Solution
There are several potential reasons that a GigE camera acquisition may time out. Below you will find the most common ones as well as possible solutions.
- Make sure the ethernet port you are using to connect your camera supports Gigabit Ethernet speeds (1000 Mbps or 1 Gbps).
- Since GigE Vision uses a network connection, Windows Firewall can block the camera information through the Ethernet port, which will result in a timeout error. In order to allow access to the GigE camera, do one of the following options:
- Turn off Windows Firewall.
- Create an exception for the specific Ethernet port.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to open a port or range of ports while keeping the firewall enabled on that device. This is due to the way the GigE Vision protocol was defined. Both the camera's port from which the image stream comes and the PC's port are dynamic. The Windows Firewall is not configurable in a manner that can accommodate this configuration.
- If the computer connects to the network via wireless or a separate local area network connection, the Advanced tab in the Windows Firewall configuration allows the Windows Firewall to be enabled or disabled for individual connections.
- Use an Intel Pro/1000-based network card and install our High-Performance driver. For instructions on how to configure your system to use the High-Performance driver see Using the High-Performance Driver with Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Cards. In this configuration, the image stream is decoded before any software firewalls. Therefore, no modification to your firewall settings is needed. Additionally, there is no overhead from the firewall or the network stack. However, it is recommended to disable the firewall because the firewall would add considerable overhead when streaming from a camera. Ensure jumbo frames are enabled.
Note: It is expected behavior that, in certain cases, images are not received when the Windows Firewall is turned on even though you can see and configure the GigE Vision camera in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). When configuring in MAX, packets are sent out and returned via the same path, so the firewall lets them through. However, when acquiring an image, the packets only flow in one direction and, therefore, the firewall does not let them through.
- Decrease packet size by changing the Packet Size setting in NI MAX, as shown in the image below.
Packet size specifies the number of bytes transferred in each data packet. Changes to this parameter affect the number of packets required to transmit an image over the bus. Larger values transfer images faster. Smaller values allow more cameras to coexist on the same bus. If the packet size is larger than the allowed size by the network interface, the camera will be unable to transmit the image and eventually timeout.
- Verify trigger mode settings.
Some cameras can be configured to acquire images based on an external trigger. This setting can be enabled or disabled through the Camera Attributes in MAX. If the camera's trigger mode is enabled, but there is no external trigger provided, the camera will timeout and not provide an image. To correct this, navigate to the Camera Attributes, locate the trigger mode option, and make sure it is turned off.