ZWO 2600mc pro problems!

[dalepenkala]

Hello,

I hope this is the right forum to post this.

Before I explain my issue, I have been using SC for several years and I'm what I'd call pretty familiar with the software. I don't know everything but I've never had the issues I'm going to explain.

I've had many problems with SC since I have upgraded to the ZWO 2600mc pro OSC camera. At 1st I used my old i3 that had absolutely no problems running my 294mc pro in my observatory for years. As soon as I got my 2600 it basically stalled the computer which I had somewhat anticipated it.

Because of this, I ended up buying a new i7 8th gen 8 core HP 840 EliteBook laptop with 32gb of ram and I'm running OS 11. I've installed ALL the latest version's of drivers including the ZWO camera drivers, ascom drivers and the latest ascom platform 6.6.

I have allocated 1/2 of my ram/memory in the "memory's" tab in the SC settings and I am having problems keeping the 2600 connected. I can start SC up connect to the camera get things or at least it seems to get going and all of a sudden SC locks up or things don't respond. So I then have close SC open it back up and sometimes it recognizes the cameras that are plugged in and sometimes it doesn't. I'm also seeing alot of dropped frames as well.

FYI: All my USB cabling is run thru USB repeating cables and a USB hub. It isn't a powered hub but I've not had issues with it in the past at all. This started happening when I got the 2600.

I've tried this with SC version 4.0 & 4.1 and I get the same exact issue.

I"ve never had this kind of issue with SC in the past so PLEASE if anyone can help me with this I'd sure appreciate it!

Right now I'm so frustrated I just don't know what else to do.

I've bought a new camera and laptop and I can't use it essentially.

Thanks!
Dale

[Chuckwagon]

Hi Dale,

I have a 2600MC, and it works with a much less powerful laptop than yours. (i5 cpu, 8GB RAM) So I would suspect your laptop is good. So, to do a proper diagnosis you will need to simplify your setup as much as possible. Don't worry, I'm not suggesting you have to run your setup simplified, just do it for testing. Here's what I'd try if I were having issues.

First things first, you probably have it plugged in, but just in case, the 2600MC requires its power supply to be connected to function properly. I can access my 2600 without its power supply, but only if I use very short (ms range) exposures. If the exposures get up into the sec range the camera drops frames and locks up, etc. So if you don't have the power plugged in, do so.

Second, has the camera worked with any other software? My 2600 has been working with Sharpcap for quite a while, through many revisions, so it's highly unlikely that SC is the issue. But if you have tried it with other software and that has worked, then I'd suspect you will need to gather some log info for Robin to see why SC won't work.

If you haven't used it with any other software, then the next step is to simplify. Remove any other devices on the USB plugs for your computer. Plug just the camera in, and go directly to the laptop, no hubs. Use the shortest USB3 cable you have. This will minimize the possibility that any other device is getting in the way, and will lessen the chance that the cable isn't doing well. (Longer cables can lose signal, so a shorter cable has a lower probability of that being the problem.)

Once you have the minimal setup, power plugged in, and short cable, see if the camera will work. If it won't work, try a different USB cable just to be sure the first wasn't the culprit. If it still doesn't work, then it's probably either a camera issue or a driver/OS software issue.

To see if that's the case, the next step is do you have a desktop PC, or another laptop that hasn't been used with the camera or SC before? If so, that will give you a clean setup to start with on the OS side of things. I'm pretty sure you will only need the Native Windows Driver for the camera, and can ignore the ascom stuff for now. So install that driver on the secondary PC and use the same cable from the first test and plug the camera in to it. If the PC recognizes the camera and the driver is working (it should beep and the camera show up in device manager) then install Sharpcap and see if it works. If it does work on the second computer, then either the OS or drivers on your laptop have an issue. If it still doesn't work, I'd suspect the camera has a problem. That would be an issue for ZWO then.

If the camera and Sharpcap do function on the second computer, then you may need to uninstall all of the drivers, Sharpcap, and ascom stuff from your laptop and start over. It might not be a bad idea to do a fresh install of Windows too, but I'd hold off on that until you've tried everything else first. Don't re-install the ascom stuff until you have the camera working, no need for the extra effort if the camera isn't working.

Once you (hopefully) get the camera working with the simplified setup you can add back the various other pieces of USB gear and see if any of it causes an issue.

Good luck. I really like my 2600, so I hope you can get yours working too.

Chuck

[admin]

Hi,

Chuck's points are all good, but I would add a couple of things...

* Open the camera in SharpCap with <CTRL> pressed down - this will stop SharpCap from restoring any previous settings of the camera, which might help.

* Check out the newly announced recall from ZWO relating to a bad batch of 2600MC cameras made late last year : https://www.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstro ... ACctNYZfNl

It is certainly worth testing with other software, cables, power supplies and computers if at all possible. If it fails in every combination that you try then it is likely to be an issue with the camera itself. If it fails on only one PC or with one particular cable then you have likely found the culprit.

cheers,

Robin

[turfpit]

Dale

From the old ZWO website at https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/pr ... pro-color/ at the top of the product description for the ASI2600

ASI2600.JPG (15.84 KiB) Viewed 487 times

Dave

[dalepenkala]

Hi Dale,

I have a 2600MC, and it works with a much less powerful laptop than yours. (i5 cpu, 8GB RAM) So I would suspect your laptop is good. So, to do a proper diagnosis you will need to simplify your setup as much as possible. Don't worry, I'm not suggesting you have to run your setup simplified, just do it for testing. Here's what I'd try if I were having issues.

First things first, you probably have it plugged in, but just in case, the 2600MC requires its power supply to be connected to function properly. I can access my 2600 without its power supply, but only if I use very short (ms range) exposures. If the exposures get up into the sec range the camera drops frames and locks up, etc. So if you don't have the power plugged in, do so.

Second, has the camera worked with any other software? My 2600 has been working with Sharpcap for quite a while, through many revisions, so it's highly unlikely that SC is the issue. But if you have tried it with other software and that has worked, then I'd suspect you will need to gather some log info for Robin to see why SC won't work.

If you haven't used it with any other software, then the next step is to simplify. Remove any other devices on the USB plugs for your computer. Plug just the camera in, and go directly to the laptop, no hubs. Use the shortest USB3 cable you have. This will minimize the possibility that any other device is getting in the way, and will lessen the chance that the cable isn't doing well. (Longer cables can lose signal, so a shorter cable has a lower probability of that being the problem.)

Once you have the minimal setup, power plugged in, and short cable, see if the camera will work. If it won't work, try a different USB cable just to be sure the first wasn't the culprit. If it still doesn't work, then it's probably either a camera issue or a driver/OS software issue.

To see if that's the case, the next step is do you have a desktop PC, or another laptop that hasn't been used with the camera or SC before? If so, that will give you a clean setup to start with on the OS side of things. I'm pretty sure you will only need the Native Windows Driver for the camera, and can ignore the ascom stuff for now. So install that driver on the secondary PC and use the same cable from the first test and plug the camera in to it. If the PC recognizes the camera and the driver is working (it should beep and the camera show up in device manager) then install Sharpcap and see if it works. If it does work on the second computer, then either the OS or drivers on your laptop have an issue. If it still doesn't work, I'd suspect the camera has a problem. That would be an issue for ZWO then.

If the camera and Sharpcap do function on the second computer, then you may need to uninstall all of the drivers, Sharpcap, and ascom stuff from your laptop and start over. It might not be a bad idea to do a fresh install of Windows too, but I'd hold off on that until you've tried everything else first. Don't re-install the ascom stuff until you have the camera working, no need for the extra effort if the camera isn't working.

Once you (hopefully) get the camera working with the simplified setup you can add back the various other pieces of USB gear and see if any of it causes an issue.

Good luck. I really like my 2600, so I hope you can get yours working too.

Chuck

Hello Chuck,
Thank you for your response!

So just to clarify a few things on my end to start, I’m somewhat simplified in the fact that I only have 1 cable going to my laptop and that is the USB3 repeater cable. I run all my cameras with a talent cell ion lithium battery. I’ve. Used this with my 294 & 071 with 0 issues.

1st At the scope the camera is plugged into “non powered” usb3 hub. That hub is then plugged into the repeater cable. If memory serves me correctly it’s a 15’ or 25’ cable or the shortest cable I could find. Again had no problems with any of this prior to the 2600.

2nd at the scope the only other thing plugged into to hub is the EAF cable. The EAF at least right now is showing up in SC and working, however I’ll remove it and see if I can get things to work and update all of you.

3rd before I set the camera up on the mount in my office I used a short usb3 cable to take bias, flat darks, and dark frames (yes I do know many don’t use darks but I took them anyway) and had 0 issues. Everything worked. However that was with my i3 computer not my new i7.

Do you think my usb3 hub being “non powered” could be an issue? In my case I have no other options but to use a repeater cable in my observatory. My main rig is in the center of the building and this rig is in the right corner. The control room is in the back where all the wiring comes in from the wall. Please see pix of the observatory for ref.

Ok to address your questions Chuck,

1st this is the 1st time I’ve used this camera. I havn’t been able to get any farther then what I’ve described. Once I get SC working with it I a then move onto PHD2 and CDC. I haven’t even got the mount setup on this computer yet. I’m still waiting for upgrades to that mount from AP, but thats not an issue right now as I’ve not been able to move past this with SC.

2nd I will do my best to uninstall all software and drivers and reinstall them and see if that makes any difference. However I have tried both version of SC 4.0 & 4.1 with same issues on both version.

Thanks!
Dale

[dalepenkala]

Hi,

Chuck's points are all good, but I would add a couple of things...

* Open the camera in SharpCap with <CTRL> pressed down - this will stop SharpCap from restoring any previous settings of the camera, which might help.

* Check out the newly announced recall from ZWO relating to a bad batch of 2600MC cameras made late last year : https://www.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstro ... ACctNYZfNl

It is certainly worth testing with other software, cables, power supplies and computers if at all possible. If it fails in every combination that you try then it is likely to be an issue with the camera itself. If it fails on only one PC or with one particular cable then you have likely found the culprit.

cheers,

Robin

Thank you for responding Robin!

I will be checking again all my cabling and power supplies after my coffee this morning I did it lastnight in the observatory but got so frustrated that I may have missed something.
I have responded to Chuck above with some info so please see all my answers and responses. I’m going to look at the link you provided for the ZWO camera, wasn’t aware of anything like this.

Thanks!
Dale

[dalepenkala]

Dale

From the old ZWO website at https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/pr ... pro-color/ at the top of the product description for the ASI2600


ASI2600.JPG


Dave

Hello Dave,
Thanks for your response!

Yes I’m aware of this and have been using these for several years now with no issues of course until now. I’ve attached a couple pix for you all to see what I’m using.

Dale

[dalepenkala]

Hi,

Chuck's points are all good, but I would add a couple of things...

* Open the camera in SharpCap with <CTRL> pressed down - this will stop SharpCap from restoring any previous settings of the camera, which might help.

* Check out the newly announced recall from ZWO relating to a bad batch of 2600MC cameras made late last year : https://www.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstro ... ACctNYZfNl

It is certainly worth testing with other software, cables, power supplies and computers if at all possible. If it fails in every combination that you try then it is likely to be an issue with the camera itself. If it fails on only one PC or with one particular cable then you have likely found the culprit.

cheers,

Robin

HELLO ROBIN,
JUST CHECKED THE SN OF MY CAMERA WITH THE LINK YOU PROVIDED AND MY CAMERA IS NOT INCLUDED IN THAT RECALL. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THAT INFO!

DALE

[oopfan]

Hi,

Everyone brings up good points. I suspect that it is power related. Try replacing the battery pack with a power supply that plugs into the mains, just for testing. I've got an old Atik 314E that requires a regulated 12VDC supply. I run it from a battery but I also use a 12V buck/boost regulator to nail it to 12.0V regardless of the battery's SoC. Reading the label on your battery pack, it appears that the output is regulated but you never know unless you measure it.

Good luck,
Brian

[dalepenkala]

Hi,

Everyone brings up good points. I suspect that it is power related. Try replacing the battery pack with a power supply that plugs into the mains, just for testing. I've got an old Atik 314E that requires a regulated 12VDC supply. I run it from a battery but I also use a 12V buck/boost regulator to nail it to 12.0V regardless of the battery's SoC. Reading the label on your battery pack, it appears that the output is regulated but you never know unless you measure it.

Good luck,
Brian