ASI533MC Pro - ASICAP, SharpCap, Apt - ZWO native driver

[geeklee]

Hi all - I've just received the new ASI533MC Pro and was getting acquainted with it yesterday evening while the cloud was in.  This included the usual driver install (native and ASCOM), connectivity, USB2 hub to guide camera, cooler and functionality.  I have an issue where the native driver is causing problems in SharpCap and Apt, but appears to be working fine in ASICAP (assuming it uses the native drivers).  SharpCap and Apt just drop all frames - SharpCap telling me along the bottom, Apt just never completing an exposure and showing "busy".

Using the ASCOM driver in SharpCap and Apt appear to be working fine - basic test dark exposures happen and save in a few moments to disk.

I've run through almost all the troubleshooting options I would normally associate with dropped frames - esp around USB, but as the ASCOM driver is OK and ASICAP (again, assuming it uses the native driver) can push max frames per second on USB3 when testing millisecond type exposures (seen along bottom in app) it's making me think it's likely a application / native driver compatibility.

I'm guessing the way SharpCap and Apt interact with the native ZWO driver is maybe the issue with this new camera as the Apt forum does have a mention of a new minor version (3.82) coming very soon around ZWO drivers.

I just wanted to put the feelers out for anyone out there that has also received the camera and whether they're all good in these applications with the native ZWO driver or seeing similar issues?  I'm also making sure I don't have a camera hardware problem (it doesn't sound like it from evidence above though).

Thanks in advance.

[Allinthehead]

It could be worth disconnecting the guide cam from the Usb hub (assuming you haven't already) , i've had issues there in the past. Any time i've had dropped frame issues it's been either a Usb hub, dodgy usb lead or two applications connecting to the camera simultaneously. Usually phd connecting to imaging cam instead of guide cam.

[geeklee]

1 hour ago, Allinthehead said:

It could be worth disconnecting the guide cam from the Usb hub (assuming you haven't already) , i've had issues there in the past. Any time i've had dropped frame issues it's been either a Usb hub, dodgy usb lead or two applications connecting to the camera simultaneously. Usually phd connecting to imaging cam instead of guide cam.

Thanks @Allinthehead for the prompt reply.  As part of the troubleshooting, I tried all the elements you mentioned - early on, just removing the guidecam.  The strange thing is usually you might find the occasional dropped frame or inconsistent behaviour but this is just a flat 100% drop of every frame using the native ZWO driver in SharpCap and Apt.

Using the ASCOM driver, everything appears OK - had the guidecam in SharpCap and ASI533 in Apt and vice versa no problem doing testing.

For now, I'll continue to assume hardware is OK and utilise the ASCOM driver, with some proper testing... if the cloud ever gives way 🤨

Edited December 7, 2019 by geeklee

[geeklee]

I just wanted to add some closure to this thread for any prospective ASI533 users out there.

After some back and forth with ZWO support, I replaced the ASI camera DLL file in SharpCap and Apt with the latest version from ZWO SDK (for developers).  This did appear to "fix" the issues described but felt like a bit of a hack!  

Knowing the above outcome at least showed that the application developers just need some time to catch up with the latest native drivers and SDK in their apps.

Coincidentally, Apt released 3.82 yesterday with specific support for the ASI 533 mentioned.  After installing this version, I could see the latest DLL file was present in the Apt folder and the native driver transferred the images from the camera fine.

I'm sure SharpCap will follow suit soon enough.

[Andy274]

Thanks for that update Lee - sounds similar to issues I was having with software not downloading images - it'd complete a test shot of 5mins exp but not download onto the laptop. Driving me insane as I've tried every program known to man. 

I'll give those SDK drivers a bash.