Hifi write freeze

wstagnaro

Hi,
I've been having an issue loading sounds onto the Hifi module. Intermittently while running a behavior session, it will get stuck in the port write (particularly line 284 of the HiFi module code) and requires physically disconnecting and reconnecting the USB to interrupt the wave transfer and get Bpod and Bcontrol to recognize the hifi module again. After the first few times this happened, I pushed the firmware again and had about a week of normal use before the issue started cropping up again every 500 trials or so. Any ideas on how to get around this?

Because we generate new stimulus sounds each trial, this has been happening during training when the next stimulus/trial is being loaded. It is also being written to the same slot in memory as the trial before, though I haven't had this issue either using an AOM to generate stimulus sounds on the same setup or using a different Hifi module on an identical setup and protocol.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Wynne

Josh

Hello Wynne,

If the HiFi module code you're referring to is the current version of /Modules/BpodHiFi.m, line 284 loads an AM envelope to the device. This only needs to be done once per session, unless you need a different envelope for each trial. If you try to upload an envelope to the device while a sound is playing, you may get some interference with the audio playback, and possibly the situation you're seeing.

If you comment out the line where you load the envelope (H.AMenvelope = myEnvelope), does the issue go away?

Thanks,
Josh

wstagnaro

Hi Josh,

Apologies, got the wrong line number somehow. It's actually line 352 so does need to be loaded (with the new, next trial's sound) each trial. The load happens after the sounds have played for the trial, so that shouldn't be the interference.

Wynne

Josh

Hello Wynne,

Can you please share some information about your setup:

Operating system
MATLAB version
PsychToolbox version (if installed)
A list of all USB devices connected to the PC

Just to make sure all bases are covered, can you please try swapping out the USB cable with the working one, to see if the issue moves with the cable?

Thanks,
Josh

wstagnaro

Hi Josh,

I'm running Windows 10 (10.0.19045 specifically), Matlab 2019b, and Psychtoolbox ver 3.0.16.

The connected devices are the Bpod and Hifi Module, and a touchscreen monitor. I have replaced the cable and still have the issue, but I will do the swap and check the behavior!

Wynne

wstagnaro

Hi Josh,

Just wanted to update you that the write issue has stayed with the hifi module and not the USB cable--I've gotten 4 write freezes on the initially problematic device and none on the other since the switch. I also reloaded the firmware after 2 write freezes, and got the 2 new freezes soon after.

Wynne

Josh

Hello Wynne,

Please reach out to support@sanworks.io and we'll exchange it for a working unit.

Thanks,

-Josh