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Diagnosing USB 3.0 Camera and Bus Errors Technical Application Note TAN2011006 Revised September 20, 2011
1.1 Subject Technical Application Note (TAN2011006): Diagnosing USB 3.0 Camera and Bus Errors
1.2 Applicable Product(s)
All USB 3.0 Imaging Cameras
1.3 Application Note Description This application note explains the resources available for diagnosing problems that may arise with your USB 3.0 imaging application. The following topics are covered:
Unsupported hardware and driver configurations. Using the FlyCap Demo program diagnostics. Providing adequate power. Third-party diagnostic tools.
1.4 Supported and Unsupported System Configurations Point Grey has tested USB 3.0 imaging devices on a variety of host configurations. These tests involved combinations of the following system components:
CPU, motherboard and chipset USB 3.0 host controller and driver Operating system
We have found that certain configurations result in connection failures, or do not achieve adequate data rates. As a first step in troubleshooting, we recommend reviewing your system configuration against those tested. This information is outlined in TAN2011005. Additionally, a list of known issues is presented at the end, with suggestions for troubleshooting.
PGR, the Point Grey Research, Inc. logo, Digiclops, Dragonfly, Dragonfly Express, Chameleon, Firefly, Flea, Ladybug, Scorpion and Triclops are trademarks or registered trademarks of Point Grey Research, Inc. in Canada and other countries. Copyright © 2011 Point Grey Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
Point Grey Research TAN2011006
Diagnosing USB 3.0 Camera and Bus Errors
1.5 Using the FlyCap Demo Program Diagnostics Beginning with version 2.2 of the FlyCaptureSDK, the FlyCap Demo GUI tool includes some useful statistics for diagnosing connection and bandwidth issues. These statistics are located on the information pane of the FlyCap Main Window, under ‘Diagnostics.’
The following statistics are available:
Skipped frames: The number of images since the start of capture that were not transmitted to the host system, and subsequently dropped, due to a buffer overflow on the camera. Skipped frames may be a symptom of a bandwidth bottleneck on the bus, or a load/latency issue on the xHCI card or CPU. Link recovery count: The number of times the camera reconnects after a brief interruption, such as due to a faulty cable or other connection problem. Transmit failures: The number of image data packet transmissions since the start of capture that were not completed, and subsequently dropped, due to a buffer overflow on the camera. Transmit failures may result in torn images, but are less likely to occur on USB 3.0 cameras than USB 2.0 cameras. Unlike USB 2.0 cameras, the image buffer on USB 3.0 cameras is large enough to hold a single image.
Revised 20-Sep-11
Copyright © 2011 Point Grey Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Point Grey Research TAN2011006
Diagnosing USB 3.0 Camera and Bus Errors
Therefore, bottlenecks in the USB 3.0 imaging pipeline are more likely to result in skipped frames (above). Time since initialization: Time since the camera last booted up. Time since last bus reset: Time since the last bus reset occurred. Bus resets may be the result of inadequate power.
1.6 Providing Adequate Power Power can be provided to the camera directly through the USB 3.0 interface, or through the GPIO connector. The ideal input voltage is nominal 5 V DC. The camera automatically draws power from the higher source.
1.7 Using Third-Party Diagnostic Tools The following open-source tools may be useful for diagnosing connection and data flow issues: USBlyzer—This tool (and others like it) is a USB protocol analyzer, and is useful when the driver of the xHCI card manufacturer is used in place of the Point Grey USB 3.0 driver. It allows you to view the transactions between low-level Windows USB driver components as part of communicating with a host controller. RW-Everything—Allows you to access and capture low-level data about hardware components on the system, including USB host controllers. Reading and interpreting the hardware registers may require advanced knowledge of the xHCI specification.
1.8 Additional Downloads and Support Access more Technical Application Notes on the web at www.ptgrey.com/support/downloads. Point Grey Research Inc. endeavors to provide the highest level of technical support possible to our customers. Most support resources can be accessed through the Product Support section of our website: www.ptgrey.com/support.
Creating a Customer Login Account The first step in accessing our technical support resources is to obtain a Customer Login Account. This requires a valid name, e-mail address, and camera serial number. To apply for a Customer Login Account go to www.ptgrey.com/support/downloads/.
Revised 20-Sep-11
Copyright © 2011 Point Grey Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Point Grey Research TAN2011006
Diagnosing USB 3.0 Camera and Bus Errors
Knowledge Base Our on-line knowledge base at www.ptgrey.com/support/kb/ contains answers to some of the most common support questions. It is constantly updated, expanded, and refined to ensure that our customers have access to the latest information.
Product Downloads Customers with a Login Account can access the latest software and firmware for their cameras from our downloads site at www.ptgrey.com/support/downloads. We encourage our customers to keep their software and firmware up-to-date by downloading and installing the latest versions.
Contacting Technical Support Before contacting Technical Support, have you: 1. Read the product documentation and user manual? 2. Searched the Knowledge Base? 3. Downloaded and installed the latest version of software and/or firmware? If you have done all the above and still can’t find an answer to your question, contact our Technical Support team at www.ptgrey.com/support/contact/.
Revised 20-Sep-11
Copyright © 2011 Point Grey Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
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