Thinkpad T410 and ASI 120MC - low fps

astromatthias

Hi there,

I'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad T410 with SSD as hard drive. Win 7 64 installed, 4GB Ram, 2.4 GHz Processor. I do not get more than 14-18fps at max resolution. I adjusted the USB Traffic in FC to 42 because thats the most stable value. I tried different USB ports, all with the same result. Exposure time is a couple of ms. I updated the camera with the latest firmware, but this does not improve the situation. What else could be the problem?

all the best

Matthias

Sam@ZWO

I think you did all you can do

there is no other ways

very few host have such compatible problem

you can update to our USB3.0 cameras

astromatthias

Thanks Sam,

First question:

is there a list of compatible (Lenovo) laptops available? Or a list of chipsets that are working with the ASI120MC?

Second question:

using a new ASI with USB3.0 on a laptop with only USB 2.0 ports... does this work?

Thanks and cheers.

Matthias

Sam wrote:
I think you did all you can do

there is no other ways

very few host have such compatible problem

you can update to our USB3.0 cameras

riklaunim

Old laptops may do few nasty things like underpower USB ports or be some sort of a USB 1.1 -> 2.0 hybrid. It works for mass storage devices but not for something more complex.

You have a ExpressCard/34 slot in that laptop - get an ExpressCard USB2 or USB3 adapter and try that out. If it's just the power then also a powered USB hub could help.

astromatthias

thanks! I will try this next week and let you know.

all the best

Matthias

astromatthias

Okay then,

as recommended I bought a USB 3.0 ExpressCard with NEC/Renesas µPD720202 Chipset (supports USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0). The Card works very well with my laptop BUT not with the camera plugged in. Windows tells me that there is a driver problem with the camera, so it is recognized by the OS but can't be started. So I reinstalled the driver of the camera and I tried the two different firmware version (compatible and the standard one). No success.

Will there be an update of the driver, so the camera works with the Renesas µPD720202 chipset or alternativly with my onboard USB controller - a Intel(R) 5 Series 3400 ??

all the best!

(disappointed) Matthias

riklaunim

One thing you can check is if it's a hardware or software/windows driver issue - boot a Linux from a CD/DVD/USB, and check what it will have to say about the camera. oaCapture has ASI camera support and works on Linux, plus some other apps, plus system dmesg log.

astromatthias

Ok. I plugged in the USB ExpressCard into my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS laptop. The Card works like milk and honey. Plugged in the Camera and started oacapture choosed the device and... can't connect. Same as with the windows laptop.

dmesg:

usb 6-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd

usb 6-1: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x82 has invalid maxpacket 1024

usb 6-1: New USB device found, idVendor=03c3, idProduct=120b

usb 6-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3

usb 6-1: Product: ASI120MC

usb 6-1: Manufacturer: ZWOptical company

usb 6-1: SerialNumber: 00000

usb 6-1: reset high-speed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd

xhci_hcd 0000.0: xHCI xhci_drop_endpoint called with disabled ep e0db61c0

hub 6-0.0: port 1 disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...

usb 6-1: USB disconnect, device number 3

usb 6-1: new high-speed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd

usb 6-1: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x82 has invalid maxpacket 1024

usb 6-1: New USB device found, idVendor=03c3, idProduct=120b

usb 6-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3

usb 6-1: Product: ASI120MC

usb 6-1: Manufacturer: ZWOptical company

usb 6-1: SerialNumber: 00000

And lsusb says:

Bus 006 Device 004: ID 03c3

Device Descriptor:

bLength 18

bDescriptorType 1

bcdUSB 2.00

bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)

bDeviceSubClass 0

bDeviceProtocol 0

bMaxPacketSize0 64

idVendor 0x03c3

idProduct 0x120b

bcdDevice 0.00

iManufacturer 1 ZWOptical company

iProduct 2 ASI120MC

iSerial 3 00000

bNumConfigurations 1

Configuration Descriptor:

bLength 9

bDescriptorType 2

wTotalLength 25

bNumInterfaces 1

bConfigurationValue 1

iConfiguration 4 HighSpeed Configuration

bmAttributes 0xa0

(Bus Powered)

Remote Wakeup

MaxPower 500mA

Interface Descriptor:

bLength 9

bDescriptorType 4

bInterfaceNumber 0

bAlternateSetting 0

bNumEndpoints 1

bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class

bInterfaceSubClass 0

bInterfaceProtocol 0

iInterface 5 Camera Interface

Endpoint Descriptor:

bLength 7

bDescriptorType 5

bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN

bmAttributes 2

Transfer Type Bulk

Synch Type None

Usage Type Data

wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes

bInterval 0

Device Qualifier (for other device speed):

bLength 10

bDescriptorType 6

bcdUSB 2.00

bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)

bDeviceSubClass 0

bDeviceProtocol 0

bMaxPacketSize0 64

bNumConfigurations 1

Device Status: 0x0002

(Bus Powered)

Remote Wakeup Enabled

In addition to oacapture i tried Indi. It says:

2016-01-15T18: startup: indiserver -v indi_asi_ccd

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: pid=11591 rfd=3 wfd=6 efd=7

2016-01-15T18: listening to port 7624 on fd 4

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: snooping on Telescope Simulator.EQUATORIAL_EOD_COORD

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: snooping on Telescope Simulator.TELESCOPE_INFO

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: snooping on CCD Simulator.FILTER_SLOT

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: snooping on CCD Simulator.FILTER_NAME

2016-01-15T18: Client 0: new arrival from 127.0.0.1 - welcome!

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: recorder: setpixelformat 1195528775

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: recorder: setsize 1280x960

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: recorder: setpixelformat 1195528775

2016-01-15T18: Driver indi_asi_ccd: recorder: setsize 1280x960

2016-01-15T18: Client 0: read EOF

2016-01-15T18: Client 0: shut down complete - bye!

And the Capture software of Indi says:

CCD_VIDEO_FORMAT ASI_IMG_RAW8=ON

CCD_CONTROLS BandWidth=40

CCD_VIDEO_STREAM STREAM_ON=ON

Error reading video data (11)

CCD_VIDEO_STREAM STREAM_OFF=ON

so it seems that commucation works but reading stuff from the camera doesn't.

-> Driver issue.

Anything else I can do ?

Best

Matthias

firstc8

Have you tried a different capture program like Sharpcap?

astromatthias

Yes Sir! I tried on my Windows 7 64 laptop Thinkpad T410:

- FireCapture

- SharpCap

- AmCap

I tried on Ubuntu 14.04 laptop:

- CCDCiel with Indi Server

- oacapture

I get either 0 fps (with USB 3.0 Express Card) or 1-4 fps (with onboard USB 2.0) on Ubuntu laptop Dell Inspiron 6400 and

I get 0 fps (with USB 3.0 ExpressCard) and 14 fps on Windows 7 64 Thinkpad T410.

Yes, the ExpressCard works with other devices very smoothly!

Thats pretty far away from the 30+ fps announced in the marketing material. Futhermore as I have written in my other post, the firmware is not USB 2.0 compliant. So, in the end, I'm disappointed with this device since it doesn't work with my 2 laptops. I tested the whole thing on a 8 year old HP Windows 7 32 laptop I got under my fingers the other day and the camera works at 27 fps in full size mode with firecapture. So, the camera works. Its just strange incompatibilities due to bad written firmware and drivers, I guess?

Best

Matthias

firstc8

astromatthias wrote:
Yes Sir! I tried on my Windows 7 64 laptop Thinkpad T410:

- FireCapture

- SharpCap

- AmCap

I tried on Ubuntu 14.04 laptop:

- CCDCiel with Indi Server

- oacapture

I get either 0 fps (with USB 3.0 Express Card) or 1-4 fps (with onboard USB 2.0) on Ubuntu laptop Dell Inspiron 6400 and

I get 0 fps (with USB 3.0 ExpressCard) and 14 fps on Windows 7 64 Thinkpad T410.

Yes, the ExpressCard works with other devices very smoothly!

Thats pretty far away from the 30+ fps announced in the marketing material. Futhermore as I have written in my other post, the firmware is not USB 2.0 compliant. So, in the end, I'm disappointed with this device since it doesn't work with my 2 laptops. I tested the whole thing on a 8 year old HP Windows 7 32 laptop I got under my fingers the other day and the camera works at 27 fps in full size mode with firecapture. So, the camera works. Its just strange incompatibilities due to bad written firmware and drivers, I guess?

Best

Matthias

Since you have access to many laptops, I would find one with Windows 10 and give it a try just to be sure.

astromatthias

Since you have access to many laptops, I would find one with Windows 10 and give it a try just to be sure.

sure about what? I'm sure that the cameras software is crap. Why should I find a laptop with Win 10?

Are you kidding or what?

I think I will throw the camera in to the next garbbage bin and I will never ever buy a camera again form Zwoptical. THAT is for sure.

Best.

Matthias

firstc8

astromatthias wrote:

Since you have access to many laptops, I would find one with Windows 10 and give it a try just to be sure.

sure about what? I'm sure that the cameras software is crap. Why should I find a laptop with Win 10?

Are you kidding or what?

I think I will throw the camera in to the next garbbage bin and I will never ever buy a camera again form Zwoptical. THAT is for sure.

Best.

Matthias

I just realized you have a 120mc, not 120mc-s. When I had my 120mc-s it worked flawlessly on my laptop with Windows 10, so I made the suggestion.

Can't speak for 120mc, it is an outdated hardware, I would never have bought one in the first place when newer models are available for not much more money.

riklaunim

Well, it's obviously hardware/camera firmware issue, not OS/software. 00000 serial number is odd.

astromatthias

riklaunim wrote:
Well, it's obviously hardware/camera firmware issue, not OS/software. 00000 serial number is odd.

yeah, you are right. I flashed the camera with the official firmware, as Sam has suggested to try the compatible version und I flashed back to the one supporting a maxpacket size of 1024. So, I guess,

the serialnumber got lost due to firmware updates? Sam? How to restore the serial number?

Kind regards

Matthias

P.S: But interesting enough that your camera, riklaunim, has the same serial number: http://www.zwoug.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1796

Did you get your camera working in the end? Which USB Controller are you using?

astromatthias

Here is the output of UsBTreeView on Windows 7 64. Camera is connected to the USB3.0 ExpressCard:


========================== My Computer ==========================
Operating System       : Windows 7 Professional: NT6.1 Build 7601 SP1 type=1 suite=100 x64
Computer Name          : USER-THINK
Admin Previleges       : no

UsbTreeView Version    : 2.5.9.0 (x64)

USB Host Controllers   : 3
USB Root Hubs          : 3
USB Standard Hubs      : 2
USB Peripheral Devices : 2

    ===================== USB Host Controller =======================

        +++++++++++++++++ Device Information ++++++++++++++++++
Device Description       : Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller
Device ID                : PCI\VEN_1912&DEV_0015&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\4&375292EA&0&00E3
Vendor                   : Renesas
Driver KeyName           : {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0000 (GUID_DEVCLASS_USB)
Driver                   : C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\rusb3xhc.sys (Version: 3.0.23.0  Date: 2012-08-27)
Driver Inf               : C:\Windows\inf\oem55.inf
Legacy BusType           : PCIBus
Class                    : USB
Service                  : rusb3xhc
Enumerator               : PCI
Location Info            : PCI-Bus 5, Gerät 0, Funktion 0
Manufacturer Info        : Renesas Electronics
Capabilities             : 0x04 (Removable)
Address                  : 0
Problem Code             : 0
Power State              : D0 (supported: D0, D3, wake from D0, wake from D3)
 Child Device 1          : Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Root Hub
  Device ID              : RENESAS_USB3\ROOT_HUB30\5&D46D4F2&0
  Class                  : USB

HcInfo0 Error            : ERROR_GEN_FAILURE

Roothub Symbolic Link    : RENESAS_USB3#ROOT_HUB30#5&d46d4f2&0#{f18a0e88-c30c-11d0-8815-00a0c906bed8}

BusStatistics Error      : ERROR_GEN_FAILURE

DriverVersion Error      : ERROR_GEN_FAILURE

BandwidthInfo Error      : ERROR_GEN_FAILURE

        -------- USB Hostcontroller Power States Info ---------
SystemState              : S0    S1    S2    S3    S4    S5    
HcDevicePowerState       : D0    --    --    D3    D3    D3    
HcDeviceWake             : D3    D3    D3    D3    D3    D3    
HcSystemWake             : S4    S4    S4    S4    S4    S4    
RhDevicePowerState       : D0    D3    D3    D2    D2    D3    
RhDeviceWake             : D2    D2    D2    D2    D2    D2    
RhSystemWake             : S4    S4    S4    S4    S4    S4    
LastSystemSleepState     : --    --    --    --    --    --    
CanWakeup                : no    no    no    yes   yes   no    
IsPowered                : no    no    no    yes   yes   no    


    ========================= USB Root Hub =========================

        +++++++++++++++++ Device Information ++++++++++++++++++
Device Description       : Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Root Hub
Device Path              : \\.\RENESAS_USB3#ROOT_HUB30#5&d46d4f2&0#{f18a0e88-c30c-11d0-8815-00a0c906bed8}
Device ID                : RENESAS_USB3\ROOT_HUB30\5&D46D4F2&0
Driver KeyName           : {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0001 (GUID_DEVCLASS_USB)
Driver                   : C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\rusb3hub.sys (Version: 3.0.23.0  Date: 2012-08-27)
Driver Inf               : C:\Windows\inf\oem56.inf
Legacy BusType           : PNPBus
Class                    : USB
Service                  : rusb3hub
Enumerator               : RENESAS_USB3
Location Info            : -
Manufacturer Info        : Renesas Electronics
Capabilities             : 0x80 (SurpriseRemovalOK)
Address                  : 0
Problem Code             : 0
Power State              : D0 (supported: D0, D2, D3, wake from D0, wake from D2)
 Child Device 1          : ZWO ASI120MC Camera
  Device ID              : USB\VID_03C3&PID_120B\00000
  Class                  : Image

        ------------------- USB Hub Descriptor -----------------
bDescriptorLength        : 0x0C (12 bytes)
bDescriptorType          : 0x2A (SuperSpeed Hub Descriptor)
bNumberOfPorts           : 0x04 (4 Ports)
wHubCharacteristics      : 0x0009
 Power switching         : Individual
 Compound device         : No
 Over-current protection : Individual
 TT Think Time           : At most 8 FS bit times
 Port Indicators         : Not supported
bPowerOnToPowerGood      : 0x0A (20 ms)
bHubControlCurrent       : 0x00 (0 mA)
DeviceRemovable          : 0x00
 Bit 0                   : 0 (reserved, any value)
 Bit 1                   : 0 (Device at Port 1 is removable)
 Bit 2                   : 0 (Device at Port 2 is removable)
 Bit 3                   : 0 (Device at Port 3 is removable)
 Bit 4                   : 0 (Device at Port 4 is removable)
 Bit 5                   : 0 (unused, must be 0)
 Bit 6                   : 0 (unused, must be 0)
 Bit 7                   : 0 (unused, must be 0)
HubIsBusPowered          : 0x00 (Self Powered)

        ----------------- USB Hub Capabilities ----------------
HighSpeedCapable         : Yes
HighSpeed                : No
MultiTtCapable           : No
HubIsMultiTt             : No
ArmedWakeOnConnect       : No
IsBusPowered             : No
IsRoot                   : Yes


    =========================== USB Port1 ===========================

Connection Status        : 0x00 (No device is connected)
Port Chain               : 1-1


    =========================== USB Port2 ===========================

Connection Status        : 0x00 (No device is connected)
Port Chain               : 1-2


    =========================== USB Port3 ===========================

Connection Status        : 0x01 (Device is connected)
Port Chain               : 1-3

      ======================== USB Device ========================

        +++++++++++++++++ Device Information ++++++++++++++++++
Device Description       : ZWO ASI120MC Camera
Device Path              : \\.\USB#VID_03C3&PID_120B#00000#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}
Device ID                : USB\VID_03C3&PID_120B\00000
Driver KeyName           : {6bdd1fc6-810f-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}\0000 (GUID_DEVCLASS_IMAGE)
Driver                   : C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\ASI120MC.sys (Version: 1.2.3.3  Date: 2015-05-19)
Driver Inf               : C:\Windows\inf\oem53.inf
Legacy BusType           : PNPBus
Class                    : Image
Service                  : ASI120MC
Enumerator               : USB
Location Info            : Port_#0003.Hub_#0001
Location IDs             : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(1C03)#PCI(0000)#USBROOT(0)#USB(3)
Container ID             : {bc871a4c-aba2-5ad3-8304-fb6ce0764a1e}
Manufacturer Info        : ZWO
Capabilities             : 0x14 (Removable, UniqueID)
Problem Code             : 10 (CM_PROB_FAILED_START)
Power State              : D3 (supported: D0, D1, D2, D3, wake from D0, wake from D1, wake from D2)

        ---------------- Connection Information ---------------
Connection Index         : 0x03 (3)
Connection Status        : 0x01 (DeviceConnected)
Current Config Value     : 0x00
Device Address           : 0x01 (1)
Is Hub                   : 0x00 (no)
Number Of Open Pipes     : 0x00 (0)
Device Bus Speed         : 0x02 (High-Speed)

        ------------------ Device Descriptor ------------------
bLength                  : 0x12 (18 bytes)
bDescriptorType          : 0x01 (Device Descriptor)
bcdUSB                   : 0x200 (USB Version 2.00)
bDeviceClass             : 0x00 (defined by the interface descriptors)
bDeviceSubClass          : 0x00
bDeviceProtocol          : 0x00
bMaxPacketSize0          : 0x40 (64 bytes)
idVendor                 : 0x03C3
idProduct                : 0x120B
bcdDevice                : 0x00
iManufacturer            : 0x01 (String Descriptor 1)
 *!*ERROR String descriptor 1 not found
iProduct                 : 0x02 (String Descriptor 2)
 *!*ERROR String descriptor 2 not found
iSerialNumber            : 0x03 (String Descriptor 3)
 *!*ERROR String descriptor 3 not found
bNumConfigurations       : 0x01

ConfigDescriptor Error   : ERROR_BUSY  (because the device has problem code CM_PROB_FAILED_START)

So, CM_PROB_FAILED_STAT is some error message that I googled for, and Microsoft tells me that ist is a driver problem:

"The device failed to start.

Error Code

Display Message (Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows)

If the device's hardware key contains a "FailReasonString" value, the value string is displayed as the error message. (A driver or enumerator supplies this registry string value.) If the hardware key does not contain a "FailReasonString" value, the following generic error message is displayed:

"This device cannot start. (Code 10)"

"Try upgrading the device drivers for this device."

Recommended Resolution (Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows)

Select Update Driver, which starts the Hardware Update wizard.

This error code is set when one of the drivers in the device's driver stack fails IRP_MN_START_DEVICE. If there are many drivers in the stack, it can be difficult to determine the one that failed. " (Qouted from: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff538978%28v=vs.85%29.aspx)

riklaunim

I didn't used ASI120 on Linux more than that. Key thing was Windows support at that time :)