal and try again. | Better signal, or cellular instead of Wi-Fi. Go Live works on most guest Wi-Fi, but not on networks that allow only web browsing — use cellular there. |
| The video pauses | The phone locked or you switched apps. Come back to SARSTREAM; if it says Not live — connection lost. Tap to resume, tap the screen. Going back or closing the page stops it. |
A body cam connects, then drops right away¶
If the camera connects and drops within a second, again and again, use
SARSTREAM's second RTMP port: the same address with :1936 after the
host, rtmp://sarstream.org:1936/<key>/<name>. Every key works there. See
Quick start: Body cam, GoPro, encoder.
SARTopo: "map refused access"¶
The Mission card says SARTopo: map … refused access, or the Pilot page can't link a map: the map isn't shared with your agency's SARTopo team account. Share it in SARTopo, then select Test connection in Settings (admin) or Change map again (pilot). See Missions.
Still stuck?¶
Email support@sarstream.org with:
- your agency and the mission name;
- the time it happened;
- what you see — the exact message, or a screenshot;
- the device (DJI controller, iPhone, Android, computer).