MAX and NI Vision Assistant found my AVT pike F-100C camera, but can't acquire image in both of them

[doelab]

Hi all,

I have a AVT pike F-100C firewire camera. I can find it in MAX and NI vision assistant, but there's no image displaying in the windows.

When I select the acquire image buttons in Vision Assistant, it shows the following error message:

Error Acquiring Images from the image acquisition device (acquisition timeout).

possible reasons

-No trigger signal received within the specified timeout period

-Camera not powered

-Camera not properly connected to the image acquisition device

-Incorrect camera selection in Measurement & Automation Explorer

BTW, The camera works with the factory software.

Can anyone offer me some advice?

Thanks a lot,

Yuehao

[Nate.H]

Dear Yuehaeo,

Have you made sure that your camera is not set up in trigger mode from the Camera Attributes tab in MAX? If the camera is in trigger mode when you don't expect it to be, it will not acquire images because it is waiting for that trigger signal. Also, double checking all the points in this KnowledgeBase article will be helpful:

Troubleshooting Tips for IEEE 1394 Cameras
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/C2F87C32F5627A0A862569E5006C17C4?OpenDocument

Just to verify, you cannot perform either a snap or a grab in MAX? Which driver have you associated your camera with (IMAQdx or IMAQ for IEEE 1394)?

Hopefully the above will help to solve the problem, or at least narrow down the source. Please post back and let me know if you are still having problems after going through these troubleshooting steps.

Best Regards,

NH

[doelab]

Hi NH,

Thanks for your reply. The AVT camera supplier helped me out. it was a driver problem. I need to replace the xp sp2 version of ohci1394.sys and 1394bus.sys and one another file, with the sp1 version... my system doesn't have sp1 installed, so it's a bit different from other cases.

Previously, i did not work under external trigger mode, and without the sp1 version drivers, I can't see anything in my MAX in either snap or grab mode. I associated my camera with IMAQdx, but I did try the IMAQ for IEEE 1394, both of them can't work with sp2 version of drivers.

Thank you and thank those helpful AVT engineers,

Yuehao

[Nate.H]

Hi Yuehao,

I'm glad you were able to solve the problem! Thank you for posting back with the update and description of the fix, it's great for the forum.

Cheers,

NH

[Jean-Philippe]

Hi doelab,

Would you mind explaining more in details what you did to solve your driver problem?
I might have the same issue with an AVT Pike F210B camera.

Thanx in advance.

[doelab]

Hello,

they sent me some files. if you can post your email address, i can forward those files to you.

but if that's inconvenient, there're some steps (you may be able to find a better version in their website):

1)  Create a new directory (e.g. driver_fix) on your local drive.
 
2)  Switch to the hidden directory Windows\Inf, search the file “1394.inf” and copy it to
\driver_fix.
 
3)  Now you need two more files: ohci1394.sys and 1394bus.sys.
When SP2 is installed on a SP1 system, the files are in the archive Windows\Driver
Cache\i386\sp1.cab.
Search these files and copy them to your \driver_fix directory. In the file property, these files
are marked as “SP1” files.
When you have a system without SP1 you can also download the needed files, e.g. under
http://www.videredesign.com/xp2_workaround.htm (or get them from AVT, please contact
support@alliedvisiontec.com).
 
4)  Now go to Windows\system32\drivers and search and copy the following files to \driver_fix:
arp1394.sys, enum1394.sys, nic1394.sys. 
 
5)  To temporarily disable the Windows recovery function, you need to rename the file sp2.cab (to
e.g. sp2_old.cab) in the directory WINDOWS\Driver Cache\I386

5)  To temporarily disable the Windows recovery function, you need to rename the file sp2.cab (to
e.g. sp2_old.cab) in the directory WINDOWS\Driver Cache\I386
 
6)  Go to Device Manager, “IEEE 1394 Bus-host controller”. There select “properties” Æ “Driver” Æ
“Driver Update”. 
Here select “No, only this time” Æ “Install from a list or specific location (advanced)” Æ “Next”
Æ “Don't search I will choose the driver to install” Æ “Next” Æ “Have Disk” Æ choose your
directory \driver_fix & let the driver install. When Windows pops-up to ask for ohci1394.sys
and 1394bus.sys, also choose the \driver_fix directory.
 
7)  You can now go to “Driver Details”  of the card, to verify that the files ohci1394.sys and
1394bus.sys are from SP1. Under any application which supports S800 (with the according
hardware) now the S800 option should be choose-able.
 
Don’t forget to rename sp2_old.cab back to sp2.cab. Sometimes the file is needed for other
driver installations. 
Please note: Windows will install the “old” SP2 driver, when reinstalling the FireWire board
driver. In this case, you need to repeat all steps of installation. 
It could makes sense to unpack the sp2.cab, exchange the SP2 ohci1394.sys and 1394bus.sys
to the SP1 version files. After this all files need to be repacked as sp2.cab (e.g. with the tool
“CabPack” http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/english.htm).
After this step, the SP1 driver will be installed with every change on the card or on new cards on
this PC.

hope it can help,

Best,

Yuehao

[Jean-Philippe]

Yuehao,

Many thanks for your help!

best regards,

Jean-Philippe

[oliver.guennel]

Hi together,

the mentioned description can be found under the following link:
http://www.alliedvisiontec.com/ftp/private/FAQ/S800_under_XP_SP2.pdf

The needed files can also be downloaded, from here:
http://www.alliedvisiontec.com/ftp/private/FAQ/S800_fix_package.zip

hope that helps to get the cameras to work.

[ScottSmith]

... adding to remarks by Yuehao, Doelab, and my AVT colleague Oliver, the reason why these steps are necessary is due to the Microsoft treatment of 1394b in XP SP2  (... and continued in recently released SP3...).   For more details, please see knowledge-base article http://goavt.mykb.com/Article_249D6.aspx

So the issue applies to all 1394b cameras, including the AVT Pike and Stingray families, as well as 1394b cameras by other manufacturers.   Thankfully, the workaround is 100% effective and robust, with no negative side-effects.

We look forward to seeing many readers of this list at NI Week in Austin next week!

Scott

www.goAVT.com  [U.S. portal for www.alliedvisiontec.com]

[doelab]

Thanks for your kind help and your effort to perfect your product,

Best regards,

Yuehao