Dalsa GigE fails NI camera validation when no external line trigger is present

[AnthonV]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me with this Dalsa GigE problem I'm having:

When I have the camera configured for external line trigger (LineTriggerMode = 1) and don't have the external clock running then it refuses to allow 'Imaqdx Configure Acquisition' to complete without raising the error 'Attribute value out of range (0xBFF69012)'.  If however I have the external clock running (say at 1KHz) it will pass OK. 

The same happens in MAX:  I cannot browse to the camera if the external clock signal isn't present (otherwise MAX complains with Unable to Get Attribute 0xBFF69011).  With the external clock running everything is OK.

So I used NI's Camera Validation Utility that ships with IMAQdx:  

Without the external clock signal it reports one error:

Attribute: CameraAttributes::AcquisitionAndTriggerControls::LineTrigger::ExternalLineTriggerFrequency

...

Current value: 0 ERROR: (Hex 0xBFF69011) Unable to get attribute.

Validating current value: FAILED ERROR: (Hex 0xBFF69012) Attribute value is out of range.

Unable to set current value

With the external clock it reports no errors:

Attribute: CameraAttributes::AcquisitionAndTriggerControls::LineTrigger::ExternalLineTriggerFrequency

...

Current value: 4976.6240234375 

Validating current value: PASSED 

Unable to set current value

Does this mean that I cannot use this camera with IMAQdx?  They claim complete Genicam compatibility.  Is it Dalsa or NI can help me here?  It is important for my application that I configure and start the acquisition BEFORE the external clock is started so that I do not miss any lines.

Any help or comments will be appreciated!

[BlueCheese · Accepted solution]

Is this the SG-11 camera? If so I can tell you that there are lots of issues using this camera with generic GigE Vision software rather than Dalsa's own SDK.

That said, you could go to the XML file for your camera and comment out the partular attribute that is not being properly read. The XML files usually live here: C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQdx\Data\XML (on Vista/Win7) and you would find the entry

    <pFeature>ExternalLineTriggerFrequency</pFeature>

and comment it out as below (or remove the line)

    <!-- <pFeature>ExternalLineTriggerFrequency</pFeature> -->

Eric

[AnthonV]

Hi Eric, thanks - your suggestion about modifying the XML file worked!  I did the same on the RT desktop system I'm using and it worked there too.  Do I have to worry about the zipped version of the XML file that is in the same folder?

Unfortuantely I won't be able to read the external line clock speed but this is not a major issue, I can infer it from the frame rate that I get from the camera. 

I'm not using the SG-11 but the SG-32.  I think this might be the same camera as the preliminiary spec sheet I had mentioned SG-11 while the latest docs say SG-32.