TROUBLESHOOTING
Depth, gallery, performance, recording, and licensing
On this page
DEPTH / 3D
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "CONNECTING TO DEPTH SENSOR" overlay | Sensor booting or unplugged | Wait 5-10 s; check USB 3.0; replug the sensor; verify the SDK/service for Kinect. |
| DEPTH view black | No depth stream | Select the RealSense/Kinect source; check the performance preset isn't blocking depth. |
| 3D view empty | Intrinsics not loaded | Restart the app; confirm the sidecar/bridge is running (RealSense). |
| Flickering brightness/colors in live depth | Old build | Update to the latest build (range smoothing fix). Keep RANGE near center. |
| Close objects white, far black (or reverse) | RANGE slider off-center | Reset RANGE to 50 (center). |
| Gallery DEPTH looks flat / wrong | Static PNG vs raw | Use the DEPTH layer (re-rendered), not an old screenshot; move RANGE. |
| Gallery RANGE doesn't affect color depth | Old build | Update, RANGE now affects both mono and false-color. |
| No 3D button in gallery | Old detection | Only detections captured after the 3D snapshot feature was added have one; capture new detections. |
| No D / 3D badge on a card | No depth saved for that hit | The sensor wasn't streaming depth at detection time. |
Remember: in DEPTH and DEPTH_3D, color always means distance. POINT_CLOUD is the mode that textures points from the live camera. See DEPTH & 3D controls.
GALLERY & EXPORTS
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Save view fails | Confirm the detection folder is writable; check disk space. |
| No red box on a depth export | The bbox is stored in metadata, if missing, the detection predates bbox save. |
| 3D SAVE NEW missing | Open 3D from the gallery (not the PLY room scan); update the app. |
| Edited depth looks wrong with sepia/invert | Expected, depth is scientific viz. Use DEPTH COLOR + RANGE first, with minimal filters. |
Full workflow: Gallery RGB / DEPTH / 3D & Save view.
PERFORMANCE & PRESETS
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Laggy 3D / low FPS | Switch the preset to Light or Balanced; disable ROOM_MAP. |
| No DEPTH_3D in the view cycle | Enable the Show preset, or enable 3D views in advanced settings. |
| Detectors not responding at session start | Wait for the first camera frame; detectors run once the live feed is active. |
RECORDING
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Recording won't start | Windows screen-capture permission; run as a normal user (not RDP-locked). |
| Long wait after stop | A transcode is in progress, watch the progress bar. |
| Huge file | Use a medium bitrate in settings; update to the build with the ffmpeg pipe. |
| No audio | Check the recording audio device in settings. |
See the recording guide.
LICENSING & DEMO
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Demo expired immediately | Machine clock is wrong; correct the system clock and reinstall the demo. |
| Key won't activate | One key per machine; email support with your SPTR- key. |
| Still shows DEMO after activating | Restart the app; verify the activation endpoint is reachable once for the online check. |
Detectors seem quiet? Confirm the camera feed is active, and review your detector sensitivity in Settings. In licensed mode all detectors run at the thresholds you set in Settings.
SPECTER NODE
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Node on Wi-Fi but app does not discover it | Windows Firewall blocking inbound, or AP client isolation | Temporarily disable Windows Firewall to test. If that fixes it, allow SPECTER through. If using a phone hotspot or guest network, try a non-isolated access point. |
| Node connects but rail panel disappears | Missed status event during a burst | The rail now self-corrects every 2 seconds. If it does not, ensure SPECTER Node is enabled in Settings and restart the app. |
| Node over-triggers after a sync | Stale baseline under new thresholds | The receiver recalibrates automatically after sync. Keep clear of the nodes for ~10 seconds. If it persists, run REBASELINE from the app or portal. |
| MAG slider shows 0-4095 | Old app version | Update the app. The slider is now 0-100 to match the firmware. Any stored value above 100 resets to 70. |
| AUDIBLE ALERT does not mute a node | Node firmware below 2.15.0 | Update the node firmware via OTA or USB flash. |
| Direction finder arrow points wrong way | Display orientation not calibrated | Run orientation calibration: hold a magnet at FRONT and press FRONT, add other directions. See orientation calibration. |
| Node trace column is blank | Panel height too small or no data yet | Wait a few seconds for data. If still blank, widen the dock or reduce the number of visible panels. |
| Node will not join Wi-Fi after reflash | Stale SDK WiFi NVS | Open the node portal, re-save your Wi-Fi credentials. This clears the stale connection state. |
| Node loses connection intermittently | Weak Wi-Fi or relay hop degrading | Check route quality in Settings. If relayed, move the gateway node closer or add a direct path. Run Relay Assist diagnostics. |
| Nodes behave inconsistently (one over-triggers, another is sluggish) | Hand-wiring or antenna-length differences between nodes | Run CAPTURE ALL (2 MIN) in Settings (Sensors & Alerts) to capture all nodes simultaneously. The summary flags which node has higher baseline noise, RC fault rate, or worse RSSI. Adjust thresholds per node or inspect the flagged node's wiring. |
| Node proximity trace flickers or jumps on its own | EMI spikes from nearby electronics | Firmware 2.15.1+ applies a median-of-3 de-glitch filter to the theremin display and span auto-fit. Update the node firmware if on an older version. Check the per-node diagnostic log to confirm EMI spikes in the raw data. |
| Node portal freezes or telemetry stutters every few seconds | Blocking TCP connect to a stale saved app IP | Open the node portal and re-save Wi-Fi credentials to clear the stale connection state. Check /diag/stalls in the portal for loop-blocking events. See diagnostic log reference. |
| REBASELINE ALL or IDENTIFY ALL does not reach a node | Node not in connected state or relay-assist virtual | Check that the node shows a green connection dot in the rail. Relay-assist forwarded nodes may not respond to broadcast commands. Move the node to direct Wi-Fi range or rebaseline from its own portal. |
Full node reference: Using the SPECTER Node in the app.