NI-IMAQdx: (Hex 0xBFF6900E) No acquisition in progress.

[amooney]

I'm attempting to use grab & snap from a gigabit ethernet camera (Point Grey Grasshopper 2) but I consistently get an error when a VI calls IMAQdx Get Image.  Attached is a screenshot of the example Snap.vi showing the error code.

I can snap and grab in MAX, although the camera shows up 10 times (cam0, cam1, ... cam8, cama).  Only cama works; the others all report:

Error 0xBFF69034 The camera is configured with password authentication and either the user name and password were not configured or they are incorrect.

I haven't had any luck Googling the problem, so I hope someone here can make a little sense of it for me.

Alex Mooney

[Paul_M.]

Hi amooney,

Though you can snap and grab in MAX, the fact that you have multiple entries of this camera leads me to believe there may be a problem with the driver itself. Do the other instances of the camera in MAX show up with a red x or any indication that they aren't working? 

Can you post a screenshot of your MAX?

Also, do you have the Fly Cap software installed? If so, can you acquire using that program? Sometimes the third party drivers conflict with the IMAQdx drivers and cause some issues.

I found a knowledgebase article that discusses a similar issue encountered with Axis IP cameras. It refers to a particular setting that you can set, so check to see if you have something similar with your Grasshopper 2 camera.

To be honest, a reinstall of the Vision Acquisition Software would probably be ideal. We shouldn't be seeing clone instances of a camera in Measurement and Automation explorer.

Paul M

[amooney]

Sorry it's taken so long to reply!

I've updated the firmware in the camera, uninstalled and reinstalled the NI-IMAQdx and then upgraded it with the VAS August 2010 update.  I've gone through the compatibility test knowledgebase article, but even without a camera plugged in, the computer detects 10 cameras.  If I plug in my camera, it detects an 11th camera but when I try to access it from MAX, I get 0xBFF69012 Attribute value is out of range.  There is a solution to the same error message on the forums, but lowering the packet size doesn't change the behavior for me.  There is another knowledgebase article on how to get rid of this error, but although MAX will download a new XML file it still gives me the same error.  There was another person with this problem who solved it by disabling their firewall, but that didn't help for me.

I just generated an attribute report with CameraValidator.exe /iid:<mycam> /attributes (attached).  There are a couple of attributes that failed validation with that error code (below).  I guess I could try to manually edit the XML file for the camera; is there anything else you can think of?

Attribute: CameraAttributes::ImageFormatControl::PixelColorFilter
	Display Name: Camera Attributes::Image Format Control::Pixel Color Filter
	Description: Type of color filter that is applied to the image. 
	ToolTip: Type of color filter that is applied to the image. 
	Type: 0x4
	Units:  
	Availability: R
	Representation: 0x0
	Visibility: 0x2000
	Streamable: false
	Range: {BayerRG = 0x0, BayerGB = 0x1, BayerGR = 0x2, BayerBG = 0x3} 
	Current value: UnknownEnumValue 
	Validating current value: FAILED ERROR: (Hex 0xBFF69012) Attribute value is out of range.
	Unable to set current value


Attribute: CameraAttributes::TransportLayerControl::GevSCPInterfaceIndex
	Display Name: Camera Attributes::Transport Layer Control::GEV SCP Interface Index
	Description: Index of network interface to use. 
	ToolTip: Index of network interface to use. 
	Type: 0x1
	Units:  
	Availability: R
	Representation: 0x11
	Visibility: 0x8000000
	Streamable: false
	Minimum: 0 
	Maximum: 0 
	Increment: 1 
	Current value: 1 
	Validating current value: FAILED ERROR: (Hex 0xBFF69012) Attribute value is out of range.
	Unable to set current value

[JtotheB]

Hey amooney,

I think the extra cameras you are seeing are likely security cameras on your network. Axis is a pretty big manufacturer of security cameras and, depending on how your computer is connected, it isn't surprising that they would show up in MAX. How is your Grasshopper camera connected to your network? If you are using a slower switch that might be causing the errors. Have you tried connecting the camera directly to your computer via a crossover cable to see if you still get the errors. Can you post some screenshots of the Camera Information, Ethernet Attributes, and Camera Attributes tabs in MAX? That would help us narrow down some specific information about the camera that may be causing the problem. Let me know how the camera behaves when attached to the computer directly, and have a great evening!

[amooney]

The grasshopper camera is directly connected to a gigabit ethernet card.  As you suspected, the Axis cameras are only detected when the ethernet to the network is connected.  I've attached the screenshots you've requested along with a picture of the Bayer color tab.  I don't know why that tab is even there since it's a black and white camera.

[JtotheB]

Hey amooney,

Can you attach the .icd file and the camera's XML file?

[amooney]

I've attached all of the IID, ICD, and XML files.  Cama is the grasshopper but cam9 also claims to be a Point Grey camera.

Alex

[JtotheB]

Thanks for the files. I'll take a look at them and see what I can come up with for you. Have a great evening!

[amooney]

John,

We are considering returning the camera and getting a Firewire camera if we can't get it working with LabView soon.  Do you think there is much hope, or should we just go ahead and try to exchange it?

Alex

[JtotheB]

Hey amooney,

I've been looking at your files to see if there is anyway to make it play nice with LabVIEW, and I can't find a way to make it work. Looking at our list of compatible cameras, it seems like the Grasshopper 2 isn't supported currently. I had some hope, since it's predecessor is supported, but the current model of Grasshopper's must have some changes that make it incompatible with IMAQdx. I would recommend exchanging it, if you can, for a compatible model. You can check our Industrial Camera Advisor for recommendations of compatible cameras. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hopefully you can get your camera exchanged and get up and running. Have a great weekend!