ASIStudio bug with low fps with ASI120MC

Gert

Hi,

There is very low FPS in ASIStudio with my old ASI120MC. Is the camera not supported or is there a problem?

[upl-image-preview url=https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/assets/files/2021-07-28/1627438961-230719-aiscap-bug-20210727-190744.jpeg]

Cheers,
Gert

WalterT

Gert From what I've been reading it seems to be a problem introduced in the latest driver that affects a lot of cameras. So far I haven't seem whether ZWO has acknowledged that it is an issue or not.

Gert

Hi WalterT,

I recall that ASI120MC is an older camera and it 'had to be treated' special. There was a special driver for it before. I have it on my old Win7 laptop (version 1.0.1.5 6/10/2020) and it works just fine. On the win 10 laptop the driver is 3.16.00 12/30/2020. This is one monolithic driver. When I launch ASIStudio it 'stutters' in planetary mode and gets stuck in imaging mode. Other software like FC get stuck totally. Wonder if a special binary is again needed for ASI120MC.

Cheers,
Gert

WalterT

I’ve read about the 120 and it even having issues with the AAP. But I think there is something else happening this time. If you read through the threads for the last couple of weeks you’ll see many posts about significantly lower frame rates and weird patterns in images, involving different model cameras, that only started happening after recent updates.

a.cidadao

Hi. I have been informing ZWO of the situation. It occurs with more of one camera and with more than one capturing software, and with more than one user.

ZWO's response so far has benn:

#1 "I don't think there is such change."

#2 "No, we haven't tried yet. We will look into this."

António

Gert

I can confirm the issue comparing my old astro-laptop vs new.
Win7 : Driver 1.0.1.5 (ASI120MC runs fine)
Win10 : Driver 3.16.00 ASI120MC fails

It must be a timing issue. I had wanted to document the issue with a screen recording software 'TechSmith'. Once the recording was running and intercepting the screen with ASI120MC video coming in it was fine! So I could not show the issue! Once I stopped recording the image froze and was hanging.

I recall that ASI120 with the Aptina chip previously had it's own driver (which I have on the Win7 laptop). Then there was a driver for 'all other ZWO cameras'. With the APS-C and full frame caemras that changed and an all-in-one driver came out. I have the ASI2600 and so I need the driver. But that driver seems to fail with ASI120. For now I can use the Win7 laptop with the ASI120 and the Win10 laptop for ASI2600.

Cheers,
Gert

Tech@ZWO

Gert
There is a compatible firmware for 120MC if you want to use it on new computer, because it is an old camera. However, this will reduce the performance of the camera significantly. So we recommend you keep it that way you are doing right now.

Gert

@tech@zwo#48515

... However, this will reduce the performance of the camera significantly ...

Can you give a summary of the impact? Is it frame rate, image quality, stability, crashes ??

Thanks,
Gert