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vision assistant and mvBluefox on x64 windows (DirectShow driver)

After many hours of tries/errors, I finally managed to get images images directly  from a USB Matrix Vision mvBlueFox camera to NI Vision Assistant

on a windows seven x64 computer.

The problem is that Vision Assistant (as well as the NI-IMAQdx driver) are still 32bits and that the DirectShow driver for the Bluefox camera is x64 ou x86 (no mixed mode).

With help from Matrix Vision support and from this board, it fianlly worked. I write this guide to help anyone facing the same problem.

 


How to make the Matrix Vision MvBluefox 202aG recognized by NI Vision Assistant 8.2

Software version:
1) Vision Assistant 8.2
2) NI-IMAQdx 3.6 or 3.7 (found in NI System Driver set, August 2010): maybe not really necessary
3) ni_imaq_usb_installer_86.exe: mandatory !
4) beta_mvBlueFOX-x64.msi: drivers from Matrix Vision (release 1.11.27)

Steps:
1) Install Vision Assistant + NI-IMAQdx (+probably many other drivers from the System Driver set) + ni_imaq_usb_installer
2) Install beta_mvBlueFOX-x64.msi
3) Connect the camera and verify that it works with WxPropView presnet on your Desktop
4) To use the Bluefox camera under NI Vision Assistant which is 32bits, you have to register the 32bits DirectShow driver of the Bluefox:
go to C:\Program Files\MATRIX VISION\mvIMPACT acquire\bin
and launch mvDeviceConfigure.exe (=the 32bits version)
5) Select DirectShow > Register all devices then exit
6) Launch NI Vision Assistant > Acquire: it works !
Or you can launch MAX: the camera is found under Devices > NI-IMAQdx devices.

Thanks to Levent from the Matrix Vision Support Team.

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@BachFugue wrote:

The problem is that Vision Assistant (as well as the NI-IMAQdx driver) are still 32bits and that the DirectShow driver for the Bluefox camera is x64 ou x86 (no mixed mode).


Hi BachFugue, 

 

To clarify, the IMAQdx driver installs both 32-bit and 64-bit driver components. Since the DirectShow driver interface 3rd-party cameras such as yours provide and (IMAQdx uses) lives in user-mode (as DLLs), the camera vendor must provide drivers that match the bitness of the end application being run. If you were to run say LabVIEW 64-bit, then it likely would have worked if Matrix Vision only installed 64-bit DLLs. However, applications such as MAX and Vision Assistant only ship as 32-bit applications because there is no need for them to be 64-bit as they are simple configuration apps.

 

Note that this problem could just as likely exist if Vision Assistant were 64-bit if the 3rd-party vendor only shipped 32-bit DLLs for example. On a 64-bit OS it really only makes sense today to install both 32-bit and 64-bit DLLs. This is what NI generally does for all its drivers and hardware products that are supported in a 64-bit usermode environment.

 

Also, your steps 2 and 3 are somewhat incorrect because those are actually two independent drivers. The IMAQ USB installer has been obsolete for quite some time now as it has been replaced by official support within IMAQdx (the download page should have a disclaimer as such). While installing it should not prevent IMAQdx from working, you need IMAQdx if you want the camera to work in newer versions of LabVIEW or other software such as MAX, Vision Builder AI, etc.

 

In any case, glad you were able to resolve the issues and get it working. Hopefully Matrix Vision can update their installer to register the 32-bit components as well so things will work out-of-the-box next time.

 

Eric

 

 

 

N

 

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You saved me man still in 2019 this thing does not work without the hustle

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@BachFugue wrote:

The problem is that Vision Assistant (as well as the NI-IMAQdx driver) are still 32bits and that the DirectShow driver for the Bluefox camera is x64 ou x86 (no mixed mode).

Vision Development Module has been shipping a 64-bit version of Vision Assistant since version 2013 SP1.

 

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