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?

[May Chan]

Hello!

Our DAQs are the v3.2 ones from Labmaker so I believe everything is soldered in place. After reuploading the firmware, the DAQs are once again being recognized. It's unclear what caused the failure to load in the first place but we are one step closer to getting the system running so we can test whether signal issues stemming from hardware or codecs are the source of our corrupted frames. Oddly, when using the ONIX system, only DIB resulted in a video being written to file whereas GREY and FFV1 resulted in blank files.

We were able to get the Miniscopes working with the updated DAQs with both the Miniscope software and the Open Ephys Miniscope package on our testing machine, but were running into the attached issues on our primary acquisition machine when trying to select the Miniscope index via the Open Ephys Miniscope bonsai node. I'm not sure if it's a common error, but could this be related to dependency issues and would you recommend a clean install of Bonsai and related packages? 

We appreciate your thoughtful response and hope to hear back! 

[Rose Presby]

Hi!

I'm having a similar issue where my DAQs are showing up as Westbridge but because of this I can't update the firmware (see pictures below). We are using v3.3. Can you explain how you were able to update your firmware with it reading as Westbridge? Were you able to just follow the directions on the GitHub?

Thanks!

Rose

  

[Ed Hayter]

Hi all, 

For the record, I have also been having this 'westbridge' issue a bunch. Across 2 separate open ephys daqs (v3.3), using the open ephys commutator, powered usb hub and recording in bonsai. 

I've also found reuploading the firmware fixes it. 

@rose - if the daq is still showing up as 'westbridge' with the jumpers in the correct place, I think you need to update your drivers for it to be recognised as a cypress bootloader, then you can follow the instructions on github. The drivers should be included in the ez-usb suite download. Go to device manager, right click westbridge, update drivers and navigate to the driver. 

Hope it works!

Best,

Ed

[Rose Presby]

Thanks Ed!

Updating the drivers did the trick. Really appreciate your input. :)

Best,

Rose