Reinstalling the Picolo Alert drivers for EthoVision
The Picolo Alert is used as the framegrabber card for EthoVision XT 14 and up. This card has four round metal BNC ports directly on the back of the computer, with a small red block of tiny DIP switches next to input 1.
The Picolo Diligent looks the same from the outside of the computer, but was used only in much older systems. If your system originally had EthoVision XT 8 or earlier, and was running an older 32-bit version of Windows, it would have had the Diligent, not the Alert, unless you upgraded the card when upgrading to EthoVision XT 14 or 15. The Picolo Diligent will not work with Windows 10 or any 64-bit version of Windows (other Picolo cards do work in these versions).
If the card has one wide connector on the back of the computer, with a breakout cable splitting into 6 or 10 short (1’) black cables each with a round metal numbered BNC connector on the end, that is the Picolo U4 or U8, not the Picolo Alert.
When is reinstallation required?
If your card is the Picolo Alert but it is not recognized by EthoVision, please follow the directions below to uninstall and reinstall the card. Do not install drivers for other Picolo cards (e.g. do not install the Picolo U4-U8 drivers as they will conflict).
Note that this card may also cease operating if the computer has gone into Sleep or Standby mode. This can be resolved by simply shutting down the computer and then restarting it. The computer should be set so that it never goes into Sleep or Standby, and disable Fast Startup, to avoid this issue.
If the card is recognized by EthoVision, but the image is all black or all white, the problem is more likely with the camera, cables, or connections. Check that the camera has power and is connected to the computer.
Uninstall the Picolo Alert
You’ll need to uninstall the card first if drivers were ever previously installed and are not currently working.
Uninstall the driver from the Device Manager.
- In Windows 10, right-click the Windows logo in the lower left corner of the screen and then pick Device Manager.
- Click the triangle next to “Euresys capture devices” to expand it. Locate PICOLO Alert PCIe. Right-click on PICOLO Alert PCIe and select Uninstall.
- If this item is missing from the Device Manager, you can proceed with the next step.
Uninstall the driver from the programs list.
- In Windows 10, click the Windows logo in the lower left corner of the screen, click the Settings gear, and then click Apps.
- Pick Euresys Multicam x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is the version number of the drivers installed) and click the Remove button to uninstall.
- If other Euresys or Picolo drivers are installed, remove them too.
Install the Picolo Alert
- If you uninstalled the drivers as directed above, reboot the computer.
- You'll need the file multicam-win10-6.15.1.3573.exe. If you have the installation USB stick for EthoVision, it can be found in the folder \Drivers and tools\Drivers\Euresys MultiCam. Otherwise, it can be downloaded here: Picolo Alert driver
- Double-click the downloaded file to install the driver.
- Open EthoVision and try it out. EthoVision should detect the card and, assuming you have a camera connected, should be able to get an image from it. If it offers the card as an option for live tracking but you get no image, the drivers and card are ok but there is an issue with the camera or the camera's connection with the card. In that case check the connections.