Error 1 occurred at C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\VideoMASTER\bin\VideoMASTER.dll\Check Data Size.vi

[~jiggawax~]

Ok....I am seriously banging my head against the wall here.

I am using LabVIEW 2011 SP1.  VideoMASTER 3.1!  I mass compiled the VIs over to the 2011 folder.  That doesn't matter though.  2 machines set up with the same versions of LV and VMS.

I am using the niVMS VBF to Image File VI to convert .vbf files to jpg.  I browse to the Waveforms folder in the public area for VideoMASTER and select the native C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\VideoMASTER\Waveforms\480p RGB OmniGen.vbf file.  I then outpout it into the same folder as a jpg file.  I get the following error:

"Error 1 occurred at C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\VideoMASTER\bin\VideoMASTER.dll\Check Data Size.vi

Possible reason(s):

LabVIEW:  An input parameter is invalid. For example if the input is a path, the path might contain a character not allowed by the OS such as ? or @.
=========================
NI-488:  Command requires GPIB Controller to be Controller-In-Charge."

On machine A I do NOT get that error (in fact everything works great for all files). 

On machine B I get the error. 

Do the same thing for the HDMI vbf file in the Waveforms folder and it works fine.

Do the same thing for the 480p file but to a bmp file and no error, however the bmp file is corrupt with no data.

I need to know what's going on in the guts of that dll.  Maybe i'm missing a codec on Machine B?  It seems like I'm missing a dependency for that type of file.  If so then how would I know which one?  I've reinstalled VMS multiple times.  I've copied the dll over from Machine A.  I've verified that it is NOT a licensing issue.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

[Paul-D]

Greetings Jigg, I apologize for your frustration.  Based on your description I believe you are referring to a known issue in Video Measurement Suite (VMS) [formerly VideoMASTER] 3.1, where the digital licensing was improperly configured.  Do you have a digital license activated on both machines or just Machine A?  To be sure, there are 4 licenses for VMS: Analog, Digital, Component, Camera. 

If you just have digital on Machine A, then we have since fixed this issue in our VMS 3.2 and VMS 3.2.1 releases, which are free upgrades from VMS 3.1.  If possible, we would recommend that you upgrade versions so that we can best continue to support you in the future.  If you are unable to upgrade, then please contact support via email or phone so that we can provide the workaround to you to for VMS 3.1.  If you do contact support, please reference KnowledgeBase ID 5579SL01 and 5ZPA312X for them to refer to.

Best Regards,

[~jiggawax~]

Thanks for the quick and very detailed response Paul.

I'll have to check and see if they can upgrade.  We do have VMS on our license server as part of our EA.  But it is only for the newer versions.  Not sure if this group I'm writing the code for can update. 

To answer your question.  I have both analog and digital activated for both machines in the Local Licenses.  I also have an All Inclusive license from the license server that should be good for any NI software.  I realize that doesn't affect VMS 3.1 because of how licensing was done back then.

If it is a known bug then how come machine A doesn't exhibit this behavior?  Have I installed something that gives it that other dependency?

Thanks a bunch,

[~jiggawax~]

Do I need licenses for the Camera and Component ones?  We've never had those.

[Paul-D]

As an FYI, VMS 3.1 and forward, AudioMASTER 6.3 and forward, Analog Video Generator 3.1 and forward, and Digital Video Generator 1.1 and forward all work off the NI Licensing system rather than the old licensing system.  Also, although we can include this software (and NI PQA) as part of an EA agreement, it still gets treated as single seat licenses.  For details on VLM type licensing, I would have to defer to the teams that specialize in that kind of licensing.

There should be no other dependencies than the VMS software to perform this functionality that I'm aware of.  It does sound suspiciously related to the known licensing problem though based on the behavior.  There were numerous bugs addressed in VMS 3.1 to 3.2.1, as well, so this could very well have been a different one that has been resolved already.

To be explicit so we don't miss a simple detail early on, the "Digital" feature on your problem machine has a green box next to it, correct?  Also, another very simple question, have you restarted your computer since activating the digital portion? 

If possible, a good next step to eliminate a bad installation would be to perform a reinstall of VMS 3.1 using the method described here, just so we can be sure everything is as it should be.  Let us know if that doesn't resolve your issue, and an Applications Engineer can review your issue further.

Regards,

[Paul-D]

Sorry, I may have jumped the gun a bit, the known issue with VMS 3.1 involves an issue with the digital and component license.  If you do not have the component license, this may cause the issue in VMS 3.1, that was later fixed.  If you contact support and reference KB 5ZPA312X, I think we will be able to resolve your issue.  Unfortunately, I can't provide that fix via the forum.

Regards,

[~jiggawax~]

Green and yes restarted.  I will try the reinstall and then call if it doesn't work.

Thanks,

[~jiggawax~]

Ok so I called NI.  The KBs were useless for my case.  I upgraded to VMS 3.2 and then to 3.2.1 patch on both machines.

NOW....

Both machines hang when trying to run that VideoMaster VBF to Image File VI on ANY vbf files.  It just hangs up LV and then LV crashes.  It basically says Not Responding in the title bar after about 1 minute and then when you go to close the VI it just hangs.  Here is the hang info:

"Description:
  A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    AppHangB1
  Application Name:    LabVIEW.exe
  Application Version:    11.0.1.4013
  Application Timestamp:    4ee68d64
  Hang Signature:    2722
  Hang Type:    0
  OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
  Locale ID:    1033
  Additional Hang Signature 1:    2722af3020f47284a16b99cb8ac85d4e
  Additional Hang Signature 2:    5cb6
  Additional Hang Signature 3:    5cb6d45bed9373da6c7a23e6cd843bea
  Additional Hang Signature 4:    2722
  Additional Hang Signature 5:    2722af3020f47284a16b99cb8ac85d4e
  Additional Hang Signature 6:    5cb6
  Additional Hang Signature 7:    5cb6d45bed9373da6c7a23e6cd843bea

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
"

Maybe there is a better way to attack this problem.  We simply want to convert VBF files to another format (jpg, bmp, png, we'll tak anything at this point).  We need to do it dynamically through the command line.  Ideally, we'd like to do it through the C API but didn't see anything there to help us out.  Maybe we are missing something?  I was just putting together an exe that could be called from the command line when we started encountering all these problems.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Sam

[Paul-D]

Hi Jigg, the KB I referred to in my last post should be relevant as it was a known deficiency in our license checking, and thus would require a license you didn't currently have for VMS 3.1.  That being said, if you're now on VMS 3.2 we need to get those crash log(s) to NI support for further analysis.  Your issue isn't one that I'm currently aware of, something else seems off in the system.  As far as producing an image file, you are using the correct functionality.  There is a very limited C API for VMS, but it specfically does not support this particular functionality.

If you can provide support with:

1) Crash log(s)

2) VBF(s) that reproduce with the crash

2a) If a shipping VBF from the following folder reproduces the crash: C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI VMS\Waveforms

3) Simple LabVIEW code that will reproduce the crash

4) A MAX Technical Report by going to File > Create Report >Technical Support Report

We should be able to get the ball rolling on investigating this issue.

Regards,

[Paul-D · Accepted solution]

Jigg, with some quick digging, it looks like the crash you are seeing may be tied to not calling the niVMS Initialize Function before the VBF to Image File Function.  Please try running each of the following VIs after launching LabVIEW 2011 and see if you get the same results, and also if adding the Initialize function into your code resolves the issue.  If so, it looks like this will be your workaround, but we will also file a bug report, because crashing is not an expected way to handle this condition.

Edit: Also, if you have other versions of LabVIEW, 2012, etc, that you can compare run this code in, we'd be interested in the results.

Thanks,