I Can’t Change the Attributes of My Camera on NI MAX

Updated Dec 2, 2024

Reported In

Software

  • Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)

Driver

  • Vision Acquisition Software

Issue Details

  • I'm trying to change the attributes of my camera from NI MAX, but when I save the changes, close MAX, and reopen it again, the attributes are the same as the beginning.
  • I'm trying to use multiple of same cameras, and when I try to change the attribute of specific camera, the change applies to other cameras. 

Solution

To work with camera devices, NI MAX takes information from two files:

  • The .icd file that has all the attributes of the camera.
  • The .iid file that saves the name of the .icd file and additional information from the device, like the serial number.
  • Both files are located at C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQdx\Data or C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQ\Data depending on the driver used (NI-IMAQdx or NI-IMAQ respectively).

To solve this issue try the following steps:

  • Check that the name of the .icd file appears correctly in the .iid file. If the .iid file stores a different name, NI MAX will not be able to find the correct .icd file, and it will not change or update the attributes.
  • Check if there is .icd and .iid file for all cameras used. If the files for a specific device are missing, create by making a copy of other existing files and updating information such as serial number. 
  • The .icd and .iid files are corrupted and new files are required:
    • Disconnect the camera from the PC.
    • Delete both files from one of the paths mentioned before. For instance, if you are using a USB 3.0 camera, the NI-IMAQdx driver will be used and the files are located at C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-IMAQdx\Data.
    • Reconnect the camera.
    • Verify that new files were created.
    • Test that camera attributes changes are properly saved.

Alternatively, if there is only one specific attribute that is not being saved, please try using different firmware versions (upgrade or downgrade). As these could be changes introduced by the manufacturer. And if this does not work, you may change the attribute manually by modifying the .icd file with a text editor. 

Additional Information

For example, with the .icd file names as  'AVT Pike F145C (#000A4701100A3031).icd', a correct .iid files will show the next information: 


A wrong .iid will show the next information: