Can't connect my ASI cameras properly

[BucketDave]

I normally run my imaging sessions using Sharpcap on a NUC to image with a ASI533mc. I have also recently installed ASCOM and that works happily. A week or two ago, the NUC was forced to do a major Windows update (it is rarely connected to the internet), since when I have had trouble connecting to the camera. Tonight, I cannot connect at all. My activities are :

1) I double click the SharpCap icon and the main SC screen appears.
2) I select Cameras / ASI533MC
3) The title bar changes to show "SharpCap Pro (v4.1.11536, 64 bit) ZWO ASI533MC Pro (serial no, via USB3) - current save folder"
but SC then stops responding. Task Manager shows it using significant CPU power and the status bar at the bottom shows that it is previewing frames in LIveView at a prodigous rate. But the Camera Controls section stays blank, as does the main screen (where the image should be). SharpCap is clearly stuck in an infinite loop and I have to use Task Manager to kill it.

My NUC is running the latest SharpCap (64 bit, 4.1.11536) under Windows 10 Pro (22H2 build 19045.3692).

It should be of note that if I open ASI-Live, it sees the ASI533MC, connects to it and takes pictures as normal. The issue would appear to be with SharpCap or Windows.

[admin]

Hi,

it's possible that there could be an issue with the display part of SharpCap so that it is having problems displaying the camera image and the controls on screen. This would (kind of) tie in with them not appearing, but I am less sure about the high frame rate.

The first thing I would suggest is to hold down <CTRL> while opening the camera - this will reset the camera to default settings and stop SharpCap from loading any previously saved camera settings. It's just possible that somehow SharpCap has remembered a small ROI and low exposure from a previous session and is restoring that (hence fast frame rate), which may cause a problem.

The next thing to try would be to turn off the option to use hardware acceleration for display in the first page of the SharpCap settings (https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Use%20 ... erformance) - this might cause a problem, and it might link in to a Windows update if the graphics card driver has updated and introduced somehow a new incompatibility. If the option is off, it's worth turning it on. Changes to that option require a restart.

If neither of those help, then please see if you can find a log in the SharpCap log file folder - even without the display it should be updating the log, and looking at the content might help me work out what is going on (see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#The%20SharpCap%20Log)

cheers,

Robin

[BucketDave]

Thanks for the prompt reply Robin. I think I've cracked it.

I pressed CTRL and selected the camera. It solved the "starting up in LiveView at a prodigious frame rate" issue but the Controls panel still wasn't appearing.

Then I had an idea.....Looking through the Settings, I noticed I had the Ioptron ASCOM mount selected ("Ioptron CEM120, 70, 40, 26, GEM......". Changing that selection to "none", SharpCap's behaviour returned to normal and the Controls panel appeared - the camera was in "still" mode and CPU power was minimal. All was well again.

So I think the problem was that SharpCap had got into an infinite loop trying to connect to a non-existent mount. I don't know if SharpCap has a time-out limit on unresponsive hardware - this might be something for you to consider.

In the meantime, I have my work-around - I shall deselect the hardware in Settings BEFORE I use the camera without the mount.

Thanks for helping and happy Christmas

Dave

[admin]

Hi Dave,

the connecting to mount thing is one on my to-do list. At the moment if you have a mount selected and the 'auto connect to hardware when opening camera', then it will try to connect to the mount and that can block the UI from updating if the mount driver hangs on attempting to connect (it's OK if the mount driver connects, or if it fails, but if the mount driver itself gets stuck then SharpCap is stuck). Unfortunately the kind of change needed to resolve this has a risk of breaking other things, so I am going to approach the issue cautiously...

Anyway, good to hear that things are back in action - if the mount is only connected at times, the best approach may be to turn off the 'auto connect' setting and use the 'connect all hardware' button in the toolbar when you do want to use the mount from SharpCap.

cheers,

Robin