Knowledge Base

PCs Not Bought from Noldus

If you didn't buy your PC from Noldus, there are crucial requirements to be aware of as well as some settings that might need to be set. Without these in place, you can experience a variety of problems with this camera in EthoVision XT (crashing, black image, low frame rate, missing/interpolated samples or trials ending too soon/prematurely). If you cannot get the camera working properly on your PC after working through this entire document, then please see the PC Report section below and send [email protected] a PC report.

To ensure your PC is sufficient for EthoVision (RAM & GPU), please see Section N.

GPU/Video Card Settings

How to point EthoVision to the NVIDIA (GPU) video card (this option isn't always available) rather than the onboard (GPU) video card:

Method 1: Windows Start → Graphics Settings → Browse → C:\Program Files\Noldus\EthoVision XT 17 → EthoVision.exe → Options → High performance → Save

Method 2:

1. Go to the program folder: C:\Program Files\Noldus\EthoVision XT 17
2. Right-click on EthoVision.exe (the application file) and select Run With Graphics Processor, then select your video card (for example, NVIDIA).

If you cannot see a folder (like Program Files (x86)), it may be hidden. To unhide it:

1. Log into the PC as an Admin if not already.
2. Right-click on Windows Start and select Open Windows Explorer (might also be called Open Explorer or Open File Explorer).
3. Go to Tools menu / Folder Options.
4. Go to the View tab and select Show hidden files, folders and drives.
5. Click OK. You should now be able to see the above directory.

Power Save Settings

Disable Fast Startup (Windows 10 only):

1. Go to the Start menu.
2. Click the gear for Settings.
3. Pick System.
4. Pick Power & Sleep.
5. Then Additional Power Options in the upper right.
6. Then Choose what the power buttons do in the upper left.
7. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable (requires an admin password).
8. Uncheck the options for Fast Startup, Sleep, and Hibernate.

Power Save:

1. Go to Start and select Control Panel.
2. In the Search Control Panel field in the upper right-hand corner, type in Power.
3. Under Power Options, select Edit Power Plan.
4. For both options, select Never.
5. Click Save Changes.
6. Click Change plan settings.
7. Click Change advanced power settings.
8. Under Hard disk / Turn off hard disk after, set this to 0 (never).
9. Click OK.

Automatic Updates

1. Go to Start and select Devices and Printers.
2. Right-click on your PC (image looks like an external hard drive) and select Device Installation Settings.
3. Select No, let me choose what to do and Never install driver software from Windows update (3rd bullet).
4. Click Save Changes.

BIOS Settings

1. Turn on the PC.
2. During boot up, immediately press F12 to go into BIOS. You may need to press F12 a couple of times.
3. On the left-hand side under Settings, expand Performance.
4. Click on C States Control.
5. Deselect the checkbox for C States Control.
6. Navigate back to Performance on the left-hand side and locate Intel SpeedStep (previously called P-States). Confirm that the checkbox is deselected. If it isn't, please deselect it.
7. If you have another processor (like AMD), you might see PowerNow!, Cool'n'Quiet, or PowerSave.
8. Click Exit.
9. When prompted to save changes, click Yes.
10. The setting change is retained and the PC finishes booting up.

Network Card

The network card must be a 1+GB adaptor set to Auto-Negotiate. Currently supported network cards for EthoVision v18:

• FS X550AT2-2TP (10GB NIC)
• Adlink PCIe-GIE74 (1GB NIC)
• Basler GigE Interface Card (1GB NIC)

If you are unable to source the supported network cards, the following Basler resource provides information on which network cards are compatible with the GigE camera:

https://www.baslerweb.com/en/sales-support/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-questions/can-you-tell-me-which-network-adapters-are-compatible-with-the-basler-pylon-performance-driver/15176/

If the camera is set up correctly per this document and the PC is sufficient (has a supported video card and the onboard video card is disabled), yet camera issues persist in EthoVision, check the following on your network card:

In the Device Manager, locate your network card, right-click on it, and select Properties. Go to the Advanced tab and change the relevant settings.

Should you encounter any errors in Pylon (for example: error 0xE1000014 / 3774873620: The buffer was incompletely grabbed), please also see the following:

https://www.baslerweb.com/en/sales-support/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-questions/troubleshooting-lost-packets-or-frames-while-using-gige-cameras/29830/

If you cannot get the camera working properly on your PC after working through this entire document, please see the PC Report section below and send [email protected] a PC report.

PC Report

This section is only required if you have set up the camera correctly in both Pylon and EthoVision XT, yet you are still experiencing problems with the camera.

1. Download the PC Report Utility and save it to your Desktop.
2. On the Desktop, locate the ZIP file, right-click and select Extract All > Extract.
3. In the SIW 2021 folder, double-click on siw64.exe.
4. Go to File > Create Report File > HTML Report.
5. Save the HTML file to your Desktop.
6. Send the HTML file as an attachment to [email protected].

Source: EthoVision XT 18 - GigE Install and Setup, Noldus Information Technology