If you have never installed a FireWire device, read these guidelines before connecting your camera.
Q. What sequence should I use to perform the installation?
Install the software before connecting the camera for the first time. See the Installation Procedure for details.
Q. Do I need to reboot my machine after the install?
It is normally not necessary to reboot. You do not need to power down the computer to connect or disconnect a PixeLINK FireWire camera, nor do you need to reboot after this is done.
If, however, you are having trouble getting Windows to recognize the camera or to use the PixeLINK Driver, it may be helpful to reboot.
Q. Is there a specific FireWire port I should connect to?
You may use any available FireWire port on the computer or on the camera. The operating system will detect the connection automatically.
Q. Can I connect the camera to two PCs?
No. Only one PC can control the camera at the same time. Besides why would you want to do that? If it's cool, we want to know.
Q. Can I make more than one connection between the camera and the computer?
No. If you duplicate a connection, the equipment will not be able to communicate properly and the system may crash.
If you connect more than two cameras together, make sure that you do not create a functional loop. This will have the same consequences as making a duplicate connection between a single camera and the computer. For example, if you connect camera A to camera B and camera B to camera C, you should not connect camera A directly to camera C.
Q. Where do I plug in the wall-mount power supply?
With FireWire, there's no need for an external supply. The computer’s FireWire bus can supply power to the camera as long as the computer has a six-pin FireWire connector and the total power demand on the bus does not exceed the bus capacity.
Some laptops have four-pin FireWire connectors; these do not provide power to the camera from the computer. You'll need PixeLINK's laptop adaptor accessory.
Q. What is the difference between a Camera Kit and an SDK?
The SDK includes the tools you need to develop your own applications that use the PixeLINK API.
This means that the C/C++ header and library files are included so that you can write code in C, C++, or Visual Basic that calls functions in the PixeLINK API. The runtime of the API is in a single DLL, PxLApi40.dll.
Otherwise, the Camera Kit and the SDK Kit contain the same things – PixeLINK Capture OEM, Documentation, Wizards, etc.