Hi, I own 4 ASI cameras and they work very well on my Window's AP/EAA scope side astronomy box, as well as on my old astronomy Macbook Pro computer. On my old Mac it is plug-and-play. On Window's they mostly have native support (NINA, SharpCap, PHD2, etc) or work just fine through ASCOM. I have never had a connection issue.

However, over the weekend I decided to try my guiding camera (an ASI290MM mini) and just take along my M1 Macbook Pro...and direct connect a USB-C cable from the camera to the Mac. Running ASI Studio software, the camera does not show....I have googled the issue and have not found any information that is relevant....

I have tried several cables, all of which work otherwise. I also tried my other cameras (2600MM Pro, 183MC Pro, and a 462MC)...None of them will show up in the ASI Studio software. None of them show up in any other software either (PHD2)

Is there some sort of driver that is needed to connect?

Thanks in advance for any help...

  • w7ay replied to this.

    ChristineZ However, over the weekend I decided to try my guiding camera (an ASI290MM mini) and just take along my M1 Macbook Pro...and direct connect a USB-C cable from the camera to the Mac.

    The USB-C connector on the 290 Mini only supports the USB 2 serial protocol. The USB-C connector on the M1 MacBooks supports Thunderbolt, with no direct hardware support for serial protocol.

    You cannot simply lash the two together with a direct USB-C -to- USB-C cable.

    To use the ZWO mini cameras, you can use a USB-C to USB-A hub like this one for example:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X4LHP1B

    This hub supports serial, and also has a Power Delivery (PD) charging port to charge the PowerBook, so you won't waste a second USB-C port on the computer.

    You then connect a USB-A port of the hub to the USB-C connector on the mini camera (USB-C to USB-A data cable). There are many USB-C hubs that support serial ports (some even come with Ethernet and HDMI connectors too), the above is just a cheap one that I use with my M1 MacBook Pro.

    This is true not just for the ZWO mini cameras that use serial protocol, but the ZWO cameras that use the USB 3 Type B connectors on the cooled cameras (which also use serial protocol). It also includes mounts that use serial protocol.

    Remember that USB-C (unlike USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 or USB 3.2) is just a physical connector specification. The electronics could implement USB 2 , USB 3, USB 4 or Thunderbolt 3 or 4, or DisplayPort even.

    Beyond that, you do not need any special drivers to use ASIStudio on macOS. The serial port driver is already native on macOS.

    Chen

        6 days later

        w7ay

        Thank you so much Chen for your detailed explanation....Yes, I already have several of those hub-dongles for my MacBooks....I will try that option.

        I have plenty of USB-C to USB-A cables so that is not an issue (indeed that is what I use with my old Macbook Pro)
        (Why don't I just use the old Macbook Pro? Well it is semi-permanent in my observatory, and the battery is pretty much gone, so it lives permanently plugged into an AC power supply)

        Thanks again
        Christine

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