UniBrain / Products / ubCore(TM) 1394b drivers

ubCore(TM) 1394b drivers

Overview

ubCore(TM) 1394b drivers

ubCore™, is the first and only driver suite that fully supports the 1394b standard. It is highly recommended by Texas Instruments as the ideal software companion for their 1394b chipset.

ubCore™ is a set of low-level drivers with a top-down layered structure that provides the physical interface to various 1394 devices and includes the following advantageous features:

  • Full 1394b support at 800Mbps.
  • Support for future standard speeds (S1600 and S3200).
  • Full 1394b CAT5 (100/400 Mbps) and POF (200 Mbps) support.
  • Full 1394b GOF support at 800 Mbps speeds.
  • Complete 1394a and 1394b SBP2 disk support.
  • Complete support of 1394a and 1394b IIDC compliant cameras.
  • Comprehensive set of tools and applications.
  • Full Plug & Play support for Windows 2003-8 Server/Vista/7/8/10.
  • Support for 64 bit Windows Operating Systems (AMD64 and Intel EM64t CPUs).
  • Microsoft signed drivers for Windows Vista/7/8 32 bit and 64 bit.
  • User friendly installation wizard.

ubCore™ combined with FireAPI™ (Unibrain’s 1394 Development Toolkit), provides to the software developer a powerful set of functions and tools that enables him to integrate 1394 technology into his product.

Features

ubCore™ drivers come into 2 “flavors” (versions): ‘ubCore’ and ‘ubCore Pro‘.
ubCore™  is oriented for end users who want to utilize the full Firewire-800 speed of their 1394b devices (webcams, firewire hard drives, networking) and it is available as a free download, while ubCore Pro™ is oriented for professional users and FireAPI™ SDK customers.
ubCore Pro™ is not free; a FireAPI license is required for it’s full features and applications to be activated.
The same license is also required so that applications developed with FireAPI SDK, will execute in runtime systems.

Versions

IIDC firewire cameras support

Yes (up to VGA only)
SBP2 driver support

Yes
64 bit OS support

Yes
Fire-i™ application

No
Firewire Bus topology viewer

No
Firewire command-line control tool

No
IIDC Explorer camera control tool

No
1394 driver auto-switch utility

Yes
A/V devices and DV cameras support

No

ubCore™ 1394a – 1394b Windows drivers Product History

November 2012 – Version 6.00

  • Added: support for DAP Technology S1600 chipset, adapters and Sony S1600 cameras.
  • Added: support for Windows 8, WHQL signed drivers for Windows 8.
  • Added: support for the new Fire-i 550, Fire-i 850 1394a CMOS camera models.
  • Added: option to save the frame buffer to a raw file (Fire-i Application).
  • Added: Fire-i NET SDK library is now merged into ubCore installation.
  • Fixed: SBP2 driver power management issues on Win8 (sbp2.sys).
  • Fixed: Saving frames in Tiff16 format, the info was truncated to 8-bit (Fire-iApplication).
  • Fixed: Changing packet size in Format7, is not updated on the camera (Fire-iX, Fire-i.NET).
  • Fixed: Hardware license may not be recognized on some FireBoardBlue_e adapters (ubohci.sys).
  • Fixed: Rare crash when using many small isochronous requests on fast systems (ubohci.sys).
  • Firenet networking driver removed from ubCore runtime, not supported anymore.

September 2011 – Version 5.80

  • Added support for choosing jpeg quality level when saving frames (Fire-i application).
  • Added trigger parameter set box, in the trigger dialog (Fire-i application).
  • Fixed: Rare crash of miniport OHCI driver in multicore or multripocessor systems.
  • Fixed: Rare crash on IIDC camera driver when booting system with cameras connected.

January 2011 – Version 5.72

  • Added: support for absolute camera registers in DLL interface (UB1394.DLL).
  • Added: software absolute support for Unibrain cameras in the DLL interface (UB1394.DLL).

December 2010 – Version 5.71

  • Added jumbo packet support for Fire-i 780 cameras (UB1394.DLL)
  • Fixed: Unintended frame skip when using Snapshot button (Fire-i app)
  • Fixed: Firenet driver installation glitches in modified setup.
  • Fixed: Camera license tool x64 cannot license WoW apps in Win x64 OS.
  • Added: Some features in Fire-i X SDK, details here.

April 2010 – Version 5.70

  • Added support for Licensed version of Fireboard800 Pro Dual adapter.
  • Added video capture functionality in ub1394.dll (Fire-i DLL API)
  • Fixed: some ubCore upgrade issues when an older verion is already installed.
  • Added support for RAW formats in 64 bit version of Fire-i IIDC app.
  • Added software absolute shutter support for Unibrain Fire-i board Pro and industrial cameras.

October 2009 – Version 5.63

  • WHQL Signed Windows 7/Vista/XP drivers.
  • Fixed: ubohci driver crash when receiving jumbo-packet frames from a high resolution camera.
  • Fixed: Problem saving frames from Little-Endian cameras (IIDC driver).
  • Added support for Unibrain Fire-i 980 5 Mpixel 1394b camera (IIDC driver).

April 2009 – Version 5.62

  • Added support for Windows 7 beta (build 7000 or later).
  • Fixed: Multiple sleep/resume cycles with SBP2 devices connected may lead to system crash.
  • Fixed: Fire-i application should remember last FPS selected.
  • Fixed: Fidcam.sys IIDC driver must first stop the camera before detaching isochronous descriptors.
  • Firenet driver is not installed by default anymore.

December 2008 – Version 5.60

  • Added support for VersaPHY.
  • Added support for latest LSI 1394b PCI express chipset (FW643-e).
  • Fixed: ExpressCard or PCMCIA adapter removal my cause system crash.
  • Fixed: Restore settings after new install does not work correctly.
  • Fixed: SCSI pass through fails from 32-bit process on x64 OS (SBP2 driver).
  • Fixed: SBM should NOT optimize gap_count when only 1394b nodes are on the bus.

August 2008 – Version 5.52

  • Added: Fire-i X ActiveX control/SDK library in ubCore Pro runtimes.
  • Fixed: SBP2 driver crash in volumes larger than 4 TB.
  • Fixed: SBP2 driver fails to recognize multiple external hard drives at boot.
  • Fixed: NMI system crash on certain Xeon systems during isochronous transmit.
  • Fixed: SBM produces gap_count 63 when the zero ping bug is in effect.

June 2008 – Version 5.51

  • Added: Support for RAID external hard drive enclosures.
  • Added: Fire-i Ms stack (fidcam.sys) added in ubCore Pro setup.
  • Added: Add capability in CFiCamera to select the video format with a GUI.
  • Fixed: Image streaming freezing periodically at 60 fps (or more) in Firei application.
  • Many improvements and various minor fixes in FireViewer, ubSwitch, FireIIDC utilities.

February 2008 – Version 5.50

  • Added: DMA channel multiplexing at the driver level, completely transparent to user mode.
  • Added: NDIS 6.0 support for Firenet driver in Windows Vista 32/64 bit for improved performance.
  • Added: Maximum 64 adapters supported by all drivers in ubCore.
  • Added: RAW-8 mode support in Fire-i WDM driver and Firei.dll.
  • Added: RAW mode support and Format-7 color codings in Firei.dll. (ubCore Pro only)
  • Added: Advanced features support in new Sony, PointGrey and AVT 1394b cameras. (ubCore Pro only)
  • Added: Many new features/commands in FireViewer, FireCommander and Fire-i IIDC applications (ubCore Pro only)
 October 2007 – Version 5.21

  • Fixed: Significant improvement in system stability on Windows Vista when sleeping/resuming with FireNet installed.
  • Fixed: Fatal NMI error during setup on specific computer hardware with 1394b PCI adapters.
  • Fixed: Incorrect isochronous timeout handling causes OS resource leaks on x86/x64 systems.
  • Fixed: Serial Bus Manager driver now supports more than 4 firewire adapters.
  • Fixed: IIDC camera driver (UBDCAM.SYS) sets initial max packet size for Format 7 correctly.
  • Added: DMA limit for iso operations based on operating system and hardware.
  • Added: IIDC camera driver (UBDCAM.SYS) automatically breaks image iso requests according to DMA limit.

June 2007 – Version 5.20

  • Added support for LSI (Agere) FW643 1394b to PCI express chipset.
  • Added ISO command in FireCommander for performing isochronous operations.
  • Fixed: system crash when doing multiple concurrent isochronous receives.
  • Fixed: Firei.exe crashes sometimes when copying video file after capture. (ubCore Pro only)

May 2007 – Version 5.13

  • Singed drivers for Windows Vista 32 and 64 bit editions.
  • Added: x86 FireAPI applications can run on x64 systems.
  • Added: 64-bit Fire-i application on x64 systems. (ubCore Pro only)
  • Dual x86/x64 DirectShow Filter support on x64 systems. (ubCore Pro only)
  • NEW!: FireIIDC™ camera control application, based on firei.dll  (ubCore Pro only)

January 2007 – Version 5.12

  • Added: Complete and improved redesign of the installation engine.
  • Fixed: Improved support for Windows Vista (RTM)
  • Fixed: IIDC drivers fail to operate with cameras that fail read/write requests with resp_conflict.
  • Fixed: Improved support for AVT Pike 1394b cameras.
  • Fixed: High resolution image streams cause IIDC driver video to halt.

December 2006 – Version 5.11

  • Added: Windows Vista (32 bit) support.
  • Added: Multiple new commands in FireCommander & ubTweak utilities (ubCore Pro only)
  • Fixed: Maxtor One-Touch™ external 1394b hard drives incompatibility
  • Fixed: Multiple Firenet network driver power management issues
  • Fixed: Minor issues with specific IIDC cameras which respond with delay in very fast computers (ubCore Pro only)

October 2006 – Version 5.10

  • Added: Custom Configuration ROM contents (virtual devices).
  • New improved SDK license/activation utility.
    (ubCorePro only)
  • Added: Ability to change the maximum address range size.
  • Added: Multiple freeing of Map Registers by ubohci.sys.
  • Fixed various issues in the isochronous engine.
  • New enhanced versions of ubTweak, FireCommander and ubSwitch utilities. (ubCore Pro only)
  • Various bug fixes in IIDC and Firenet drivers

June 2006 – Version 5.0

  • Important bug fixes and driver performance improvements.
  • Added ubTweak™, driver configuration/tuning utility
    (ubCorePro only).
  • Added support for Oxford 922 RAID external hard drives (SBP2 driver).
  • The drivers are now compliant with 1394 Trade Association Base 1394 test.
  • Added ability to disable Plug & Play for certain devices.

February 2006 – Version 4.0

  • Full Windows Plug & Play support. Easy switch between Unibrain and Microsoft driver via a single click (“ubswitch” application).
  • Added support for Windows Power Management.
  • Added support for Windows 2003 Server Operating System.
  • Added support for Windows XP 64 bit (AMD Athlon 64 and Intel EM64t).
  • Added IIDC 1394 cameras DirectShow WDM compliant driver and control application.
  • Added support for 1394b (Firewire-800) IIDC cameras.
  • Added support for S1600/S3200.

July 2003 – Version 3.0

  • Added support for 1394b (Firewire-800).
  • Added support for SBP2 interface.
  • Added FireShare application.
  • Added support for FireBoard Blue™.
  • Added support for FireBoard 800™.
  • Added support for PCMCIA OHCI cards.
  • Added support for optical cables and repeaters.

April 2002 – Version 2.1

  • Added support for Windows XP.
  • Added support for 3rd party OHCI cards.

September 2001 – Version 2.0

  • Added support for FireBoard 400-OHCI card.
  • Added support for Windows ME.

July 2000 – Version 1.6

  • Added support for Windows 2000.

June 1999 – Version 1.5

  • Added support for IIDC cameras.
  • Added support for Windows 98SE.

June 1998 – Version 1.0

  • Support FireBoard-400 Lynx-2 PCI adapter.
  • Supports Windows NT 4.0.
  • Supports Kernel mode for driver development.
  • Support User mode for application development.
  • Support for FireWire Networking (Firenet driver).
  • Added Fireviewer and FireCommander tools.