Euresys Picolo Capture Cards

jones9999

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Hello

I searched the BI forum and didn't find a thread about Euresys Piccolo Cards (high end capture cards), specifically the Diligent capture card, which in its stand alone configuration will capture 4 feeds via BNC connectors, it also has the ability to use add on cards for up to ?? number of feeds.

On Version 3.xx of Blue Iris the software saw the card just fine and used several (2) of the feeds to capture and record just as you would suspect it would

Now on Version 4.xx (latest) it doesn't see the capture card at all and shows "Device not Connected"

the card is visible on device manager, and using Euresys "MultiCam" software it sees it fine also.

when I switch back to Blue Iris 3.xx it also sees the card fine and works like it is suppose to

Any ideas? any suggestions that are productive (ha) would be appreciated

Running Windows 7 Pro on a IBM x3650 7979 server. 24Gb Ram, 2 120Gb SSD, several spinning disk drives, 2 Xeon 2.4 Ghz 4 core processors with a Euresys Piccolo Diligent capture card (4 feeds)

RANT:
Also I emailed Blue Iris support as to several errors and there has been NO response, yet they did an update/new version. Of course I didn't know that until I went to the site after a week or so because I hadn't heard back from them. (wasn't using the ver 4 because it didn't show two of my cameras) Oh but they can email me immediately if I inadvertently loaded the ver 3 on my video server and laptop at the same time. (wow it was speedy then)

to this day I haven't heard a word back from Support as to this issue of not seeing the card that is clearly visible in the device manager and ver 3.xx

jones9999
 

fenderman

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Welcome to the forum!
The issue you are having with the card is most likely related to 64bit..are you running blue iris 64? if so then your card may be using 32 bit drivers...which are not compatible...use BI4 32bit.
With respect to support....understand that the developer is the only person writing the software and providing support..yes one single person, this is one of the reasons the software is so affordable. (although in the v4 release notes he indicates that there will be a dedicated support person, so that should improve things). Also understand that this software was released about two weeks ago and there were initial bugs that had priority over your emails. Your emails may have been missed, or sent to trash..who knows..

if you are using two licenses at the same time, that email is probably and automated response...
 

jones9999

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Welcome to the forum!
The issue you are having with the card is most likely related to 64bit..are you running blue iris 64? if so then your card may be using 32 bit drivers...which are not compatible...use BI4 32bit.
With respect to support....understand that the developer is the only person writing the software and providing support..yes one single person, this is one of the reasons the software is so affordable. (although in the v4 release notes he indicates that there will be a dedicated support person, so that should improve things). Also understand that this software was released about two weeks ago and there were initial bugs that had priority over your emails. Your emails may have been missed, or sent to trash..who knows..

if you are using two licenses at the same time, that email is probably and automated response...
Thank you for this message, I was in error by not waiting enough time, I didn't know it was only one person. so I admit wrongly being hasty.

I do not wish to besmirch the great work that this software is,

As for the BI4 32bit, where do I get that? the installer doesn't give me the option to install a 64bit or a 32bit

Thank you for setting me straight.
 

blake

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In the download wizard, it should allow you to select 64bit or 32bit.
 

jones9999

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In the download wizard, it should allow you to select 64bit or 32bit.
Yes, I found it, I had to uninstall and then reinstall the first version then the selection showed up, so it is now working. I did contact Euresys and this card is "retired" my words not theirs (they were more complex with obsolete). it is interesting how information is sometimes hard to come by and as I was in a hurry.

Now I will learn the newer version and move forward.

Thank you all for your help
 

fenderman

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Yes, I found it, I had to uninstall and then reinstall the first version then the selection showed up, so it is now working. I did contact Euresys and this card is "retired" my words not theirs (they were more complex with obsolete). it is interesting how information is sometimes hard to come by and as I was in a hurry.

Now I will learn the newer version and move forward.

Thank you all for your help
Many of the cards that are still being sold like bluecherry only have 32 bit drivers as well..the good thing is that by using 32 you will not lose any functionality or performance compared to the 64 bit..it only matters if you are maxing out the memory..which is highly unlikely..
Note the help file does contain a 64 bit workaround for certain cards..even if your card is capable of 64 bit via these other drivers...i would leave it at 32, you have nothing to gain by going to 64 unless blue iris is crashing because its running out of memory and you would need may cameras to get to that point.

BT8x8 Compatibility
Blue Iris is compatible with virtually all of the inexpensive BT8x8-based 4-input capture cards available today, and is able to use multiple input ports on those cards simultaneously. In order to offer these cards so cheaply, manufacturers include a SINGLE BT8x8 video capture chip. It is then up to the software to choose which input signal to use. In order to use them all simultaneously, the software must "multiplex" the 4 signals into the BT8x8, and then de-multiplex the captured video so that you may see each input independently.
On 32-bit Windows, the Conexant Universal BT8x8 driver has been found to work reliably with these cards. Please install the Conexant Universal BT8x8 driver by following these instructions:
Download and install the driver from btwincap.sourceforge.net. This installer allows you to first un-install any remnants of any other BT8x8 drivers. If your card is not listed as one that is supported, choose Custom, and be sure to select "no TV tuner" and "no S-video" unless your card actually has those features.
In Blue Iris, you will see a new DirectShow driver for your card, and the input pin drop down will allow you to select one of your card's inputs. You may create a new camera for each of these inputs by using the same DirectShow driver.
You will find that a framerate of about 10 is most appropriate for these cards (which is then divided among the cameras you add). You may attempt to push this to 15, but at that rate, you may notice anomalies such as repeated frames, flickering, and images from other cameras, due to the fact that the card requires some time to switch inputs before a valid image is available.
Internally, the first camera that is created (usually first alphabetically when starting Blue Iris) becomes the "parent" and other cameras using the same driver become "dependents" to that first camera. This means that you should make x,y size and framerate changes on the parent in order for the changes to take affect, and when you make changes to the parent, the dependents are automatically reset.
Ideally you should choose a capture card that has 1 BT8x8 chip for each input--this provides a full 30fps possibility for each camera and is less prone to tearing or image bleeding between the inputs. An excellent choice is the PV149 card available from bluecherry.net.
On 64-bit Windows, it has been found that the 64-bit driver for the Winnov Videum series of cards works well for many other BT8x8 cards, including the PV149. After installing the driver, to prevent the use of the crossbar filter, you should run RegEdit and create a new key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WnvAvs\VidCap and then add a DWORD value called "crossbar" with value 0 and reboot.
Another choice for analog capture card is the TW-220 and similar also available from bluecherry.net. This card uses a Techwell chipset, for which WDM drivers are now available in both 32 and 64-bit variety.
 

jones9999

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Many of the cards that are still being sold like bluecherry only have 32 bit drivers as well..the good thing is that by using 32 you will not lose any functionality or performance compared to the 64 bit..it only matters if you are maxing out the memory..which is highly unlikely..
Note the help file does contain a 64 bit workaround for certain cards..even if your card is capable of 64 bit via these other drivers...i would leave it at 32, you have nothing to gain by going to 64 unless blue iris is crashing because its running out of memory and you would need may cameras to get to that point.

BT8x8 Compatibility

Blue Iris is compatible with virtually all of the inexpensive BT8x8-based 4-input capture cards available today, and is able to use multiple input ports on those cards simultaneously. In order to offer these cards so cheaply, manufacturers include a SINGLE BT8x8 video capture chip. It is then up to the software to choose which input signal to use. In order to use them all simultaneously, the software must "multiplex" the 4 signals into the BT8x8, and then de-multiplex the captured video so that you may see each input independently.

On 32-bit Windows, the Conexant Universal BT8x8 driver has been found to work reliably with these cards. Please install the Conexant Universal BT8x8 driver by following these instructions:

Download and install the driver from btwincap.sourceforge.net. This installer allows you to first un-install any remnants of any other BT8x8 drivers. If your card is not listed as one that is supported, choose Custom, and be sure to select "no TV tuner" and "no S-video" unless your card actually has those features.

In Blue Iris, you will see a new DirectShow driver for your card, and the input pin drop down will allow you to select one of your card's inputs. You may create a new camera for each of these inputs by using the same DirectShow driver.

You will find that a framerate of about 10 is most appropriate for these cards (which is then divided among the cameras you add). You may attempt to push this to 15, but at that rate, you may notice anomalies such as repeated frames, flickering, and images from other cameras, due to the fact that the card requires some time to switch inputs before a valid image is available.

Internally, the first camera that is created (usually first alphabetically when starting Blue Iris) becomes the "parent" and other cameras using the same driver become "dependents" to that first camera. This means that you should make x,y size and framerate changes on the parent in order for the changes to take affect, and when you make changes to the parent, the dependents are automatically reset.

Ideally you should choose a capture card that has 1 BT8x8 chip for each input--this provides a full 30fps possibility for each camera and is less prone to tearing or image bleeding between the inputs. An excellent choice is the PV149 card available from bluecherry.net.

On 64-bit Windows, it has been found that the 64-bit driver for the Winnov Videum series of cards works well for many other BT8x8 cards, including the PV149. After installing the driver, to prevent the use of the crossbar filter, you should run RegEdit and create a new key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WnvAvs\VidCap and then add a DWORD value called "crossbar" with value 0 and reboot.

Another choice for analog capture card is the TW-220 and similar also available from bluecherry.net. This card uses a Techwell chipset, for which WDM drivers are now available in both 32 and 64-bit variety.
Thank you for the information, I believe this card (Picolo Diligent full size PCI Capture Card) does indeed have a chip per stream, if it had some VEB (video expansion boards) then it would share the chips, however I am only using the four native outputs so it will have a lot of power.

The unit now works since I removed the 64bit and went to the 32bit software, I am not lacking in memory since I allocate any other high usage to a virtual machine (running windows 10 preview, Windows XP and Ubuntu all on their own virtual machine) 2 Xeons quad core SSDs and 24gb server memory is not a big lift.

again thank you for your post, I am sure that it will explain some things to others besides myself

Great software (Blue Iris 4)
 
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