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After a fantastic first night out with my new ZWO ASI533mm, things took a turn for the worse tonight. (MtY Mount, 120mm Esprit, N.I.N.A. and the above camera on Windows 11) I was able to do an autofocus run on NGC 5457 using Hocus Focus with no problem. I then tried a 60 sec. exposure on NGC 5457 and got the following error messages. "Camera download failed. Exp Time 60 Type SNAPSHOT Gain 100 Filter Luminance." " ZWO Driver Error. Error retrieving image data from camera." I can't understand how I could do an autofocus that requires multiple downloads and have it successful and not be able to have the camera download a single image. BTW, I wondered if a short exposure would download, so I did an exposure at 4 seconds, the same as used in the focus routine. Same error messages. Have I missed some setting up the camera or should I be sending it back to the dealer as defective? Hank |
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Try restarting Windows and/or changing the usb cable you are using to connect the camera; that helped me in the past when I had similar non deterministic errors.
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anything vaguely sounding like this sets off usb cable alarm bells. did either end of the camera usb cable shift, get slightly detached, etc, etc. fingers crossed its a cheap easy fix. |
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If the USB cable is not the issue, uninstall the ZWO driver and reinstall it.
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It is the USB port/cable. Check the USB traffic settings, too. And no USB sleeping too, across the board (system, driver).
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My ZWO ASI 2600MM camera also occasionally fails during a download and shows the same message, also when using NINA. It can also happen during a plate solve, autofocus, or calibration frame. But it only happens very occasionally and doesn’t represent a real problem for me. If your camera has decided to only do autofocus exposures, then the issue is indeed serious. It seems that the USB cable is functioning for autofocus, although it’s always a good idea to try a different one. ZWO’s software usually causes few problems and tends to be up to date, although it’s also worth trying to reinstall it. I wouldn’t touch the camera’s firmware without consulting ZWO first. Lower the USB limit in the camera tab of NINA if it’s set above 40. Make sure your power supply is delivering 12V (I’ve had issues with faulty power supplies or cables that were too thin and only provided 11 or 11.5V). I find it interesting that the frames that do work are done using the Hocus Focus plugin. Maybe the issue lies in the NINA or Hocus Focus update. Have you tried disabling it and using the regular autofocus instead?
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I have had this problem from time to time and I can usually solve it by disconnecting and reconnecting the camera in NINA. If that doesn't work then unplug the camera cable from the PC, pull power from the camera, power it back up and then plug the cable back into the PC. I also always secure the power and data cables to the camera with a velcro strap as the power and usb connections as found in a lot of our gear are somewhat unreliable.
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Here's a different issue that occurs while using PhD2. I've had the same message pop up a few times. Occasionally, especially if you made some changes to your rig, PhD2 will connect to your main camera, 2600 or 533 for instance, instead of your guide camera. So if you have PhD2 open for polar alignment, it will interfere with NINA. This just happened to me Sunday night and it took me several minutes to realize what was going on. Of course it didn't hit me until I started and restarted both NINA and my miniPC. |
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I swapped out the two meter USB 3 Cable that came with the camera and replaced it with a 36 inch USB 2 that I used with my previous camera. I then setup N.I.N.A., pointed the telescope at the wall of the closed observatory which is quite dark. I put the camera on “loop” and took photos at various times and got no error messages. I’m going to assume the cable was the problem. I’d like to follow-up on a couple of things. Would there be any advantage to using a USB 3 cable? andrea tasselli: Also, where do I look for these settings? In the N.I.N.A. camera drop down (Gear), there’s no information for the ASI 533 like other equipment. Hank |
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Check your power supply for your camera. I had weird issues when. I wasn't getting enough power to the 533.
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The download with USB 3 is much faster, but it's also more demanding on the camera and more prone to errors. That's why there's an option to adjust the USB limit. I usually keep it at 0, but I've read that setting it below 40 is usually enough, and if there are no issues, it can be gradually increased up to 100. This setting can be found in NINA under the tab Equipment > Camera > Settings (at the bottom of the screen). There you’ll find Default Gain, Default Offset, and USB Limit, which is the one you're interested in. Use the native ASI drivers, not the ASCOM ones. However, don't forget to check the voltage of your power supply. |
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+1 for the cable. I got that error using zwo's orange USB3 that came with the camera. I thought maybe it was traffic due to simultaneous download and SSD writes, but it would occur at random times. I spent $50 on a higher quality cable from a reputable supply company and haven't had the error since. YMMV Tom |
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Got some clear skies last night and the camera worked flawlessly! I think the problem was solved by the new short USB cable. I did check the voltage and it was 12V+. Thanks again for all the help. Hank |
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I may be wrong, but there may be a problem in the following. I've encountered a similar problem. I use the ZWO ASI533MM as the main camera, and the ZWO AI120MM mini as the guide camera. When working with NINA and PHD2, the main camera can connect to PHD2, and then the error ZWO camera driver error appears in NINA. There are no problems when working with Asiair with any cable. |
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"Congratulations on the success. These things are distressing. I'm still intrigued by the cause of your autofocus images downloading correctly. Could it be that you have autofocus set in bin X2?"
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Were you using the ZWO supplied cable? I have experienced usb cable failures right out of the box. I've replaced most of mine with new, higher quality cables.
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Jose - Yes, the binning was set to bin 1x1. Like you, I don’t understand why they downloaded correctly. Scott - Yes, the cable failed right out of the box. It’s a USB 3 and two metres long. I had a two foot USB 2 that I replaced it with and it appears to be working just fine. |
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Jose - Yes, the binning was set to bin 1x1. Like you, I don’t understand why they downloaded correctly. I recently bought the qhy minicam combo, the supplied usb 3 cable feels like it was designed to charge a Tesla. The difference in cable quality between qhy and zwo is stunning if that example is anything to go by. |
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QHY -> broke down after 2 weeks ZWO -> Still going on after 5 years |
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I've had good luck with the ZWO cables but unless you pull one apart and look closely at construction and check operation with a cable tester, any one experience is purely anecdotal. I have data to back it up but I'm my feeling is that cables are often blamed when other details are the cause, like poor connecters on the mount or camera. USB is not even close to an industrial grade, reliable connection but that's what we have to deal with.
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andrea tasselli: Is that cameras or cables? |
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Cameras
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ZWO's cables still going strong after 5 years…
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andrea tasselli: I had one of their red usb 3 cables dead on a brand new camera. I thought it was a camera problem, very thankful it was a cable. lol |
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Red? Odd. All the USB cabling I have ever got from ZWO are black and flat.
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