I have been using the JAI SDK as well as the JAI control tool that is installed with it for more than two years now without a problem. Recently I updated the SDK and the JAI GigE Vision Filter Driver that comes with it to the latest version from their website.
On the development pc the update went well and everything still works as before. However, on another machine (a laptop) the same update caused both the software developed using the SDK and the control tool to generate unrecoverable errors whenever it tries to open a GigE camera. I have tried re-installing and restarting many times. I also made sure there are no conflicts in the device manager. However, I always get the same exception whether it comes from the JAI control tool, the JAI GigE Vision persistent ip configuration tool or my own software written using the SDK. Here is the exception description:
************** Exception Text **************
Jai_FactoryDotNET.Jai_FactoryWrapper+FactoryErrorException: Error
at Jai_FactoryDotNET.Jai_FactoryWrapper.ThrowFactoryException(EFactoryError error) in T:\JAI_trunk\source\JAIControlTool\JAISDK.NET\Jai_Factory_Wrapper.cs:line 184
at Jai_FactoryDotNET.CCamera..ctor(IntPtr factoryHandle, String cameraID, IntPtr hTL, IntPtr hIF, String genericName) in T:\JAI_trunk\source\JAIControlTool\JAISDK.NET\Camera.cs:line 1454
at Jai_FactoryDotNET.CFactory.UpdateDeviceList(EDriverType preferredDriverType) in T:\JAI_trunk\source\JAIControlTool\JAISDK.NET\Factory.cs:line 801
at IPConfig.IPConfigForm.SearchForCameras()
at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.OnTick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.TimerNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
Has anyone seen this before?
I managed to find a solution to the problem but still do not have a good explanation as to why it is happening. It turns out the JAI GigE filter driver is causing the problem.
The pc that I originally used to test the upgrade has two gigabit Ethernet ports both with the filter driver enabled and both being used to interface with the camera. The laptop only has one Ethernet port and I use an Ethernet SmartCard adaptor for the second connection. However, the problem lies with the wireless Internet adaptor that also has the filter driver enabled as a network service.
The problem disappears when the filter driver is disabled on the wireless adaptor. This was never a problem in the last version of the SDK but now it seems that the filter driver should only be enabled on those network devices that are actually interfacing with the camera.