Imaqdx multiple cameras show as Local Area Connections in System tray, but only one shows up in MAX.

Question

I have two GigE cameras (Pulnix 4200GE) in my system, each having it's own NI GigE Vision Adapter. The adapters show up in Network Connections and in the system tray as "Local Area Connection" (LAC) and "Local Area Connection 2" (LAC2). However, I can only see one camera at a time in MAX. If I start with both adapters disabled, then enable LAC followed by LAC2, I see one camera (cam0), then both (cam1 shows up) but about 6 seconds later the second camera (cam1) disappears! If I enable the adapters in the reverse order (LAC2 followed by LAC), only cam0 shows up. I can see each camera alone by disabling the other adapter but I cannot get them both to stick around.
There is also an anomoly in the MAX display of the cameras. If I right-click the camera in the NI-IMAQdx folder the context menu has a 'Camera->' sub-menu which shows both cameras even if one has had its adapter disabled. And regardless of which camera I see (cam0 or cam1) the list shows the same camera is checked. This is in conflict with the data showed in the Camera Information tab of the attributes pane in MAX, which shows a different camera (ID'd from the serial number) based upon which one shows up in the folder list. And changing the selection check-marked in the 'Camera->' sub-menu has no effect on the information displayed in the attributes pane.
I have followed the troubleshooting guide and they are both DHCP-enabled and have Auto private addressing enabled. I have updated the Adapter drivers. This is a NI PXI system running Win XP.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Jesse

Answer 1

If you are running Windows XP you need to go to the network settings tab in Windows and bridge the two "NI Gige Vision Adapter" ports together (select both, right click and select option to bridge network adapters). This is due to a deficiency in Windows XP where multiple adapters within the same logical subnet (the link local address space, in this case) are not able to be used independently for broadcast traffic. This workaround is not needed on Windows Vista or later.
The details you are seeing by right-clicking the camera in MAX is the list of camera files (saved settings) that can be associated with the camera. You probably have two because both were visible at one point or another to IMAQdx and so unique ones were created. They are probably both associated with the same camera file because if they are both the same model name we have some logic that assumes that if one is removed and a new one is attached, to use the previous camera file. This only happens in certain circumstances---normally if you start with one camera and add a second (or start with two) they will both get unique files created to store their settings. In your case you can use MAX to set the correct association as needed.
Eric