Miniscope DAQ Showing up as "Westbridge" + corrupted AVI frames (DAQ & ONIX setups)

[May Chan]

Hello! We have been trying to set up our Miniscope acquisition system for a couple months now and are running into some issues. We’re seeing device/driver recognition issues and video corruption in saved .avi files across two acquisition setups:

A) Open Ephys commutator + Miniscope DAQ + Bonsai Miniscope package/Miniscope software

1. DAQ is recognized as “Westbridge” (instead of the expected DAQ device/driver)
   • When this happens, the DAQ won’t work with both the Miniscope software/Bonsai.
   • Two DAQs were affected. Both previously worked, then failed after being unplugged and reconnected to the same PC (no changes over the weekend).
   • We have also tried multiple USB ports on our PC.

2. Bonsai Miniscope package can’t find the Miniscope when scanning indices
   • Windows Device Manager shows the camera as “MINISCOPE” under Cameras.

3. Saved videos contain corrupted frames (tiling/scrambling)
   • Preview in the Bonsai visualizer looks normal during acquisition.
   • We are writing to .avi using DIB.

Hardware note: one tether was soldered directly to a Miniscope to rule out a loose connector, but we haven’t been able to retest broader scope/tether combinations on this setup due to the DAQ recognition issue.

B) Open Ephys ONIX commutator + ONIX acquisition board + ONIX Bonsai Miniscope package

1. Saved videos contain corrupted frames (tiling/scrambling)
   • Live preview in the Bonsai visualizer looks normal.
   • We are writing to .avi using DIB.
   • Occurs across multiple hardware permutations (3 scopes, 3 tethers; same behavior even before/after soldering one tether to a scope).

2. Port communication errors in Bonsai prevent workflows from starting/acquisition from initiating.
3. So far, we have checked:
   • ONIX board + PCIe driver versions
   • Bonsai package versions
   •  Cable continuity / resistance checks for shorts

 

Because the same file corruption issue appears across both DAQ and ONIX setups, we think the corruption may be introduced during encoding/writing or due to bandwidth/power/transport instability rather than at the sensor. If it is the latter, any advice on how to narrow down the issue would be appreciated!

We’re also seeking guidance on alternative codecs settings to try (beyond DIB), and how to prevent/recover from the DAQ driver from being recognized as “Westbridge” instead of “MINISCOPE”. In the meantime, we’ll attempt another recording with the DAQ setup and a different scope + tether combination if we can get the driver to be recognized again.

 

Thank you so much!

 

[Daniel Aharoni]

Hi,

This is an interesting issue. Since somewhat related issues are showing up across the 2, quite different, DAQ setups, I would guess that the issues are showing up before the data ever makes it to the DAQs (issues with Miniscopes, coax cabling, commutator) or after it is processed in the DAQs (codec). We have never used the DIB codec ourselves so can't speak to it much. You might want to try GREY or FFV1 since these are the most common ones used with Miniscopes. 

As for the driver recognition issues for the Miniscope DAQs, I am not sure what could cause this. If they show up as a Westbridge device, it means the DAQ is defaulting to its pre-installed bootloader and never loading up the Miniscope firmware. This could be caused by a physical switch being changed on the DAQ (which sounds unlikely) or maybe a corrupted Miniscope firmware image. Do you have a DAQ where it has a small EEPROM memory chip that can be physically pulled out or is everything on the board soldered in place?