In some cases, loading commercial programs onto the computer we shipped, caused the data acquisition module of NeuroPlex to freeze. One reason for this might be that during the software installation the user changed the system configuration. Another - that the newly added software is always active and uses an interrupt that conflicts with the data acquisition. We therefore recommend that the user should first get the camera working and then add additional software, testing the camera function at every step.

Interference From Network Activity on the Computer

Interaction with a network can cause several problems in data acquisition. One type of problem is misregistration of the camera frame and BNC inputs. A second problem is occasional scrambled frames (e.g. the outer sides of a frame appear in the middle or dark frames appear in arbitrary positions occasionally). These problems are computer dependent. Some of the Dell computers we have shipped seem to have no problems, others do; the problems are not correlated with CPU speed. We have seen the problem mostly with the NeuroCCD-SMQ, but not with the NeuroPDA or the NeuroCCD-SM256.

Two kinds of solutions have worked. One solution is to unplug the ethernet cable during data acquisition. This solved a scrambled frames problem. Another solution is to disable the TCP/IP Service and the WINS Client (TCP/IP) on a NT computer. This solved a misregistration problem.

On a WinXP PC this can be done as follows:

>> Settings >> Control Panel >> Network Connection
>> Right Click on CONNECTION >> Left Click on DISABLE

On a WinNT PC this can be done as follows:

>> Settings >> Control Panel >> Devices >> Wins Client (TCP/IP)
>> Startup >> Manual >> OK >> HW Profiles >> Disable >> OK
>> TCP/IP Service >> Startup >> Manual >> OK >> HW Profiles
>> Disable >> OK >> REBOOT.

On a Win2000 PC this can be done as follows:

>> Settings >> Control Panel >> Administrative Tool>> Computer Management>>Device Manager. Right click>>Property >> Disable

Alternatively: >>Start>>Setting>>Network and Dialup Connection, RIGHT CLICK on Local Connection and then Disable.

At the end of an experiment the ethernet cable can be plugged in or the services restarted. This can be done by, e.g.:

>> Settings >> Control Panel >> Devices >> TCP/IP Service
>> HW Profiles >> Enable >> OK >> Start >> Close and now ping and ftp will work.