IEEE camera causes computer to freeze in windows 2000

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

I am evaluating the Vision Development Module and have a license for the basic vision acquisition package on an IBM Thinkpad A31 with Windows 2000 using a Basler IEEE 1394 camera with a PXI-8252 through a PXI-Carbus 8310 for a PCMCIA slot. In MAX I can sometimes acquire a singe image under the lowest resolution, but when I try to adjust the settings then click to acquire a single image my computer freezes. In Vision Assistant when I simply try to adjust the settings for my camera the computer freezes. In both cases I need to hold down the power key to force a reboot. When I do so in MAX my MAX config often gets corrupted. I used the same setup before except without the Development Module evaluation installed on an older Thinkpad running XP and never had this happen. Any idea why this is happening and how to fix it? I'd really rather use the newer Thinkpad even though it has Win 2000 because it has more memory and a faster processor.

[T-Route]

Hello Dr Hfuhru,

Thank you for using National Instruments discussion forums.  I would be very surprised if having the Vision Development Module installed would have anything to do with the ability to acquire images with your same hardware setup.  The only thing that might affect this is if the 1394 settings in MAX, such as Packet Size, image size, etc... were changed when you installed the Vision Development Module.  If it is possible I would compare all of the 1394 settings in the new PC to the settings in the older PC.  Also is there any other cards that are communicating through the PXI 8310 now that were not before?  Before you installed Vision Development Module on your new PC were you able to acquire images fine?  If you did not test this then try uninstalling and acquiring, I believe it will not make any difference but it is a good troubleshooting step.  Let me know how the tests go.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Hi Mark,
I installed all of my software on a third computer, a desktop running XP, and used two PCMCIA to PCI adapters to communicate with my PXI and SCXI chasis.  On this computer I also installed the Development Module. I checked the settings on the one laptop that works and verified that the settings in MAX match on both the second laptop and the desktop. On the desktop I get the same kind of behavior. When I try to acquire an image at 60fps, all three computers give me Error 0xBFF69018: Insufficient transfer engine resources. The first laptop will let me snap and grab images at 7.50 fps and below. On the other computers when I try these settings the computers freeze and I have to do a hard reboot. I tried uninstalling the Development Module on my desktop and I can acquire a single image, but when I try it again the computer freezes. The NI license manager says that there are still two items installed on the desktop, the Professional Development System with Mathscript under LabView 8.2 Development System and the Remote Panels under LabView 8.2 Toolkits. I can't figure out how to remove these two items using the Add or Remove Software menus.

Is there anything else I should try?

Mark
(my name is Mark too)

[T-Route]

Hello Mark,

Just to make sure that no software is causing this issue I would go ahead and remove the rest of the National Instruments software from your machine.  All National Instruments software on your computer can be found in "Add/Remove Programs" and by clicking on "National Instruments Software".  You will have the option to "Change/modify" which will then populate a list of all the NI software that is installed on your machine.  Go ahead and make sure that all Vision and NI IMAQ software is uninstalled.  Once this is done reinstall your IMAQ for 1394 driver and test the acquisition from your firewire camera.  Can you tell me what version of the NI IMAQ for 1394 driver you have?  Also I was a little confused on whether or not you were able to acquire at 60 fps with the original Labtop or not.  You also stated that you were using PCMCIA to PCI adapters for your desktop.  Have you gotten this setup to work before?  The 8310 has a data throughput of 50MB/s so depending on your picture size, pixel depth, and frame rate you will not be able to exceed this specification.  Also you can try installing the Vision Development Module on the Labtop that works and see if that affects the acquisition at all.  This will narrow it down to either a hardware issue or a software issue.  Typically when a computer freezes up during an acquisition it is because the bus or memory gets over loaded.  This usually occurs in setups when using PCMCIA converters, PCI extenders, and other non standard setups.  Let me know if this helps.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Mark,

On the second laptop, the one running Win 2000, I uninstalled all Vision, IMAQ and IMAQdx software then installed NI Vision Acquisition version 8.2.1. The NI license manager still shows two unlicensed components, the Professional Development System with Mathscript under LabView 8.2 Development System and the Remote Panels under LabView 8.2 Toolkits I mentioned earlier. I'm not sure how to remove these two components in the National Instruments Software menu under Add/Remove Software.

You mentioned I should install only the IMAQ for 1394 driver. Is there a way to install a standalone driver instead of the full NI Vision Acquisition version 8.2.1?

The first laptop that does work with the camera only works at 30 fps or less which is OK with me. But 60 fps would be nice.

I was using the PCMCIA to PCI adapter because the only interface I have to my PXI-1042 is the 8310. If the 8310 is causing the problem I'd be happy to exchange it for a direct PCI interface.

You mentioned that the 8310 has a max throughput of 50MB/s. In MAX when I am setting up the camera it only gives the option of using 100, 200 or 400 MB/s for the camera speed. Could this be the source of the problem? If that is the case I don't know why it worked on the first, and much older, laptop.

Your idea about the PCMCIA converter causing problems does not explain why the same system freeze happens under the same circumstances on the second laptop with a direct PCMCIA connection.

I am currently installing the Vision 8.2 Development Module on the first laptop. I will post again after I've tried it out with the camera.

Thanks,

Mark

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Mark,
The Vision 8.2 Professional Development does not effect the first laptop. One thing I noticed on the first laptop is that the initial camera speed setting is blank and the only option it gives is 100 MB/s. If I leave the speed selection blank, the camera will take images at up to 30fps. If I try 60fps I get the Error 0xBFF69018: Insufficient transfer engine resources message. If I select the only speed option given, 100 MB/s, for some reason 30 and 15 fps speeds no longer work and I get the Error 0xBFF69018: Insufficient transfer engine resources message for all speeds above 7.5 fps.

However, this behaviour is not my primary problem. I'd like to get the image acquisition working on either the second, newer, laptop through the 8310 or on my desktop through the 8310 and a PCMCIA to PCI adaptor or through some other PXI to PCI interface. I've talked to my regional salesperson about this since she is the one who originally recommended the 8310 and she said she will bring other PCI options by this Friday.

Is there anything more that I can try on the second laptop to get this working?

Mark

[T-Route]

Hello Mark,

If the option is there to set the "Speed" to 400Mb/s then make sure you always use that setting.  Setting it to a lower speed and then trying to transfer high resolution images or at high frame rates that exceed the "Speed" setting will cause a "Insufficient Transfer Engine Resources" error.  Could you tell me if you are using the "Legacy IEEE 1394" driver with your camera or the "IMAQdx" driver.  You can find out by right clicking on your camera interface in MAX and choosing driver.  By default the IMAQdx 3.0 driver sets the speed to 100Mb/s which is not correct.  You should set it to 400Mb/s.  The newest version of Vision Acquisition (8.2.2) which contains IMAQdx 3.0.1 fixed this issue and defaults the speed setting to 400Mb/s.  Also what frame size and format are you using to acquire images?  I would make sure your camera is using the IMAQdx driver and that the speed is set to 400Mb/s.  Let me know how it goes.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Mark,
Like I said, the old laptop only gives me the speed options of "blank" or 100 MB/s. The blank must be a bug because once I choose 100MB/s I can't go back to "blank."

I have tried my camera using every combination of transfer speed (400, 200 and 100) and frames per second that I can and always have problems. Sometimes I can acquire a single image but when I try to acquire again it freezes. The ability to take a single image before freezing seems unpredictable. My camera is a Basler scA640-70fm and I have always been using the IMAQdx driver. The video mode I'm using is 640x480 Mono16.

Tomorrow the salesperson is coming by with a PXI to PCI interface so I can see if the 8310 is causing the problem.
Thanks for your continuing help,
Mark

[T-Route]

Hello Mark,

The only other thing to try would be to test the Basler camera on another machine that has a firewire port on it.  You do not need a National Instruments specific firewire card to acquire from the Basler camera with the IMAQdx driver.  Any 1394 card will work.  If it is possible I would install/reinstall the Vision Acquisition software on a machine that has a firewire port/card and test connecting the camera directly to the PC.  This test would be to see how the "Speed" parameter populates with that specific camera and will tell us if it is related to the 8310 or not.  Let me know how it goes with the sales representative.  Thanks and have a great day.

Regards,
Mark T
Applications Engineer
National Instruments