Troubleshooting

When something looks wrong, compare your screen against this manual's screenshots for your version (Help ▸ About shows the version; the screenshots are regenerated for every release). A difference between your screen and the manual is worth mentioning in a bug report.

Where to look first

Artifact	Location
Application log	File ▸ Open Logs Folder → %LOCALAPPDATA%\MIB_Studio_Qt\logs\app.log (portable/dev installs write data\logs\app.log next to the executable instead)
Crash dumps + state snapshots	%LOCALAPPDATA%\MIB_Studio_Qt\crashes\ — a .dmp minidump plus a .json snapshot of service state at crash time
Data folder	File ▸ Open Data Folder → Documents\MIB_Studio_Qt
Live diagnostics	Diagnostics… in the status bar (or Help ▸ Diagnostics…) — capture session, delivery mode, transport counters, timestamp source, active core, process memory

Logs rotate at 10 MB (5 files kept) and flush every few seconds, so the tail of app.log reflects the state moments before a problem.

Common symptoms

The app doesn't start. Usually missing runtime files (e.g. Qt platforms\qwindows.dll) after a broken install — reinstall with the full setup installer. Early startup errors are appended to %LOCALAPPDATA%\MIB_Studio_Qt\crash_log.txt.

"No camera found" on startup. Check the camera cable, frame-grabber seating, and that the eGrabber driver is installed; then click Refresh on the Connect tab. To verify the rest of the app independently of hardware, use the mock camera.

Live view frozen, or frame rate / MB/s stuck at a stale value. Stop the camera, then start it again. If it recurs, save the log tail — stale transport statistics point to a capture start/stop ordering problem.

Start Experiment refuses. The readiness dialog names the blocked check and its remedy: camera.session (start Live View and wait for Running), camera.source (the hardware camera you selected is unavailable and the app would have used the simulated camera — select the mock camera explicitly or connect the hardware), processing.core (activate the pinned core), storage.output (choose a writable destination with free space), storage.roundtrip (a test write to the destination failed — check permissions and antivirus), storage.buffer (one full image series does not fit the recording memory budget — reduce the frame size or series length, or raise the budget), lifecycle.fault (the previous run's data could not be saved completely — acknowledge it in the dialog). "The configuration changed while the experiment was being prepared" means something (ROI, background, configuration, camera) changed after the check: start again.

Recording stops with a save error. The app stops the experiment, the run state reads Failed – recovery required and a red alert banner shows the reason and remedy (it stays until you click Acknowledge; the next Start remains blocked until the fault is acknowledged in the readiness dialog). Typical causes: disk full, missing permissions on the target folder, antivirus blocking writes, or a folder with NTFS compression turned on (see below). The already-written part of the HDF5 file remains readable in the Review tab, and the file records the run as failed.

Frames lost at high frame rates, or the save queue fills. Don't record into an NTFS-compressed folder: at 1000 fps the save queue fills in about 13 s. In Windows Explorer open the folder's Properties ▸ Advanced and clear Compress contents to save disk space, or choose another folder.

An alert keeps coming back after Acknowledge. Acknowledge only hides the banner; the same problem happening again re-shows it with an updated count. Fix the cause (open Details on the banner for every open alert) or check Diagnostics… for the underlying transport/core values.

Review tab is slow on a huge file. Keep the file on a local SSD rather than a network share; thumbnails stream in as you scroll. Close other files first (Close File).

Charts empty on the Monitoring page. Charts only accumulate while the Monitoring tab is visible and the camera is running; they reset with each experiment.

No update prompt appears. Check Help ▸ Software Updates… manually. If the entry is greyed out, auto-update was disabled under Settings ▸ Boot Service Toggles…. Very old installations may predate the current update server and need one manual reinstall with the full installer.

Reporting a problem

Help ▸ Report a Problem opens the issue tracker. Include:

1. The app version (Help ▸ About) and what you were doing, step by step.
2. The last ~100 lines of app.log (File ▸ Open Logs Folder).
3. If the app crashed: the newest .dmp and .json pair from %LOCALAPPDATA%\MIB_Studio_Qt\crashes\.
4. A screenshot of your screen — ideally next to the corresponding manual image, if the UI looks different from this manual.