Add support for NI USB-6212

[medengineer]

From @paolahydra

[open-ephys] Session Start Time: 7 Mar 2024 18:03:47
[open-ephys] Open Ephys GUI v0.6.7 (Plugin API v8)
[open-ephys] JUCE v6.0.8
[open-ephys] Operating System: Windows 10
[open-ephys] CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700KF CPU @ 3.80GHz (16 core)
[open-ephys] Audio device name: PHL 328P6V (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)

[open-ephys] Audio device type: Windows Audio
[open-ephys] Audio output channels: 2
[open-ephys] Audio device sample rate: 44100
[open-ephys] Audio device buffer size: 1024

[open-ephys] Checking for a newer version of the GUI...
[open-ephys] Loading configuration from D:\synched_NPX_NIDAQ_configuration
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Neuropix-PXI
[open-ephys] Scanning for devices...
[open-ephys]   Found 1 device.
[open-ephys]   Opening device on slot 3
[open-ephys]   Opened BS on slot 3
[open-ephys]   BS firmware: 2.0169
[open-ephys]     Searching for probes...
[open-ephys] Got HS part #: NP2_HS_30
[open-ephys]       Found 1.0 single-dock headstage on port: 1
[open-ephys]    Found probe part number: PRB_1_4_0480_1_C
[open-ephys] Opening probe...
[open-ephys] openProbe: slot: 3 port: 1 dock: 1 errorCode: 0
[open-ephys] Headstage has 1 valid probe connected.
[open-ephys] Got HS part #: NPM_HS_31
[open-ephys]       Found 2.0 dual-dock headstage on port: 3
[open-ephys]    Found probe part number: NP2014
[open-ephys]    Found probe serial number: 22420007294
[open-ephys]   No headstage detected on port: 2
[open-ephys]   No headstage detected on port: 4
[open-ephys]     Found 2 probes.
[open-ephys] Insertion index:0
[open-ephys]   Adding basestation
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Merger
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Record Node
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Neuropixels CAR
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Bandpass Filter
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: LFP Viewer
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: Probe Viewer
[open-ephys] Creating processor with name: NI-DAQmx

[open-ephys] Apply probe settings for Neuropixels 1.0 shouldUpdate: 0
[open-ephys] Apply probe settings for Neuropixels 2.0 - Multishank shouldUpdate: 0
[open-ephys] Running background thread...
[open-ephys] Not initialized.
[open-ephys] Arming basestation
[open-ephys] Arming complete
[open-ephys] Updating settings for 2 probes.
[open-ephys]  Updating queue for probe Neuropixels 1.0
[open-ephys]  Updating queue for probe Neuropixels 2.0 - Multishank
[open-ephys] Initialized, applying probe settings...
[open-ephys] Applying probe settings for Neuropixels 1.0
[open-ephys] Wrote configuration
[open-ephys] Applying probe settings for Neuropixels 2.0 - Multishank
[open-ephys] Wrote configuration
[open-ephys] Adding audio callback.
[open-ephys] ***ERROR*** DAQmx Error: Requested value is not a supported value for this property. The property value may be invalid because it conflicts with another property.
Property: DAQmx_SampTimingType
Requested Value: DAQmx_Val_SampClk
Possible Values: DAQmx_Val_OnDemand

Task Name: DITask_USB30487317port0

Status Code: -200077
[open-ephys] Stopping Neuropixels thread.
[open-ephys] Basestation stopping acquisition.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Arming PXI slot 3...
[open-ephys] Removing audio callback.
[open-ephys] Arming complete.
[open-ephys] Adding audio callback.
[open-ephys] ***ERROR*** DAQmx Error: Task name specified conflicts with an existing task name.
Task Name: DITask_USB30487317port0

Status Code: -200089
[open-ephys] Stopping Neuropixels thread.
[open-ephys] Basestation stopping acquisition.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Arming PXI slot 3...
[open-ephys] Removing audio callback.
[open-ephys] Arming complete.
[open-ephys] Adding audio callback.
[open-ephys] ***ERROR*** DAQmx Error: Task name specified conflicts with an existing task name.
Task Name: DITask_USB30487317port0

Status Code: -200089
[open-ephys] Stopping Neuropixels thread.
[open-ephys] Basestation stopping acquisition.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Probe stopping thread.
[open-ephys] Arming PXI slot 3...
[open-ephys] Removing audio callback.
[open-ephys] Arming complete.

[medengineer]

@paolahydra

I've attached the updated plugin below. You can extract the .dll file and replace the nidaq-plugin.dll in C:/ProgramData/OpenEphys/plugins with this new one to test.

nidaq-plugin-usb-6212.zip

[paolahydra]

Thanks a lot! I will try it tomorrow and let you know.

[paolahydra]

Hi @medengineer,
with this version, the acquisition starts, I get no errors on the console, and everything seems to be working properly. Thanks a lot!
Is there anything else that I should test?

Paola

[medengineer]

Great, no additional testing is necessary!

[Bioarti]

Hi there,
I'm encountering a similar issue with the NI USB-6212 device while using the Open Ephys NI-DAQ plugin. Specifically, I'm getting the DAQmx error -200077 related to the SampTimingType property, where the requested value is DAQmx_Val_SampClk, but the device only supports DAQmx_Val_OnDemand. This prevents the digital input task from initializing properly, and acquisition fails.
From what I've read in this thread, the problems with the USB-6001 seem quite analogous to those with the USB-6212 (both lack hardware-timed support for digital I/O). I noticed that @medengineer kindly shared a modified DLL in the attached zip file (nidaq-plugin-usb-6212.zip), which resolved the error for the USB-6212. User feedback from @paolahydra indicates that after replacing the DLL in plugins (or the appropriate API-specific folder like plugins-api8), data acquisition worked successfully without any errors.
I'd like to try this approach for my USB-6001 setup. However, I understand this is not an official release and was built for Plugin API v8. My Open Ephys GUI is version API v8, so I'm wondering if rebuilding the plugin from source might be necessary for compatibility. Has anyone tested this modified DLL with newer GUI versions or similar devices like the USB-6001? Any advice or additional modifications would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help and for maintaining this useful plugin. I really value the community's efforts here.

[medengineer]

Hi,

Here's an updated version of nidaq-plugin with the USB fix for the latest version of the GUI (v1.0.1). Tested w/ USB-6001. Let me know if there are further issues.