Connections Problems with Maxim for 174 and 6200 (maybe)

jerryyyyy

For several weeks I have had my 6200/174 camera/guider system hang using ACP and Maxim and also Focus Max. This occurs when the 174 starts and initial guiding run for the 6200. I also seem to be seeing a similar problem with the 6200 on initial runs of focusing. Restarting both Maxim and FM solves the problem.
I have gone to the ACP/FM and Maxim developers. The Maxim developers ran ASCOM diagnostics and found a series of problems with the driver. See:

Test environment:
ASCOM Platform 6.6 SP
ASCOM Conform Version 6.6.8048.17861
MaxIm DL Pro 6.30

SUZHOU ZWO CO.,LTD. drivers:
ZWO_ASI_Cameras_Driver_V3.20.exe
ZWO_ASCOM_Setup_x86_V6.5.13.exe

Cameras:
SUZHOU ZWO CO. LTD. ASI290MM
SUZHOU ZWO CO. LTD. ASI174MMCool

It looks like ZWO broke something, possibly with USB 3.0.

Test cases:

MaxIm & USB 3.0 short cables between cameras and PC
a) ASI174MMCool - first shot downloads quickly. The second shot, it hangs on Reading CCD. Definite FAIL
b) ASI290MM, first shot downloads quickly. The second shot seems to take about 5 seconds to download. I'd consider this a partial FAIL.
MaxIm & USB 2.0 short cables
Repeating the tests with a USB 2.0 cable, everything works normally, very fast downloads for either camera.
a) PASS
b) PASS
ASCOM Conform Checker & USB 3.0
This checks if features of the camera are implemented. It also takes a few shots at different binning etc.
a) 174 - FAIL
It just hangs on "Take image full frame 2 x 2 bin" Waiting for Image Ready.
b) 290 - inconsistent. Sometimes it takes a long time. partial Fail.
ASCOM Conform Checker & USB 2.0
a) PASS
b) PASS

Your software lists the 174 as USB2 but it goes through the USB3 connector that comes with the 6200 and its EFW.... I cannot go back to USB2.

Please advise what to do and can you check you drivers....

jerryyyyy

conform-142215614-zwo-asi174-mini-guide-camera-usb2-1-error.txt

80kB

conform-142215614-zwo-asi6200m-pro-usb3-6-errors.txt

86kB

Here are some ASCOM conform errors for the two cameras. Any comments?

Tech@ZWO

jerryyyyy Thanks for your feedback.
Could you try other software which connect our camera via ASCOM? such as NINA to rule out the problem with capture software?

Thanks.

jerryyyyy

Tech@ZWO

Thanks for responding. I can connect with your software and with Maxim. I also can connect with NINA.
The problem with Maxin and ACP is that after taking one guider picture, it hangs before taking a second. If I disconnect and then reconnect the camera, it will work.

The 174 worked fine for about 10-12 months then this came us as a problem. I have replaced the USB cables. They run into my 6200.

The Maxim people mention your driver with the errors found by the Conform software. I am not sure of the relevance, but I am in contact with them and the ASCOM Conform does come up with 6 errors. Here are the two that seem the most serious... see attachment for full listing:

14:28:21.600 StartExposure ERROR .NET - Exception: exception when reading ImageArrayASCOM.DriverException: CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.ASICamera2.Camera ImageArray Get System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown. (See Inner Exception for details) ---> System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Symbols.Container.InvokeMethod(Method TargetProcedure, Object[] Arguments, Boolean[] CopyBack, BindingFlags Flags)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.ObjectLateGet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments, Boolean[] CopyBack)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.LateGet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments, Boolean[] CopyBack)
at Conform.CameraTester.CameraExposure(String p_Description, Int32 p_BinX, Int32 p_BinY, Int32 p_StartX, Int32 p_StartY, Int32 p_NumX, Int32 p_NumY, Double p_Duration, String p_ExpectedErrorMessage)

14:28:21.657 ImageArrayVariant ERROR .NET - Exception: exception when reading ImageArrayVariantASCOM.DriverException: CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.ASICamera2.Camera ImageArrayVariant Get System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown. (See Inner Exception for details) ---> System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Symbols.Container.InvokeMethod(Method TargetProcedure, Object[] Arguments, Boolean[] CopyBack, BindingFlags Flags)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.ObjectLateGet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments, Boolean[] CopyBack)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.NewLateBinding.LateGet(Object Instance, Type Type, String MemberName, Object[] Arguments, String[] ArgumentNames, Type[] TypeArguments, Boolean[] CopyBack)
at Conform.CameraTester.CameraExposure(String p_Description, Int32 p_BinX, Int32 p_BinY, Int32 p_StartX, Int32 p_StartY, Int32 p_NumX, Int32 p_NumY, Double p_Duration, String p_ExpectedErrorMessage)

As trouble shooting I have connected the camera directly to my computer to isolate the 174 from the 6200 hub. Unfortunately it is raining now, so it is hard to test the guiding on the bench without a proper setup of guide star and mount.

Any ideas appreciated, especially any updates or Beta versions of drivers that might be more advanced. The system is W10 and completely updated on a standard Dell mini desktop.

Tech@ZWO

jerryyyyy Hi Thanks for your information.
Could you submit a ticket here for faster and more convenient communication?
BTW, did you test the camera in ASIStudio or other software which connect cameras via ZWO driver, instead of ASCOM driver?
Does it work fine？
Please test it with different cables, ports, and 12V power supplies, and directly connect the camera to PC, don't use any hub.thanks.

https://support.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/ (Choose software tab)

jerryyyyy

Tech@ZWO

My vendor Woodland Camera put me in contact with Ying.Tang support@zwoastro.zendesk.com.

Would be best to consolidate your response so we do not duplicate efforts.

He also suggested NINA and that also connects.

The problem is connecting after the initial connection in ACP and Maxim. There is where the Maxim programmers bring up the ASCOM errors. Maxim and ACP do more than NINA or ASI Studio.

Do you have any other versions of the drivers that do not have the ASCOM errors?

I am trying a direct connection of the 174 to my computer not going through the 6200 USB3 hub. However, we have rain now and it is hard to test. I wish I had a way to bench test the system with guiding.

I will check the voltage of the power supply.

Thanks for the considerations,

Jerry Yesavage

PS: