SharpCap Forums

Hi,

there is nothing bad showing in the log - it looks like a normal startup and then shutdown of SharpCap. I'm also seeing reports of bugs being resolved in that latest version that aren't mentioning this issue, so I am thinking that it might be something odd todo with settings on your system. A couple of things to consider

1) SharpCap has started with the top of the window off the top of the screen for some reason, so you can't see the menu/toolbar - try pressing Alt-Space then X to maximise the window to match the screen size.

2) It looks a bit like SharpCap can in 'Full screen' mode - this is toggled on/off with F11

3) You could try resetting the SharpCap settings by running with the /resetsettings command line parameter - this will remove any existing settings and put everything back to default. If you are going to try this, use the 'export settings' button in the settings window from your working 'As administrator' version first to save the settings.

4) Another way to test if the settings are causing the problem is to create a new login account and test in that account - that will have default settings for SharpCap.

Hope this helps,

Robin

THANKS ROBIN. Problem solved with alt-space. Sharpcap was running outside the screen. Thanks again.

Kamal

Hi,

good to hear that sorted the problem!

Robin

Running SharpCap 4.1, and it crashes on startup. 3.2 runs ok. I have use the /resetsettings switch, but that didn't change anything. The debug log with the exception is attached. I am running on a Win 10 headless computer installed on my mount, and I use remote desktop to connect into it. In case it matters (it does for NINA), there is no display of any kind on the mount computer.

Hi,

thanks for posting the log - it looks like SharpCap is getting an error that is preventing it from decoding various images that are used in the user interface - basically it cannot load and display the PNG/Bitmap/etc images needed to actually display the program.

The underlying error that is causing this is reported as
This isn't something I have seen before, but some searching on the internet found some pages like this one

https://www.quppa.net/blog/2012/09/04/f ... -together/

The suggestion there is that the same error is being caused by installtion of certain other imaging codec packs or tools that are causing applications (a Microsoft one in this case) to fail to run.

It's probably worth having a look at the list of installed software on your PC to see if you have any of the items mentioned - 'Fast Picture Viewer Codec Pack' or 'Canon Hack Development Kit', or anything else that installs image reading codecs as that is all we have to go on.

Just for reference, SharpCap 3.2 uses a different framework to display the UI that is (presumably) not susceptible to this problem. All versions of SharpCap from 4.0 onwards use a framework called 'WPF' which is susceptible to the problem.

cheers,

Robin

I do run Fast Picture Viewer, so that may be the culprit. I won't be happy, though, if I have to remove it; it's a terrific package for quickly reviewing images.

Edit: removing the FPV CODEC pack fixed the issue, and I can probably get by without the extra CODECs. Thanks for digging for that. I had done some searching before posting here, but didn't come across that post.

Running SharpCap 4.1 updated to the Feb 25, 2025 release.

I have been running it for a couple of hours no problem, did some planetary live stacking without issue.

SharpCap began to have an issue when trying to start a quick capture. When slecting quick capture the exposure would begin then report there was an error, then a crash report was generated. I attached a couple.

I rebooted the machine, repaired sharpcap in windows setting, when this didn't work I uninstalled and reinstalled SharpCap. Nothing worked.

One of the reports is after I removed and reinstalled.

Thanks for the help.

Greg Dulaney
USA Central time, GMT-6

Hi Greg,

both of those logs seem to show that SharpCap is getting an error from the Atik camera SDK when requesting the camera start a new exposure (looks like 5s exposure). I also noticed that SharpCap is running in 'Still Camera' mode at the time, meaning that it only asks the camera to take images on request, rather than capturing all the time like a video camera.

I wonder if the switch into still mode might be related to the problem appearing - you would have been in video mode for planetary live stacking and perhaps for the imaging you did earlier on. Try putting SharpCap back into video mode (live view mode) by pressing the 'Live View' button just under the File menu, then opening the camera.

That might be enough to get you going again, but your camera *should* also work in still camera mode. It's probably worth installing the latest 'Atik Core' software package to see if that helps - an out-of-date one might be the cause of the problem - see https://www.atik-cameras.com/core-software-downloads/

cheers,

Robin

Robin,

I updated the ATIK core software, rebooted the computer, it's now worse.

As soon as I connect to the ATIK Horizon II OSC it crashes. Crash report attached.

Thanks
Greg Dulaney

I switched cameras, ATIK APX26 OSC. The APX26 does not cause the crash.

Still my Horizon II OSC worked for 2 or 3 hours, then crashed which is strange and still crashes.