New ASI120MM dropping all frames

srosenfraz

I just purchased a new ASI120MM camera. I had it connected to my computer, and it was working fine. Using Sharpcap 2.9, it was capturing about 27 fps in 1280x960 mode. I unplugged the camera so that I could rebalance the scope. When I plugged it back in, it started dropping 100% of the frames. The camera shows in Device Manager without any errors, and Sharpcap DOES detect the camera. It just won't capture a single frame.

I've tried the following since then:

1) I removed the camera from Device Manager, uninstalled the ZWO drivers, rebooted the computer, reinstalled the drivers, plugged the camera back in. It again shows correctly in Device Manager (Driver version 1.0.0.5 dated 11/25/14 - this was what I downloaded from ZWO's site), but Sharpcap still drops 100% of the frames)

2) I tried a different USB cable

3) I tried a different USB port (they are both USB 2.0 ports that I tried).

4) I installed everything on a second laptop. Same problem - Device Manager shows the camera as normal, Sharpcap detects, but drops 100% of the frames.

5) I tried Metaguide, and it wasn't displaying anything from the camera either (where it had been displaying it previously).

The first computer details are:

Lenovo T420S, 8 GB Ram, SSD drive, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit SP1

The second computer is:

Lenovo T400, 4 GB Ram, non-SSD driver, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit SP1

One other very odd thing. I plugged the camera back into the first computer with just the lens on the camera. It worked fine, but I unplugged the USB so that I could screw the camera back onto the telescope - once again it started losing all frames in both Metaguide and Sharpcap. I haven't been able to get it to work again.

My gut suspicion is that the camera has died (or is near death), but I'd appreciate any advice as to how to get this working. Unfortunately, looks like I'm going to miss tonight's double transit of Io and Europa along with their shadows. :-(

Thanks for any help,

Scott

http://www.astronomersdoitinthedark.com/

srosenfraz

One more followup - I tried installing the compatible firmware. That didn't solve the problem either.

Scott

http://www.astronomersdoitinthedark.com/

Sam@ZWO

you don't need to flash the firmware

please flash it back

I suspect this is because the image is too bright

you can try to adjust exposure and gain to the lowest

srosenfraz

Thank you for the response, Sam. I reflashed it back to the original firmware.

For whatever reason, it's working fine today. I plugged it in to my laptop, inside the house in the morning (i.e., quite bright inside), and it was working. The image was overexposed until I adjusted the exposure, but it wasn't dropping any frames.

Also, when I was trying it the other night and having problems with it dropping all frames, part of the time was late into twilight. It was fairly dark out, so I would have been surprised if the default gain and exposure would have been overexposing it at that time.

I have a good forecast for tonight, so I'll give it another try. I'm a bit nervous about whether the camera will be reliable in the long term.

srosenfraz

Today the camera was mostly working. I kept turning it on throughout the day (connected with just the lens on it). I had a couple of times when it was dropping 100% of the frames, but then it would work ok.

Tonight, I hooked it up to the telescope and was able to successfully capture some sequences of the Moon. I then moved to Jupiter, captured a couple of sequences without a problem (a couple thousand frames each). Then, it started dropping 100% of the frames again. I couldn't get it to capture anything after that.

I tried using it with very low gain (4) and very brief exposures (even though it had been working with longer exposures earlier). I even tried it with the cover on the scope (so there was no light hitting the camera).

It seems the camera is working intermittently - sometimes it works fine, sometimes it drops all the frames. It even seems to do it after not making any changes.

Sam@ZWO

sounds like some hardware issues

I suggest you can exchange a new one from dealer

srosenfraz

OK, will do. Thank you, Sam.

rotty

My ASI120MM was also dropping frames so after reading this and several other forum threads I returned the camera to the supplier. They sent me a new camera and it was exactly the same.

I'd tried with two laptops with no success. My old one worked for a while with a powered USB hub, but then started dropping frames after a while.

Then I decided to replace by observatory laptop with a desktop PC and it's worked perfectly ever since!

I'm now sure it's something to do with the power output of laptop USB ports.

Support@ZWO

Please turn down the USB bandwidth in software to 40.

rotty

Hi Sean,

Not sure if you're replying to my post or the previous user, but the USB bandwidth in Sharpcap on my laptop is set to 40 and it still drops frmes.

On my desktop (Dell Latitude) it's set to 80 and works fine. The same camaera in the desktop hasn't dropped a single frame!

Support@ZWO

rotty wrote:
Hi Sean,

Not sure if you're replying to my post or the previous user, but the USB bandwidth in Sharpcap on my laptop is set to 40 and it still drops frmes.

On my desktop (Dell Latitude) it's set to 80 and works fine. The same camaera in the desktop hasn't dropped a single frame!

Sorry, I said to another previous user.