MAX only shows generic driver for Unibrain Fire-i Camera

[German Coast Guard]

Dear NI Community,

I recently installed a Unibrain Fire-i firewire camera onto a mobile robotics platform and would like to use it for vision processing.  I have LabView 8.5 and Vision Assistant installed, as well as Measurement and Automation Explorer.  When I open MAX, I see that the camera is listed under NI-IMAQdx Devices, but when I attempt to select the driver, only the Generic Desktop Camera driver is displayed.  How can I install/select a different driver if it is not currently displayed in the list?

Thank you,

German Coast Guard

[Nate.H]

Dear German Coast Guard,

This sounds like a driver installation problem to me. I recommend either repairing your current version of IMAQdx, or downloading and installing the latest version  of the  Vision Acquisition Software, which includes the IMAQdx driver you require:

http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/960/lang/en

Please let me know if the driver repair/re-install doesn't help. You should have 3 options when right-clicking on your camera to select which driver to associate with it:

Generic 1394 Desktop Camera
Legacy NI-IMAQ IEEE 1394 IIDC Digital Camera
NI-IMAQdx IIDC Digital Camera

Best Regards,

~Nate

[German Coast Guard]

Dear Nate,

Thank you for the tip.  The reinstall of the latest Vision Acquisition Software solved the problem and the camera driver is once again selectable. 

Thanks for the help,

German Coast Guard

[VGA_CD-ROM]

Hi German Coast Guard,
I wanted to let you know that we actually released an even newer version of the Vision Acquisition Software, version 8.6, just this week to coincide with NI Week.

Vision Acquisition Software 8.6

[German Coast Guard]

Dear Vijay,

Thank you for the new software.  However, I am now having a related problem.  After shutting down my system today and restarting it, the Device Manager tells me that the NI Imaq Camera cannot start and has the dreaded yellow exclamation mark on the device.  (I am using Windows XP.)

Everything worked after the reinstall yesterday, but the camera is no longer able to start up.  (The exact error in device manager is: "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".)  It appears to be properly powered up, however, due to the fact that the indicator light on the Camera is green indicating proper operation, and not yellow, indicating a problem.

Do you have any insight into what might be causing this problem?

Thank you,
German Coast Guard

Message Edited by German Coast Guard on 08-07-2008 11:00 AM

[Nate.H]

Dear German Coast Guard,

Does the camera show up under "National Instruments IMAQ Interfaces" in Windows Device Manager? If not, what heading does it show up under?
You can try to right-click on the camera in Windows Device Manager and select "update driver". The Hardware Update Wizard should then automatically update the driver for your device.

If that doesn't work, I would unplug your camera, delete the device from the Windows Device Manager, and then plug in your device and go through the found new hardware wizard again.

If that doesn't work:

Did you install the new 8.6 software and then it crashed?
Also, what kind of computer are you using?

Best Regards,

~Nate

[German Coast Guard]

Hi Nate,

The device is listed as "National Instruments IMAQ Interfaces: Generic Desktop Camera" in the device manager.  As you suggested, I updated the driver, which re-listed the device as a Generic Desktop Camera, but still produced error Code 10.  Thinking that I would be able to switch the driver manually, I went into MAX.  The camera was displayed under the Devices and Interfaces list.  I then selected the IMAQdx driver.  At this point, the camera disappeared from the Devices and Interfaces list in MAX. 

I have tried unplugging and replugging the device, which did not resolve the issue.  The initial reason for this topic was that I was getting the same Code 10 error before my reinstall, which prompted me to delete the device from the Device Manager as you suggested.  This, however, apparently deleted the assosciated IMAQ drivers as well, because I could not select anything except for the Generic Desktop Camera Driver in MAX after the camera was reinstalled.  (Therefore, I would prefer not to have to delete the camera from the device manager, as it might need me to reinstall the vision software again.)  After the reinstall, everything worked fine, but after a restart of my system, I am once again getting Code 10.

I am using a computer running Windows XP w/ service pack 2.  The camera is connected to a 6 pin firewire port on my computer, so it should be getting power.  (The green light on the camera is on, which indicates that it is supposedly up and running as well.)  I have tried to camera on another computer with the generic desktop camera driver and it works as well, so the camera is not broken.

Thank you,

German Coast Guard

[Nate.H]

Dear German Coast Guard,

The only resources I have seen reference the Code 10 error that you are seeing to a specific problem between National Instruments PCI card firmware and the BIOS on a specific computer system, but that wouldn't affect you, since you are using a FireWire camera.

There is this document, which references some troubleshooting steps. It tells you to not allow the found new hardware wizard to automatically install the driver for your camera, but for you to choose it manually, and that might do the trick:

FireWire (IEEE-1394) Camera Does Not Appear in Measurement and Automation (MAX)
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/22AD45D8A5B053AF86256EB5003B2811?OpenDocument

I hope this helps; sorry that you've been having so much trouble getting this system up and running. If I come across anything else that may be helpful regarding this issue, I'll be sure to post back.

Best Regards,

~Nate