Troubleshooting
Assuming that the connection between the Ncam server and the renderer is a network connection, attempt the following:
- Confirm that the required tracking data is being sent from Ncam, this will be shown in either the "Dashboard" of the WebUI or the "System status panel" of the Full UI. If the required tracking output is not turned on, proceed to the the "Preferences > Data Stream" window in the Full UI to configure which tracking streams are sent
- Confirm that the network configuration between the two devices is correct, can the two devices ping each other? Is the correct Port number set on both devices?
The ETH0 interface of the Ncam server is configured as part of the Ncam setup and it is not recommended to change it. However ETH1 and any other additional network interfaces that are present are able to be modified via the Ubuntu network manager, this is reached via the Ubuntu system settings
Use the HDMI dummy dongle that is provided with the Mk2 system, without this the graphics driver will not initialize on boot of the system
This is typically caused when the witness camera bar has not been connected properly.
Attempt to re-seat the USB-C cable and try connecting again
This error message is displayed when a network connection can not be established to the connection box, try the following steps:
- Confirm the Connection box is powered
- Confirm the network between the connection box and server is configured correctly. Typically it should be connected directly to the ETH0 of the Ncam server
- Ensure the correct hostname/IP Address has been entered into the "Devices > Camera Bar > Open" dialog
- Power cycle both the Ncam server and connection box
This is caused by connection issues between the Ncam server and connection box
Remote connection
When working through a VNC client or remote connection, some lag is to be expected.
Confirm that the connection between the server and connection box is gigabit, this can be done using the "ethtool" command in a terminal. Enter the following:
This will display connection info for the eth0 interface, the "Speed" value should be "1000"
If "10" or "100" is displayed, try disconnecting and reconnecting the network connection between the two devices. If the connection is still not gigabit, powercycle both devices
Unless the connection box has had a hardware failure then this is nearly always related to a network configuration issue, try the following steps:
- Remove power and network connection to the Connection box
- Connect power and wait approx 30 seconds, LED light on connection box should begin flashing amber
- Connect network connection, LED should turn green and stop flashing
If the LED does not turn green, check the following:
- Does the network cable go directly from the connection box to the ETH0 port on the Ncam server?
- Has the network configuration script been run on the Ncam server?
- Try replacing the ethernet cable between the two devices
Once you have a green LED displayed on the connection box, you should be able to connect to the box via the Full UI. Select "Devices>Camera Bar>Open" from the drop down menu, enter the Connection box hostname + ".local" into the popup. The hostname will be printed on the connection box and will be in the format "ncbxxxx"
If you are unsure of the connection box hostname, the appendices has a section on how to find this again
If no lights are displayed on the connection box at all check that the power is properly applied to the device, if possible try an alternative source of power. Be aware that it will take approximately 30 seconds for the LED to light after power is applied, this is normal
This is typically the case when the lens calibration has not been done very accurately. If the liveupdate solution places the witness camera in the right orientation, but ahead of or behind the main camera by an exaggerated amount then this is a result of the H and V focal values in the lens calibration being wrong.
From the perspective of the Ncam system, this can be caused by the following circumstances:
- If a connection box is being used, the connection between the two devices must be gigabit. Use the "ethtool" in a terminal window to confirm that the network link speed is "1000". Issues with the automatic networking tool can sometimes cause it to throttle down to 10/100 speeds
- If the NcamSDK datastream is being used and the renderer is requesting the key channel then this can use up a considerable amount of network bandwidth. If streaming large amounts of tracking data ensure that the network interface between the server and renderer is at full speed
- The Ncam server is not in "On Air" mode. On air mode should always be switched on when consistent tracking data is required
- Tracking parameters are set too high in the Full UI. Having the "Density" value set to high values (over 25) or the "key position" value set very low (0.3 and lower) can cause the performance of the Ncam server to degrade from trying to track too many points at once.
- Having too many "tracking cores" enabled at once. It is possible to enable all the tracking cores at once, this can cause performance issues, particularly on the Mk2 server, and is not how the multiple tracking options were designed to be used. Ncam support can advise which tracking cores should be preferred for your usage scenario
- Disable the "Fiducial" tracking core. The fiducial tracking option only needs to be enable when initially learning the fiducials. Once the fiducials have been learnt and saved as part of an alignment then there is no requirement to have the core activated for normal usage
Make sure that the "Circular Features" tracking option is enabled in the "Preferences > Tracking" window.
Reflective markers should not be deformed in how they are applied to a surface. That is to say, do not stick them to curved surfaces such as pipes or tubes as this will impede how well they can be detected
Additionally make sure the IR emitter is attached to the camera bar and is powered. The LED light will emit a red glow to indicate it is powered.
Finally ensure that the size of the markers are large enough to be detected at the distance that the camera bar is observing them at. The marker calculator can be used to help determine the correct marker size for your setup
Increase the gain on the camera bar to make the reflective markers much more distinct, using the optional IR filters will also assist with this