The Eye Tribe

Hi,

I'm trying to run the Eyetribe tracker on a Macbook Air (11 inch Mid 2012, Model 5.1, 1.7Ghz Core i5, Mac OSX 10.8.5).

I can calibrate and run the tracker, but after a couple of minutes it stops with the error: "The Eye Tribe Tracker has been disconnected!"
followed by: "The Eye Tribe Tracker is not supported!" and then "The tracker device has been connected but is not working"
The EyeTribe UI shows: "A Firmware updated is required."

While running, the calibration seems good, but it never works for more than about 5 to 10 minutes before disconnecting. Sometimes unplugging and replugging the device causes it to continue, but never for very long.

Is there a fix for this? It seems to be a common problem on all platforms.

Cheers,
Stewart

Error log:

Code: Select all

[16:03:32.523] INF: Initializing environment
[16:03:32.524] INF: Constructing logfile:
  /Users/stewart/eyetribe/logs/20150828160332_17115312327539052603.log

**************************************
**   The EYE TRIBE TRACKER Server   **
**************************************
Version: 0.9.56

Settings applied:
TCP port: 6555
Connections: local only
Framerate: 30

[16:03:32.538] INF: Initializing the Eye Tribe Server
[16:03:33.827] INF: Eye Tribe Tracker firmware revision is 293
[16:03:33.827] INF: Accessing Tracker device

The Eye Tribe Tracker stands ready!

[16:03:36.183] INF: Default calibration profile loaded!

The Eye Tribe Tracker has been disconnected!
2015-08-28 16:04:42.503 EyeTribe[413:4403] CameraControl Error: Control request failed: 00000000
2015-08-28 16:04:49.505 EyeTribe[413:4403] CameraControl Error: Control request failed: 00000000
2015-08-28 16:04:56.510 EyeTribe[413:4403] CameraControl Error: Control request failed: 00000000
[16:04:56.511] ERR: The Eye Tribe Tracker is not supported!

The tracker device has been connected but is not working


USB Bus status:

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USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus:

  Host Controller Location:   Built-in USB
  Host Controller Driver:   AppleUSBXHCI
  PCI Device ID:   0x1e31
  PCI Revision ID:   0x0004
  PCI Vendor ID:   0x8086
  Bus Number:   0x0a

TheEyeTribe:

  Product ID:   0x00fb
  Vendor ID:   0x29ab
  Version:    0.00
  Serial Number:   0000000001
  Speed:   Up to 5 Gb/sec
  Manufacturer:   Leopard Imaging
  Location ID:   0x15200000 / 2
  Current Available (mA):   900
  Current Required (mA):   224


Hi Stewart,

Sounds like the typical device stops issue, we have been battling this issue for some time.

What we know so far:
- Primarily affects systems designed before 2013 (1st generation USB 3.0 support).
- Heavily dependent on USB3.0 controller and driver version.
- Particularly troublesome with Renesas chips.
- Has been observed when using long cables (over 2 meters) or cheap hubs.

Know resolutions:
- Updating USB3.0 drivers resolves 50% of the cases
- Updating OS to newer version helps as the USB stack has been matured
- Flashing new device firmware helps in about 30% of unresolved cases (new watch-guard mechanism). I have sent you a PM with a download link for the flasher tool (currently only runs on Windows)

There seems to be some complaints on USB3.0 and 2012 Air. I am unaware if updating to more recent OS X (e.g. Yosemite) resolves the issue.

Do you have any possibility to test on a different system?

Thanks Martin,

The problem was resolved with a firmware upgrade. I tried versions 202-1, and 484 and both worked fine.

During tracking, I observed an increased CPU load with the latest firmware version (484), so for the moment I am using 202. Presumably it is streaming more efficiently so maybe requires that more frames be analysed.

Cheers,
Stewart

Hi Stewart,

Good to hear.

Your assumption is correct. The new firmware has slightly higher throughput, which translates to a slightly larger trackbox (in addition to more precise frame timing and robust streaming).

The modified 203 has the same modes as the original but with the new improved streaming (watchdog).