Hardware rather than software

[Demonperformer]

Boooh, hiss.

New cable does not help.

[JamesF]

Is it practical to test the camera on a USB3 port on a different computer?

James

[Demonperformer]

It is my one & only USB 3. 

There is a computer repair place nearby who have a fairly decent reputation. I think I will take a wander down there this afternoon. Have a chat, get some figures for a diagosis and take it from there.

Thanks.

[Demonperformer]

OK they were as confused as I am. The fact that the usb3 works with the external hard drive seems to be the thing that confuses the issue - if it weren't for that, they were saying they would think it is the port. He did say "it does wobble a bit", but I thought all usb ports did that! They suggested it was a software problem so I've been to the zwo download page, got the latest driver and installed it (I was running an old driver) but the situation has not improved. I had a look at the firmware link suggested on previous page, but the site says that is only for the 120 & 1034, neither of which I have.

One thing I have noticed. On usbview (see pics on previous page) when I say the external drive works, it connects on location 211. Now when I plug the camera in, location 211 updates to "Generic USB hub" and creates 4 new locations. Analagously, when I plug it into usb2, I get the same situation only with location 212 and then the camera appears in location 2121. But there is no location 211n when I connect the drive. So the level which I am saying is working when I plug the drive in (211) is also working when I plug the cameras in (211) - it is the next level down that is ignoring the camera (2111).

I really don't know enough about it to know whether this is significant, but it's a straw & I'm sure not going to miss clutching at it.

[LightBucket]

1 hour ago, Demonperformer said:

OK they were as confused as I am. The fact that the usb3 works with the external hard drive seems to be the thing that confuses the issue - if it weren't for that, they were saying they would think it is the port. He did say "it does wobble a bit", but I thought all usb ports did that! They suggested it was a software problem so I've been to the zwo download page, got the latest driver and installed it (I was running an old driver) but the situation has not improved. I had a look at the firmware link suggested on previous page, but the site says that is only for the 120 & 1034, neither of which I have.

One thing I have noticed. On usbview (see pics on previous page) when I say the external drive works, it connects on location 211. Now when I plug the camera in, location 211 updates to "Generic USB hub" and creates 4 new locations. Analagously, when I plug it into usb2, I get the same situation only with location 212 and then the camera appears in location 2121. But there is no location 211n when I connect the drive. So the level which I am saying is working when I plug the drive in (211) is also working when I plug the cameras in (211) - it is the next level down that is ignoring the camera (2111).

I really don't know enough about it to know whether this is significant, but it's a straw & I'm sure not going to miss clutching at it.

It’s not the USB port, I Have had issues like this before and the only way to solve was a complete reinstall of windoze.. in fact I have had several issues in the past which I could not get to the bottom of, but after a re install all was good, one of the many reasons I ditched windows for Astro use, it’s more trouble than it’s worth...

[Stub Mandrel]

On 09/01/2019 at 06:53, Demonperformer said:

Thanks for all the replies, and this has just got weirder.

When I plug the camera into that port it refuses to connect. When I plug the camera into the usb2 port next to it it works perfectly (bit mind-numbingly slowly). This suggests to me that the cable and camera are fine, but the socket on the computer is the problem - hence my original post.

But when I plug my usb3 drive into the usb3 port this morning to copy the data across it works perfectly - suggesting the socket is fine.

By bwain hurts!

I've had this. computers can decide which USB port they like a camera on and refuse to recognise it if plugged into another port. To image successfully both mount and camera MUST be in the right sockets on my lappy.

Much resetting and re-installing of drivers etc. usually helps.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

There are tools available to 'clean' the PC of USB devices that are no longer connected.

They work by removing entries from the registry (which has hardly changed, since before XP days..) some have pretty gui's or run cmd\powershell scripts, personally I prefer using regedit, but then, I've been using for it for years.

Doing this will ensure, that when you plug-in a device, windows re-evaluates the device and will load the appropriate drivers....

[LightBucket]

Just wipe the PC and re install, you will spend weeks going round in circles trying to sort, when in a couple of hours you could have it all done..

[Stub Mandrel]

Go to control panel, device manager. (or type device manager into the search box).

Plug in the camera and expand cameras on device manager.

Right click . You should be able to 'update drivers', but it may be best to 'uninstall device'.

Remove the camera, do a restart and plug in the camera and it should self-install and work.

 

[noah4x4]

Whoa!

Try some other stuff first......

Windows 10 has recently undergone a massive transformation within an update and that screwed up some drivers on my three PCs.  Intel has consequently released  a complete suite of new drivers for its NUC computer. I also had to reinstall Atik drivers for my Horizon camera and do a full 'recovery' of Windows on my older laptop.  So first update Windows, then delete any devices (in Device Manager) not identified as working normally and reinstall all relevant drivers. Then, when you reboot, Windows 'plug & play' may unravel the mess. It took me a few hours to sort out my PCs, but all of my unexpected loss of device functionality was restored. 

Also, you could try temporarily disabling your WiFi adapter in Device Manager. There are known conflicts between USB3 and some WiFi standards. Most WiFi routers are 'Dual Band'. Try the 5GHz band (or if on that try the lower band!). 

[stash_old]

Get Microsoft and/or vendors to create persistent usb device mapping as per Linux/Unix LOL ? 

[Viktiste]

I agree with Dr_ju_ju - download a USB cleanup tool and delete the USB entry of your 183 camera (with the camera unplugged). Then plug in the camera and install it from scratch. 

It could also be eroded pins on your 183 camera. You might (at your own risk...!!!) try to gently rub the copper connectors on your camera with a tiny screwdriver or other suitable tool.

Don't be tempted to use electric contact cleaner on the usb connector on a camera, but on the disconnected loose usb cable and on the PC side connector you could try contact cleaner.

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

The BEST, bar none, cleaner for contacts, is Servisol Super 10 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Servisol-Super-10-Switch-Cleaner-Lubricant-Contact-Cleaner-Mixing-Desk-Studio-PA/202077401067?epid=1075544838&hash=item2f0cc06feb:g:8ccAAOSwJ4hY9ehG:rk:2:pf:0).

 A little, sprayed into the socket, will clean & revive all the contacts....

 

[Viktiste]

Just out of curiosity... Did you figure this out?

[Demonperformer]

Despite the repeated protestations of one previous poster, even a complete reload of Windoze 10 didn't sort it.

I got someone with another usb3 port to try the camera and it worked fine.

I have decided to run it on USB2 for the time being. Apart from needing to ensure the settings in Sharpcap don't try to overload the system, the only time it really comes into effect is when doing multi-fps imaging (lunar & planetary), and the amount of that I do is very small. Apart from that it is just an extra second (approx) to download each individual frame, which adds something like 7% to my overall imaging time - a pain, but not worth forking out for a new laptop at this point in time.

Thanks.

[LightBucket]

4 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

Despite the repeated protestations of one previous poster, even a complete reload of Windoze 10 didn't sort it.

I got someone with another usb3 port to try the camera and it worked fine.

I have decided to run it on USB2 for the time being. Apart from needing to ensure the settings in Sharpcap don't try to overload the system, the only time it really comes into effect is when doing multi-fps imaging (lunar & planetary), and the amount of that I do is very small. Apart from that it is just an extra second (approx) to download each individual frame, which adds something like 7% to my overall imaging time - a pain, but not worth forking out for a new laptop at this point in time.

Thanks.

Hmmmm,  very strange that a complete re install did not sort...sorry for the suggestion, or protest as you call it...I really though it would have sorted it as most of the time it’s just quicker to do that than mess about with everything....really sorry for the wasted time.. ?