[D455] on Isaac ros control_transfer returned error

[wxxng]

Significant and unstable frame rate degradation is observed when using Intel RealSense D455 with realsense-ros (v4.56.3) inside the Isaac ROS environment, despite matching the officially recommended versions (firmware, librealsense, and realsense-ros).

The issue appears to be caused by USB controller (xHCI) contention rather than software version mismatch, and is highly dependent on enabled streams and USB topology.

Environment

• Platform: x86_64 workstation

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 (host), Isaac ROS Docker container

• ROS 2: Jazzy

• Camera: Intel RealSense D455

• Firmware: 5.16.0.1

• librealsense: v2.56.3

• realsense-ros: v4.56.3

• Connection: USB 3.x (direct, no external hub)

• Isaac ROS: Using isaac_ros_dev workspace and container

All versions strictly follow the official Isaac ROS RealSense compatibility documentation.

Reproduction Steps
Launch RealSense node with default or common configurations:

ros2 launch realsense2_camera rs_launch.py
Monitor depth frame rate:

ros2 topic hz /camera/camera/depth/image_rect_raw
Vary enabled streams and profiles, for example:

Case A: Low resolution

ros2 launch realsense2_camera rs_launch.py
enable_color:=false
enable_pointcloud:=false
align_depth.enable:=false
depth_module.depth_profile:=424x240x30

Case B: Common resolution

ros2 launch realsense2_camera rs_launch.py
enable_color:=false
enable_pointcloud:=false
align_depth.enable:=false
depth_module.depth_profile:=848x480x30
Observed Behavior
424×240 @ 30 FPS (depth only)
→ Stable ~30 FPS

848×480 @ 30 FPS (depth only)
→ Drops to ~8–12 FPS

Depth + Color enabled
→ Drops further to ~1–2 FPS

Depth + Pointcloud enabled
→ ~10–12 FPS

Frequent warnings appear in logs:

control_transfer returned error, index: 768,
error: Resource temporarily unavailable (11)
rs-enumerate-devices and realsense-viewer work correctly outside ROS.

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @wxxng If you believe that it may be a USB controller issue then this can be tested by using a USB hub if you have not done so already. A hub has its own USB controller for its ports, independent from the controller chosen by the computer manufacturer for its built-in ports, and some USB controller brands will perform better with RealSense cameras than others.

[wxxng]

Thank you so much for the response. I ddn't try with the usb hub, I'll try soon as I can.

Also, I saw many issues related to "control_transfer returned error" was there a common solution? I wanted to check if this error is because of the hw, or because I'm using isaac ros.

Thanks again for the quick repond

[MartyG-RealSense]

You are very welcome!

When **control_transfer warnings occur in the ROS log, the best that you can usually do is reduce the amount of them but not eliminate them from the log completely.

There are different kinds of control_transfer returned warnings. An issue related to USB (with the port or with the cable) can be the cause, though they could also occur if the computer's CPU processor is not able to keep up with the rate at which data is arriving at the port from the camera. The Resource temporarily unavailable type of control warning that you experienced makes me think that it's more likely to be the CPU.

You can test how much under burden the CPU is using a system monitoring tool such as Ubuntu's htop and look at the CPU percentage usage value. If the percentage is maxed out near or at 100% then that could help to explain the low performance.

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @wxxng Do you require further assistance with this case, please? Thanks!