Kinect v2 not detected

[Sean McHugh]

Kinect v2 not detected

I hope to buy Pro Face v2 and perhaps some of the other apps for Kinect. But this is my second try in 12 months at getting the combination to work and I am getting more than a little irritated with it.

To overcome previous difficulties with the USB host controller I now have a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Motherboard with an Intel i7-6700 @3.4 Ghz running on 32Gb of RAM.  The Graphics card is Asus with Nvidia GTX 970 running DX12. It has Intel xHCI USB host controllers

The Kinect for Windows v2 model 1517 has worked in the past but just now it seems stopped by Windows 10 Pro. [Of course this is a guess.]

I plugged the Kinect v2 into one of the back panel’s USB 3.0s although I also have a Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 which in theory could run half-a-dozen Kinects with its bandwidth.

I have downloaded the Kinect for Windows SDK v2.0_1409, installed that and the Runtime  and tried the Kinect Configuration verifier. The Verifier says that the sensor is not there. The Device Manager says it is. I am looking at it perched on my desk with a little green LED flashing away and making occasional plinky-plonk noises indicating distress. The flashing, by Microsoft, says that it is not drawing enough power to get started.

I have tried incredible numbers of variations to avoid anything on the back drawing power from the USB circuits which include, BTW, a facility that allows the PC to stop them when it feels that too much power is being drawn. And this appears to renew itself when you untick the box in Device manager. But I do not even know if that is what is causing the failure to recognise the Kinect for Windows v2 box.

I have scoured the online forums for information to no great avail. I have a suite of Reallusion  programs which don’t like to work if there is anything except RL software  with the Kinect v2. But no interference has been signalled.

 

I could use a helping hand here. What is the matter with this set-up?

I tried to upload a couple of files but I may have exceeded the size limit.

 

[Brekel]

Hi Sean,

Sorry to hear that.

The drivers (and hardware support) are something only Microsoft has control over and can help you with.

I suggest posting in their forums as they monitor it: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=kinectv2sdk

There recently was a problem reported with some not automatically updating to the latest driver as well as a bug with the latest Intel GPU's (both in the same thread here: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/14989c9d-37ac-4b37-9ade-4dc5db0aefde/i5-7200u-and-hd620-laptop-issue?forum=kinectv2sdk )

Greets

[Sean McHugh]

Hi Brekel

Thanks for that.

I tried the forum you cited and got a reply from Phil Noonan.

It sounds like you have a Kinect v1, try using the 1.8 SDK https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=40278 

The Kinect v2 has a white LED light, and model 1517 is the older kinect. Try googling images of the two types to check.

And this turned out to be correct.

Although I bought a second-generation Kinect for Windows it turned out to be still a Kinect v1 not a Kinect v2.

Investigating further I find there are now two Kinect for Xbox One variations.

Each has its own set of adapter cables for linking with the PC and/or the console.

Now I will want to link a standard Kinect for Xbox One to a PC. Does it matter which set of cables I use?

Are they both the same or are they different? Are there now two flavours of Kinect for Xbox One?

Is there a Kinect for Xbox One S?

Thanks in advance

Sean McHugh

[Brekel]

Hi Sean,

You're making things way more complicated than they really are.

Here's a pic showing the v1 and v2 sensors with their USB/power adapters.

There used to be "Kinect for Windows" and "Kinect for XBox" flavors. (v1 = for XBox 360, v2 = for XBox One)

The main difference being that the "for Windows" flavor came with the adapter included and has a different logo on the case.

Functionally they are 99% the same as the "for XBox" variants. (if you really want to know the difference I can explain but let's not overcomplicate)

Which is why the "for Windows" versions were discontinued when the adapters became available as separate products.

The XBox One S and XBox One (non-S) game console use the same Kinect v2 sensor.

Those model numbers don't matter, the official Microsoft drivers/SDK will work with any of them and most probably has to do with some internal manufacturing details.

My v1 apps work with all the v1 sensors, the v2 apps with all the v2 sensors and will download/install the v1.8 or v2.0 drivers/SDKs if it detects that's needed.

So in essence there's really only 2 sensor types to worry about that visually look very different. :)

[holgaaar Gollwitzer]

Hi Jean,

same problem here.
First I had Brekel v1 for which I bought the Kinect v1 (Kinect 360). Then I saw that wirh Brekel v2 it is possible to capture moch more detailed tracking data like complete face-mesh, non-symmetric tracking and so on.
So, I bought Brekel v2 AND a Kinect v2 (Kinect One).
But: It does not run.
Like you wrote too: Windows Device Manager sees the Kinect, but Brekel does not.
I have a solid PC System (Windows 10 64bit) with Nvidia 1080 GTX 3GB, USB3 Slot, and have installed the newest Chipset Drivers:
No chance, Brekel says "Sensor not found".
I am not only disappointed about that, but meanwhile really angry that I bought Software Brekel v2 AND a Kinect One, all together about $ 200, and it does not wirk now.
So, ...did you find a solution ??
Thx and regards

[Brekel]

Did you plug it into a USB 3.0 port?

What does the "Kinect v2 Configuration Verifier" say when analyzing your computer's hardware compatibility?

You can easily access it from the help menu in the Brekel v2 apps.

[holgaaar Gollwitzer]

Hi,
I already knew about the Configuration Verifier, and everything is green, except the USB Controller. And Yes, I know that a 3.0 port is needed - but I have one.
In the device manager the USB-Hostcontroller 3.0 is active and when I klick on Update Driver, there comes the message that the newest driver is already installed.
But it still doesn´t work.
Furthermore, I have downloaded and installed the newest Chipset-Drivers for my Board (MSI Z370-A PRO) - but even no solution.

Looks like this:
In the Software Interface, I see the three little video monitors that show active live motion: Depth, Infrared and real video. They all show live-picture taken from the Kinect. But, the most important window (the big window above where the face capture should be shown), is not active.

Again:
All components in the Config Verifier are green:

- Config Definitions
- Operating System
- Processor Cores
- RAM
- Graphics Processor
- Kinect Connected (!)
- Verify Kinect Software installed
- Verify Kinect Depth and Color Streams

ONLY the "USB Controller" is orange, but like I said: I have the newest Chipset-Updates installed for it, in the Device Manager everything is active with newest driver (the Kinect AND the USB Controllers), and I have furthermore installed the newest Chipset to my motherboard - nothing works at all.

Really don´t know anwhow what to do now.

By the way:
In Brekel V2 Face Pro in Message Lock, there is the message "bind failed with error: 10048".
Perhaps that helps.

Really hope that you can help to fix this, I have spent a lot of money and time now and I have to (should!) work now with it.

Thanks and regards

Holger

[Brekel]

Ok that's good info to know.

Since the video, infrared and depth views are showing data that indicates it's not USB related.

Body & Face tracking both rely on the GPU.

It's probably a good idea to download the latest GPU drivers from the NVidia/AMD/Intel site (depending on your graphics card) to make sure that's up to date to rule that out.

Also make sure that you're not too close to the sensor, looking at the depth view you can see that if you're very close your face will turn black (pixels it can't sense the depth of), if you step a bit back so your face is shaded grey it should be able to pick you up.

There was a report (for v3 beta I believe) on a Vega7 card not rendering anything (unfortunately I don't have one to test), not sure if that is related here.

My guess is that if it's a rendering problem you should still be able to record a file and for Face v2 also see colored bars move just below the 3D view showing the animation unit weights. (just to see if it's a rendering or tracking issue)

The bind failed error indicates that it's trying to open a socket that's already in use (for example if the app runs twice), that's a bit weird but only affects live streaming tracking data to MotionBuilder or Unity for example.

[holgaaar Gollwitzer]

Hi,

after hours of trys and trys, it finally works now.
Unfortunately I can not say exactly what the reason is and was, because I have tried so many things, like plugging the Kinect in and out a few times, have installed a few more drivers for the mainboard, and so on. By the way, on the Verifier the USB Control button is still orange (!), even if the Kinect works now.
However, glad to see it works now.

I just have one more short question:
Do you have tipps for best possible face tracking?
The most difficulty the tracker has, is when mouth makes "U"-movements, so that the mouth angles left and right come together. This is what the programm does not well yet. I have found the settings where I can configure some parameters, and it works so far. But it is not that correctly tracking I had expected.

So, beside things like having enough light in the room (and face), head distance to the Kinect, trying exaggerated movements and things like that - have you some more tipps for me?
I read that someone has sprinkled his face with black and white droplets... but I don´t wanna go that far *LOL* , ... even if nothing other works.

So, a few tipps for having best tracking, would be nice.

Thanks and regards

[holgaaar Gollwitzer]

...Brekel v1 was not able to export mesh (only Points and Joints), but was definetely mor precise and accurate with "U"- Movements of the mouth (when mouth angles come together). V1 fixed this better than v2.
Isn't there a v3 available, like from Brekel body? Or an Update on v2 that fixes this?
Thanks and regards

[Brekel]

Glad to hear it works now!

First of all make sure tracking runs at the full 30 fps, disabling auto exposure and setting it manually may help depending on your lighting situation.

You can try to run an actor calibration, that will adjust the internal tracking model to the proportions of your particular face and can help a little bit with tracking accuracy.

You can also go and tweak the Animation Unit Scale/Offset parameters to amplify certain shapes that the underlying model has difficulty with to track on your face.

The underlying tracking relies on the machine learning model built by Microsoft.

Such models are trained against hundreds of thousands of images from a wide range of people in natural conditions, so painting your face with dots will not help with such trackers.

Due to the training of the tracking model they work instantly and on anybody but they do lack the detail of highend custom built tracking models by solutions like Dynamyxz for example.

[holgaaar Gollwitzer]

Does not fit the mouth "U"-Movements really good after all, but thanks a lot for your support and answers.
Best regards