ZWO PRO camera USB hub ports not working properly

[Spaced Out]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone with a ZWO PRO camera has ever had problems with the USB hub ports not working properly ?

I have a ZWO ASI 2600MC, It works fine, but when I plug in my guide cam into either of the USB ports, the guide cam often works for a little while then hangs and disconnects. Sometimes the guide cam only shows a small fraction of the image in PHD too, the rest is just a black screen. Other times, both cameras just give up and hang/disconnect with this configuration. When I plug the guide cam direct to the laptop it works fine and so does the ASI 2600.

I am thinking it might be either...

Poor power supply to the 2600 (I'm using a pretty standard 12v switching power supply from the mains, it isn't designed for use with a camera, I presumed these are all pretty similar tho ?)

Or

Faulty USB ports on the 2600.

I’m really hoping it’s not the latter.

Just wondering if anyone has ever had similar problems with a ZWO camera and if so, how it was fixed.

Thanks  

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Spaced Out

[paul mc c]

What are you running off the Asiair.

Sorry just read again,thought you wrote Asiair pro.

Edited October 3, 2022 by paul mc c

[Elp]

As per @paul mc c query. I was perplexed as to why my plans kept failing, upon returning to the setup my cooled camera was off every time (usually after I had returned indoors). It turns out a WiFi extender I was powering via the last usb slot available was drawing too much power thus causing the camera disconnects. Once I powered the extender via its own separate power source I haven't had a problem since. Fyi, I'm only using two of the 12v outs at the moment with the two free ones turned off, one usb is for an EQ dir cable to the mount, one usb is for the cooled camera and one is for the guide camera.

I see you may be referring to the camera hub on the back of the camera, same principle of power draw applies.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Elp

[Budgie1]

What is connection route between the ASI2600MC Pro and the laptop?

Are you using the ZWO supplied flat USB3 cable only or does it go via another USB hub of some kind or active/passive USB extension?

If you're using the ZWO flat USB3 cable then try a better quality cable, I use Lindy cable and they're not that expensive from Amazon.

[Spaced Out]

42 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

What is connection route between the ASI2600MC Pro and the laptop?

Are you using the ZWO supplied flat USB3 cable only or does it go via another USB hub of some kind or active/passive USB extension?

If you're using the ZWO flat USB3 cable then try a better quality cable, I use Lindy cable and they're not that expensive from Amazon.

Thanks. I use lindy cables throughout and have swapped them all to check for cable failure, I have also swapped a powered USB hub which sits between the camera and laptop, but these changes made no difference and the problem persists. Makes me think it has to be the ASI 2600, therefore either power supply or faulty camera 🤔. I don't have another power supply I could swap to check that out unfortunately, I might just have to buy the proper ZWO one and hope that fixes the problem. 🤞 

[Spaced Out]

1 hour ago, Elp said:

I see you may be referring to the camera hub on the back of the camera, same principle of power draw applies.

Thanks, I'm hoping it is a power issue and just a shoddy PSU. Unfortunately I don't have a spare one I can use to check this out atm.

[Spaced Out]

1 hour ago, paul mc c said:

What are you running off the Asiair.

Sorry just read again,thought you wrote Asiair pro.

Ah yes, I can see that could cause confusion ! Just changed the title 👍

[Budgie1]

55 minutes ago, Spaced Out said:

Thanks. I use lindy cables throughout and have swapped them all to check for cable failure, I have also swapped a powered USB hub which sits between the camera and laptop, but these changes made no difference and the problem persists. Makes me think it has to be the ASI 2600, therefore either power supply or faulty camera 🤔. I don't have another power supply I could swap to check that out unfortunately, I might just have to buy the proper ZWO one and hope that fixes the problem. 🤞 

I'm not sure the PSU has anything to do with the USB hub on the camera, I think it just powers the cooling because the camera & hub should work without the PSU being connected, taking the power from the USB cable.

Have you also ruled out the powered  USB Hub by connecting the ASI2600MC directly to the laptop with the guide camera plugged into the camera hub?

[rickwayne]

As the plural of "anecdote" is not "data", the singular even less so.

Nevertheless.

The USB ports on my 183MM Pro literally fell out of the back of the camera at some point. I have no idea where they wound up. ZWO never responded to my query about replacement parts, possibly because they peed themselves laughing at my haplessness. Can hardly blame them.

So, yeah. Connectivity problems do not surprise me even a little.

[Len1257]

8 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

I'm not sure the PSU has anything to do with the USB hub on the camera, I think it just powers the cooling because the camera & hub should work without the PSU being connected, taking the power from the USB cable.

The ASI2600MC-Pro most definitely does need the 12V supply to function properly. You can get away with testing the camera just with USB for sub ~30secs exposures but anything longer and it needs the full power supply too. 

 

 

[Len1257]

As you haven't tested this with an alternative power supply I would definitely go down that route. Get something decent as a lot of cheap stuff is very questionable. 

I use my 2600 with focuser and guidecamera connected to the hub and have never had a problem. When I was using a Raspberry Pi controller I had to use a unpowered hub to feed the camera but with my NUC it gets along just fine. Also works fine direct via my GEM45 USB hub.

Powered via a LiFePO4 battery or a Nevada PSU (PSW-30, powers everything with amps to spare) from FLO.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Len1257

[Jamgood]

Can you lower the USB Buffer in your software? It is usually set to 80. Dropping it down to 40 can help with random disconnects, etc.

[Spaced Out]

21 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

I'm not sure the PSU has anything to do with the USB hub on the camera, I think it just powers the cooling because the camera & hub should work without the PSU being connected, taking the power from the USB cable.

Have you also ruled out the powered  USB Hub by connecting the ASI2600MC directly to the laptop with the guide camera plugged into the camera hub?

Searching the internet, I've read at a few places that the USB ports on these cameras need power and so a suitable PSU is important.

I've tried running both cameras separately, direct to the laptop without the powered USB hub in-between and they work fine. If I do the same but plug the guidecam into the ASI 2600 instead of direct to the laptop, I have the problems again, so it makes me think it is the ASI 2600 causing issues.

[Spaced Out]

12 hours ago, Len1257 said:

As you haven't tested this with an alternative power supply I would definitely go down that route. Get something decent as a lot of cheap stuff is very questionable.

Thanks. I tested the cameras this evening with a different PSU and everything seems to work as expected, which is encouraging. I have just ordered the proper ZWO PSU for it, so hopefully that will sort it. 🤞   

 

[Spaced Out]

11 hours ago, Jamgood said:

Can you lower the USB Buffer in your software? It is usually set to 80. Dropping it down to 40 can help with random disconnects, etc.

Good call ! I already have it set to 40. 👍

[Spaced Out]

Hmmmm........ Got a new ZWO power supply for this camera but testing it this evening and the problem with the inbuilt USB hub persists 🙁.

The guide camera and main camera just won't work at the same time via the USB hub on ASI 2600, the guide camera seems to run OK but the main camera just hangs and refuses to download the image. If I run separate cables from the cameras to the laptop they both work fine, just when I plug the guidecam into the ASI 2600 that I get the problems.

I'm a bit stumped now ?

[adyj1]

On 04/10/2022 at 22:32, Spaced Out said:

I tested the cameras this evening with a different PSU and everything seems to work as expected, which is encouraging.

I assume this psu isn't working any more either? 

[Spaced Out]

5 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

I assume this psu isn't working any more either? 

I've not tried it again tonight. I just assumed the brand new ZWO one should work, so it concerns me that the problem persists, but I take your point, I'll try the other one again and see if it still works ok.  👍

[MauroS]

I have had a similar problem for months.
ASI6200 camera, filter wheel, guide camera, focuser, and Avalon m-one mount. The mount connected directly to the PC, all others go to a HUB on the telescope and from there to another port on the PC.
Occasionally some devices would disconnect and reconnect.

After some testing I found that by connecting the mount with bluethoot instead of USB the problem disappeared.
But I did not want to use bluethoot; it is slow to initialize.

I tried connecting the mount to another port, then connecting all or some devices via a powered USB hub.
Then I bought this device https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B07THZFDGH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to check the power draw. Everything was normal.
The mount never disconnected, but if it was connected it was the others that were malfunctioning.

One day I changed the mount's USB cable, which is 2 meters long Amazon brand, to a 50cm one. The problems disappeared.
I got another 2-meter cable of higher quality, but the problem still occurred.
Then I inserted a passive USB hub only between the computer and the mount's 2-meter cable and now everything works.

I work in IT, but I couldn't figure out what it could be. I think there is some signal just beyond the specification limits that causes a reset of the computer's USB chip. Of course, I have also tried changing computers.

I hope this information gives you some useful ideas. 
Connect all the devices directly to a single hub, then disconnect them one at a time to identify the bad one (if it is only one), then separate the culprit with a dedicated hub. 

Mauro

[adyj1]

11 hours ago, Spaced Out said:

I've not tried it again tonight. I just assumed the brand new ZWO one should work, so it concerns me that the problem persists, but I take your point, I'll try the other one again and see if it still works ok.  👍

I agree, but the list of what works and what doesn't work may point to the problem, and hey - if you've got something that works, then that is a plus ☺ 

If it does work, compare the spec of each PSU (and if you've got a multimeter, check them - I've got a cheap chines 12v psu that pumps out 14v!l

Ady