Problems using FW-7344 with Fire Wire Video Cameras

[Jamie Cho]

Is it a bad idea to use the FW-7344 with other devices on the same fire wire bus?

We are trying to use an FW-7344 with a fire wire video camera but we tend to get packet errors that force a reset of the controller. We suspect that the problem is related with the camera and controller being on the same fire wire bus.

We instantly see problems when we connect two FW7344s and one video camera on the same fire wire card.

[dmp]

Hi, Jamie,

I have seen other devices work successfully with the FW-7344 on the same firewire bus.

Could you please provide more detail about the behavior you are seeing? Also, does the problem occur with only one FW-7344 and one camera?

Thank you!

Regards,
Dawna P.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[Jamie Cho]

The NIMax program reads Packet Error. I can't recall the first error that our program reads, but I think it typically says something about not being able to communicate return values from the controller to the host computer.

This makes me think that the NI driver on the host does not retry after failing to get return data from the controller. This assumption may be valid with the PCI version, but probably is not with the FireWire version.

It only takes one camera for this problem to happen, but the problem is intermittent.

[dmp]

It sounds like there could be a problem with your motion hardware. Please contact National Instruments to determine if the controller needs to be repaired.

Best regards,
Dawna